The Cowboy's Surprise Baby. Ali Olson

and he’d gone over it all so many times, but it always led to nothing. Now was the time to work, not think, so he grabbed a couple more of their gentlest horses and brought them out to the paddock where Tom was standing with the others.

      They looped the leads over a fence post and both went back for saddles. “Have a good drive?” Tom asked.

      Jack could tell Tom wanted to ask what had happened, knew Tom saw a change in him. And even though there was no reason to hide his reunion with Amy, that their date couldn’t possibly be a secret, he still felt a momentary desire to hide it, as if talking about it might make it all go away like a birthday wish or something.

      Tom was watching him, though, and he knew he had to come clean. “I went to see Amy. We talked and decided to go out tonight.”

      “Like on a date?” Tom asked, sounding a little surprised.

      “I guess so,” Jack answered, not ready to clarify more.

      He loved his brother, but talking had never been their strong suit, and it seemed strange to open up to him about the real history of his relationship with Amy and what this date could or could not mean. Heck, he wasn’t even really ready to think about all that, let alone talk about it.

      Tom seemed to understand, because he didn’t ask anything more, and soon they were guiding little kids around the paddock, each one practicing squeezing their legs to make their horse go and pulling on the reins to stop. The two youngest children, identical twins, could hardly manage enough force to get the horse’s attention, but the docile creatures listened to them with the patience of loving parents.

      Jack watched the twins with interest. Zach and Carter, Brock’s soon-to-be sons, had settled into Spring Valley comfortably and seemed more than ready to add Brock to their family. He’d seen the way their faces lit up around Amy’s brother. They loved him and from what Jack had seen, Brock clearly doted on them. Jack had always wanted a family, and it made his heart swell to think that a child didn’t need to be yours biologically in order to be family.

      Like the McNeal clan. All four children were adopted, and their parents loved every one of them as much as any parent could. If a couple were unable to have children for some reason...

      His mind balked as Jack realized he had drifted into territory he wasn’t remotely ready for. He had only seen Amy for a few minutes after ten years of complete silence from her—there was no way he should be thinking about them starting a family together. Heck, part of him was still dead sure dinner was a bad idea. The part that had never healed when she left the first time.

      He wasn’t ready to get hurt like that again, and thoughts like those would only make it worse.

      Still, he couldn’t help but watch the time tick by oh so slowly toward seven, and he did everything he could think of to speed it along.

      He hadn’t been this antsy for a date in a very long time. About ten years, in fact.