Page 10 of Wounded Cowboy
He mentally shook himself.
I’m not interested in her. But even as he told himself that, he knew he was lying.
Fine. But just because I think she’s hot doesn’t mean I intend to do anything about it.
All three of his sisters, plus Mom, had been on his case for the past year about dating someone. It was as if they’d decided he’d been in mourning long enough.
Not nearly long enough. Not a day went by when something didn’t remind him of Laura. He often wondered if he’d ever get past the pain of losing her.
“You didn’t have to clean that up,” he muttered, feeling defensive. Was she judging him for being a terrible dad? Reluctantly, he added,“But thanks.”
“No problem,” Kelsey chirped in that obnoxiously cheerful tone.“Do you have any paper towels to mop up the sauce?”
He reached for the roll and wordlessly handed them to her. Then he turned to his fridge and opened the freezer. Bags of frozen vegetables, dinosaur nuggets and sweet potato fries tumbled out onto the kitchen floor.
This just wasn’t his day.
Spring’s face grew hot as he hastily scooped up the fallen bags.
“Normally I’d cook from scratch,” he said defensively.“But I was super busy on the ranch today and didn’t have time to make anything fancy.”
“Hey, it’s hard to work a full-time job and take care of kids too,” Kelsey offered, her tone warm and understanding.
Spring hesitated, trying to gauge whether she was being genuine or patronizing. He didn’t respond, instead opting to shove the bags back into the already-crammed freezer.
He spotted a pizza box shoved under neatly wrapped packages of ground bison and stew meat, and pulled it out.Victory!
Silence hung heavy in the air as Spring opened the box and removed the plastic wrap before sliding the pizza into the oven and setting the timer. He was grateful that Kelsey wasn’t chattering at him.
His task done, he turned back to Kelsey and saw she was studying the family portrait hanging on the wall. Abby had been a year old, and April had been three, and he and Laura had come to Montana to celebrate 4thof July with his family.
Everyone looked happy and relaxed on the ranch house’s back deck. Dad had snapped the photo, and Laura had instantly declared that she wanted to use it for that year’s Christmas cards.
Then, Thanksgiving had happened. That year, there hadn’t been any Christmas cards.
Spring cleared his throat.“Thanks for stopping by to check on the girls. What did you want to talk to me about?”
Kelsey turned and smiled at him. She looked oddly nervous.“I know you think you don’t need any help. But I’ve seen how hard you work on the ranch, and it’s not easy balancing your job with being a single parent who’s raising two young kids.”
Spring stared at her in disbelief. He wondered which of his family members had put her up to this.
Probably Winnie, he thought in disgust, remembering her comments yesterday.
“Look, Kelsey,” Spring said, trying hard to keep his tone civil.“I know you’re a professional nanny and all, but I don’t need any help. I can take care of my children.”
“Please, just hear me out,” Kelsey pleaded.“I had lunch with your grandmother today.”
Spring groaned silently. He knew how relentless Grandma Abigail was when she decided something needed fixing.
“…she’s worried about Abby and April,” Kelsey was saying.“That’s why she hired me to be their nanny for the summer. If, uh, you agree, of course.”
“She did…what?” he growled, his hands clenching into fists. Even knowing what he did about his grandmother, the sheer audacity knocked him for a loop.
“Spring, I understand if you’re upset,” Kelsey said in an irritatingly soothing tone.“But your grandmother is just trying to help. She loves those girls, and she loves you, too.”
Spring snorted.“Yeah, and now she’s trying to bulldoze me, just like she’s bulldozed every other member of this family.” He crossed his arms and looked down at Kelsey.
She looked away, and Spring tried to smooth out his scowl. It wasn’t Kelsey’s fault that his grandmother had come up with one of her infamous Plans.
