Claiming His Brother's Baby. Helen Lacey

guess he did what he thought was the best thing at the time.”

      Cassie didn’t look completely convinced. “But what did you think?”

      He opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it tightly shut. She stared at him, looking intrigued and a little confused. He drew in a slow breath. “I thought... I suppose I thought I’d been abandoned.”

      “Did you ever tell him that?”

      Silence stretched like elastic for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that.”

      “Then thank you,” she said. “For not dismissing the question. I suppose I’m trying to understand why Doug would have done such a thing. I mean, you really only had each other.”

      “What twenty-one-year-old wants to be saddled with a kid? Especially someone like...”

      Tanner stopped when he saw her expression shift. He met her gaze and waited for her to speak.

      “You mean, someone like Doug?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper. When he didn’t respond she spoke again. “You know, don’t you?”

      Tanner shrugged a little. “I know what?”

      “You know Doug wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of having a baby?”

      Wasn’t exactly thrilled? His brother had flat-out said kids weren’t in his plans—ever.

      “I know he had some reservations.”

      She shrugged and maintained her resilient look. “It was a shock, that’s all. We’d never talked about children and when I found out I was pregnant I was surprised at first. When I told Doug, he didn’t...well, he wasn’t happy about it.”

      He knew the story. Doug had no intention of ever being a father to his child and Tanner knew his brother would have told Cassie that very thing had he lived.

      “I’m sure it was the shock, like you said.”

      As he said the words and tasted the lie, Tanner knew he had to keep the truth from her. It would hurt her deeply if the truth ever came out.

      “I suppose we’ll never know,” she said, softer still.

      Tanner shrugged fractionally. “I should get going.”

      “Are you heading into Bellandale?” she asked.

      “No,” he replied. “I’m going to crash at Ruthie’s for a few days. But I’d like to drop by tomorrow afternoon to see Oliver if that’s okay?”

      “Of course.”

      “Good night, Cassie. I’ll see myself out.”

      She nodded and watched him leave. Tanner grabbed his bag from the hall and headed through the front door and realized that leaving was the last thing he wanted to do.

      * * *

      When Cassie sat up in bed at six the next morning she knew the headache and scratchy throat she’d been harboring for days had finally taken hold. But Oliver’s cries made her ignore her pains, push back the covers and roll off the mattress. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt, took a couple of aspirin and worked through her sluggishness. It was well past the half hour by the time she’d fed him and then made herself some soothing peppermint tea.

      But Oliver was unsettled for most of the morning and in between doing two loads of washing and putting a casserole in the slow cooker, she took him for a long walk. When she got home it was after three and she gave him a bath and a bottle before putting him to bed for a nap.