Page 13 of The Maverick's Forever Home
“Oh, right.”Rylee grinned.“Well, she’s a pretty doll.”
“She is.”Delilah hugged the doll close.“My mommy loved mermaids.”
Dammit.He’d forgotten that being a mermaid had been one of Phoebe’s many part-time jobs.Her job had been to perch on a rock in one of the large tanks and teach aquarium visitors all about the fish and coral inside.If Braden had remembered, he’d have steered Rylee away from buying the doll Delilah now had pressed, tightly, to her chest.But no.He hadn’t remembered.And now Delilah’s chin was quivering and he felt terrible.He ran a hand over his face, took a deep breath and assumed what he hoped was a pleasant enough smile.But from the questioning look Rylee was sending him, he wasn’t sure he pulled it off.
“Here.This one next.”Thankfully, Braden’s father jumpedin.Lionel slid a brightly wrapped gift box toward Delilah.“I bet you’ll like this one even better.”
Norma shot her husband a look.“Now, Lionel, she can like what she wants to.”
“Fine, fine, I know all that.But it’s still a better present.”He nodded at the box.“You’ll see.”
A quick sweep of the room told Braden his siblings were just as amused by their father’s behavior as he was.The word to best describe Lionel Parker had always been irascible.The man was grumpy and direct to the point of rude, held strong opinions he had no problem vocalizing and had a short fuse.So seeing the gentle affection on his father’s face when he looked at Delilah had him doing a double take.
“Thank you, Grampa and Gramma.”Delilah bestowed one of her sweetest smiles on her grandparents before tearing away the paper.Inside was a child-size boot box.
Braden held his breath.Cowboy boots were a necessity out here.But his little girl had such a hard time with socks—how would she react to a pair of boots?
“Ooh,” Delilah said the moment she opened the box.“They’resopretty.”She pulled out the leather boot and held it up, turning it one way, then the other.“It is pink on top.”
“Sure enough.”Lionel looked pretty proud of himself about it, too.“Had to get pink.”
“Your grampa wouldn’t rest until we found some with pink.”Norma patted her husband’s thigh.
“Thank you.”She set the boots down and ran across the room.She threw her arms around Lionel for a quick squeeze, then did the same to Norma.“I never had a gramma or a grampa.”She studied them both.
Braden was shocked to see his father get dewy-eyed and red-cheeked with emotion.It was something to see.
“But I wike you wots and wots.I do.”Delilah gave her grandfather another hug.
The old man closed his eyes and gave her a gentle squeeze.“We’re mighty fond of you, too, Delly-girl.”His father’s voice was gruff.
“How about you try them on?”Lionel patted her on the shoulder.
“’Kay.”Delilah ran back across the room, sat on the floor and pulled her boots on.She hopped up, stared down at her feet and spun in a circle.“Wook.”She jumped up and down.“Wook, Daddy.”
“I see you.”He nodded, delighted.“You look good.”
“A little cowgirl in the making,” Miles said as he sat forward, watching Delilah spin.
“You’ll be riding a horse before you know it.”This from Hayes.
“It’ll have to be just the right horse for Delly.”Their father’s brow had slipped back into its familiar scowl.“Nothing too high-spirited.”
Once again, Braden exchanged a look with his siblings.This version of their father was going to take some getting used to.
“Don’t worry, Dad.”Rylee laughed.“Not a one of us would risk Delly.”
“Do you like horses?”Miles’s wife, Renee, moved to sit on the floor beside Delilah.Her yellow Lab, Buddy, followed and lay at Renee’s side.He was a service dog, trained to alert her to sudden—and potentially dangerous—shifts in her blood sugar.
“I dunno.”Delilah shrugged.
All eyes swiveled Braden’s way.“I know.”He held up his hands.Delilah was five years old and she’d never met a horse, let alone sat in the saddle.That was pretty muchunheard of in these parts—certainly for anyone living on End of the Road Ranch.“There’s no rush.Montana and Florida are two very different states, and Delilah’s still getting settled in.”
“No fwip-fwops.”Delilah sighed.“No sand and no waves.It’s cold.I don’t like cold.”
Which silenced the room.Winters in Montana were cold—the sort of cold that cut to the bone.There was no way around it.
“Hot chocolate chases off the cold.”His father rubbed his hands together.“With extra marshmallows.”
