The Cowboy's Surprise Baby (Cowboy Country Book 3) by Deb Kastner

so I have no interaction with her. My lawyer will stay updated on her location in case I ever need medical information or anything on Grayson’s behalf, but otherwise we have no contact whatsoever.” He paused and frowned. “That wasn’t my call to make. It’s the way she wants it. From the very beginning, she never wanted anything to do with Grayson.”
    Tessa detected an edge of anger to his voice, and no wonder. Even back in high school, Cole had grand ideals of marriage and family. A mother who didn’t want her baby? Tessa couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
    “She doesn’t want to see her son at all? Ever?” She tried to keep the astonishment out of her voice but knew she failed. She didn’t want to sound as if she was judging—even if privately she had to admit that she was.
    “No. Nora—Grayson’s biological mother—considered him a mistake. A burden she wanted nothing to do with. From the moment she learned she was pregnant with Grayson, she had every intention of giving him away for adoption. Or worse. I don’t even like to think about what might have happened had I not stepped in. Thankfully, I found out she was pregnant with my child before she could make those kinds of decisions, and I talked her out of it. It wasn’t easy. I’ve never fought for anything so hard in my life, and Nora isn’t a big fan of mine right now. Probably won’t ever be.” He scoffed. “Grayson and I apparently got in the way of her fun. I hate that my son will grow up without his mother, but I think he’s better off. I had a lawyer draw up papers and took custody of my son the moment he was born.”
    Bewilderment blanketed Tessa like a thick fog. On one hand, the idea that Cole had stepped up and taken responsibility as a father was beyond impressive, especially when the mother didn’t want any custody rights at all. Tessa couldn’t imagine too many men who would do such a thing, and it spoke to Cole’s character that he didn’t walk away from his obligation to his child when it would have been so simple to do. But not Cole. He was a sailor and a cowboy, and even before he’d joined the military, honor and duty were written in his heart. Of course he would never abandon his own flesh and blood.
    This was also why the story confused her. Clearly there was no love lost between Cole and the baby’s mother, and yet there had to have been a certain level of intimacy for Grayson to have been conceived in the first place. Cole wasn’t the type of man to have a meaningless fling—or at least, he hadn’t been. She realized just how little she knew about him now.
    “That was very—” She hesitated as she searched for the right word. Gutsy? Loving? Strong? Amazing? “Courageous of you.”
    He blew out a breath and shook his head. “What it was, was stupid.”
    Her gaze swept over his face, taking in the deep lines stress had left in its wake. He shook his head, and his shoulders and arms tightened, his biceps twitching with strain.
    Was he talking about the circumstances that had led to Grayson’s birth? Surely he didn’t regret taking custody of his son?
    “Well, I think you’ve done a very loving thing.” Though they’d parted on bad terms, Tessa knew Cole’s capacity for caring about someone, and she knew beyond a doubt that he would give Grayson every bit of his heart. “God will bless you for your sacrifice.”
    Cole shook his head “That’s what Alexis said, and you both couldn’t be more wrong. It’s not a sacrifice. It just
is
. I don’t walk away from my mistakes, or my obligations.”
    “No, I know you don’t. That’s not what I meant.”
    “That came out wrong. Grayson isn’t a mistake. I never knew I could love a human being as much as I do that baby boy. It’s just that I hate the...” His sentence skidded to a halt, and his jaw tightened.
    The way it happened?
    Cole had always fostered a deep faith in God in his heart. Whatever else had changed in his life, Tessa couldn’t