A Cowgirl's Pride by Lorraine Nelson

hide from her
father and brother. Was he man enough to accept another man’s child? Could he
live every day with a constant reminder that she’d lain with someone other than
him?
    His heart desperately wanted to say yes, but his
mind hadn’t come around to that yet. The child would be her flesh and blood, as
she’d pointed out, and Leah didn’t intend for the father to be involved. Would he
be able to love and care for it as his own? Or would he regret having to
shoulder the responsibility…as his step-father had. Frank had never had time
for him, except to berate him and mete out punishment when he’d come home late
or something wasn’t done good enough.
Cal
would like to believe he was the bigger man, but the truth was, it wasn’t his baby and he just didn’t know.
    Maybe he should take a run into town and talk to
his mother. This wasn’t a conversation to be had over the phone. Would Frank be
home? He’d have to chance it.
    His decision made, he showered and changed, then
jumped into his four-wheel drive Chevy Silverado. The maintenance crews had
been out and plowed the roads, but the wind was strong. As he drove into town,
the four-wheel drive came in handy in places where the snow drifted quite
heavily.
    Frank and Bonnie Murphy lived in an upscale area
of
Fort
MacLeod
. Theirs was a huge Victorian
with fancy trim around the upper and lower balconies facing the street. He
preferred the back deck overlooking the Fort. Many times as a child, he’d gone
out there to watch the officers coming and going and dream of being a cop or a
soldier one day. That was before he discovered his love of horses.
    Leah’s family had been hosting a rodeo that year,
and she’d invited him along.
Cal
loved it all—the anticipation, the excitement, the competitions. After the
rodeo finished, Leah took him around to introduce him to her father, brother, her
Uncle Cam, and the horses.
Cam
won the
bull-riding event, and Luke placed second in calf roping.
    Nervous at meeting her family, his fascination
with the horses had him asking questions and settling in amongst the Mannings
and their horses as they talked. He remembered picking up a currycomb and
brushing down one of the horses as he stood there.
    “Where’d ya learn to tend a horse, boy?” Lucas
asked.
    “Sorry, sir. Am I doing something wrong?”
    “Nope, you’re doin’ fine. Where ya from?”
    “I live in town.”
    “A city boy? I don’t believe it.”
    “Yep, a city boy who loves horses. I’m still in
school, but I could use a job.”
    “Is that so? Mornin’s, evenin’s, weekends?”
    “Any time you need me. I have my driver’s
license and my own wheels.”
    Lucas had looked him over good, and Leah even
stepped in on his behalf.
    “Please, Daddy. He’s my friend, and he needs a
job.”
    Cal
was thrilled when Lucas nodded decisively. “Be here tomorrow
mornin’ at six. If you’re late, don’t bother comin’.”
    “Yes, sir. I’ll be here.”
    Anxious to start off on the right foot, he showed
up at five thirty that first morning, only to be left cooling his heels in the
yard until six, when Lucas emerged from the house. His mouth dropped open in
shock when Lucas said, “You should’a come in for coffee instead of waitin’
around out here.”
    Cal
was happy to say that he’d learned the ropes and been there ever
since. He smiled at the unintended pun.
    If only the current situation with Leah could be
handled with the same steadfast decision-making and determination. Arriving at
his mother’s house, he was disappointed, yet strangely relieved, when there was
no answer to his knock on the door.
    * * * *
    She no longer felt like reading, but for a lack
of anything better to do, Leah sat in front of the fire and opened the book she
still held in her hands. It was a miracle she hadn’t mutilated it in her anxiety
during the conversation with
Cal
.
    It wasn’t easy to hold him off when what she
really wanted to do was jump his bones. Her gaze had kept