The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge (Gold Valley #14)(55)

“Yes,” Iris said.

She transferred Lily to Iris’s arms, and right then Colt walked into the room.

“I wanted to hold her,” Iris said, looking over at him.

“You’re a natural,” he responded.

They lingered for a little while longer, and when it was time to leave, there was something inescapably right about all of it. The warmth in the air, standing next to him. And as she got into the passenger seat and buckled up, she did the best she could to banish it.

Because this was good. It was good. She’d talked to Iris, and she... Suddenly, she found herself blinking back tears.

“What?” Colt asked.

She looked over at him, not able to see his face in the dim light of the car. And she knew he couldn’t see hers either.

“How did you know that I was crying?”

“The way you were breathing. I know what it sounds like when you get all emotional. You do it when you look at Lily a lot.”

Her heart crumpled. “Oh. Just a conversation that I had with Iris. About Griffin. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself about a few things. And she... She really made me feel better. She made me feel like... Like maybe I’m wrong about some things.”

“You? Wrong about something?”

“I know,” she said, laughing. “Shocking, right?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever recover.”

An oncoming car sent a slice of light across his face, and her heart tripped over onto itself. If she wasn’t careful, it would be easy to think that this was something it wasn’t. If she wasn’t careful, it would be easy to get comfortable again. And she wasn’t here to be comfortable. She was here for moments like she’d had tonight. Ones that stretched her and grew her. Changed her and shifted things inside of her. That’s what she was here for. And that’s what she was going to put her focus on.

Not Colt Daniels and his wicked smile. Or the way he made her heart hurt when she looked at him.



CHAPTER TWELVE


THE THUNDERSTORM THAT had begun to make itself evident a few days ago made itself manifest that day. Colt had decided to stay home that day, figuring that he didn’t need to be out riding in the fields when the weather was this miserable, particularly not with Lily. Mallory had patients to see to today, and it just worked out best if he stayed with the baby.

She had been with him for nearly two weeks. And that meant that Mallory had been with him for that amount of time as well.

And the house was beginning to feel too small. That woman...

Sometimes there were moments where the air seemed to stop around her. Where time itself seemed to stop. And all he could do was stare at her. At her shining eyes, her full, beautiful mouth.

She was becoming a craving. And he didn’t think he could attribute it to the lack of sex, because in that case, wouldn’t every woman he passed incite such an internal riot inside of him? But they didn’t. It was only her. Only ever her.

He was feeling particularly pissed off about it today too. He had a sleepless night with Lily, and the house now seemed extra quiet. Because of course she was sleeping. He lay down on the couch for a while, but he didn’t like to be idle during the day. No matter how exhausted he was. He stared at his guitar in the corner for a while, but he left it. It had dust on it.

His dad had taught him to play the guitar. That was one of his happy memories. His dad in the living room playing a country song and laughing.

Ever since his conversation with Jake a few months back, it felt tinged with an extra layer of loss.

Had his dad really intended to leave them? In some ways, Colt didn’t think so. Not given the conversations they’d had right before the trip. He didn’t want to play guitar.

He picked up a block of wood and his knife, and he started to fiddle around with it. “You might like this,” he said, addressing Lily, who didn’t care at all, and was asleep in her bassinet. He began to make a small fox. The corner of his lips kicked up into a smile when it began to take shape. This particular fox had a ridiculously out of proportion tail. But he thought it was something that a little girl would probably find cute. Maybe he would send it off with her when she left. He sighed heavily and curled his hand around the piece. All right. There wasn’t going to be any sitting around today—it wasn’t doing him any favors.

His phone rang, and he picked it up. “Hello?”

“Colt Daniels?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Doctor Elizabeth Fielding.”

“What?”

“I’m calling to schedule an appointment with baby Lily. I just spoke to Mallory about the circumstances surrounding the situation, and while normally I wouldn’t go ahead and make the appointment, I appreciate that the circumstances really are extraordinary.”

“I didn’t ask Mallory to schedule an appointment,” he said.

“Yes, she mentioned as much, but we got to talking in line at the coffeehouse this morning and...”

“She’s using small towns against me.”

“No one is using anything against you, Mr. Daniels.”

“I...”

He looked out the door at the pouring rain. And suddenly, it looked better than sitting in here. “I’ll have to call you back.”

Fury licked through his veins. She had gone behind his back and contacted a doctor. Okay, it sounded like she got to chatting to one in line at Sugar Cup. But it didn’t really matter the circumstances. The fact of the matter was, she’d put Lily at risk. At risk of being taken by Child Services. And that put... It put Cheyenne at risk. And everything that Trent wanted. And what the hell was the point of any of it if Colt ended up compromising the custody of Lily?