Page 70 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

“I can’t stay,” he said.

Taryn’s face fell. “What do you mean? I thought that you were quitting the rodeo.” Her bottom lip quivered, and Conner felt his soul rip in half.

“I am. But I can’t stay in Wyoming. Matilda came to see me in the hospital. She was proud of causing the bulls to attack me and promised my imminent demise if I stayed in Wyoming any longer,” Conner said. “As much as I love you both, I have to go back to New Mexico. Otherwise, Matilda will make sure I’m dead within the next couple of days.”

Tears poured out of Beth’s and Taryn’s eyes. He held both their hands and looked at Taryn.

“You both are welcome in New Mexico. I would love to see you. We will spend as much time together as we can. I’ll be six hours away. We can meet up in Colorado Springs, Ivy Springs, or any of the other places in between.”

He knelt in front of Taryn. “You are the most incredible daughter a father could ever ask for. You are the brightest star in a sky full of stars. I promise that we will have a lot of time together. I expect to see you in New Mexico for all of the holidays, summer vacation, and spring break. I’m going to build a horse farm and you will have to help me train the horses. You get to tell them that they are good babies, but their job is to make sure no man can ever ride them. Then, you give them lots of treats when they buck people off.”

“I can do that. It will be fun. Then, I can ride them when no one else can.”

“Show off,” Conner said.

“Yep. That’s me. Just like my daddy.”

“You are just like your daddy, and I’m so proud of you. I love you so much.”

He hugged Taryn tightly as she sobbed against his shoulder.

“We’ll be together again soon,” he promised.

Conner stood up and pulled Beth to her feet. He brushed the tears from her eyes and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. He poured all of his love into that kiss, hoping that she would know what words could never say.

“I love you. Now and for always,” he said.

Then, without looking back and with a cascade of tears behind his eyes, he pulled out of her driveway. Conner loaded Zephyr into the trailer, shook hands with Gideon and all of his friends, and pointed his truck southbound. He was going home for good, leaving his heart and soul behind in Cheyenne.

25

Beth

Beth and Taryn stared at the door in complete shock. Just as quickly as he had come into their lives, he left. Taryn’s body shook as heavy sobs overtook her body. Beth wrapped her arms around Taryn and they cried together.

When they finally ran out of tears, Taryn stuck out her bottom lip and said, “It’s not fair. I want my dad. I want to be a family.”

An arrow slammed through Beth’s heart at that moment as she realized just how much of a little girl Taryn was. She was incredibly mature for her age and was an extremely talented witch. But at the end of the day, she was a ten-year-old little girl.

She’s just a baby. And even though I warned her that this could happen, she couldn’t help but get attached to her dad.

“You know he didn’t want to go,” Beth said. “He loves us both so much.”

“I know. It’s your mother’s fault,” Taryn said bitterly.

Beth was shocked to hear Taryn say it quite like that. All these years of knowing that Matilda didn’t like Taryn, she had still referred to her as Grandmother. Now, she was “Your Mother.” There are a lot of people who refer to others that way, jokingly or in anger, but Beth knew that Taryn had made a complete emotional break with Matilda.

“Yes, it is her fault. She is the one who hurt Conner.”

“Hurt him?” Taryn said in a high-pitched voice full of disgust and anger. “That woman tried to kill him.”

Taryn started shaking and her wolf fangs popped out. Her hands formed into claws. “I don’t care that she hates me. She tried to kill my father.”

Beth had never seen Taryn like this ever before. Taryn was calm and laid back. If something got to her, she would walk away, take a deep breath, and calm down. Then, when she could process the situation, she would come up with a solution and go from there – just like a mini adult.

“Taryn, Honey, I need you to listen to me.”

She sucked in a huge breath of air when Beth saw that her daughter’s eyes were completely black and almost glowing. Taryn’s chest was heaving, like she had been sprinting for miles. Taryn was almost scaring her.

---