A Baby for the Mountain Firefighter: A May-December Older Woman Romance (The Mountain Firefighter Series Book 3) by Melinda Curtis

Author:Melinda Curtis [Curtis, Melinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purple Papaya
Published: 2020-04-19T16:00:00+00:00

“Heard you got an easy assignment in base camp.” After the Fire Behavior Analyst left, Roadhouse settled across from Aiden with his tray of food.

Aiden shrugged, staring at his cup of coffee. But he didn’t leave.

The sun began sinking behind the mountains.

He didn’t leave. Roadhouse couldn’t move for a moment. He was making progress.

Roadhouse took a bite of steak, content just to be near his son, content to have him safe.

“Why did you marry my mom?” Aiden asked without looking up from his coffee cup.

The steak got stuck in his throat and Roadhouse had to cough to dislodge it. “Well, I…well…we…we were pregnant. Back then, folks got married if they were pregnant.”

Aiden pushed his cup away and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why did you bother if you didn’t plan on honoring your marriage vows?”

“Well, I…” Roadhouse took off his helmet and set it on the bench next to him, then scratched his head. The truth was painful to admit. He blew out a breath. “You don’t ask the easiest questions, do you?”

Aiden shot him a scathing look. “Do you deserve any easy questions?”

Roadhouse deliberately put a piece of meat in his mouth and chewed slowly. “No, I don’t suppose I do,” he admitted after swallowing. He was going to be without a job soon, without his few friends in the fire crews. Alone. Losing everything made a man willing to demean himself to get something back, especially when his previous efforts had been met with rejection.

“I wanted my child to have a legitimate last name, which is more than my dad gave me.” When he’d grown up, you couldn’t escape the label of bastard. He’d spent a better part of his youth running from the stigma. Roadhouse cast his gaze about the tabletop, as if that could help him avoid the harsh memories.

“But you couldn’t keep your pants zipped,” Aiden noted in a resigned voice.

Roadhouse was surprised that Aiden’s comment lacked the bitterness he usually flung his way. It made him continue to try and keep his answers honest.

“I’m not much good at relationships,” he explained slowly, because it was difficult for a man to confess his failings to his son. “I’m a bit too selfish about what I want out of life. I never much liked having to tell someone where I’d been or why I was late. And Maria was a jealous woman, who accused me of cheating if I returned a day later than expected from the fire. Back then, there were no cell phones, and pay phones weren’t so easy to find out in the forest.” Roadhouse drew a deep breath. “I suppose I started looking for something when I realized she never believed what I told her.”

“So you became a cheater because she expected you to be one?” Aiden shook his head. “Didn’t you have any honor or self-respect?”

“I admit I slept with a married woman while I was still married.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.