Vixen In Disguise. Kara Lennox

his birthday party.”

      Deborah was right. “Grandpa Pete,” as she called him, had doted on her when her family had first moved to Cottonwood. He’d never had a daughter or granddaughter of his own, so he’d informally adopted Anne.

      “Will the whole family be there?” Anne asked.

      “I assume so. Even Wade. I don’t know if you heard or not, but he’s back home.”

      Anne jumped, but as her mother grabbed a flat of plants and set them on the garage floor, she seemed to assign no particular significance to dropping Wade’s name.

      “You remember him, don’t you?” Deborah carried on chattily. “He ran away when he was sixteen, ran off and joined the circus or something. You were just a little girl. Anyway, he’s come back, the proverbial prodigal son.”

      “Yes, I remember him.” In far too much detail. Deborah turned back to Anne. “How was your checkup, anyway?”

      “Fine.” She hadn’t told her parents about the blood tests. It wasn’t something they needed to know at this stage in their lives. With any luck, they’d never have to know.

      “Anne, what’s this?” Deborah held up a tiny, green plastic pot with a sprig of ivy. One of the Hardison clan’s terrarium plants had apparently migrated into her cart.

      Anne shrugged. “An impulse purchase.” Once again, she felt her traitorous face heating.

      “I’ve got at least a dozen ivy plants rooting in the sunroom.”

      Anne forced a smile. “I said it was an impulse. I didn’t say it was smart.”

      ANNE MANAGED to put Wade out of her mind for most of the rest of the day by keeping really busy. That night, after all the gardening and phone calls and applications, she was so exhausted she fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep.

      At precisely 3:00 a.m. she sat bolt-upright in bed with the most disturbing thoughts. Wade and those kids…

      When she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d thought a lot about how she would break the news to Wade. In her imaginings, the conversation was always hideous:

      “Wade, I don’t know how this happened, but I’m going to have your baby.”

      “No way. That’s impossible. We were careful.”

      “Not careful enough, apparently. There was that first time…”

      “How do you know it’s mine?”

      “Because you’re the only guy I’ve slept with in the past year.”

      “Like I believe that.”

      “I don’t want anything from you. I just thought you should know.”

      “Yeah, well, you’ve done your civic duty.” Click.

      She had no real reason to believe he would treat her like that, but she hadn’t had any trouble imagining how a guy like Wade would feel about fatherhood. Nightmare city. He didn’t even have a permanent address, owned nothing but his horse, truck, trailer and the clothes on his back. Obviously, he had no desire to be tied down.

      After she’d lost the baby, her mother had tried to comfort her by saying the miscarriage was probably for the best, that a child should grow up with two parents. Anne had forced herself to agree, outwardly at least, to keep the peace. She’d even allowed herself some degree of relief because now she wouldn’t have to track down Wade and tell him he was going to be a father.

      But that was before she’d seen him with Sam and Kristin. He was good with them. He obviously thought they hung the stars. Maybe he even fantasized about having kids of his own one day. And they adored him. Contrary to all her preconceived ideas, Wade Hardison might make a pretty good father.

      And she’d lost his baby.

      Anne was ashamed she hadn’t even given him a chance to prove what kind of father he could be. But now it was too late.