Page 35 of A Family With the Cowboy

Stunned, Hayden stared after her. Laura was dating? Somehow, the thought hadn’t entered his mind. But now… Indignant, he stormed out of the kitchen. A fling with him was out of the question, but she was dating other men?

Outside, he gulped in the cold air. The weather suited his mood. He missed Laura with a fierceness that staggered him.

From the direction of the barn came the sound of Luke’s laughter and Jessie’s barking. Since Laura had taken over from Mrs. Denton, Luke had lost the gloomy and sad air that had become part of him over the past two years. He was happy and laughing. The only problem was, he never stopped talking about Laura.

The past two Sundays during lunch with his mother, Luke had disappeared. When he’d returned, he’d been all smiles. He’d seen Miss Anderson and played with Molly, he’d told them, beaming from ear to ear.

Trudging through the sodden, muddy snow toward the barn, Hayden rubbed his chest where a huge hole had opened up, one that was growing bigger by the day.

Surely, there was an expiration date for whatever it was that kept Laura in his thoughts and dreams? He couldn’t go on like this.

As he entered the barn, he saw Willow with Luke. They were deep in conversation. As he neared them, Luke saw him. His smiled slipped and he moved closer to his aunt.

Sighing, Hayden held out a hand to his son. “I haven’t seen you this morning.”

“Are you gonna yell again?” Luke asked.

Willow’s lips twitched.

“No, I…” Sighing, he crouched down. “Come here.”

Warily, Luke glanced up at his aunt. Only after she’d nodded did Luke walk closer to him.

Hayden pulled him closer and combed his hair out of his face. “I’ve forgotten there’s no school this week. What about you and I drive into town a little bit later this morning and go get ourselves a hot chocolate from Copper Mountain Chocolates?”

“Do you have time?” Luke asked.

“I’m making time. Especially if you help me with the chores before we go?”

For the first time, a smile lit up Luke’s face. “Yes! Come on, Jessie, let’s go!” He ran outside, Jessie on his heels.

As Hayden and Willow walked out of the barn, a truck parked near the entrance.

*

Monday morning, justafter nine, Laura closed the front door behind her. The fire in the living room was warm and cozy, but she seemed unable to get warm. Maybe she should try to clear her head before she tried to warm up.

It was freezing outside, but she was wrapped up for the cold, with the scarf she’d finished knitting around her neck. Her house seemed strangely small since the school break. It was time to get outside. Even though the last two weeks had been extremely busy as she had tried to catch up with everything at school, she missed Hayden with every breath she took.

It also didn’t help that she saw his son, who had his father’s eyes, every day. Luke didn’t miss much. On Friday he’d given her a fierce hug and said he hoped she wouldn’t be sad anymore when he saw her again.

Why couldn’t she stop thinking about Hayden? Yes, he was attractive, but she’d dated other attractive men, and as soon as they’d parted ways, they’d disappeared from her mind as well. But this time, he seemed to be stuck there and just about everything reminded her of him.

“Come on, Molly. I know it’s cold, but let’s take a quick walk around the block.”

Molly barked as she skipped down the steps. For the first few days, Molly had been unsure of her surroundings, shivering and cowering at the slightest loud sound. The little dog was already much better, but Laura had learned to speak softly and be very gentle with her. Getting Molly to use the doggie door was difficult—and not only because the poor thing was scared to go through it initially. Even the freaking doggie door reminded her of Hayden.

The sky was gray, with Copper Mountain hiding behind thick, dark clouds, but she simply couldn’t stare at the walls for one more second. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have enough to do. There was a long list of things she didn’t get to during school term.

The house wasn’t quite hers yet, but the process had begun. Although the place was in mint condition, there were smaller changes she’d like to make. She’d like more cupboards in the kitchen. Arlene would probably know a cabinetmaker in town she could recommend.

But…somehow, she was struggling to focus, because... Groaning out loud, she walked down the steps. Because she kept thinking about Hayden Weston.

She hadn’t seen him since he’d left her house two weeks ago. Over the last ten days, she’d said yes to every guy who’d asked her out on a date. There had to be at least one other man who could wake up the butterflies in her tummy, she’d convinced herself. It turned out, though, nobody else had any effect on her tummy or any other part of her body.

Some were nice, some were dull, some were funny, others so boring she wanted to cry in her food. After two weeks she had to admit there was only one guy who heated her blood, but all he wanted was a fling.

Deep in thought, she and Molly reached the sidewalk in front of her house. Molly was happily sniffing and in no big hurry.

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