A Cowgirl's Secret(39)
Raising her chin, sporting a look of defiance he hadn’t seen since she’d bought her first bottle of Jack Daniel’s, she said, “Get over yourself, Luke. I’m not asking you to marry me. Just to be my friend.” Raising her hands only to slap them at her sides, she said, “Honestly, would that be so hard?”
“In a word—yes.” Because if he were to surrender himself to her again, only to have her turn away, Luke feared he might never recover.
Chapter Ten
“Thank you so much.” Daisy’s new client, Jane Richmond, had tears in her eyes while leaving the office. A domestic violence victim, she’d finally summoned the courage to leave her abusive husband, but didn’t know how to get him to pay child support. Daisy had filed the proper papers and gotten the legal ball rolling to get the guy in court. “I’m not sure how I’ll ever repay you.”
“That’s the beauty of a free legal clinic,” Daisy said with a hug. “All you have to worry about is caring for those adorable children. No guarantees, but I’ll stay on Brian for as long as it takes to get what your babies are entitled to.”
After more hugging and tears, Jane left.
Since Daisy’s ad for free legal services had appeared a week earlier, Jane had been her only meaty case. She’d also done a couple of wills, helped mediate a land dispute and filed a few small claims court issues.
Since Luke’s declaration on Kolt’s first day of school, Daisy’s pride had kept her away. While she appreciated her mother’s advice on the matter of earning back his trust, clearly he more closely resembled a stubborn old mule than a man. As such, Daisy had decided to put her energy into helping people who wanted her in their lives.
As for Luke, he was a lost cause.
Another executive decision she’d made was to move out of the family home. As much as she loved being around her mother and Dallas and his wife and kids, she knew it was time for her and Kolt to get their own place.
The only foreseeable problem was Henry. She’d done some quiet investigating only to find he was still in the area, bunking with friends. On the ranch, Daisy felt reasonably safe. Though they didn’t have security beyond the nightly alarm they set at the house, she reasoned there was safety in numbers. Henry would be foolish to mess with her when there were so many potential witnesses. On the other hand, he’d approached her in a crowded grocery store. Which told her if the man truly wanted to get to her, he’d find a way.
That said, Daisy refused to live one more day hiding in fear. She’d exiled herself for ten long years and had had enough.
At three o’clock, she waited until after weaving through school traffic before asking Kolt, “What do you think about looking at houses with me?”
“Why? We live at the ranch.” He unwrapped a sucker he’d been given for acing his spelling test and popped it in his mouth.
“I know, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a place of our own? You wouldn’t have to share a bathroom with the twins and no more fighting over movies.”
“I guess.” Making a paper airplane from his candy wrapper, he asked, “Would Uncle Cash and Aunt Wren come over with Robin?”
“Sure. Everyone would be welcome to visit whenever they want.” She stopped at the train crossing where the ringing signal brought on a headache.
“Luke said someday we could build a tree fort. Think the new house would have a spot for one?”
“I don’t see why not.” The train had to be eight miles long.
“Cool. He’ll have to go with us to look, though. I don’t wanna accidentally buy a house that wouldn’t have a good tree fort tree.”
Come on, train. “The two of us should be just fine on our own. I’m sure Luke wouldn’t want anything to do with house-shopping.”
“Sure he would, Mom. Let’s call.”
Before Daisy could stop him, Kolt picked up her cell and dialed Luke’s phone.
“THIS IS THE LAST THING I thought I’d be doing today.” Luke had just returned from a week-long stay at a ranch west of Oklahoma City and had looked forward to spending his Saturday loafing as much as possible. Instead, he was crammed into the backseat of a Realtor’s Prius alongside the one woman he didn’t want to be with.
Kolt sat in the front because he’d gotten carsick.
While Kolt and Vera discussed their favorite Disney Channel shows, Daisy said under her breath. “Trust me, I don’t want you here just as much as you don’t want to be here. If you hadn’t told Kolt so much about how great it is building a tree fort, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”