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The Mountain Man's Secret Twins(30)

By:Holly Rayner




After driving 15 minutes, Kenzie found the wooden sign for the park on her right. She slowed to a halt, parking along the dirt walkway. The park was small, with a single bench near the far side, tucked between several trees. Kenzie peered at the figure sitting on the bench. He wore a dark hat, black pants, a large coat, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets. With so much distance between them, Kenzie couldn’t tell if it was Bryce or not.#p#分页标题#e#



She had to get closer. She had to try. Don’t give up now, she thought.



Using the last of her dwindling energy, she wandered down the dark path toward the bench. As she drew closer, she sensed the man on the bench looking at her, trying to gage who she was, what she was doing. But with Kenzie’s massive coat wrapped around her, along with her rotund, newly pregnant belly, she assumed her figure in the dark looked nothing like that of the woman he’d held tightly in his bed. Probably more like a whale, she thought.



Finally, she reached the bench and peered down at him, standing two feet in front of his black boots, which were stamped into the frigid ground. Slowly, a smile stretched across Bryce’s face. He looked incredulous.



“Kenzie. What on earth are you doing here?” he asked. His words were dreamlike, as if he didn’t fully believe she was there.



Kenzie felt frazzled. She wanted to wrap her arms around him immediately and weep into his shoulder, telling him how terrified she’d been that she’d never find him. But she exhaled deeply, showing the whites of her eyes. After all, she reminded herself, he might still have a wife and child lurking somewhere.



“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”



“Where? Near the cabin?”



“All of the surrounding towns. I had your patch. The Blue Boys Clubhouse patch. I figured I’d find you there.”



Bryce smiled again, nearly outright laughing now. “You met the Blue Boys?” he asked.



“Gunner, Larry, Everett…” Kenzie said, trailing off.



“Oh, wow. That’s my old gang,” he said. He tapped the bench beside him, telling her to sit down. She did, collapsing. Bryce rubbed her shivering shoulders, trying to calm her. “You look freezing. Should we go somewhere?”



“I just drove here from Cambridge. There’s nothing close,” Kenzie said. “Besides, I’m not actually cold. Just nervous. I came all the way here to tell you something. Something important.” Her eyelashes fluttered.



“Okay,” Bryce said, after a pause.



“I’m pregnant. With twins. They’re yours,” Kenzie blurted. She smacked her hand over her mouth. After hours of practicing how she would tell him, she’d done it like a child: loudly, quickly, without regard for his feelings.



Bryce didn’t speak for a long time. He rubbed his blond beard, trying to make sense of the news. Just when Kenzie assumed he wanted nothing to do with her, nothing to do with any of them, Bryce wrapped her in a bear hug. He kissed her cheek, looking overjoyed. His eyes glittered with tears.



“Kenzie, this is beautiful news,” he whispered, kissing her cheek again. “Whatever happens, no matter what, I’ll be there for you. Twins. You have got to be kidding me. Really?”



Kenzie nodded, sniffling. “Two babies.”



“Do you know the genders yet?”



“No,” Kenzie said. “I only just had the ultrasound. This is relatively new for me as well.”



But is it new for him? she wondered. Her face clouded with the thought of his apparent wife and child. Would he leave her for someone else down the road, like her father had? Or was he just that impossible to get to know, as the men at the Blues Boys Clubhouse had said?



“I have to ask you something,” she said.#p#分页标题#e#



“Anything,” Bryce returned. He swiped her dark hair behind her shoulder, clearing her face.



“I found a photograph in your cabin. A photograph of you, and a beautiful blond woman, and a baby. Where is your wife and child? Why don’t you tell anyone about them?”



Bryce looked taken aback. Immediately, Kenzie was fearful, realizing she’d drawn the line between them, calling him out on his falsehoods. But how could she live knowing he was telling her lies?



Bryce leaned back against the bench, crossing his muscled arms over his chest. “Well. I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d be telling this story today. Although, it’s always running through my head.”



Kenzie frowned, sensing tragedy. Her heart grew heavy in her chest. She focused on her breathing: inhale, exhale.