Read Online Destined To Be A Dad (Welcome To Destiny Book 9) by Christyne Butler - Free Book Online Page A

day, but in a good way.” The memories of a hot July afternoon, not long after he’d taken the professional rodeo circuit by storm with an unexpected first-place showing at the Cody Stampede, came rushing back. “I wanted you to stay, was happy you were staying. I remember asking you to go on the road with me after I decided to rodeo full-time.”
    “As what?” Her voice rose, but then she glanced at the glass doors that led to the apartment and inched closer to him. “Your buckle bunny? Isn’t that the quaint American saying? Not bloody likely.”
    Liam copied her low tone, even though he doubted Casey could hear them, as the bedrooms were on the other side of the apartment. “A fact you made very clear that day as you walked out.”
    “If memory serves, you made it clear you wouldn’t miss me if I went back home.”
    “We were fighting. Hell, we were teenagers. Teenagers say stupid things.”
    “Yes, like you didn’t care about me anymore. You were glad we were through.”
    “I lied,” he shot back.
    Taking a step forward, he remembered what she’d said earlier on the porch that triggered a forgotten memory. “Something I made clear in my letters to you.”
    Silence stretched between them as they stood there, almost as close as they’d been when he’d held her in his arms. Missy was breathing hard, her breasts rising and falling against the edges of her bathrobe.
    Liam tried not to stare, but she was beautiful, as beautiful as ever, and a part of him liked that even after all this time, she was still so emotional about their relationship.
    “Letters?” she finally asked. “What are you talking about?”
    “I wrote to you, after you left.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, causing his shirt to open even farther, but he had to do something to keep from reaching for her again. “Steve McIntyre, Suzanne’s brother, got me your address from their folks.”
    Missy started to say something, but then pressed her lips together and remained silent.
    “Hell, we were still in the dial-up stage of the internet back then and you didn’t even have an email address. So I wrote to you, three times in fact, between July and October, after you left,” he continued, remembering how he’d poured out his heart and soul in the same messy handwriting he still used today. “I never heard back from you.”
    “I never...” She averted her eyes, her gaze landing on his chest for a moment before she turned away. “I never got them. Any of them.”
    Of course she hadn’t. A vile bitterness rose in his throat. He had to swallow it back before he spoke. “Your parents made sure of that.”
    She nodded, still not looking at him. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
    More silence.
    Liam dropped his head and closed his eyes. He hadn’t planned on any of this—the kiss, talking about the past—when he’d headed over here. He’d been worried about Casey, about Missy, about how their talk had gone. He’d wanted to make sure she was okay, but he should have figured that the way things had ended between them all those years ago would come out sooner or later.
    But with such feeling?
    Her crack about his apology surprised him. Despite the years that had passed, everything that had happened the day they fought—everything between them during that year—still felt so real. To both of them, it seemed.
    “I would’ve told you.” Missy’s fingers were cool where she touched his wrist, drawing his attention back to her. “If the test results—if the results I was shown had been different, had been the truth, I would have made sure you knew about your daughter. No matter what my parents might have wanted at the time.”
    He nodded, reading the truth in her eyes, but believing her butted up against the fact that she’d never had the chance. He’d never had the chance. “I would’ve done right by you, by Casey. As old-fashioned as that sounds.”
    “We were both teenagers and living half a world apart. I’m not sure