The Doctor's Texas Baby. Deb Kastner

      It wasn’t enough that she didn’t have anywhere else to go. She couldn’t leave the boys ranch in the lurch. She simply couldn’t. It meant too much to too many people, especially all the boys it had helped over the years—and would assist in the future, especially if they were able to keep the larger facility.

      Seventy years of helping young men find a better way. She couldn’t put her own needs and desires over something as amazing as that.

      But more than that, when she stopped to truly examine her feelings, she knew in her heart that she couldn’t leave without allowing Wyatt to get to know his son. Merely thinking about staying was more frightening than anything else she’d ever experienced—even reluctantly coming to the decision to leave town alone and pregnant three years ago.

      She would have to own up to her choices. All of them, both good and bad.

      She’d realized as soon as she’d seen the brokenhearted look on Wyatt’s face that she’d been wrong to keep Matty’s existence a secret from him. Matty was as much his son as he was hers.

      He deserved to know his child. And now he would.

      In a way God had made the decision for her, which was probably good, because her record in the decision-making department was deplorable of late.

      She had to stay. So she would give Wyatt these two months to get to know Matty, to spend time with him and possibly build a bond as father and son. After that, only the Lord knew what would happen.

      She came out of her thoughts to realize the others in Bea’s office were still waiting for her answer. She took a deep, cleansing breath and dived in without knowing just how deep the water was.

      “Okay. I’ll stay.”