Page 39 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“I said no, that wasn’t the kind of relationship I wanted or believed in. I kissed him good-bye. They got married. He only came back once, and that was about five years later. I’d just brought Trey home from the hospital, and Daddy was in Georgia at a horse auction. There was Harvey, standing on the doorstep.” A certain level of bitterness came with her words, and Cayden didn’t dare look at her now.

“He wanted to come in. He and Wendy had just gotten into a fight, and he had nowhere to stay. Well, I knew what that meant, and I turned him away.”

“Just like that?” Cayden asked, finally looking at her.

“Just like that,” she said, hitting all the consonants heavily. “I love your daddy. I had three boys under the age of five. I didn’t need another lover. I didn’t want him, Cayden. I didn’t.”

“I believe you,” he said, lifting his mug to his lips. The coffee was sweet and hot, and he liked the way it coated his throat. “Do you object to my relationship with Ginny?”

“Of course not,” Mom said. “It has nothing to do with me. If you like her, that’s perfectly fine with me.”

Cayden nodded, glad this weight was out of his mind. “I like her.”

Mom linked her arm through Cayden’s. “How much do you like her?”

“More than I should,” Cayden said. “Our relationship is in the shadows, Mom. Her mother does not approve.” He glanced at her. “She is not as forgiving as you, I suppose.”

“Oh, baby, that’s not it at all.” She reached up and ran her hand down the side of his face. “She simply has so much more to forgive than I do.” She gave him a kind, motherly smile and leaned her head against his bicep. “You’re such a good boy, Cay. You always have been. As a toddler, you helped me the most. You’ve always been the one to get along with everyone and find solutions all ten of us can live with. That was why I didn’t think you needed the college degree. Not because I didn’t think you could do it.”

“I know,” he said. “College was more about me earning my place here—and for you not to dismiss how I feel because it’s not howyoufeel.”

She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “I am still working on that.”

“I guess we all are,” he said.

They sat together for several minutes, the silence between them comforting and calm now.

“All right,” he said with a groan. “I have to go pick up Ginny. She’s comin’ to church with me today.”

“Is that right?” Mom asked, keen interest in her eyes as she watched him. “I didn’t think the Winters believed in religion.”

Cayden went around the counter and rinsed out his empty coffee mug. “I’m not sure about all Winters,” he said. “She asked if she could come with me, and I said yes.” He smiled at his mother. “Don’t go gettin’ ideas about how you can get me to introduce the two of you. I’ll do it when I’m ready.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, giving him a mock salute along with her smile. “Go have fun.”

He grinned at her and went back to where she still sat at the counter. “I love you, Momma.” He bent down and hugged her, glad she still had the fierceness in her grip that she’d always possessed.

“I love you, too, son,” she whispered, plenty of emotion in her voice.

Cayden’s heartstrings strummed, and he straightened. They nodded to each other, and he turned to leave. Things between them weren’t perfect—how could decades of a relationship be mended with one twenty-minute conversation and a cup of coffee?—but so much had been stitched back together.

Fifteen minutes later, he stood on Ginny’s front porch, his cowboy hat in his hand. She opened the door and curled her fingers around it as her mouth inched up into a grin. “Morning, cowboy. You look lost.”

“Do I?” he asked, enjoying this game immensely. “You look amazing.” He let his eyes linger as they slid down her body. She wore a black, sleeveless dress with white butterflies splashed across it, a wide sash around her waist, and bright red heels on her feet.

“Thank you.” She glanced at the ground as her trio of dogs came to greet him.

He crouched down to give them all a hello scrub, and when he straightened, Ginny had her purse and was stepping out onto the porch.

“I talked to my mother this morning,” he said, causing her eyes to fly to his.

“Is that right?” Her voice stayed calm with the question, though she definitely looked interested.

“I’ll have to tell you about it later,” he said. “I don’t want to be late for church, and I still have one thing to do.”

Her eyebrows went up. “You do? What’s that?”

He slid the hand not holding his cowboy hat along that sash at her waist, drawing her into his personal space. “I think it’s time for another kiss, Miss Winters,” he whispered, half playing and half scared. “What do you think?”

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