Raising Kane (Rough Riders #9)(51)

“Thought I’d swing by, see what’s up since you left early yesterday. You busy?”


“Nope.” Hayden grabbed his coat sleeve and dragged him inside. “I’ve got something for ya. It’s in my room.”


“Hang on. Lemme get my boots off so I don’t track snow all over your mama’s floor.”


“I’ll go get it. You stay right here. Don’t move,” he warned and disappeared around the corner.


Kane ditched his gloves, coat and boots. When he glanced up, Ginger was inclined against the wall, smiling at him. Damn if he didn’t grin back at her like a lovesick fool. “Hey.”


“Hey, yourself.” Her gaze encompassed his body with blatant appreciation, ending at his black cowboy hat. “So the boots come off but the hat stays on?”


“Yes, ma’am.”


“You might want to rethink that.”


Hayden raced back into the foyer, skidding to a stop in his sock-clad feet. He held something behind his back, and wore an enormous grin. “Ready?”


“Yep.”


He whipped out a ball cap. Navy blue with Superstar! emblazoned on it. “I got you a new cap since you said your other one was unlucky. This one looked lucky.”


That little shit. That little, sweet shit. Kane took the ball cap, keeping his face shadowed beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. Not only was it a thoughtful gift, it proved Hayden listened to him. Sometimes with kids, he wasn’t sure how much they tuned out.


“Do you like it?”


“It’s perfect.” He removed his cowboy hat and handed it to Ginger. He adjusted the cap and smiled again. “Fits great. Thanks, Hayden. My cousins better look out. I’ll be winnin’ piles of money from them the next poker night.”


The boy still grinned. “Cool. So you wanna play my new Xbox game?”


He looked at Ginger. “Is it okay if I hang out for a while?”


“Sure. Would you like to stay for supper?”


“It depends.”


“On?”


“On whether you’re makin’ liver and onions.” He winked at Hayden. “If that’s the case, I’ll pass.”


“I’m making beef and noodles.”


“It’s my favorite,” Hayden inserted. “It’s really good.”


“Then I’d be happy to stay.” His gaze strayed to the living room. “Where’s Dash?”


“Taking a nap. Why?” Ginger asked.


“I’m thinkin’ I’ll challenge him to a game of poker later. See if my new lucky hat can break my losin’


streak with him.”


Any awkwardness vanished as the afternoon flew by. Hayden beat him three games out of four on the Xbox. He won seven out of ten hands of poker with Dash, but Kane suspected Dash let him win, so Hayden could see the ball cap was indeed lucky.


The beef and noodles were delicious. It surprised him that Ginger was such a great cook. The few professional women he’d dated couldn’t cook worth shit. Then again, having a child with food allergies changed everything.


Dash seemed strangely subdued and retired to his room shortly after they’d eaten. Ginger disappeared for a few minutes as she helped Dash settle in. Kane remembered Dash’s embarrassment the nights he’d stayed here and helped Dash into bed. It’d been no big deal for Kane, holding the wheelchair steady as Dash pulled himself onto his mattress.


It’d taken a lot out of Dash, so the next night, Kane had just picked the man up without asking.


Luckily Dash hadn’t rolled out of bed on his watch, but Kane suspected if they installed folding hospital rails, Dash wouldn’t fall out of bed at all. Since Kane wasn’t family, he didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up with either Ginger or her father.


Hayden yawned and asked his mother if Kane could tuck him in. Kane sat on the edge of the bottom bunk. “So your mama don’t read you stories before she tucks you in?”


“Not anymore. Sometimes I let still let her.” His eyes looked so much bigger without his eyeglasses.


“Did your mom read to you?”


“If she had time or if me’n Kade weren’t in trouble. Truth is, my dad liked to read us.”


“He did? What did he read?”


“Adventure stories he’d saved from the magazines he’d had growing up.”


A somber expression settled on Hayden’s face.


In that instant he looked exactly like Ginger. “Something wrong?”


“What’s it like to have a dad?”


He’d taken classes through the Big Buddies program on how to address this question, but faced with it now, he couldn’t remember a damn thing on how he was supposed to answer. “Well, since I’ve always had one, I guess I’ve never really thought about it.”


Hayden’s small fingers pleated the dark green comforter. “You look like your dad.”


Jesus. Kane knew what was coming before Hayden opened his mouth.


“Do you think I look like my dad? Because I don’t look like my mom.”