Page 14 of Dependable Cowboy

He watched every move, chew, and swallow she made.

“I remember the Duncans,” Joy said, licking her fingertips in a manner that had Aaron’s full attention on her. Once upon a time, he would’ve plucked through that confection and fed it to her himself. “Well, I remember their prominence here in town and could probably pick them out of a lineup. But I never really knew any of them.”

“They’re good folks. The best. Especially Sam and Josh. And Whitney works circles around every other man in the field. I’ve seen her do it with my own eyes. Well, when she’s not huge pregnant, anyway.”

She folded her hands in front of herself, studying him. “You like working there, don’t you?”

“Love it,” he answered immediately. “Consider myself a lucky man career-wise.”

“I guess as far as careers, I’m a little lucky, too. Most of my luck otherwise comes from Kara, though. She’s my light.” Joy retrieved her phone and showed him a selfie she’d taken with her daughter. “She’s put up with all this upheaval like a champ even though I know it’s been hard on her. All this change all at once like this… I don’t think I would’ve handled it so well at her age.”

Aaron’s stomach sunk. He anticipated her next choice of topic would be her husband. The man who fathered her little girl. Or maybe why he wasn’t here with her in Rocky Ridge. Yet Joy never once brought him up, and Aaron felt glad.

He wasn’t about to ask about Wayne, the guy she not only dated after Aaron but married. Then, Wayne took her away from Montana entirely. Aaron didn’t consider himself an unforgiving person, but he’d have a hard time treating Wayne Randall politely.

Doing that wouldn’t be right, Aaron knew that. But there would likely always be a part of him who blamed the guy for stealing Joy away, even if from everything he’d heard, she’d gone with him more than willingly.

Yet at least when she’d been here in town, he’d see her on occasion. He’d known she was all right, even if it hurt quite a bit to see how well she’d been doing without him. He’d expected Wayne to be some flash in the pan. A guy with lots of pizzazz but zero substance that Joy would see right through eventually and…

Shoot, he didn’t know if she’d ever come back to him. But as long as she stayed nearby, there was always a chance.

A chance that had dried right up once she’d moved to California.

Now all these years had gone by, and each of their lives had traveled along different tracks. He didn’t want to hear about Wayne. He just wanted to hear about Joy. Yes, he knew she could still be married, he was just hoping that she was at least in the process of a divorce since she was here with her daughter without him.

That’s why he heaved such a sigh of relief when Joy didn’t mention anything about Wayne. And Aaron wasn’t about to, either.

Still, after all these days in a row of having to rush to get back to the ranch on time, he decided to try another approach with her.

“It can be a bit challenging getting here to town and back sometimes,” he began.

A closed expression fell over her features. “Well, if you can’t meet up anymore, I’ll understand.”

“No…” He reached across the table to touch her hand, then thought better of it and pulled back. “No, that’s not what I mean. I don’t want to give up our time, I’m just wondering if I couldchange it. Would you go to dinner with me instead? We could go to The Steer House.”

“Oh, Aaron, I don’t know.”

He had to tread carefully here, he knew. “As friends, of course. And that way, we could have more time to sit back and relax. We wouldn’t have to hurry off. It’s just an idea.”

“How about I let you know?” she asked.

And what else could he say?

“Sure.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Aaron askedher out that Saturday for dinner, she almost gave him a flat no. Not only would it mean having to ask her folks to watch Kara, it could open up a can of worms between him and her. Still, when he added the caveat of “as friends,” it made things somewhat easier. She and Aaron had a memorable past, but so far, being around him hadn’t proven to be difficult.

If anything, she felt far more comfortable with him than she thought she would. It was almost as if they’d gone back in time to when they were young, innocent, and carefree.

Before providing him with her answer, she decided to go to her parents first. If this was going to be some enormous problem, she should find out now.

“Hey Mom and Dad,” she started, after her mother put her on speakerphone. On her side of the line, she closed her eyes, waiting for some major fallout. “I was curious if you might be okay with babysitting Kara for a few hours tomorrow evening. I mean, I know this is short notice, and it’s totally okay if?—”

“We’d love to,” her mother’s voice spoke over the end of her sentence, so Joy felt compelled to ask for clarification.

“I’m sorry?”

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