Even if the testing showed Brandt was the father, was Shane really going to be able to walk away from them both? The heavy feeling in his gut said that like Brandt, he was stuck. No bolting town. Yet again, he’d be the one cleaning up after Shelby, proving he was the better person. And that meant working together with Brandt to do what needed to be done and figuring out a way to ignore the way the air crackled every time Brandt so much as smiled his direction. The baby had to come first.
Chapter Five
“Jewel’s not exactly a low-maintenance girl, is she?” Brandt had to laugh as they finally departed for the lawyer’s office. He was used to going from dead asleep to on the road to the air base in under five minutes, but the baby traveled with her car seat, which had a snap-in base that Shane had had to retrieve from the RV. Then there was the diaper bag and a lunch box Brandt had dug up to hold bottles ready to go. Right as they’d been about to close the backseat door, Shane had produced a little light blanket to drape over the car seat to block the strong morning sun. It was no wonder that they were cutting it close to the appointment time. Luckily, the rural road that the house was off of was only a ten-minute drive to the center of Painter’s Ridge and only a little farther to the air base.
And how weird did a car seat look in the back of his old Jeep? Strange enough having someone else in the passenger seat, especially someone who wasn’t a coworker. Not to mention someone as distracting as Shane. Brandt was used to buddies he could largely ignore, not whatever this strange pull was that Shane had over him.
“Trust me, I’ve toured with some real divas before. At least this tiny one sleeps a lot, stays in her seat, and doesn’t require praise every five minutes.” Shane laughed, a rare sound from him. His laugh always had a hitch, like he was surprising himself too.
“Okay. You’ve got a point. Could be worse.” Brandt joined him in chuckling.
“Yup. She could be a teenager. I wouldn’t want to relive Shelby’s teen years for anything.”
“Yeah,” Brandt agreed weakly, stomach churning because that tiny baby in his rearview would indeed someday be someone’s opinionated, fashion-conscious, nonstop-eating teenager. This wasn’t simply a baby, a weekend sitting adventure. This was a person. A person who was going to grow and change and have needs, wants, and preferences. A person who would need parents. And the universe in all its wisdom thought that role should fall to Brandt? Lord help us all.
“Did you ever see yourself as a dad?” Shane asked, almost as if he could read Brandt’s discomfort. “Down the road, I mean. Assuming you met the right person...”
“No. Never. Not after my childhood. That’s why I was so careful with condoms. Always.” Brandt turned into Painter’s Ridge, following the directions he’d been given for locating the law offices in the small downtown. Nearby Bend was bigger, but there was something quaint and familiar about this small community that Brandt had always appreciated.
“Ah.” Shane made a thoughtful noise as he stretched. “I was just thinking that this might be easier if it was something you’d always wanted, but more a matter of timing.”
“Trust me that I’m the last guy someone wants as a husband and father.” No one was lining up to commit to a guy who moved on as often as Brandt, and who had his fetish for dangerous hobbies and occupations.
“I feel that.”
“You?” Brandt’s own musical tastes were more diverse, running heavily to metal and alternative, but his impression of country was that it leaned heavily to the blond, wholesome, and saccharine. “And you’re young. No white picket fence and hound dog with two kids in the future for you?”
“Nah. I won’t say in interviews, of course, but I’m not the wife type.” Shane met Brandt’s eyes as they stopped for a traffic sign.
“Ah.” Message received. Brandt had figured that might be the case, but he didn’t like to assume. “Not going to find judgment from me. I’m—”
“Think this is the place.” Mouth a thin line, Shane pointed to a quaint downtown building. The set of his jaw said this was not a conversation topic that he was eager to resume. Which was just as well. Brandt tended to keep his personal life private, but he’d been about to match Shane’s cryptic disclosure with one of his own. Probably for the best, though, that they keep their focus on the kid, and not on the fact that these sparks between them might not be a total illusion.
“Look.” After finding a parking spot, Brandt turned toward Shane. “I might not be eager to be a dad, but I’m not gonna run from my responsibility either. Just want to say that before we go in there.”