A Cowgirl's Secret(8)
Her son stared at her with eyes so much like Luke’s. “I guess.” He turned away, then added, “He looks like me.”
“I’ve always thought so,” Daisy admitted. “So many times I wanted to tell you all of this, but remember when you accidently broke my favorite crystal vase, and were afraid to tell me?”
He nodded.
“That’s how I’ve felt about your father, only on a much bigger scale. When he came here today, I was just as surprised as you. But now that you two know about each other, aren’t you curious about what he’s like?”
Shrugging, Kolt said, “I guess. Is he always so grouchy?”
A wistful smile tugging her lips, Daisy reminisced, “Luke was always the most kind and gentle person I knew. That’s why I loved him. He made everything that scared me seem not so bad.”
“Do you still love him?”
What a question. “No. But when we made you, I thought he was the most amazing guy on the planet.”
“Eeeuw.” He made a face. “Does that mean you did it with him?”
Refusing even to respond to a birds-and-bees question from her ten-year-old, Daisy held out her hand. “Come on. Somewhere high up in my closet are pictures I’d like you to see.”
Photos Daisy had carefully avoided for so long.
She had a hard enough time dealing with remembered images of her former life, but in time, those had grown fuzzy. To hold smiling snapshots of all she held dear would be excruciating. Her mom, grinning in her garden. Her favorite brother, Cash, hamming it up with GQ poses. Dallas and her father, the stoic ones of the Buckhorn clan. Never overtly demonstrative, but both with hearts of pure gold. Wyatt, rarely seen without a football or pretty girl. And then there were shots of Luke. Handsome, funny, sweet. His grins took her breath away. His kisses filled her with hope and wonder and dizzying pleasure she hadn’t even tried finding again. Why should she, when she deep-down knew such perfection could no longer exist.
Chapter Three
“For the hundredth time, I’m sorry.”
Luke glanced over the rim of the black coffee he’d been nursing to see Daisy flash a half smile. It ought to be a crime for a woman to be so gorgeous. Made it damn near impossible for a man to think.
“You wanted to talk,” she persisted, “so here I am.”
“Not that simple.”
Sighing, she said, “This is one of Kolt’s favorite places. Look—” She pointed out their tableside window. “See the sea lions? Kolt gets a kick out of watching them.”
“I’ll bet.” What else did their son like to do that Luke had no idea about? He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the notion that even though Kolt was his blood, they were strangers with nothing in common. Case in point, something about eating eggs over crashing bay water, high up on a rickety pier had Luke on edge. He was a land man through and through. Yet his son apparently loved the water.
“I thought about bringing him, but he seemed to be feeling so much better that I sent him to day camp. Besides which,” she toyed with the tea tag still hanging from her mug, “the last thing he needs is more arguing. I’d like for us to present a united front.”
Slathering butter on a fussy croissant when he’d have preferred a buttermilk biscuit, Luke snorted. “Haven’t we already been over the fact that I don’t give a damn what you’d like? When it comes to our son, of course, I only want what’s best for him and I find it downright insulting you’d imply otherwise. In fact—” His cell rang. Removing it from his back pocket, he checked the number. “Dallas. Want to talk?”
She vigorously shook her head.
“You’re going to have to face him sooner or later.”
“I prefer later.”
Rolling his eyes, he answered, “Hey.”
In usual Dallas style, Daisy’s brother barked louder than the sea lions. “You actually found her? Is she at that address? If so, Mom and I will be on the next plane out.”
“Whoa,” Luke said, hating that he was now firmly in the middle of an ungodly mess. “Like I said in my text last night, it’s complicated. Daisy’s not quite ready for company.”
“Company, hell!” Dallas roared loud enough for Daisy to wince. “We’re family. We deserve an explanation for what made her sneak off like a two-bit floozy in the night.”