Read Online The Horseman's Son by Delores Fossen - Free Book Online

do that if they were at each other’s throats. And as for marriage for the sake of them sharing custody? Well, that was an absolute last resort, but he wasn’t ruling it out just yet.
    Dylan led Collena through the maze of corridors in the sprawling house. Nearly ten thousand square feet was more than enough room to bring up an active child. He’d had fatherhood in mind when he made renovations several years earlier.
    He stopped for a moment outside the nursery door and looked back at Collena. She was nibbling on her bottom lip and showed more nerves than she had when facing down the car fire and Curtis Reese.
    “I’m scared,” she admitted.
    “Me, too,” Dylan acknowledged.
    Her mouth quivered as if threatening a smile. Dylan figured it’d been a long time since she’d made that particular facial expression. But the smile didn’t materialize. Instead, she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
    Dylan did the same, and he opened the nursery door.
    The room was empty.
    Because of the leftover adrenaline, he felt another jolt of concern, but then reminded himself that it wasn’t unusual for Ruth and Adam to be away from the nursery. Just because they weren’t there in the room didn’t mean that someone like Curtis Reese had kidnapped his son. He stepped into the room and pressed the button to turn on the house intercom.
    “Ruth?” Dylan called out.
    It only took a few seconds for the nanny to answer. “Adam and I are in the playroom.”
    “This way,” Dylan instructed Collena, leading her back through the corridors. He hated that edgy feel of the adrenaline and hated even more that it was now associated with his son’s safety. Since he’d had five years with no incidents, he had thought they were safe.
    He’d obviously thought wrong.
    “Does Adam really look like me?” Collena asked.
    He stopped, turned around and considered lying. But he didn’t after he combed his gaze over Collena’s face. “He’s the spitting image of you.”
    Her bottom lip trembled a little, and she blinked hard. “Thank you.” But then she hesitated and stared at him. “You’re being nice to me because of that picture. I asked you to forget about it.”
    Why, he didn’t know, but he stepped closer, violating her personal space. “I’m not being nice to you. If I had my way, you wouldn’t be here at the ranch and you definitely wouldn’t be on the verge of going into the playroom.”
    She lifted her shoulder. “So, why am? Why are you letting me see Adam?”
    “Because I don’t think I have a choice. We’re each other’s obstacles. You want what I have, and I don’t want to give him up. Somehow, we have to work through that, and working through issues is something that I’m usually pretty good at doing.”
    “I offered a solution,” she reminded him.
    “I don’t call that a solution.” In fact, he didn’t know what exactly to call her marriage proposal.
    Since marriage was the last thing he wanted to discuss, Dylan turned and started walking again toward the playroom. Collena was right behind him. And with each step, he dreaded this meeting even more.
    Yet, he knew it was inevitable.
    If he didn’t allow Collena to see Adam, then tomorrow when the roads were clear, she’d no doubt start legal proceedings to get custody. So, he wasn’t being nice. He was doing what he had to do to keep things amicable between Collena and him.
    When he reached the set of playroom doors, Dylan didn’t pause. He didn’t dare. Because he might change his mind. It was like ripping off a bandage. Fast, but definitely not painless.
    He threw open the doors.
    Dylan spotted Ruth first. She was sitting in a recliner with a paperback clutched in her hand. Adam was on a toy car that he was scooting around the room. He looked up, spotted Dylan and smiled the smile that always made him feel on top of the world.
    “Is there a problem?” Ruth asked. Her eyes went straight to Collena, and the nanny got to her feet.
    “No