A Cowgirl's Secret(31)
She was wearing a T-shirt and pink flip-flops that made her look all of fifteen. Her messy pigtail didn’t help. She looked as pretty as she had the spring day he’d asked her to the prom. But that didn’t change the fact that as sorry as he felt for what Henry had put her through, she didn’t have a free pass for Luke missing the first ten years of his son’s life.
When Kolt exited the car, stepping onto his land, Luke wasn’t sure what to say. Kolt was handsome. Tall for his age and stick thin. A smattering of freckles dotted his nose and his dark hair had been neatly trimmed.
“When I was your age,” Luke said to his boy, hands shoved in his pockets, “I hated getting my hair cut. One day my mom let me cut it myself. Kids at school teased that it looked so bad I must’ve got caught in barbed wire. Just looking at your head tells me you’re a damned sight smarter than me.”
“You cussed,” his son scolded.
Chuckling, Luke said, “About time you learned that’s what cowboys do. Sometimes there’s just no way around it.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Daisy said.
“Do listen to me,” Luke insisted with what he hoped came across as a welcoming, friendly smile. “Here’s what you need to do. Let’s say you’re on your horse and see a snake. What’re you going to say?”
Nose wrinkled, Kolt shook his head. “I dunno.”
“Wrong. How about, damn, that’s a big snake.”
Wearing a cautious grin, Kolt mimicked, “Damn, that’s a big snake.”
“Excellent.” Luke held out his hand for a high five and was pleasantly surprised when Kolt didn’t leave him hanging. “All right, now it’s time for—”
“That’s enough.” Arms crossed, Daisy didn’t look amused by the evening’s cursing lesson. “Could we please go inside? It’s hot.”
“Help yourself,” Luke said. “Front door’s open. If Kolt doesn’t mind, we need to feed the horses before we head in for the night.”
“Kolt?” she asked, worry lacing her tone. “Is that all right with you?”
“Just go, Mom. I want to talk to my dad.”
Luke couldn’t help but beam with pride when his boy asked, “Can I brush your horses, too? Uncle Cash taught me how and he says I do a really good job.”
“Absolutely,” Luke said, ignoring the fact that Daisy still stood in front of the porch. “And hey, while I’ve got you here, can you tell me why the farmer’s horse went over the mountain?”
“Nope.”
“He couldn’t go under it.”
Though Kolt didn’t crack a smile, he couldn’t quite hide the light in his eyes.
Luke knew he had a long way to go before his son fully accepted him, but, Lord willing, with enough bad jokes and kid-friendly animal chores, the two of them might work their way into each other’s hearts.
As for his child’s mother? Good thing Daisy had finally chosen to hide out in the house or Luke just might’ve put her on manure duty.
Chapter Eight
A week had passed since Daisy’s last secret had gotten out. Funny how time had a way of elongating or shortening in direct proportion to one’s discomfort level. The past seven days had felt excruciatingly long. Kolt was still giving her the silent treatment, insisting Henry had been his friend. During her brief exchanges with Luke, he wasn’t much more communicative.
She’d hoped sharing the whole of her past would bring them closer, but instead, he seemed more distant than ever. Painfully polite, as if mere words might cause her to once again break.
Seated behind what had once been her home desk that she’d placed in the sun-flooded southeast corner of her new office, Daisy tackled a few emails from Barb regarding case research. Her friend had asked her to stay on with the firm at least until Daisy established her own law practice. Barb made no effort to hide her hopes that Daisy would soon tire of small-town life.
Truth be told, though Daisy had never been surrounded by more people who knew her, she had also never felt more lonely or out of place.
Dallas had Josie.
Cash had Wren.
Georgina had club meetings and grandchildren.
Wyatt had his travels and a seemingly neverending stream of buxom blondes.
By comparison, Daisy felt as if she had no one. Sending a personal note grousing about this fact to Barb, Daisy was surprised by her boss’s down-home advice to take the bull by the horns and make her son and Luke spend time with her.