A Cowgirl's Secret(66)

Chest swelling with hope that she’d tracked him down for a happy reason, he damn near stopped breathing when he noticed her expression as she left the car wasn’t all smiles.

“Dad!” Kolt bolted from his seat, barreling himself against Luke for a man-size hug. “I missed you.”

Kissing the top of his son’s head, Luke said, “I missed you, too, bud.”

“Did you miss Mom?” Kolt asked.

Luke didn’t have a quick answer. Yes, he’d missed her so bad he hadn’t even wanted to eat. But his logical side kept reminding him that he’d survived ten years without Daisy. Surely he could go a few more.

“It’s all right if you didn’t,” Daisy said. She wore faded jeans, sneakers and a ratty University of Oklahoma sweatshirt Luke recognized as belonging to Dallas. In her hands she carried a legal folder she struggled to keep steady in the wind. “That said, in the event you did miss me—want to see me again—I took the liberty of drawing up this.”

“What is it?” Luke asked. Had she written the legal papers he’d wanted? It seemed a bit silly now. A piece of paper proving trust. When his mom had told him Daisy had left Weed Gulch, Luke’s first instinct had been to panic, but a quiet voice of reason reminded him to stay strong. Daisy had grown, so had he. She wouldn’t hurt him again.

“I want you legally to have equal custody of our son. As his father, you could easily enough obtain it on your own, but I wanted it to come from me. This, too.” She handed over a small pouch, containing a folded document.

“First, come inside,” he said, putting his arm around both of them, guiding them to his trailer.

“This is cool!” Kolt said, bouncing on the bed. “Can I come horse-whisper with you?”

“Sure,” Luke said, all the while never dropping Daisy’s gaze.

“Now that we’re out of the weather,” she said with a shiver, “have a look. I—I think you’ll like it.”

A quick scan of the document inside showed it to be his son’s birth certificate. Daisy Buckhorn was listed as Kolt’s mother and Luke Montgomery as his father. Luke’s throat ached from holding back tears. “All this time? But I thought you’d listed his father as unknown.”

“You thought it,” she said. “During one of our hundred arguments I was going to tell you, but got interrupted. I’m done hiding things from you, Luke. You’ll never know how sorry I am for hurting you. You have to understand that no matter what, I want to make decisions that affect both of our lives as a team. If your offer’s still good, I don’t want to be Daisy Buckhorn anymore, but Daisy Montgomery.”

“Am I gonna be Kolt Montgomery?” their son asked.

“Yes,” Daisy said, “no matter what. I’ve already filed the paperwork.”

“I love you,” Luke said, too relieved for words. Not about the custody agreement. He knew he didn’t really need it. He was relieved that he and Daisy and Kolt were finally going to be a family. “Your ring’s at my cabin, but once you get it back on your finger, I’d better not ever see it off.”

“Yes, sir.” She sealed her promise with a kiss.

“Why don’t I get a ring?” Kolt asked.

“Because you’re getting a custom-built tree fort,” Luke said. “I already had a friend of mine draw up plans, and just as soon as your mom’s carpenters finish her jobs, I’m putting them to work on ours.”

“I love you, Dad.” Kolt squeezed Luke in a hug.

His throat tight with emotion, Luke said, “I love you both.”

“Hey,” Kolt pushed free. “There’s only one of me.”

Daisy and Luke laughed.

“I was talking about your mom,” Luke noted, “but if you want to leave her out of our fort, I suppose we can have a special vote.”

“Nah.” Kolt gave his mom a hug, too. “I love her, too, but Jonah says if you get married, Mom’s gonna have a baby and if she smells as bad as Mabel and Robin when they poop, then I don’t want her coming anywhere near our fort.”

“Agreed,” Luke said. “But what if your mom has a boy baby?”

Kolt took a moment to ponder this. “I s’pose then it would be okay. Boy babies don’t smell as bad, do they?”

Cupping her belly, Daisy’s eyes sparkled. “There’s only one way to find out.”