The Cowboys pregnant fiance

Chapter 4

After Cody had banked some hours on the Harrison ranch doing maintenance around the stables, he headed for dinner at Grans house.

She lived in what he thought of as a gingerbread cottage with brown planked walls and white trim around the doors and windows. He had found out that the hand painted decorations on the flower boxes under the windows had been done by his grandpa, back in the day before his heart attack had left gran alone for going on ten years now.

When he knocked it took her a few minutes to answer, but he knew she would get around to it just fine.

And when she did she had a smile on her face as she opened her arms to him and gave him a great big hug.

"It hasn't been a few days but I missed you silly." she said as she pulled away lifting her hands to pat his cheeks.

Cody hadn't ever had his cheeks patted like that before, and he felt his face growing red. Gran thought that was pretty funny and she had a good laugh.

He waited her out still cautious around her because he'd never had a grandma before. His adoptive mom and dad had been older both orphaned and that is why uncle Stewart who'd never planned to have kids, had taken him in. In his own way he had showed Cody that he wasn't very wanted.

He supposed that's why Curtis held such an appeal for him, the man was never here to ever turn him aside whereas a real live grandma just might turn Cody away someday.

When she was done with her chuckles she waved him inside where it smelled like ginger bread too. And casserole. And mothballs. But it was a comforting combination of smells that had already grown on him as much as he would ever allow it to.

"Take a seat." she said gesturing to a battered recliner that had seen better days.

she settled on the worn doily decorated sofa next to him pouring sodas into waiting glasses just as efficient as always.

He set the oilcloth wrapped journal on the table and she stopped pouring.

"I thought I saw you bearing a gift, Cody, But I am more of roses or chocolate kind of woman." She touched the oilcloth. "Just what is this?"

"I asked the same thing yesterday when a friend brought it to me." He explained who it belonged to and why his friend had found it in her garden.

It didn't take gran but a second to pounce on the item. Her creased forehead told him that she was worried about the contents.

"Don't fret." He said. " I didn't find a whole lot about the man."

"I'm not fretting." But she used her finger to help her speed through each line of each page anyway.

While she did that Cody drank his soda. He had even grabbed the remote to turn the old TV and flip through the channels.

He wanted to ask gran if she mind getting out the old photo albums she'd shown him over the months. Pictures of her wedding to his grandfather images of Grandpa as a dimple cheeked blond child.

Photos of Grandmas mom Tessa Field,in particular with her blond hair dimpled spritely smile.

When gran was done reading she took the remote from him and turned of the TV. She was no longer frowning.

"Find anything worrisome?" He asked

"Hardly. I kept a diary when I was younger too but I was a teenager. Curtis must have not found many friends to talk to."

"Just the journal."

"He was terribly sweet on whoever this girl was though. That's clear."

And doesn't that make you connect any dots? Cody thought. Isn't there a possibility that Curtis and this girl got together even outside of marriage and had a kid and that kid had their own child and then...that child had him?

Even more to the point because the P.I. who directed him to gran told him that she was his maternal grandmother Cody suspected that Curtis had perhaps fallen in love with his great grandmother Tessa who had been the sheriffs daughter.

And the woman who had gotten married to someone wasn't Curtis.

Was that what Curtis meant whenever he mentioned terrible sins?

But Cody knew it was fruitless to ask gran about all this because for whatever reason she wouldn't talk about Curtis in anything but broad strokes.

So Cody took the obvious rout.

"Who do you think the woman was?" He asked

"Curtis's dreamboat? I have no idea."

Uh-huh. Cody knew lies from truths and this was a prime example of the former. But he also knew his gran by this time too, because he had spent several months in her company at their weekly dinners.

She wasn't going to give up anything to him she didn't want to.

When she popped out of her seat to see the meal, Cody took the journal in his hands again opening it to another passage that he'd lingered over last night.

She is an angel and when the sunlight catches her hair, it's as if I can catch a glimpse of a found paradise....

And just like last night Cody couldn't help but picture a woman who resembled his own blond angel even though he didn't have a devil of a chance with her.

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