Colorado Cowboy. C.C. Coburn

      Megan released a sigh of relief.

      “I’m awarding you both custody. Joint custody.”

      There was another outburst from his son.

      “Cody!”

      Unflappable, the judge said, “Cody, if nothing else, moving you to another environment might broaden your vocabulary.” She nodded at Luke. “Is this solution acceptable to you, Mr. O’Malley?”

      Luke was horrified. It certainly was not. “Judge, I’ve got three little girls. I don’t want them exposed to this sort of behavior—”

      “Luke!” Matt muttered beside him.

      His brother’s caution made Luke realize how selfish he was sounding. “I can pay to send him to boarding school—get him out of this environment. That’s what you really want, isn’t it? To get him away from the street gangs? There are good boarding schools in Connecticut. His mom could visit him on the weekends.” He looked at Megan, pleading for her agreement.

      MEGAN WAS APPALLED by Luke’s suggestion that they send her son away to boarding school. But then she’d relaxed when he mentioned she’d be close enough to visit Cody every weekend. Certainly a lot closer than Colorado. Maybe when Cody had settled down he could visit with Luke in Colorado. Get to know his father. It would tear her apart not seeing Cody every day, but this might be the only thing that would save him.

      “I don’t have any objection to an arrangement like that,” she said, and glanced at Luke, then wished she hadn’t. Feeling the familiar tug of attraction—but stronger now—she silently cursed her desire for this man. Fifteen years had only added to his dark good looks, but it was his willingness to bear some of the burden of raising Cody that had her reacting to him on such an elemental level.

      She’d fallen for Luke within days of meeting him. She was so captivated by him, she’d gladly given up her virginity. He’d been charming and funny, with old-fashioned manners and beguiling brown eyes that made her heart melt and her common sense fly out the window. And what had her lapse in rationality gotten her in return?

      The conversation she’d overheard at the recreation center the evening she was to meet Luke at the Victorian Inn for dinner had proven what a fool she’d been. He’d toyed with her emotions, stringing her along to believe they were in an exclusive relationship, when, in fact, the woman she’d overheard talking to a friend was pregnant with Luke’s child.

      She forced the anger—at herself and at Luke—aside and said, “I will agree to any solution that will get Cody away from the environment he’s in at present. Somewhere safer, like a boarding school in Connecticut, would be acceptable to me—”

      “I’m afraid that’s not going to work,” the judge cut in, then addressed Cody. “Would you excuse us for a moment, Cody? Your parents and I have things to discuss. You’ll find refreshments and a television in the next room.” She indicated a small door leading off her office.

      Cody leaped to his feet. “Fine! Talk about me behind my back, why don’t you? But I’m tellin’ you now, I’m not goin’ to any boarding school!” He stalked out, slamming the door behind him, causing Megan to jump with fright.

      “I think as you can gather from that little tirade, Cody would only abscond from boarding school,” the judge said. “And then we wouldn’t know where he was.”

      Megan’s earlier hope of getting Cody away from New York and the bad influences surrounding him plummeted. Judge Benson was right, of course. Short of enclosing him in ten-foot walls topped by razor wire, Cody would take off the second his supervisors’ backs were turned.

      CODY FOOLED AROUND, switching channels on the TV, his mind elsewhere, wondering what the adults in the next room were deciding about his life. His father had other kids? Why hadn’t his mom told him that? Maybe she didn’t know until today, although by the look on her face, she wasn’t that shocked. Maybe that was why his mom didn’t want to talk about it whenever he’d asked. He was a married man and she’d had an affair with him. Yeah, that had to be it. His mom wouldn’t do anything like that knowingly, so the guy must’ve lied.

      He wondered what happened to his dad’s wife, since apparently she wasn’t in the picture. Maybe he killed her and buried her on the ranch somewhere. He looked tough enough to kill someone. Judging by the death stare he kept giving him. Yeah, you might think you’re tough, old man, but you don’t scare me!

      “CODY NEEDS A FATHER’S influence, and presence, badly,” Judge Benson said. “Megan has spent fourteen years raising your son. It’s now your turn to help with his upbringing. I appreciate your suggestion about the boarding school, but I think the best place for Cody right now is on your ranch in Colorado.”

      “No!” Megan cried. How could she even suggest such a thing? She’d never get to see Cody! It was as if her baby was being wrenched from her arms. Fighting tears, she appealed to the judge. “Cody is my life. My only family. You can’t take him away from me, Judge Benson. Please don’t do this to me.”

      “I’m not suggesting you stay here without Cody. I think it’s best if you both move to Colorado.”

      The judge had to joking! “I can’t do that. My life is here, in New York. I have job obligations and my study—”

      Gloria Benson shook her head. “There’s nothing to keep you here, Megan. No family, no worthwhile job. You can further your studies in Colorado. I’m suggesting that both of you try and make a go of being a family for Cody.”

      “But Luke has a wife. I’m sure she wouldn’t want him spending his time between two families.” She beseeched him with her eyes to tell the judge her plan wouldn’t work. Why had the man been so silent throughout this discussion? Surely he was as upset as she was?

      “I’m divorced,” Luke said in a tone that had her staring at him in disbelief. Judge Benson hadn’t said anything about that in the few minutes they’d had together before Luke arrived at the meeting. But she’d obviously been aware of it since she’d made such an outrageous suggestion. And then the impact of Luke’s statement hit her. Luke was divorced? Somehow, that complicated things even more, but Megan couldn’t put her finger on just why.

      Matt cleared his throat and said, “I realize this is very difficult for you, Megan, but I’d like to say something on my family’s behalf. We can all offer Cody a lot of support. We’re a big, close-knit family with lots of positive male role models. I think Judge Benson’s proposal is the ideal solution. There’s plenty of room at the ranch for you and Cody, and you’d be most welcome there.”

      Luke rounded on him. “Hold it right there! I haven’t agreed to anything. Can you honestly tell me that you want that…that—” he pointed toward the room Cody was in, glanced at Megan, then back at Matt, lowering his voice to a harsh whisper “—juvenile delinquent living under the same roof as your nieces?”

      “He’s not a delinquent,” Megan protested, her anger rising. How could Luke say that about his son? Be so callous about his own flesh and blood? If only he knew Cody better, he’d know he was a great kid. But since he didn’t, she appealed to the judge. “Tell him Cody’s a good kid. Please?”

      “She’s right, Luke. Cody is a good kid. He was getting excellent grades in school until a few months ago, but a bad element has moved into the area and it’s negatively affecting some of the kids. That display he subjected you to is simply bravado. It’s going to take some work to get him back again. Hard work.” She played her trump card. “I was hoping you’d be up to it.”

      Megan felt her lip curl. Luke hadn’t been man enough to acknowledge he had a son fourteen years ago when she’d sent him a letter just after Cody’s birth, telling him she’d had his child. If he couldn’t accept then that he had a baby, he certainly wouldn’t be up to the challenge of raising a difficult teen now.

      She blinked back tears as she remembered that sad time. The letter going unanswered.