Destined to Be a Dad. Christyne Butler

stopover in Denver, she’d only had time to ring her mother and have their first real conversation since Missy had left London.

      Wise enough to keep her opinions of Casey’s actions to herself, her mother had insisted she had no idea what her granddaughter had been up to. But Elizabeth Ellington had been shocked to find out Missy was also on her way to Wyoming. Before she could say anything more, Missy had ended the call with a curt promise to get in touch as soon as she found a place for her and Casey to stay for the weekend.

      “Ms. Dobbs?”

      Missy spun around and found a gentleman dressed in a dark suit holding a placard with her name on it. She’d traveled enough over the years to recognize a car service when she saw one.

      Liam wasn’t here. She should be grateful for more time before she saw him again, but it bothered her more than she cared to admit that he hadn’t kept his word. “Yes?”

      “Mr. Murphy was unavoidably detained in Destiny due to business,” he said. “I’m to make sure you arrive safely. I have a car waiting outside.”

      Resentment burned that not only had Liam stood her up, but he hadn’t sent Casey along to meet her either. Bollocks! What did he think she’d do? Grab her daughter and take the next flight out of here?

      “Could you give me a moment, please?” she asked.

      The gentleman nodded and stepped away. Missy found a quiet corner and called Casey’s mobile. It went straight to voice mail. She left a message that she’d landed and was on her way to Destiny. She then tried the number her daughter had used when she’d called earlier today, assuming it was for Liam’s cell phone, but it just rang and rang.

      Seeing as she didn’t have any other choice, she followed the driver outside and moments later was seated in the back of a luxury town car. They soon were out of the city and on the motorway. Out the window the land was flat and wide and empty with a blue sky that seemed to go on forever.

      So different from the hustle and bustle of London, where she’d lived all her life. She remembered feeling very lost and vulnerable when she’d first arrived in Wyoming all those years ago.

      She’d almost cut her visit short after a trip home for Christmas, but had decided to return to Destiny.

      Because of one boy. The one she’d been crushing on from the time she’d seen him in the school hallway the very first week.

      Liam Murphy, a real cowboy who spent his weekends riding in rodeos, had finally asked her to dance during the last slow song at the winter semiformal, and she had promptly tripped over his boots—

      No!

      Missy gave her head a quick shake. There would be no trips down memory lane. It was bad enough she’d spent the last few weeks remembering how she and Liam had met, started dating and fallen in love.

      Of course, steering clear of their shared history wasn’t going to be easy. Goodness knew what kind of questions Casey was going to have for her—for them—over the next few days.

      Missy tried once more to reach her daughter, but again she got only voice mail. She grew more nervous as they arrived in Destiny, which she had to admit looked much the same as the last time she was here.

      They drove down the charming main street with its many businesses, around the gazebo in the center of town, past the firehouse and the sheriff’s office and the Blue Creek Saloon, a bar and restaurant whose roots went back to the town’s founding in the late 1800s, a fact that had fascinated Missy the first time she’d been there.

      When the car passed over the rushing waters of the blue creek the town landmark was named after, she realized the turnoff to Liam’s family ranch and business headquarters was just ahead.

      She tensed, expecting a large crowd. Liam was one of six boys, most of whom worked for the log-home business as well, so there must be wives and other children in the family by now. Would they be here? What about his parents? Were they still alive and living here, too?

      When the car bypassed the oversize parking lot and slowed to a stop in the half circle drive in front of the massive two-story log home, only one figure waited on the front porch that ran the length of the building.

      Liam.

      From her own memories and the candid photographs on the company’s website showing the Murphy family at work and at play, the brothers were all good-looking men with similar features, but she knew it was him.

      Missy couldn’t take her eyes off the man as she exited the car and pushed her tote bag to one shoulder, her fingers clenching her phone as the memories she’d tried so hard to keep at bay washed over her.

      Memories of falling in love for the first time, and all the joy and wonder that came with that experience. But then the pain—a truly aching, physical pain—when he had broken her heart.

      How, after all this time, could those feelings still be powerful enough to bring a piercing sting to the back of her eyes?

      Blinking hard, she wished she’d thought to grab her sunglasses from her bag. Regardless, she started forward, suddenly needing to see Casey. She made her way up the elaborate brick pathway, bordered with a colorful array of flowers that also ran along the front of the house.

      “Where’s my daughter?” she asked when she reached the stairs, hating the huskiness of her voice.

      Liam moved to the edge of the porch and she couldn’t help but note that the picture online must’ve been taken recently. Despite the passage of time, he did look the same, just an older version of the boy she’d known. Impossibly handsome in jeans, a long-sleeved dress shirt with the cuffs folded back to his elbows and cowboy boots.

      Always cowboy boots.

      His gaze lit on her, but the setting sun and deep shadows of the porch made it impossible to see his expression as he thanked the driver, who’d placed her suitcases on the porch. She tore her gaze from him and thanked the man as well when he walked past her.

      When it was just the two of them again, she returned her focus to Liam, who hadn’t moved other than to cross his arms over his chest.

      The defensive pose spoke volumes about his state of mind. Fine, but right now she wanted to see for herself that Casey was okay.

      “I asked you—”

      “Is it true?” The words were out of his mouth as she reached for the stair railing, freezing her on the first step. “Is Casey my daughter?” he demanded.

Chapter Two

      Liam hadn’t meant to sound so rude. He’d figured once Missy arrived at the house they’d sit down like adults, catch up on the last sixteen years and talk about the craziness that had descended on his life today.

      Craziness in the form of his supposed daughter. But first, he had to know.

      “Is she mine?” he asked again, his voice softer now.

      He waited for her to answer, not having felt this rush of fear, excitement and adrenaline since his bronc-riding days. No, that was a lie. The moment Casey had shocked him with her announcement, he’d felt something far beyond anything he’d ever experienced on the back of a horse.

      The sensation now returned in full force. The feeling that he was about to take the ride of his life.

      “Yes,” Missy finally said, “she is.”

      He dropped his arms. The almost desperate need to believe her was so foreign he brushed it away. Could he accept what she was saying as the truth? He’d admit the numbers made sense and according to his mother, Casey shared the same eyes—right down to the dark blue coloring—as him, but he was having a hard time believing the girl’s rambling story.

      None of this made sense. How? Why?

      “I’d like to see her,” Missy continued,