Mistaken for a Mistress Read online

  Abby looked as concerned as Ford felt. “You’re scaring me, Grant.”

  Grant toed the grass beneath his boot. “I don’t mean to scare you. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll think this is good news, because it is.”

  Ford wondered if maybe he was about to announce his own engagement to Anna Sheridan, who was sequestered away with the rest of the guests beneath the white tent set up for the reception. But that didn’t make sense. If Anna was involved, most likely she would be there.

  “This is about Buck,” Grant continued. “And his relationship with you.”

  Buck? Ford couldn’t imagine what the ranch foreman had to do with this. “Is he sick?”

  “No, nothing like that. He wanted to tell you himself, but I convinced him it might be better coming from me.”

  “Just spill it, Grant,” Ford said.

  “I will, but you two have to promise to listen with an open mind.”

  Abby shot a meaningful glance at Ford. “We can do that.”

  Grant let go a rough sigh. “Back when your mother and I were teenagers, Buck came to work for your great-grandparents. During that time, Grace was wild as a March hare and your grandmother had a hard time keeping her under control. But she tried as best she could, making sure Grace didn’t leave the farm, at least not without Buck. As it turned out, she and Buck became involved.”

  Ford feared he knew where this might be leading, but his mind rejected that notion until Grant said, “And that’s when Grace became pregnant with you, Ford.”

  He spoke around his shock. “Then you’re telling me—”

  “That Buck is your dad. He’s Abby’s dad, too.”

  Abby looked at Ford with disbelief. “Ford and I aren’t half siblings?”

  “No. Buck fathered you both.”

  Ford glanced at Kerry, who stood by silently, taking it all in, before regarding Grant again. “Why in God’s name didn’t you tell us before now?”

  “Because I didn’t know until now,” Grant said. “Buck and I had a long talk last night and that’s when he admitted it to me, although I guess I always wondered in a way. And before you start passing judgment on him, you have to understand why he didn’t come forward. He loved your mother, but she told him he wasn’t good enough for her. He was illiterate until Abby taught him to read. But he always believed Grace was right and that you two were better off not knowing.”

  “How could we be better off not knowing?” Abby said, echoing Ford’s thoughts. “And why did he decide we needed to know now?”

  “Because of the babies. He figured you’d want to know any medical history that he could provide. And because he loves both of you a lot. That’s why he stuck around all those years, watching you grow and making sure you were treated well.”

  Ford had to admit that Buck had always been there for him, but did that excuse him from withholding such an important fact? “This is a lot to handle, Grant.”

  Grant forked a hand through his hair. “I know. But you’ll both handle it in time. When you get back to the farm, I expect you to talk with him, let him explain his motivation for keeping this a secret. He also said that he’d be willing to take a paternity test to prove it.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” And it wasn’t, as far as Ford was concerned. Abby had Buck’s hair color, and he had his smile. He just couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before now, but he had no real reason to see it. “After all this time, I’m not sure it really matters, Grant.”

  Grant leveled a serious stare on him. “It does matter. Buck’s always been family, and now it’s official. I expect you to treat him as you always have because he’s done a lot for you.”

  “And so have you, Grant,” Abby said. “This doesn’t change the way we feel about you. You’ve been a father to us, too. I just want you to know that.”

  “I do know that.” Grant glanced at the tent. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to visit with a few of the guests.” With that he walked away, leaving Abby and Ford staring at each other in stunned silence.

  “Why don’t we take a walk?” The first words Kerry had uttered since the revelations had begun.

  “We’ll do the same,” Russ said, taking Abby by the arm and guiding her away.

  Now more than ever Ford was glad to have Kerry by his side, holding his hand tightly in hers as they walked along the lake’s edge in the opposite direction of the festivities.

  After they’d put a good distance between themselves and the tent, Abby stopped and faced him. She laid a gentle palm on his jaw. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure.” And he wasn’t. Right now he felt like he was on information overload.

  “This is a good thing, Ford,” she said. “I never knew my real father, and the one that I did know didn’t have a clue how to be a good parent. You’ve been lucky enough to have two great dads.”

  “And I’ve spent years trying to fill in that blank space of my heritage, and the answers were right under my nose. I can’t believe Buck’s been lying all along. I thought I knew him better than that.”

  “You heard Grant. He had his reasons. Good ones.”

  “His reasons just might not be good enough.”

  Kerry took both his hands into hers and gave them a squeeze. “Ford, I want you to think about this. When we met, you had your reasons for lying to me, and they involved protecting Grant. Maybe Buck thought he was protecting you.”

  “From what?”

  “From what he viewed as shame. I don’t know him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what drove him. When you have someone tell you often you’re not good enough, you start to believe it. My stepdad had me convinced of that very thing. Had it not been for Millie, I still might believe it.”

  Everything she said made perfect sense, but the knowledge was still a lot for Ford to swallow. “I understand that, but it feels like such a damn big betrayal.”

  She surveyed his eyes for a long moment. “Do you love him, Ford?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Will knowing what you know now really change that? After all, once I finally understood you and your motives for deceiving me, I think that’s part of why I fell in love with you, as crazy as that sounds. You were willing do anything for someone you loved. That’s why I forgave you. And I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive Buck.”

  Right now Ford would move every mountain in the state for her. “And I still can’t believe how damn lucky I am to have found you.”

  “We’re both lucky.”

  She circled her arms around his waist, he framed her sweet face in his palms and, regardless they were out in the open, he kissed his wife with all the gratitude, all the love for her he was feeling at that moment.

  Once they parted, Kerry gave him a special smile, then one he knew very well. “You know, I’m really, really ready to get out of this dress and these heels.”

  “And I’m really, really ready to help you do that. But I think we’re going to have to find a better place to do that first.” He checked his watch and noted the lateness in the hour. “We have a plane to catch in less than three hours, so I’m thinking that’s a great excuse to leave.”

  “True. How long will it take to get back to Nebraska?”

  “With the layover in Denver, about four and a half hours. Then we have another few hours’ drive to Crawley. Which means we won’t be there until dawn.”

  “That’s quite a long trip. You don’t happen to be a member of the Mile-High Club, do you?”

  He grinned. “Nope, but I’m open to getting a membership. Or to be on the safe side, we could stay in Denver for a few days and have a real honeymoon. We don’t have to be back to the farm that fast.”

  She pressed her lips against his cheek then pulled back. “As much as I want to make love with you, I have my reasons for wanting to get to the farm as fast as possible.”

  “Oh, yeah? What reasons?”

  “In my life, I’ve only wanted two things. Someone to love who loved me back, uncon
ditionally. And a home of my own. I have that someone in you, and now I can’t wait to see the home where I plan to spend the rest of my life loving you well and raising our children. Can you understand that?”

  Ford understood that completely. She’d never had a place where she’d belonged, and what she probably didn’t realize was how firmly embedded she was in his soul, even deeper in his heart. He vowed to give her all those things and more.

  Following another kiss, he took her hand, prepared to take her to the place that was as much a part of him as she was now. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s go home.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4932-9

  MISTAKEN FOR A MISTRESS

  Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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  *Marrying an M.D.

  *Marrying an M.D.

  *Marrying an M.D.

  *Marrying an M.D.

  †The Royal Wager

  †The Royal Wager

  †The Royal Wager