He was glad he had named her after his mother. She’d always looked just like her. The older she got the more she favored her grandmother and had inherited her outgoing personality, too. His mother had been beautiful and so was his daughter.
“What about the one you’re working on?” he asked, motioning her to the chair in front of his desk.
“A medical malpractice lawsuit. I’ve got a lot of files to go through, so I’ll be busy for the next few weeks.”
“Does that mean you won’t be attending the gender reveal party with me?” he asked.
“Of course I will. A girl has to have fun sometimes. Enjoying life keeps the mind sharp.”
He chuckled. “I agree.” Like he didn’t know the main reason she was looking forward to going was that she hoped to see Alisdare Westmoreland. He was aware that because they both had demanding jobs—hers as an attorney and his as an FBI agent—they had made what he thought was a wise decision to just be friends.
“Will Alisdare be there?” he asked.
“I hope so. For the past six months, he’s been working undercover. What about you, Dad? Are you hoping to see Iris Michaels?”
He knew the reason Deena was asking. The night of Cheyenne’s birthday party two years ago, when he and Iris had returned to the ballroom, everyone had come from the veranda to gather around, sing “Happy Birthday” and cut the cake. He was certain it hadn’t gone unnoticed that he and Iris had remained in each other’s company for the rest of the night. He accepted she was in a serious relationship with someone, and he would never encroach on that. But he saw no reason for the two of them not to enjoy the evening talking. Besides, she hadn’t seemed any more eager to part ways with him than he’d been to part ways with her.
She was a woman he’d sincerely liked and enjoyed talking to—even when he had seen her at Jaxon and Nadia’s wedding last year and she’d been with her steady guy. Matt tried really hard not to be quick in judging anyone, but he knew he wouldn’t like Warren Forsythe the moment they were introduced. His lawyer jokes had hit a nerve.
Another thing Matt would admit was that in addition to being attracted to Iris, he desired her, with a depth he’d never felt before. He had honestly thought that at forty-six, he’d been beyond feeling that degree of passion for a woman. Obviously not.
“I told you Iris and I can only be friends. She is involved with someone.”
“Not anymore.”
He sat up straight in his chair. “How do you know that?”
“I’d rather not say. Just trust me when I say my source would know.”
Matt stared at his daughter. Although he attended most of the Westmoreland events he was invited to, Deena participated in all of them. She felt a part of both the Westmoreland and the Steele families, which made her quite the traveler these days. She had attended the Christmas with the Steeles’ event in the Smoky Mountains. From there, she had flown to Denver to attend the Westmoreland Charity Ball, the day before New Year’s Eve. More than once, she said she felt as if she had the best of both worlds, and he was happy for her.
Personally, he was still trying to navigate being Sid Roberts’s son. If Matt thought the Westmoreland triplets had gotten emotional that night they’d first seen him, he figured nothing could compare to when he met Chester. That had been more emotional than he’d been prepared for, and it had been a turning point in his life.
He and Deena had been invited to Clint’s Golden Glade Ranch in Austin, Texas, to meet Chester. All three triplets had been there to witness the older man’s reaction. He had taken one look at Matt and his eyes had unashamedly filled with tears, saying it was like seeing Sid alive again.
After composing himself, the man presented Matt a packet, saying it had been given to him for safekeeping by Sid, in case there was a time after his death when the son he had fathered was found. The packet was to be given to his son once it was verified beyond any doubt that the person was not an imposter. As far as Chester or anyone else was concerned, there was no doubt Matt was Sid’s son.
Inside the packet was the letter his mother had sent to Sid. Matt immediately recognized her sprawling handwriting. Then there was a letter in Sid Roberts’s own handwriting, notarized, saying he regretted not having lived to meet Matt in person, but upon reading the letter, he was officially claiming him as his son. Another letter in the packet was addressed to Clint, Casey or Cole. Matt gave the letter to Clint, who read it and then said that his uncle, Sid, wanted Matt to have the land on the south ridge. Clint told Matt the parcel was presently being used as a reserve to save horses from being slaughtered.
Matt was moved by the letter Sid Roberts had left for him and his offer of the land. However, he refused to accept the property. Just knowing that the man acknowledged him from the grave and shared his legacy was touching enough. Sidney Matthew Roberts, sight unseen, had fully claimed him—Matthew Sidney Caulder—as his. From that day on, Matt accepted Sid Roberts as his father.
That was one of the reasons he had attended the Sid Roberts Foundation banquet as the Westmoreland triplets’ guest five months ago. When he walked in, the entire ballroom had gotten completely quiet, and everyone stared at him, shocked, as if they were seeing a ghost. Those who had known his father—many from the rodeo circuits—approached him and said the same thing Chester had. It was as if they were seeing Sid alive again. And also like Chester, a number of them had tears in their eyes, while telling him what a good man his father was, and how he’d rightly earned his legend as a cowboy and rodeo star. Two of the guys, who had been Sid’s closest friends, even remembered meeting his mother, Deena, that summer, and told him Sid always said she was the one he regretted letting get away.
After the event was over, as he, Deena, and other members of the Westmoreland family who had been there to support the triplets were leaving, he encountered a swarm of reporters who thought his being Sid Roberts’s long-lost son was big news. Or they intended to make it that way.
Not long after the banquet, he began receiving requests from newspapers, magazines, podcasters and television shows. Everyone wanted to interview him. A production company even wanted to make a movie about the love story between his mother and Sid. News flash! There hadn’t been a love story, and he refused to let some Hollywood director make up one.
Okay, there had been a love story, at least on his mother’s side. According to his godmother, Megan, Deena Caulder had fallen deeply in love with Sid Roberts. Although she could never have him as part of her life, she was happy having his son, who constantly reminded her of the only man she had ever loved.
His godmother also presented him with a photo album his mother had kept, showing photos of her and Sid during that summer. There were a number of them. Seeing his mother so young, beautiful and happy with the man she loved had touched him deeply. Some photos were taken at the rodeo, while others were taken at other events. There were also news clippings of his father when he won several rodeo titles, which meant she had kept up with his career over the years.
One particular photograph, which Megan pointed out, was of Deena and Sid together at what appeared to be a nice restaurant. Sitting close, with his arms around her shoulders, Deena smiled brightly at the camera and Sid stared at Deena. He was looking at her in a way Matt’s godmother thought meant something.
That photo led Megan to speculate that Sid had loved Deena as well, although he’d never told Deena so. His godmother felt Deena must have known it, but Sid’s love for the rodeo was stronger, and Deena didn’t want to take that from him. Deena had died with instructions to Megan to only share the album with Matt if he inquired about his father. Then it was to become his.
He had shared the album with the triplets, and they had become emotional again. Casey shared his godmother’s sentiments, that Sid had loved Deena. Clint and Cole even recalled their uncle once telling them about the one woman he had fallen in love with—how, in the end, he had chosen the rodeo over her. A decision Sid had regretted.
“Well, Dad, I’ll be going. Don’t work too late,” Deena said now, breaking into his thoughts.
