Baby My Baby (A Ranching Family) by Victoria Pade Read Free Book Online Page A

shut it behind him did she close her eyes and set her teeth together in determination.
    He had a right to the baby and she wouldn’t deny him that right.
    But she’d be damned if she’d let him get to her. She’d ignore him. She’d go on about her business as if he weren’t around. She’d find a way to keep herself removed from him, emotionally if not logistically.
    And if, deep down, there was a tiny flicker of relief, that she might not be as alone in this as she’d thought?
    She didn’t want to admit it.
    Not even to herself.

Chapter Three
    A s Ash showered and dressed early the next morning, he told himself to get a grip. Being mad at Beth didn’t serve any purpose, and arguing with her, shouting at her, upsetting her, couldn’t be good for the baby.
    It was just that he was so damn frustrated!
    He knew her, knew she’d go to any lengths to do this alone. Hadn’t she sat there smugly and challenged him to tell her just what he thought he could do to be a part of things right now?
    Of course he hadn’t an answer. Pregnancy was a woman’s domain. But he knew for certain that if he didn’t make a stand now, if he didn’t get involved in whatever way he could, then he’d never be a part of the baby’s life once it was born, either.
    But how long would it take to make his stand, to be truly involved? he asked himself. The baby wouldn’t be born for four months. And there was no way he could put everything on hold with the foundation for that long.
    Still, he could manage it for a little while. At least until he felt he’d established with Beth that he’d accept nothing short of his full role as father to this child.
    And even then, when he went back to the reservation, he’d still have to find some way to keep in close contact with her, because he wanted to be in on this whole thing. It aggravated him that he’d already missed five months.
    Although that aggravation couldn’t have surprised him more.
    Beth was right. He hadn’t wanted them to have kids of their own. The days when there were a surplus of babies in the world to adopt might be all in the past, but there were still those who were hard to find homes for—babies born with handicaps, with fetal alcohol syndrome or drug addictions. The Native American community had many such children, who often had to be placed with families outside the culture.
    Ash was among those who didn’t like to see that happen, both because he believed Indian children should be raised knowing their heritage, and because recent programs attempting to reclaim children already outside that circle struck him as painful business for everyone involved. So he’d decided that when the time came for him to become a parent he wanted to do what he could to keep at least a few of those kids from being adopted out to non-Indian parents in the first place.
    But that didn’t mean he was going to turn his back on his own child. Beth was out of her mind to think he might. It was more than just doing the right thing.
    This was his child.
    There was something incredible about that. About the fact that he’d created a human being. Before, when he’d made his decision to build his family through adoption, he hadn’t considered it any big deal to have a child of his own.
    But he’d been wrong. It was a very big deal.
    He was bowled over by the pure wonder of it. This child was his....
    Would it look like him? Would it look like Beth? Would it have his paternal grandfather’s artistic talent and give the world more that was beautiful and meaningful? Would it have his maternal grandfather’s wisdom and kindness and irrepressible sense of humor?
    It was just so damned amazing.
    And he hated this feeling he had of being on the outside looking in.
    There was no doubt about it, he was determined to be a force in this child’s life. A presence as strong as Beth’s. Even though he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to do that when he was divorced from the baby’s mother and living