Page 2 of Losing his Daddy

Grabbing the coffee I’d just made, I passed one to him while I took the other. He took a sip, then leaned down to give me a soft kiss. I wanted to press for more, my body still attuned to his after our morning lovemaking.

“We don’t have time for another round. Besides, I’m a bit too old to recover like you do, babe.” While there weren’tthatmany years between us, I knew he was right. We’d been together long enough for me to have him figured out.

I huffed as if I was really bothered by the denial. Though really, it wasn’t a flat-out no. Clancy never told me no.

Well, almost never. There was one thing he was very clearly against.

“Come on. We need to get out there before people start wondering,” he said as he turned us toward the back door.

And that right there was the problem.

If people knew we were together like this, they wouldn’t be worried. The ranch hands wouldn’t even bat an eye. I knew it as well as I knew the name of every man and animal on this ranch.

But Clancy wasn’t ready to tell them. He hadn’t been for years.

While I wished he’d let me declare our love from every corner of the Earth, I wasn’t going to push. Outing him would not solve anything. Actually, I was pretty damn sure it would make it worse.

I followed him out the back door, my mind going a million miles an hour over what needed to be done today. It was the only thing that helped me past the hurt his continual need to hide us caused.

“Travis!” Clancy yelled out for the tiny bundle of energy right as we reached the back porch. He’d likely be close enough to hear us, and if he wasn’t, the others who were close by would send him our way.

A squeal hit the air seconds before Travis’s small frame rushed toward us. He skidded to a halt at the bottom step, his gaze wide and eager.

“Please tell me you’re here for playtime,” he whispered, eyes locked on me. “I could use a break.”

I frowned as Clancy glanced around us. While the others knew we had a soft spot for Travis, they weren’t clued in to just how deep our connection ran at times.

Whenever either of us felt overwhelmed, Clancy would let us have a playdate. Oftentimes that involved him and me building something or other. I found it a good way to turn my focus from the negative energy around me. If I was working on a project, I couldn’t drown in despair over whatever had bothered me.

“Not this morning. I need you to head to the bus station to pick up the new hire,” Clancy answered.

His eyes widened. “A new guy?”

“Yep,” I said as I rocked back on my heels. I hadn’t told him anyone new was coming like I usually did. Sometimes it was fun to keep him on his toes.

“Who is he? What’s his story?” He bounced at the bottom of the stairs.

I laughed as Clancy coughed. “Not quite sure. You’ll have to get all the details on the ride. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble,” he told Travis.

His responding nod made him look like those bobblehead dolls my father loved to collect. The dash to his old Cadillac was littered with the things. Funny how something so random could come back to me after I’d spent years working to forget everything about that time.

“What’s his name?” Travis drew me from the flash of memory with his question.

Clancy glanced at the clipboard in my hand to verify once again who was coming. “Holt Morrison.”

“Holt Morrison.” Travis repeated the name slowly, as if testing the sound out to be sure he had it right. In the next second, he was catching the keys Clancy threw his way and taking off for the truck to head into town.

“Think Holt will stick around after a welcome party from little Trav?”

I grinned at Clancy despite still feeling a bit bitter over his earlier words. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully, he’s cool about it. We all know Trav is basically our mascot.”

Travis madeit back quicker than I expected. Hopefully, that meant he didn’t have any trouble finding and escorting Holt back to the ranch. I saw the truck in the distance while chatting with Lars, one of the ranch hands, beside the barn.

“Another newbie?” He asked when he followed my line of sight.

I nodded. “Name is Holt. Clancy said he comes from a ranching past.”

“That’s good. He’ll blend in quickly then.” Lars grinned. He was a good guy, though I suspected we were a means to an end.He fit in fine, but there was a part of him that didn’t feel rooted in the ranch like some of the rest of us were.

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