Their Secret Baby Bond. Stephanie Dees

discovered her pregnancy a month later, he accused her of sleeping around and trying to trap him into marrying her.

      She hadn’t spoken to him since.

      When she looked up, her brother’s perceptive eyes were on her face. She forced a smile and took a huge bite of spaghetti that she wasn’t sure she could swallow.

      Jordan laid her fork down. “So, Wynn. Everyone is wondering why you’re home and how long you’re planning to stay.”

      The instant wave of nausea dispelled any appetite that Wynn may have started out with. Apparently, all of Red Hill Springs had decided that they’d given her enough space and it was time for answers.

      Deliberately, she picked up her glass of ice water and took a drink. She cleared her throat. “To be honest, I’m not really sure. Indefinitely seems to be the most accurate answer.”

      Ash’s handsome face softened. “Wynn, are you okay?”

      She pressed her fingers into her temples, where a headache had begun to throb, and took a deep breath before looking her brother in the eyes. “I’m fine. But...I’m probably going to need the services of the family pediatrician in about six months.”

      “You’re pregnant?” Her new sister-in-law squealed and jumped up from her spot at the table to give Wynn a hug. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

      Wynn held on to Jordan just a little too long. She hadn’t expected happiness. She’d expected pointed looks, maybe some outright condemnation, a judgmental whisper or two. “I messed up. And it’s a pretty obvious mistake, or, at least, it’s going to be.”

      Jordan flopped back into the chair, her auburn braids bouncing on her shoulders. “You’ve put the mistake behind you. You’re here, aren’t you?”

      Wynn searched out her brother’s gaze. He was quiet. Too quiet. He shook his head, and her stomach plummeted again.

      But then he said, “Jordan’s right, Wynn. Maybe you made some bad choices, but no matter what happened to get you to this point, a baby is a blessing, not a mistake, and we’re going to love him.”

      “Or her.” A tear dripped down her cheek, and she mopped it with her napkin. “I never used to cry.”

      Jordan grinned. “Me either. I don’t even have pregnancy hormones to blame, but I cry all the time now.”

      “Have you told Mom?”

      “Not yet.” At her brother’s look, Wynn grimaced. “I know, I know. I will. It’s just—it’s Mom. I don’t know, Ash.”

      “You have to tell her. It’ll only get worse if you don’t. Are you going to stay there?”

      “For now, but if I stay in Red Hill Springs—”

      “You should. You totally should.” Jordan interjected her opinion with a firm nod. “You need family around when you have a baby. Trust me on this one.”

      “If I stay in Red Hill Springs,” Wynn continued, “I have to find a job and a place to live.”

      Ash and Jordan exchanged a look.

      “What?”

      Jordan tore another piece of toast in half and slid it onto the tray of Levi’s high chair. “I don’t know about the job, but Claire and I were planning to offer you the cottage at Red Hill Farm, even before this. It really would be perfect for you. And Claire and Joe would be right there.”

      Wynn’s other brother, Joe, was married to Jordan’s twin sister and, together, they had somewhere around ten kids. The number was always changing as foster kids came in and out of their home, but they’d made Red Hill Farm into a peaceful place to heal.

      Wynn hadn’t even considered the cottage. “I thought I heard you and Claire were converting the cabin to office space.”

      “We were.” Levi threw a handful of spaghetti across the table and Jordan whisked his plate away. “Okay, we’re done with spaghetti and Daddy needs a clean shirt.”

      Jordan gently disentangled one of her braids from Levi’s sauce-covered fingers. “Gross, Levi. So yeah, we were planning to convert the cottage to office space, but honestly, I do most of the office work at home now because it’s more convenient and Claire doesn’t have time to make use of a separate office.”

      Ash gave up wiping spaghetti sauce off his formerly pristine white shirt and leaned back in his chair. “You know, everyone who lives in that house falls in love.”

      Wynn rolled her eyes. “Thanks for pointing that out to your pregnant sister, who has, in fact, sworn off men forever. I don’t think you have to worry about me falling in love with anyone.”

      He took a sip of his iced tea and raised one eyebrow. “Whatever you say.”

      “I say yes. To the cottage.” She raised her voice. “Thank you, Jordan. The cottage will be perfect.”

      Jordan popped her head out from the bathroom down the hall, where water was running into the tub. “I have no idea what you just said, but I’m assuming from your smile that it was yes?”

      Wynn nodded.

      “Feel free to paint or whatever. It was a slap job when Joe renovated. I always meant to work on it and didn’t get to do very much.” Jordan disappeared into the bathroom again.

      Wynn took the dishes to the sink. Her brother nudged her away. “I got this. Go home. You started work at four thirty this morning, and you have circles under your eyes.”

      She hugged her brother. “Thank you for dinner. And for...everything.”

      “You’re gonna be fine, Wynn. You’re the most courageous person I know.”

      Eyes swimming with tears again, she gave him a shove. “You’re okay, yourself.”

      “Tell Mom.”

      “I will. Don’t push me.” She heard her brother’s laugh as she swung down the stairs and opened the door to her car. So it looked like her “indefinite” stay here was getting a little more defined. By making that choice, she was deciding to face the scrutiny and reaction of people who’d known her all her life...people she respected and cared about.

      Tomorrow, she would tell her mom. It wouldn’t be easy. But already, she knew her brother had her back, and that was no small thing.

      As she drove home, her brain was spinning with ideas for fixing up the cottage that she would soon be calling home, the realization that she was going to need help...and that Latham just happened to be a carpenter.

      * * *

      Latham pushed the door open to the bakery, stopping short when he saw Wynn sitting on a stool behind the counter, dressed in a long white T-shirt, black leggings and her sister Jules’s signature pink apron. “I didn’t know you were working here.”

      She smiled, a little sheepishly. “Apparently everyone in the family has been waiting for me to settle in so they could take a day off. So, yesterday at the Hilltop, today at the bakery.”

      He raised an eyebrow. “You bake?”

      “Ha! No worries, Jules did all that before daylight. I’m strictly counter help. Where’s Pop today?”

      “He likes to meet his friends for breakfast at the Hilltop on Saturday morning, so I usually drop him off and come next door for one or two of your sister’s cinnamon twist doughnuts. Which may or may not be why I have to play soccer with the guys on Saturday afternoons.”

      She laughed as she placed two cinnamon twists on a paper plate. “Yes, well, food is my family’s love language, so I understand the need for exercise. Coffee?”

      “Yes, please.”

      Wynn poured his coffee into a mug with the Take the Cake logo and handed it over the counter, accepting the cash Latham