Page 45 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

“How’s that going to end if he decides to go back on the circuit?”

“Taryn knows that is a possibility, although she’s trying very hard not to think about it. I know she will be sad. I’m sure, though, that Conner will make sure to come back often and spend time with Taryn. He loves her, too, and he’s not going to just walk away from her.”

“That’s good to know. She’s wanted her father for her entire life and now she has him. I know it would kill her if he just disappeared again,” Savvy said.

“Therein lies another problem, but not in the way that you might think.”

“How’s that?”

“Mother. She has threatened to do worse to him than a simple forget spell. Last night, he was riding a bull and it bucked. He went flying off.”

“That’s the nature of bull riding.” Savvy laughed.

“Not like this. It wasn’t a ‘buck and he lands in the dirt nearby’ type of thing. It was a buck and he went flying from one side of the arena to the other and slammed into a fence post type of deal.”

“Oh. Ouch.”

“Yeah. Luckily, he was just bruised a little. If he was a mundane man instead of a wolf shifter, he would have been badly hurt.”

“What are you going to do?” Savvy asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t send him packing. For one, he wouldn’t go. Now that he knows about Taryn, he’s determined to stay in her life. Two, Taryn would never forgive me. Three, selfishly, I want him in my life.”

“Maybe you should give your mom a taste of her own medicine. In a way, you are a lot more powerful witch than she is. You can shut down her heart. You don’t have to do any serious injury, but you can make her heart speed up and then slow way down. Nothing to hurt her but enough to let her know that she’s not the only one who’s got game.”

“That would be taking a step on the dark path. I don’t even want to tempt anything by starting down that path.”

“You are a good person with a good heart and soul. You would never become a dark witch. Just because your mother and sister have paved the road to perdition doesn’t mean that you will.”

“Still. I would only do anything drastic like that if she goes too far, and I have to use magic for self-defense or defending someone else in a life-or-death situation.”

“The way she’s acting, this could easily become one of those situations. She’s already made a tangible threat against Conner. This time, it was just a few bruises. Next time, it could be broken bones or worse. He could be hurt like the time when you first met him.”

“I don’t want to set a bad example for Taryn and make her think that it’s okay to lash out with magic when we get angry. However, if I have to, I will make Mother back off.”

“You know that I’ve got your back no matter what,” Savvy said.

“I know and I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know. Conner is at the door. I’ll talk to you later.”

“I thought I would stop off for a quick shower before I came over. I know that smelling like horse and sweat is extremely sexy, but I decided to go for something different.”

Beth laughed. “We’ll take you any way that we can get you.”

Taryn ran in and said, “Dad.”

“Daughter,” he replied.

“We’re going to watch a movie. It’s called The Nun. It’s not as scary as the other movies, but it’s okay.”

“What is your fascination with horror flicks?”

“They’re fun. The best part is watching Mom jump.”

“No wonder she watches Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz the rest of the time. She needs something not so scary to calm her down.”

Taryn laughed. “Not so scary? Have you seen those flying monkeys? They’re even more terrifying in the book.”

They settled in and watched the movie together, and then Beth insisted that Taryn go to bed after. “It’s midnight, Cinderella. You’re going to turn into a pumpkin.”

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