Montana Wilderness Pursuit by Danica Winters

Author:Danica Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-09T20:34:34+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

AJ knew all too well how quickly a life could change—a car accident, a diagnosis, a proposal or even a phone call. He had been on the end of far too many life-changing moments, both receiving and giving. Yet they all paled in comparison to the secret the detective had shared—AJ was likely a father.

Not only had he been thrust into a new life, a new definition of himself, but he was also forced to face the fact that his baby was also at risk. In his wildest imaginings, he would have never gotten to this point. This was worse than a nightmare—at least in nightmares, a person could wake up.

Until now, he hadn’t hated Tammy. He had moments when he’d disliked her, and he had been relieved that she was no longer a part of his life, but now a sense of loathing filled him. This secret—or rather, this lie—didn’t just affect her, or even himself. Her not telling him about the child had also hurt the baby.

He thought of all of his nieces and nephews, now more than five of them, who would have loved to meet Charlie and incorporate him into their life here on the ranch. Tammy had denied him that. She’d denied his entire family the chance to meet one of their own.

“AJ?” Amber asked, her voice gentle and supplicating, as though she could sense the war within him and feared catching a stray round.

“Hmm?” Words failed him.

Since she had come to his rescue with the detective, he had been barely able to speak. Thankfully, she seemed to understand that he had reverted back to a guttural, instinctive language—it was the dialect of a pain so severe it could only be called transformative agony.

“Zoey wants to talk to you in her office. Do you think you are up to going in there?”

He hated that he had been brought to his knees, but nothing in his life had prepared him for a moment like this—a moment that went far beyond betrayal.

Amber held out her hand and he put his fingers in hers. He stood up from the couch. The fire in the fireplace was crackling and it was emitting tongues of light that lashed over the floor like they were reaching for him and wanting to consume what little was left.

He couldn’t give in to his pain. He couldn’t. It had been more than half a day now. Sleep had been impossible, but luckily Amber had drifted into a slumber in his arms and had gotten some rest. Even in what could have been a peaceful moment, all he had found himself thinking about was all the nights he had lost in his son’s life, nights when the baby had been down with a cold or an ear infection. Nights when he should have been holding him in his arms.

He followed Amber blindly, thinking only of how he was going to get to his son.

He swallowed back the lump in his throat that seemed to rise every time he thought about making it to the toddler, only to find out it was too late.

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