Page 52 of Cowboy and the Convict

“I know mom wanted to divorce you.” She blurted out the admission. “I know she didn’t love you anymore.”

There was little she could have said that would have stunned him more. Except she kept going, breaking his heart as she stole the belief he’d clung to—that his daughters would never know the truth about their parents’ marriage. That they would never know their mother lost even more than her life and the chance to see them grow up.

“I couldn’t sleep one night. She’d been going to a lot of doctors and I was worried. I got out of bed because I wanted to see her, and I heard her voice in the kitchen.” She blinked against the shimmer of tears lining her eyes. “I didn’t make it all the way down the stairs. I stood there listening. I heard everything.”

He remembered that night. Well. It had changed not only his future, but also his past.

And now he knew it had done the same for his daughter. Tainted the way she saw her mother. Saw him. Saw them.

Riley sniffed. “And you didn’t get mad or anything.” A tear slid free. “You didn’t try to tell her why she should love you.”

“Come here.” He pulled her in for a hug, tucking her close so he could rest his chin on top of her head. “You can’t tell someone to love you, sweetheart. They either do, or they don’t. And your mom hadn’t been in love with me for a long time.”

“But she should have loved you.” Riley’s words were edged with anger he’d felt himself. “You took such good care of her when she was sick. Even though you knew she didn’t want you anymore.”

“Just because your mom didn’t love me the way a wife loves a husband, doesn’t mean she didn’t love me at all.” His chest ached at the thought of his daughter carrying this around all these years. Trying to come to terms with something she didn’t fully understand. “Your mother was a great mom. She was an amazing person. The way she felt about me doesn’t take away from any of that.”

Riley wiped at her eyes, sniffing against his chest. “It’s hard to separate it all out.”

“I know.” It was what he’d been struggling with for years. “But she wasn’t wrong.” He took a deep breath, revealing a truth he was still sorting through. “We were very different people. We’d been together since we were fifteen. After we graduated college, it was just a given we’d get married. Neither of us really thought about whether it was the right decision or not. If we fit together as adults.” He’d always thought he was lucky for finding the love of his life so early. For seamlessly moving from being a kid to being a man and a husband and father. It might have been willful blindness, but it worked for him. Right up until Maggie shined a light on all that was missing. “And it turns out we didn’t fit so well.”

Riley was quiet for a beat, but her next question wasn’t about her mother. “What about Janie? Do you fit with her?”

He opened his mouth to tell her it wasn’t like that, but Riley deserved the truth. Likely needed it. “Seems like we do.”

A slow smile worked across her lips, and her expression brightened for the first time since he’d walked in the door. “We knew it.”

Another surprise. “We?”

The smile on her face turned sly as she peeked up at him. “Olivia, Gwen, and I knew you guys liked each other.” She wiggled her brows. “And you’re welcome for us making sure you got alone time with her whenever she came over.”

Devon’s jaw went slack as he stared at his sneaky, meddling, conniving, brilliant daughter. “You know I’m capable of getting a woman on my own, right?”

Riley’s face scrunched up. “Are you though?” She lifted her brows, looking around. “Because it looks to me like you might have made Janie think you didn’t want to see her tonight.”

He’d worried plenty about his daughters and the relationships in their future. Turns out they’d been doing the same thing.

And it looked like they were worried he was going to fuck it all up.

“For your information, I’ve already seen Janie today.” He smirked, giving her a final squeeze before releasing her to turn toward the kitchen. “I went past her place before work.”

Riley followed him in, trailing along as he went to the fridge and pulled out the stuff to get dinner started. “Did you bring her flowers?”

He was starting to regret telling her the truth. “I did not bring her flowers at five in the morning, no.” He lined the preformed pie crust, carton of eggs, and container of ham onto the counter before washing his hands in the sink. “I did bring her candy on Tuesday when I went to see her.” He dried off, slinging the towel over his shoulder before starting to crack eggs into a bowl.

Riley watched him work, her brows pinched together. “What are you doing?”

“Making dinner.” He tipped his head to the oven. “Can you set that to three hundred and seventy-five?”

“I see that you’re making dinner.” Riley punched in the numbers before returning to his side as he chopped through the ham. “But what in the hell are you making?”

“We’re cussing in front of each other now?” He dropped the ham into the bowl with the eggs. “It’s quiche. I asked Janie for a few easy meal ideas I could make you meddlers for dinner.”

“And quiche was one of her ideas?” Riley snorted. “I guess she did go to culinary school for a while.”

“She’s done a lot of things.” He’d managed to eke a little time out each day to see her, usually at her place, occasionally at The Baking Rack, and was starting to learn more about the life Janie led before coming to Moss Creek.

“She started school to be an accountant when she was my age.” Riley fiddled with the discarded ham container. “But realized it wasn’t right for her and dropped out.”

---