Free Trusting Sydney: The Temptation Saga: Book Six by Helen Hardt

damage.”
    Sam found his rental car and drove away. The rodeo was still going on, but Zach’s brother Dallas would be home. Dallas didn’t compete like his two younger brothers. He was a shooter at heart. He’d be at the ranch. It was near suppertime.
    Dallas was one of the only two attorneys in Bakersville. The other was Chad’s brother-in-law, Harper Bay, but he was busy planning a wedding in less than a week. Dallas was Sam’s best bet.
    He drove to Dallas and Annie’s ranch house on the McCray property, walked up, and knocked.
    “Hello there, Sam,” Annie McCray said in her biting Jersey accent. “Nice to see you.”
    “Is Dallas at home?”
    “Yeah, he sure is. Come on in. We’re just finishing our dinner.”
    “I’m sorry to intrude. I have a legal problem.”
    “No intrusion. Let me get the kids out of your way, and you and he can talk. Come on in to the kitchen.”
    After they said hi to their Uncle Sammy, Annie took Sylvie and Laurie by the hands and escorted them into the family room where the babies were sleeping in their bassinets. “Sam’s here to see you, hon. Legal talk.”
    “What can I do you for, Sam?” Dallas asked, standing. “You want to sit down?”
    “Do I ever.” Sam plunked his ass in a chair.
    “Coffee?”
    “Got anything stronger?”
    Dallas smiled. “That bad, huh? How about a Macallan, neat?”
    “Sounds like nectar of the gods.”
    Dallas poured two drinks and sat back down at the table. “So what’s going on?”
    “I need to get a court order for a DNA test.”
    “What for?”
    “You know the Buchanans, right?”
    “Blake and Sydney, yeah. And their parents are here for the rodeo too.”
    “Along with their little boy. He’s about Sean’s age.”
    “Duke, yeah. I’ve seen him.”
    “Well, here’s the thing.” He cleared his throat. “Little Duke Buchanan is my son.”
----
    “ W ell , Sydney,” Roy Buchanan said when Sydney opened the door to her hotel room. “You’ve got yourself in quite a mess now.”
    “I know, Daddy.” She sniffed.
    “You’ve been crying.”
    “Of course I have.”
    “Tell me what’s going on.”
    “It’s that jerk, Rod. He found Duke’s birth certificate. He brought it over here and confronted me while Sam was here. Sam put two and two together and figured out he was the father.”
    “Sam O’Donovan. A good man from a good family. Why didn’t you tell us who the father was?”
    “I had my reasons. Don’t worry, Daddy, he doesn’t know where the child is. But I’m afraid he will soon. He asked Rod to find out for him.”
    “Rod’s quick, then. Or Sam figured it out on his own. He confronted your mother and me this afternoon at the rodeo.”
    Sydney cringed, resisting the urge to swat away the invisible insects crawling on her skin. “Oh, Daddy. What are we going to do?”
    Roy sat down and cupped his head in his hands. “I don’t know, Sydney. I just don’t know.”
    “I can’t let anything happen to Duke.”
    “Good, I’m glad to hear you say that. Duke is the most important thing here. We must consider what’s best for him first and foremost.”
    “Of course.” Sydney’s blood turned to ice. “That’s what I’ve always done.”
    “Not always, Sydney.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Why didn’t you tell us back then who the father was? Then maybe all this turmoil could have been avoided. Sam would have known. He would have had a choice to be in Duke’s life.”
    “I didn’t want him in Duke’s life.”
    “Why, Sydney? Why didn’t you want the father to know about his child?”
----
    “ I see ,” Dallas said after Sam had explained the situation. “All this time you never knew he existed.”
    “Not at all.”
    “And had you known at the time, would you have wanted the child?”
    Sam rose, shoved his hands in his pockets. “How the hell should I know? That was over five years ago. I know I want him now.”
    “Why do you want him now?”
    “I’ve always wanted kids. Just never