The Cowboy's Claim by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online

continued in the direction of Brandon. When she reached him she offered him a friendly smile. “Hi, Mr. Williams. How are you this evening?”
    It was difficult to discern Brandon’s age as his head was as bald as a cue ball and he had no eyebrows. A scar ran down the side of his plump face and the blue of his eyes radiated warmth. “I’m doing well, Courtney. How is that little fella of yours?”
    “He’s great. Talking more and more every day and becoming a bit of a ham. Now, what can I get for you this evening?”
    By the time she’d put in Brandon’s order, Nick’s and Adam’s plates were ready for delivery. She steeled herself and approached their booth once again. “Two Saturday night specials,” she said as she placed the plates down before each of them. “Is there anything else you need?”
    “I could use a refill on my iced tea,” Nick said.
    She looked at his half-empty glass. “Of course, I’ll be right back.” Moments later she returned to the table, with his iced tea glass filled to near overflowing, and then went back to dealing with her other customers.
    Nick and Adam lingered, ordering coffee and Mary’s famous apple pie for dessert. Courtney served them once again and then tried to keep her gaze away from Nick as she busied herself taking care of other people’s dining needs.
    She smiled at one of her favorite customers, Thomas Manning. Thomas had arrived in Grady Gulch about a year ago. He was in his late thirties, quiet and well spoken and usually had a book in his hand. She took Thomas’s order and left the table.
    She couldn’t wait for this rush hour to be over so she could get Garrett back home and get on with the rest of her weekend. All she wanted to do for the remainder of the evening and all day tomorrow was spend time with her favorite little boy.
    Still, she couldn’t help but notice several people stopping by the booth to visit with Nick and Adam. On their best day the two were both charmers, easy to talk to and drawing people to them.
    The dinner rush seemed to last forever, but finally people began to filter out. She glanced over at Nick and saw that Mary was visiting with the two men.
    As the pretty blonde walked away from their table to visit with another dinner guest, Nick’s gaze caught hers and in the depths of his eyes was a burning anger.
    He knows.
    The words thundered in her head, for a moment stealing all other sound, as if she’d gone momentarily deaf. She broke eye contact with him and walked on shaky legs toward the kitchen.
    He knows Garrett is his. She wasn’t sure who might have told him Garrett’s age, but with that information there would be little doubt in his mind that the boy belonged to him. She’d make him doubt, she thought desperately. As long as he didn’t see Garrett, he couldn’t be sure.
    “Problems?” Rusty asked as he stepped away from the grill. More than once Rusty had served as bouncer for customers who got out of line. He not only had broad shoulders and arms the size of tree trunks, but his face was enough to intimidate anyone.
    He might scare somebody who didn’t know him, but Courtney had seen the soft side he rarely displayed, his utter devotion to Mary and her son, Matt, and all the women who worked here.
    “No problems,” she quickly assured him as she tried to still the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat. “I just needed a minute away from the crowd.”
    What was she going to do? A frantic energy swelled up inside her as she considered her options. She could lie to him and tell him that a week after he’d left town she’d slept with somebody else. There would be no way he could disprove her words, and she wouldn’t have to give him a specific name.
    The only way he’d know the truth for sure was if he actually saw that little cleft in Garrett’s chin. It couldn’t have come from anyone else in the entire town but Nick Benson.
    For the first time since she’d left her hometown of Evanston, she thought of going back.