And even now, his brain was a muddle of conflicting thoughts as he tried to make sense of the fact that Soleil Freeman, the woman he’d spent the past five and a half months trying to forget, was standing in front of him, pregnant.

What the hell?

Still beautiful, perhaps even more so now, her formerly wiry frame had been softened by lush curves. She’d done something with her hair, too. In the summer it had been a wild mess of springy curls, but she had it in two braids today that gave her a young earth-goddess aura.

He stared into her pale green eyes, made all the more stunning by her café-au-lait skin, trying to see some truth there that hadn’t been spoken aloud yet.

But all he saw was her looking as though she wanted to get away from him. The thin, brittle smile she wore wasn’t fooling anyone, definitely not him.

“Um, I would stay and catch up,” Soleil said after an awkward silence, “but I’ve left the kids unsupervised on the farm and I need to get back there. I’m shorthanded today.”

She was already edging toward her property, stepping over a downed section of fencing.

“Hey, can I help you out? My dad isn’t expecting me for a few more hours.” West had the feeling Soleil would disappear forever if he didn’t pin her down right now. Ridiculous thought, given how tied she was to the farm. Still, he couldn’t let this conversation end with so many questions forming in his head.

“Oh. No, thank you, but no. Really, I’ll be fine.”

“Looks like you need a fence repair.”

She glanced down. “Right. Before any more goats escape. Thanks for the reminder-I’ll get someone on it.”

“Seriously, I’d love to see what you’ve got going on around here. Why don’t you let me stick around for a while, do a quick fix on the fence and give you a hand wherever else you need it. In fact, I insist.”

Soleil looked like a cornered animal. Her eyes wide, she froze-probably contemplating her options.