Cowboy Daddy. Carolyne Aarsen

that’s settled.” Kip shrugged his jacket on and gave Nicole the briefest of nods. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

      Nicole gave him a crisp smile. “Actually, I’d like to come now.”

      Kip faltered, his frown deepening. “As in today?”

      “As in, I have just been granted visitation from 2:30 to 5:00 every afternoon.” Nicole gave him a cool look as she too got to her feet. She didn’t like him towering over her, but even in her heels, she only reached his shoulder.

      “I thought we’d start tomorrow.”

      “I have every right to start today.” She had signed a paper giving her those rights. He had no reason to deny her.

      Kip blew out a sigh as he dropped a tattered cowboy hat on his head. “I don’t have time today.”

      Nicole lifted her shoulder in a delicate shrug. “You’re the one who set out the terms of the visits.”

      Kip held her gaze, his eyes shadowed by the brim of the cowboy hat. Then he glanced down at her tailored suit and laughed. “Okay, but you’d better change. The boys are helping me fix a tractor this afternoon.”

      “Should I bring a hammer?” she said, determined not to let him goad her.

      “Just a three-eighth-inch wrench and a five-sixteenth-inch socket,” he returned.

      “Excellent. I just happened to bring mine along.”

      “In your Louis Vuitton luggage?” This was tossed back at her underlined with the arching of one of his eyebrows.

      “No. Coach.” And how would a cowboy like him know about Louis Vuitton?

      “Cute.” He buttoned his jacket. “This has been fun, but I’ve got work to do,” he said in a tone that implied “fun” was the last thing he’d been having. “See you when we see you.”

      When he closed the door behind him, it was as if the office deflated. Became less full, less dynamic.

      Nicole brushed the feeling off and turned to Ron. “I’ll get my lawyer to call you. He’ll bring you up to speed on his side of the case, and the two of you can discuss the DNA tests.”

      Ron got to his feet and pursed his lips. Then he sighed. “I’m not speaking as a lawyer anymore, but as a friend of Kip’s. You may as well know that Kip Cosgrove dotes on those boys. He goes everywhere with them. Does everything with them. He has since those boys moved to the ranch with his brother.”

      “They’re not even his.” As soon as Nicole spoke the words she regretted giving her thoughts voice. She knew how coldhearted that must have sounded to Ron.

      The reality was she knew firsthand what it was like to be the one pushed aside. She had been in enough homes as the “outsider,” the nonbiological child, to know that no matter what, biology always won out. The “natural” children were always treated differently than the “foster” child.

      Ron shot her an angry look. “That is the last thing on Kip’s mind,” he snapped. “Those boys have been in his life since they were one year old. Living on the ranch is the only life they know.”

      Nicole held his angry gaze, determined not to let his opinion of her matter. “They only know this life because Scott took them away from their biological mother.” She picked up her briefcase and slung her trench coat over her arm. “Now all I need to know is where I can buy some tools.”

      This netted her a puzzled look from Ron. “Why?”

      “Because I fully intend on helping fix that tractor.”