The moment Autumn realized she was still smiling, she forced her mouth into a tight line. She would not, could not, like Tucker Wade. He was the enemy. The one person who could take away the only family she had left. Not waiting for Tucker, she grabbed for her cup of coffee and marched determinedly back into the house.
* * *
Hearing the front door to his ranch house close, Tucker took a moment to calm his racing thoughts. There were times as he’d stood talking to Autumn that he found himself thinking of Summer. How could he not? Autumn was the spitting image of his wife, except for having shorter hair and more of a businesslike style of dress. And she was every bit as pretty. Not at all surprising, considering they were identical twins. Yet, Autumn seemed different. Where his wife had always lived her life being her true self, her sister seemed more reserved; guarded, almost. Not that the situation they found themselves in didn’t give her reason to be, but Tucker found himself wondering what she would be like with all those protective layers peeled away.
When Autumn had let down her guard for those brief moments that morning, allowing her more playful side to come out, she reminded him even more of her sister. But she wasn’t Summer, the woman who had run out on him, taking with her a very huge part of him—his daughter.
His daughter. A lump formed in Tucker’s throat, causing him to swallow hard. He was somebody’s daddy. Blue’s daddy. She was the most precious responsibility he’d ever been given. He knew nothing about raising children. She knew nothing about him. It felt as if he were going down a steep set of stairs in the dark with no handrail to hold on to. He didn’t want to fall. Didn’t want to fail. Not when God had chosen him to bestow this incredible blessing on.
Blue Belle Wade. Wait until his family found out about her. They’d be as shocked as he’d been. Even more so, seeing as how they had no idea he’d ever been married. So many things he would have done differently if given the chance. But there was no going back in life, only forward. And with that in mind, he intended to make it up to Blue for being absent from her life for so long, even if that absence hadn’t been his choice.
Taking a deep breath, Tucker headed inside, closing the front door quietly behind him as he made his way to the kitchen. The coffee mug Autumn had been using sat on the kitchen table, but she was nowhere in sight. Crossing the kitchen, he grabbed himself a mug and filled it with coffee. Then he busied himself with starting breakfast for his guests.
Tucker caught himself, mentally changing that to for his daughter and her aunt. His daughter was not a guest. She was family. His family. That thought had him whistling a happy tune as he moved about the kitchen.
“Care to tell us what’s going on with you today?”
Speaking of family. Tucker turned to find Jackson and Garrett standing just inside the kitchen entryway, worried frowns on their faces. They’d clearly come before finishing up that morning’s tasks.
“Everything okay with the horses?” he asked, worried that something might have happened with one. His brothers looked so serious.
“They’re fine,” Jackson replied. “It’s you we’re concerned about. You never call off when there’s work to be done.”
He’d spent a long, restless night, caught up in thoughts of his little girl. He’d also spent a good bit of time praying for the Lord to give him the strength to find it in himself to forgive Summer as Autumn had, because at that moment the depth of her betrayal was still too fresh to get past the simmering resentment he felt inside.
“Judging by the happy little tune you were whistling when we came in,” Garrett said, “I’m guessing you’re not under the weather.”
“No,” Tucker replied, feeling guilty for causing his brothers unnecessary worry. He hadn’t made mention of Blue when he’d called to let them know he wouldn’t be meeting up with them at the main barn that morning, because that was the kind of news he preferred to give them in person. “I’m not under the weather.”
His oldest brother’s frown deepened. “That being the case, care to let us in on what’s really going on with you, then?”
Where did he begin? Tucker sent a quick prayer heavenward for some guidance from the Lord in the best way to handle this situation. One that affected him as well as his family. “I—”
“You’re really tall,” a tiny voice stated, cutting into Tucker’s response.
His gaze shot between his brothers to see Blue standing there in the living room, looking up at Garrett and Jackson with youthful curiosity. She was wearing a long flannel nightgown covered in bright pink butterflies. Matching pink kitten heads peeked out from under the ruffled hem of her nightgown. A stuffed rag doll that looked as though it had gotten most of the stuffing loved right out of it drooped from her tiny hand.
His brothers’ eyes widened in unison at the unexpected interruption before they pivoted on booted heels to look down at Blue. For the first time since Tucker could remember, his big brothers were rendered utterly speechless.
“Come on into the kitchen, sweetheart,” he told his daughter, whose gaze was still fixed on her suddenly mute uncles.
Jackson and Garrett parted to let her through, their attention doing a slingshot in his direction as she passed by with a sleepy smile.
“Morning, Daddy,” she said in the sweetest little singsong voice he’d ever heard. Her words grabbed at his heart. He was somebody’s daddy, something he’d never expected to be after Summer had run out on their marriage. Not only had he been too hurt to think about trusting in love again, but also his still being legally wed to Summer had been keeping him from giving another relationship a chance.
Tucker returned his baby girl’s smile, an unfamiliar warmth seeping into his heart as he did so. Then he placed his hands on her tiny shoulders and slowly turned her to face his brothers. “Blue Belle Wade, these two hulking giants who don’t seem to be able to pick their jaws up from the kitchen floor are your uncles. That’s your uncle Jackson on the left and your uncle Garrett on the right.” He glanced down at his daughter, recalling she was only four. “Do you know what left and right are?”
She held out her hand, making and L shape with her fingers. “This is my left because left starts with L.”
“Very good,” he praised. He didn’t know enough about children to say for sure, but something told him Blue was an extremely bright child.
“Uncles?” Jackson muttered in confusion as he stared at Blue.
Tucker looked up at his brother with an answering nod.
Garrett attempted to process what he’d just heard. “Blue Belle Wade?” he repeated slowly, his gaze fixed on Blue with her bright smile and reddish-brown curls.
“My daughter,” Tucker said, still trying to come to grips with it all himself.
Garrett’s wide-eyed gaze snapped up to Tucker. “Your what?”
“His daughter,” Blue announced proudly, her tiny chin lifting.
“Daughter?” Jackson repeated, understandably confused by Blue’s announcement.
“Who’s hungry?” Tucker said with forced calm. He didn’t want his brothers’ raised voices to startle his daughter. “We can talk more about this while we eat. I’m making bacon and eggs.”
Blue’s gleeful expression fell. “But Aunt Autumn always makes me pancakes.”
“I’m making pancakes, too,” Tucker promptly amended, causing his brother’s gazes to swing sharply in his direction.
Jackson snorted. “Since when