Daisies in the Canyon(67)

“Well, then, that does make sense. Birthday?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then pick out a blank card from the assortment there and sign it.”

“Don’t need a card. I’ll be taking them to her directly.”

He set the box in the backseat of the car and started the engine. Singing along with the radio, Cooper wondered what his grandpa would think of Abby.

You could be falling in love. The voice in his head sounded a lot like his grandfather’s. She could be your soul mate.

“Whoa! Grandpa, I’m not sure I’m ready to admit that much.” Cooper said.

He hurried through a shower and left his uniform in a pile on the bedroom floor. He jerked on jeans and a T-shirt and his boots and was out the door at ten minutes until six. When he rang the doorbell, he remembered that he’d left the daisies in the truck, so he jogged back out across the yard, jumped over the fence rather than opening the gate, and grabbed them. Abby was standing at the door with a smile on her face when he returned.

His mouth went dry at the sight before him. Her blonde hair hung in wavy curls to her shoulders and she wore a pair of jeans that hugged her curves, a cute little light blue sweater, and a denim jacket with shiny rhinestones scattered on it. When he talked his eyes into leaving her face and traveling down, he noticed the boots on her feet.

“Wow! You are gorgeous,” he said hoarsely.

“Well, thank you, Cooper. When you took off toward your truck, I figured you didn’t like what you saw,” she said.

“I forgot something.” He put the box of daisies in her hands.

“If this is flowers, you’d best come on in here so I can put them in water before we go,” she said.

“Hello, Cooper,” Shiloh said from the sofa.

“Evening, ladies.” He tipped his hat at her and at Bonnie, who was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with the dogs.

“Oh, they are beautiful,” Abby squealed from the kitchen. “I’m putting them in a quart jar in the middle of the table. Y’all can look at them, but if you steal one I will know.”

“Roses?” Shiloh raised an eyebrow.

“Daisies,” Abby answered. “Look.”

She held up the jar with twelve daisies, some greenery, and a sprig of something the florist had said was baby’s breath. The blue ribbon that had been around the box was now tied in a perfect bow around the top of the jar.

“One for each day you’ve been in the canyon,” he said.

“How sweet,” Bonnie said.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to be selfish and put them in my bedroom,” she said. “I’ll just be a minute more. Thank you so much, Cooper. Daisies are my favorite flower.”

Shiloh looked up from her book. “Better have her home by midnight. She turns into a mean soldier when the clock strikes twelve.”

“I’ll remember that,” he said as he tucked her hand in his.

“So will I.” Abby pointed at Shiloh.

“Looks like y’all are getting along better and better,” Cooper said on the way outside.

“We’re not doing too bad for three women who had to start from scratch.”

“That’s the way all relationships start,” he said.

“Yes, but most siblings get to start from babies and grow,” she said.

When they were in the truck and driving toward the road, he said, “You are right, but it’s still from scratch and the first thing you have to do is build a foundation. Without that, nothing will withstand the storms of time. Silverton, Claude, or Amarillo?”

“Do you have ice cream in the freezer at your house?” she asked.

Yep, I told you she could be the right woman for you. She reminds me of your grandma. That woman wasn’t a bit bashful, either, the voice in his head said.

With his heart racing like he’d just run five miles, Cooper agreed with his grandfather.





Chapter Seventeen

The cleaning lady comes on Thursdays, so the place isn’t as nice as it would be tomorrow,” Cooper said as he flipped a switch and lit up the foyer.

“A cleaning lady, but not a cook?”

“Grandpa hated cleaning, but he didn’t mind cooking. He always said that Granny was worth more to him on a tractor than she was scrubbing bathrooms. That was one area where he and Ezra disagreed. Granny and Grandpa shared the kitchen, so when she died Grandpa took comfort in making supper every night.”

“Do I get the grand tour?” Abby let her eyes shift to the doors in the foyer when she really wanted to know what was up that long stairway.

“Sure. Let me take your coat first.” He slid it off her shoulders slowly, taking time to kiss her on the neck along the way. The quick quiver in her heart and the delicious little shiver down her back created a quick intake of breath that she sincerely hoped he did not hear.

He hung it on an old-fashioned hall tree on a peg to the right of a long mirror. She hadn’t seen one of those since when she and Haley were little girls. Haley’s grandma had had one in her foyer before she sized down and moved into a retirement home.

He put his coat beside hers and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Through this door is the master bedroom. It sits empty these days, because I’ve always had a room upstairs and this belonged to Grandpa and Granny. Someday if I have a house full of kids, I might remodel it for a nanny.”