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couldn‟t give his wife the kids she wanted so much and he knew their marriage was a struggle partly because of that, but he‟d hoped those issues had all been resolved before the pregnancy. Obviously it hadn‟t been that easy.
    “Bill loves you, Calley,” Gable said, kissing her temple. “I‟m sure once he lays eyes on these kids and everyone is patting his back for a job well done, he‟ll toot a different tune.” They sat together for a while, heads close together and their hands touching on Calley‟s belly. From time to time one of the babies would kick and Gable would smile. He‟d shared a lot of highs and lows with Calley and considered himself a true friend, and he‟d held her close because she needed it, but he was surprised about his own feeling toward the babies. He‟d never let himself crave offspring because he knew early on that he‟d never marry a woman and have a family. He‟d always poured his paternal feelings into his dogs and his horses, but now he realized that he wanted to see these children grow up. Up until now he‟d rationalized that he was just helping Calley and that he trusted her to take good care of his children, but that they wouldn‟t really be his, since nobody but the six of them involved would ever know Bill wasn‟t the father. So what had changed?
    Gable didn‟t have the chance to think about it, because his little intimate moment with Calley and her babies was broken by the front door swinging open and Flynn walking in. Gable saw the spring in Flynn‟s step as he walked into the kitchen and then the change in his expression as he noticed his lover‟s closeness to Calley.
    It was only then that Gable thought again of pulling his hand away from Calley.

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    Zahra Owens

    Chapter 29

    FLYNN felt like he‟d walked into something he wasn‟t supposed to have been privy to. He saw Gable pull his hand away from Calley‟s belly and Calley‟s stunned face, and before he could even think of asking for an explanation from Gable, his feet had carried him outside again, into the bright spring sunshine and the cold morning air.
    Bridget came toward him, her tail wagging. “Let‟s go, girl. Back to the barn.”
    All he could think of when he was saddling T.C. was that his first impression had been right. There was something between Gable and Calley that Gable had neglected to tell him. All he could see was his lover sitting close to Calley, holding her, his head close to hers as if they‟d just kissed and his hand on her belly, protecting the children growing inside. His children; Gable‟s children. The children Gable had always pretended not to want. The children Gable had always said he wouldn‟t help conceive because he wouldn‟t be allowed to play dad to them, and then he‟d changed his mind.
    God! He would have given an arm and a leg for those children to have been his. He‟d always told himself that it was better that they weren‟t, because he‟d want to raise them himself and he would probably muck that up as easily as he‟d mucked up everything else.
    Climbing into T.C.‟s saddle, he knew he had to get away, put a little distance between himself and the ranch, although he couldn‟t in good conscience leave it right now. He knew he‟d have to do the sensible thing. He had to return and talk to Gable about it, but right now, he couldn‟t. He would wind up saying things he‟d regret later.
    After letting T.C. run at full gallop for a few moments, he slowed down, knowing Bridget would be trying to follow. He was trotting when she caught up with them, panting, so he dismounted near a 216

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    drinking trough and called her to him. Thaw had settled in and there was only a very thin layer of ice left on the water, so he broke it and let Bridget and the horse drink. He then found himself a spot in the high grass near the fence where most of the snow had already cleared and sat down.
    Bridget settled half on his lap.
    “You always know when I‟m feeling a bit worse for wear, don‟t you, girl?”
    Bridget looked up at him and then settled her head on his thigh.
    He stroked her head and flank and slowly felt himself relax. Even if Gable was keeping a secret from him, they were going to have to have a grown-up conversation about it, because that‟s what you did in a relationship. At least that‟s what he figured. It wasn‟t like he‟d ever witnessed a grown-up relationship before. It was just hard to realize that there would always be