Page 19 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

He waited, but when she didn’t continue, he filled in the gaps. “And lately you’ve been wondering if those stories are true?”

“Yeah.”

“Were those stories the ones about how you let Callie down, and you didn’t do enough for her?”

She nodded.

“Then, I reckon it’s definitely time to give up your habits – and burn those damn stories. They’re all lies. They might have gotten you through something – I dunno. But they’re not doing you any good now. They’re getting in the way of you making your daughter happy.”

He smiled. “You couldn’t give her what you wanted to when she was a kid, but you can give her what she wants now. You can come and live here.”

She nodded slowly. “I could.”

He smiled. “You can.”

She shook her head at him, but at least she was smiling back.

“Want me to drop it for now, and make you a cup of coffee instead?”

He knew that was the right move when she visibly relaxed. “Please.”

He left the wheelchair in the back and went straight to her door. When he lifted her out, she looked around for the chair, and he chuckled.

“I’ll come back for it. I need my coffee, and besides, this way’s more fun.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him as he strode up the steps to the front door. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with it. In fact, from the way she snuggled against him, it seemed that she liked him carrying her. She couldn’t like it as much as he did – he just hoped that being in his arms like this felt even half as good to her as it did to him.

Chapter Five

By late afternoon, Retta was exhausted, but she was determined not to show it. She was having so much fun. Travis was wonderful company – he had her laughing most of the time, but he was more than just a joker.

He cared deeply about what he was trying to do here, and that made her like him all the more. She knew that he’d served in the Navy with his friends, and that he’d worked with them in private security since they retired. What she hadn’t realized was just how much he cared about other vets.

“Penny for them?”

She looked up when he spoke.

“You were lost in your thoughts – you had enough of me?” He checked his watch. “I didn’t mean to keep you busy all day, I only meant to show you a couple of the cabins to give you an idea of what we’re working with.”

She smiled. “I’ve loved seeing them all, Travis. You’re right, we have a lot of work to do on some of them. But now I know what we’re dealing with.”

He grinned.

“What?”

“I was going to ask if you’re still interested in helping me out but it sounds like you are.”

She nodded happily. “I’m even more interested now than I was when you told me about it. I thought you just wanted to make the cabins comfortable, but there’s going to be so much more to it than that, isn’t there.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I …” She stopped when her phone beeped with a text.

Travis chuckled. “You’d better check that – it might be Callie.”

She fished her phone out of her purse. It wasn’t Callie, it was Libby.

Libby: Do you still want to come to the bakery with me on Friday afternoon? If you do, I can pick you up from Kolby and Callie’s place around three.

---