Page 47 of Wyoming Bodyguard
She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Fear and worry and anger swirled together inside her like a dust storm, blinding the way in front of her. Her father was supposed to be her guidepost. He was the one who taught her right from wrong, but right now he’d thrust her into a nightmare she couldn’t escape.
Guilt burrowed into her chest. Her father was fighting for his life. She shouldn’t be sending out anything except positive energy and love. But damn it, she couldn’t help but be a little bit mad at the position she’d been forced into.
A position where her father’s actions might have played a role in putting her life in danger.
But what could he have done? What decision could he have made to bring so much turmoil into her world?
She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of unwanted thoughts. She had to believe the decisions her father made were done with nothing but the best of intentions. If she didn’t, she’d crumble.
“No matter what, I willalwaysbe here for you. You just need to get better, then we’ll figure everything out. I know there has to be an explanation, and I promise you, I’ll get to the bottom of it.” Smoothing back locks of white hair from his forehead, she leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, Dad.”
She gave him one more long look then crossed the room to the door where another man she trusted waited. A man she’d doubted for so long and had finally learned the truth. That truth had opened a host of possibilities for her future.
She could only hope whatever truth she uncovered about her dad wouldn’t steal the rest of his.
Chapter 18
Sweat dripped from Madden’s hairline. The shade from his cowboy hat shielded his face but couldn’t do a damn thing to lessen the heat. The sun beat down on him, and the muscles in his shoulder burned. The last thing he should be doing was the repetitive motion of scraping the ugly, white words from the barn. But he couldn’t let Lily tackle this project alone.
Taking a break, he glanced down at her. Concentration pinched her face. She dug her scraper against the wooden side as if erasing the threat would erase all the shit taking over her life right now.
If only it could be that simple.
“How about stopping for a drink?”
She kept scraping, kept her singular focus on her task.
“Lily? You want a break?” He rested a hand on her shoulder, and her body jolted as if he’d zapped her with a stun gun.
She pressed her empty palm over her heart and snorted out a short laugh. “I was in some kind of zone. Sorry. I didn’t even hear you.”
“You set your sights on the barn like you used to on me when you’d chase me down as kids.”
She struggled to hide her grin. “I don’t remember what you’re talking about.”
He gave an exaggerated eye roll. “Sure you don’t, but we don’t need to get into that right now. I asked if you wanted to take a break. We’ve gotten most of the white paint off, but we’ll need a ladder to tackle the top. Then we can paint.”
She stared at the barn and wiped her brow with the back of her wrist. “Time flies when you’re busting your ass, I guess. I didn’t realize we’d been attacking this paint for so long.”
Madden glanced at his watch. “Been a couple hours. We could finish the rest of this tomorrow.”
“I don’t know,” she said, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. “I just want this done. I don’t want to wake up in the morning knowing the remnants of what this asshole did is still left behind. This may sound stupid, but fixing this one mess makes me feel like maybe I can fix the rest of them.”
Hearing the wistful tone of her voice made it impossible to insist they wait until the next day to paint the barn. Besides, he understood her logic. Her need to get her hands dirty and do something constructive to make things better. Even if it was a smaller, trivial thing compared to the rest of the shit she was wading through.
But he still needed a break.
He waved his fingers in a come-here motion.
She stepper closer and took his hand.
“I promise we will get this done tonight, but my shoulder is killing me, and I need a drink.” He hated using his injury as an excuse, but it was the only thing he could think of to get Lily to stop working for a few minutes. “How about we share an ice-cold beer on the porch, catch our breaths, then we’ll find the ladder to finish the job.”
Worry wrinkled her brow. “Okay. A drink sounds nice, and I could use a break, too.”
“I know that’s not true, but I appreciate you trying to help me save my manhood.” He gave her a wink then tugged her toward the house. He waited until she settled into one of the rocking chairs then hurried inside to grab them each a drink, making the last second decision to find two forks and the leftover pie from the day before as well.
As he returned outside, Lily’s smile told him he’d made the right choice.
