Page 35 of My Billionaire Cowboy Protector

Lane sat on the bed for a minute in complete shock. His grandfather had been in great spirits the night before and managed to dance with almost all of the pretty women at the party at least once.

Taylor scooted up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his back. She knew that no words could take away the sharp pain that was tearing apart his heart, so she merely held him. Her presence made him feel as though he wasn’t alone in his grief.

“We’d better get dressed and get downstairs,” Lane said. He kissed her hands and then stood up.

Everyone was standing around with the same stricken look in their eyes. Willow was weeping. Colton had his arms around his baby sister, trying to comfort her. Gene’s eyes were red. Gene was the eldest son and the two of them had been best friends since Gene was tall enough to drive a tractor.

Taylor held tightly to Lane’s hand, letting him know that she was there for him.

“What happened?” Lane asked.

“Your grandfather had been suffering from heart problems for a while now. He didn’t want anyone to know because as he said, ‘I don’t want anyone fawning over me or acting like I’m dying,’” Caroline explained. “You all should know that your grandfather adored you. The fact that he got to see you all together one last time meant the world to him. It’s important that you carry that love with you forever.”

“He’ll only truly be gone when we stop talking about him, thinking about him, and when he is forgotten,” Gene said. “But I know I’ll miss Dad a lot.”

Lane felt his heart break in half. Taylor felt him start to shake. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding him, as a huge part of his world was ripped away from him.

Chapter 14: Taylor

“I just don’t know what to do,” Taylor said. “I want to be there for him, but I always feel like I’m in the way. If I stand by him holding his hand or just to be next to him to let him know that I’m there, people start crowding in and I feel like I’m getting crushed. But I don’t want to look like I’m sulking and sit in the corner by myself.”

Alice sighed. “I know, Honey. I’ve been in your shoes and it’s not, a great place to be in.”

“It’s not like I can even make myself useful. They have more servants here than there is in our entire town, I think. There are people to cook, clean, serve drinks, follow you around with a tissue, or whatever else they think you might need.”

“That does seem to be a bit overwhelming,” Alice said. “I guess if I were you, I would just sit out of the way. It might feel like people are judging you, but they really aren’t. They’re too busy focusing on their own feelings and actions.”

“I guess so,” Taylor said. “There’s a woman, named Rachel, who has the hots for Lane. She’s told me that she and Lane were meant to be together, he’s going to dump me soon for her, and all that jazz. She is constantly here and is always going out of her way to be near him and touch him. I’m not sure whatI’m supposed to do about that. As his fiancé, should I shoo her off or just keep my mouth shut and let him handle it.”

“Oooh, that’s a hard one. I’m not sure,” Alice said. “You don’t want to cause a scene, you don’t want to be seen as a jealous shrew, and you don’t want to seem insensitive.”

“I know,” Taylor said frustrated. “I wish I could just sneak home, but somehow, I don’t think that would go over so well.”

“Definitely not,” Alice said. “My thought is that Lane is a big boy. If Rachel starts to get too annoying or invasive he’ll let her know. Meanwhile, stick by him when you can, plaster the appropriate looks on your face, and do the best that you can.”

“Thanks for the talk, Mom. I have to go. I think Lane’s coming into the room. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Alice said.

“It’s getting to be a little overwhelming for you, isn’t it?” he asked, sitting on the bed next to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close into a sideways hug.

“It’s not about me,” Taylor said. “I just remember how it felt when Carl died. None of the platitudes, however well meant, made me feel any better. In fact, they only got annoying after a while.”

“I understand what you mean,” he said. “I really just want a minute to sit and think about Grandpa and maybe to grieve. We went fishing together all the time. He taught me how to hunt with a .300 Savage rifle that had been in the family since they first came out in the 1920s.”

Taylor laid her head against him and rubbed his back. “Tell me more about him.”

“He pretended to be gruff and a hard man, but he would help out anyone if he could. I once saw him take a man shopping for groceries when the man asked for money to buy some bread and basic food. He gave one alcoholic man a job, hoping that the man would get straight. Grandpa was in Vietnam and saw a lotof terrible things. My great grandma said that he had changed a lot, which is understandable. He basically hid his emotions, so he rarely said, ‘I love you,’ but showed it all the time.”

“I wish that I could have had the chance to get to know him better.”

“Me too. He would have loved you,” Lane said. He heaved a huge sigh. “I guess I’d better get back down there. Are you coming?”

“In a minute. I want to check in on Diablo.”

Lane brushed a kiss across her lips, sighed again, and headed downstairs.

“How’s Diablo?” Taylor asked after she and Robert exchanged pleasantries.

---