Page 21 of Rodeo Cowboy
I press my lips together and inwardly curse myself for being a sucker. “Breakfast only. Then the kids and I leave. You don’t follow. You don’t contact us. I’ve already had my heart broken by a cowboy. I won’t do it again.”
His shoulders slump in relief. “Fair enough.”
“What must I know to not look like a fool out there?”
“Elsie is my best friend.”
His best friend? Or lover? Or both?
“She’s carrying Silver’s baby.”
I’m not sure why relief floods me. But deep down, I know it’s because I’m attracted to damaged cowboys. The wrong cowboys. The rodeo cowboys who knock up another woman while they claim to be with you. If only my situation had been that cut and dry. If only I were the innocent one.
“We didn’t know who the father was when she got pregnant. Either me or Silver.” It sounds like Silver and Elsie are just as damaged. “Silver didn’t want to be a dad. Elsie didn’t trust he’d be a good dad.” His painful sigh reverberates through the room. “Shit, I can give you a hundred excuses, but the truth is, when Elsie and I discovered Silver was the dad, I offered to raise the baby with Elsie. In this house. On this ranch. Just the two of us while I fixed up the rodeo camp and Silver continued touring the circuit.”
He is in love with her. The knowledge couldn’t be more obvious. It’s better this way and almost makes it easier to talk to him.
“That’s an enormous responsibility. I know. I’ve been living it for the last year. Your commitment to the baby’s well-being is truly admirable.”
“It was selfish.” He tosses his hat on the dresser and runs both hands through his disheveled hair.
“I don’t think it was selfish. Quite the opposite, actually.”
“You’re the only person who believes that. My dirty laundry’s been aired all through the town. They might’ve seemed happy to see me yesterday, but it’s all bullshit.”
“All I saw were people who love and care about you.” That’s the truth, even the pesky Quylt sisters.
He stalks across the room until he’s so close I can smell the overwhelming scent of hay and sawdust. “We didn’t tell him he was the dad.”
“Oh.”
“I knew Silver would be a good dad. Deep down, I knew he would, but I still trapped Elsie in my plan to raise this baby with her, and we lied to the entire town about the baby’s parentage.”
“Because you love her.”
“What? No. Well, yes, but not the way you’re thinking. I love her like a sister. I trapped her because her baby was my only shot at having a family. I’m sterile, Ayla. I can’t have kids; all I ever wanted was a big family and a loving wife. Since I knew that couldn’t happen, I took advantage of Elsie’s fears. I trapped her.”
The sorrow and anguish break me. His deep (color) eyes are filled with such pain it scrapes my soul. His lips tightly press together, as if trying to hold back tears I want to rid him of.
“And I won’t do that to you, too. Forget about breakfast with my family. It’s better for you and the kids if you go. I’ll tell my family the truth.”
I open my mouth too—I’m not sure what—but he slips around me and shuts the bathroom door leaving me alone in his bedroom. Just like last night. Only this time, I realize his secrets aren’t intended to hurt or save me. They’re to keep him from breaking himself.
“Wake up.” I tickle Bode’s toes and yank the blanket off McKenna’s bed. I burst through the far door into Willow’s bedroom. “Rise and shine.” I pull open the curtains and lightly shake her shoulders.
“Go away.” Willow thumps a pillow over her head.
“Get up, family meeting.” I rip the pillow off, and Willow groans in protest. “If you don’t get in here now, the meeting will quickly shift to figuring out how McKenna burned the house down when you were in charge.”
Her legs bounce up and down in a fit of protest. “Fine.” Willow stomps into the bedroom and collapses on McKenna’s bed.
“We have three options to decide on,” I say after checking the doors are all closed.
“Are we picking breakfast?” Bode yawns and collects his book from under his pillow. “I want cereal.”
“Gross. Eggs and bacon,” McKenna says.
“Think big. We’re doing Uncle Sammy a huge favor. French toast and syrup.” Willow smacks her lips.
