Page 58 of Cowboy and the Convict

Sharon took a deep breath, blowing it back out before slowly smiling. "I think she's a good match for you."

Again, he was surprised. "You do?"

She nodded, collecting the next bowl after he rinsed it, working her dish towel around the edge. "I do. She's a good girl and a hard worker who doesn't hold back." Sharon spared him a glance. "And you need that, because sometimes you're not the most observant." Her brows lifted. “Not when it comes to the emotional side of things.”

That answered any lingering questions he had about whether or not Sharon knew where he and Maggie stood when she passed. He’d held up his end of their promise to keep the status of their marriage between them. And while he wasn’t upset with Maggie for sharing, he really fucking wished he’d been in the loop about how many people knew the truth.

Especially his daughter.

He was, however, a little irked at Sharon for her comment. It was a low blow. Especially if she knew what happened between him and her daughter.

And how the whole thing played out.

“No one’s perfect, Sharon. You know that.” He didn’t want to rock the boat today, but keeping feelings inside was what led to the problems of his past. They weren’t going to taint his future the same way. “I sure never claimed to be.”

To her credit, his mother-in-law looked regretful. “I’m sorry.” She lifted her chin on an inhale, a sad smile on her lips. “I just wish Maggie had gotten the chance to find happiness too.”

“I know.” He wished the same thing. Carried an immense amount of guilt because of it.

Sharon sucked in a deep breath, spine straightening. “As long as she’s good to the girls, that’s all I care about.” A sly smile spread across her lips. “I suppose it will be nice if she’s good to you too.”

He finished scrubbing down the last bowl and passed it off, changing the subject so his mother-in-law’s thoughts didn’t linger and put a damper on her day. “What about you? Anyone special in your life?”

Sharon’s smile turned devilish. “I don’t kiss and tell.” She gave him a wink. “But don’t worry about me spending my nights lonely.”

He tried not to think about how his mother-in-law spent her nights at all. Especially when he was getting ready to eat. “Good to know.” He dried off his hands and turned his attention to the other side of the room, just in case she changed her mind about not kissing and telling. “I should get the extra leaves in the table.”

He spent the next hour setting up the eating area. Bringing in additional chairs. Lining up place mats and giving the floor a quick sweep. Since she’d stayed home to rest the week before, Janie hadn’t cleaned his place in two weeks. He and the girls had done a decent job of maintaining all her hard work, so there wasn’t much he had to do to get the house presentable.

Normally he and the girls would be scrambling to shove everything they could into hidden spaces so they wouldn’t have to listen to Sharon and his mother give them shit about the state of the house. Thanks to Janie, his home was clean and comfortable and guest-ready.

But he went ahead and ran the vacuum in the living room anyway.

His parents showed up fifteen minutes early and the volume in the place went up substantially as his daughters and their grandmothers clustered the kitchen.

It wasn’t only the noise that increased, but also the temperature. After turning down the thermostat, he cracked a couple windows to get a little of the air moving.

The snow from earlier in the week was still on the ground, reflecting the sun, leaving the outside looking bright and cheery. Hopefully it was a good sign. He needed today to go well. Needed Janie to feel welcomed and wanted. Accepted and embraced.

He needed her to see that there was space for her in his life so she would make space for him in hers.

When the bell rang, his stomach tightened. Smoothing down the front of his shirt as he went down the hall, he braced for what was coming. Even simply thinking she was coming to hang out with him and the girls had her a little wound up, so there was no telling how she’d react when she saw the collection of people filling his kitchen.

He opened the front door to find Janie frowning at him from where she stood on the porch. She pursed her lips. “I don’t want to do this.”

“I know.” He reached out to pull her inside. “But it has to happen.”

She stood in place as he unbuttoned her coat, eyes darting between his face and the kitchen doorway. “Maybe we should wait.”

“For?” Devon slid the heavy layer down her arms.

Janie’s frown deepened. “For me to not feel weird about this.”

“The only way for you to get used to it is for you to face it.” He hung her coat up in the closet she’d convinced his daughters to clean out. “And you’ve been around the girls lots of times already. This isn’t anything new.”

She scoffed. “That was before I knew that they knew I was fuc—” Her words cut off, eyes widening on the kitchen doorway as a fake smile smacked onto her face. “Your parents are here.” She lowered her voice, forced smile still in place. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Wait until you find out Sharon’s here too.” He hooked one arm around her shoulders, pulling her along with him as he went down the hall and into the kitchen where his family was milling around, dishing out food and drink.

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