A Cowgirl's Secret (13 page)

He asked, “When do you close?”

“End of the week. For the deal I got, I'm paying cash from my trust. Without loans, it's a simple transaction.”

Looking to his boots, then back to her, he asked, “Once you're in, think I might be able to help?”

“Sure.” A light breeze caught her hair, floating it back from her face. Superhuman restraint was the only thing keeping Luke from grazing his fingertips along her cheeks to sweep those loose strands behind her ears. “Kolt and I will need every willing body we can find.”

“Good. I want to be there—for both of you.”

“While I'm grateful for the offer,” Daisy said, “I'm also a little suspicious. What happened to your solid stance on staying away from me?”

Good question.

“Look,” he said, hands crammed in his pockets, “I've never claimed to be perfect. Occasionally I say things I probably shouldn't. I'm not saying I'm ready to settle down with a white picket fence, but what could it hurt if we spend time together—like a family?”

“Don't…” Daisy's smile faded. “It's not fair for you to insert yourself into every aspect of our lives without commitment. Now that you're a part of Kolt's life, he'll expect you to stay.”

“Which is exactly what I'm offering.”

“No.” She smacked her palm against the hood of his Jeep. “What you want is to play house, but I'm not interested. More than anything, I crave a lasting relationship, a man to hold me in the quiet of night, but
I'm not desperate. Not nearly ready to beg for a man's crumbs.”

“You're being ridiculous.” Taking his keys from his pocket, Luke rounded to the driver's side of the car. “First, I never offered anything—let alone, crumbs. Second, this has nothing to do with you and me, but with me and my son. I have a right to spend time with him.”

“Of course you do.” Tears pooling in her eyes told him he didn't have a right to toy with her heart. But he failed to see how hearts even entered into it. Was this one of those cryptic woman things?

“Thank your mom for dinner,” he said.

Daisy crossed her arms as if hugging herself.

“Sharing Kolt doesn't have to be complicated,” Luke said. “You're making a bigger deal out of it than need be.”

“Just go.” She turned away from him to wipe her eyes.

For the life of him, Luke couldn't figure what Daisy wanted. She was the one who'd left him. She'd kept his son a secret for ten years. From where he stood, he was the injured party.

“Please, Luke…”

Bracing his hands on the edge of the car's roof, he said, “I don't know what you want from me. I'm offering all I have to give.”

Turning her back on him, she marched up the front porch stairs.

“Real mature, Daisy! We're having a conversation here!”

She entered the house and closed the door behind her, audibly ramming the dead bolt.

Luke kicked his tire.

Honestly, the woman hadn't matured one iota since turning fourteen. He was sorry for what Henry had put her through—more than he could ever adequately convey, but that didn't give her the right to play with him like this.

One minute, her smile put him on top of the world. The next, her pretty pout kicked him to the gutter. Where did that leave him? The last thing he needed was drama.

What
did
he need?

After this latest encounter with Daisy? A good, stiff drink.

“No way are you and my grandson spending so much as a single night here until at least the roof is fixed.” Friday afternoon, Georgina stood in the living room of Daisy's new home, decked out in rubber boots and gloves, looking as if her family were in danger of an imminent dust-bunny attack.

“I know,” Daisy said, “I've already got a roofing contractor lined up.” Ever since being handed the keys, Daisy felt as if someone had pressed Fast Forward on her days. She'd had so many new legal clients that some minor cases had had to be turned away. Barb was also keeping Daisy's work plate full. “They'll be working in conjunction with a preservation team I hired out of Tulsa. They specialize in reinforcing and bringing up to code the overall structure.”

“Look at that crown molding.” Josie craned her neck for a better view. “It'd cost a fortune to have that kind of craftsmanship nowadays.”

“True.” Georgina parked her bucket filled with warm, sudsy water in front of the mantel. “Thank heavens you don't have to strip all of this wood.”

“Tell me about it.” Daisy had her own bucket and was attacking baseboards. No doubt all of it would have to be scrubbed again after the carpenters did their thing, but it was satisfying to do work that made an immediate difference. With Kolt sleeping over with Jonah, the last thing Daisy needed was time for her mind to wander. “I think I'm going with a soft white for the trim, and then I'll have to look into finding reproduction wallpapers and paint colors.”

“I had no idea you were even interested in this sort of thing,” her mother said.

“I dated a guy in San Francisco who was a historic architect for the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board. It's really fascinating how much behind-the-scenes effort it takes to keep a town's architectural history intact.”

“Back up the train,” Josie said, sitting on her heels. “This history lesson is exciting and all, but I want to spend more time on the guy. How serious did it get and do you still hear from him?”

Laughing, Daisy said, “After dating me, Marcus opened his closet door—if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don't,” Georgina admitted. “Oh, wait.
Oooh.”

Josie and Daisy laughed.

“Anyway,” Daisy continued, “I love him and his significant other to death and we're all Facebook and email buddies, but that's about the extent of our romance.”

“Not to be a prying mother,” Georgina said, “but what's going on with you and Luke? My gardening committee and I naturally assumed that with Kolt, you two would marry.”

Daisy nearly choked on her own spit. “Tell me you seriously don't discuss things like that in public.”

“Oh, please.” Georgina waved off Daisy's concerns. “The whole town's talking about it. Just as everyone was shocked and upset about Henry, they're excited about the prospect of you and Luke finally getting your happily-ever-after.”

“Please, Mom,” Daisy urged, “if that's what you're hoping for, take it off your wish list. It's never going to happen.”

“Why?” Josie asked. “You two are cute together. And Kolt's the spitting image of his father.”

Daisy made a face. “True and true, but Luke's made it clear he has no intention of becoming an official part of my life.”

“Georgina, cover your ears,” Josie said.

“Fiddlesticks,” Georgina complained, “I've been gossiping about boys since before you two were born.”

Josie grinned. “Sorry. I was just going to ask if he's kissed you—you know, like recently? And if so, were there sparks?”

More like a flaming volcano! Daisy prayed the heat rising in her cheeks wasn't visible.

“I'm taking your blush to mean he
has
kissed you and it was amazing,” Josie said. “So what's the problem?”

“He's a man,” Georgina noted, “and my baby girl crushed his ego to the size of a pea. Now, he's scared that if he goes and messes up by falling for her again, Daisy's going to pull the same runaway stunt.”

“Which is ridiculous,” Josie pointed out. “She just bought a house. How much more permanent can a girl get?”

“Great point,” Georgina said with a big nod.

“Excuse me,” Daisy said, “but if you two let me get a word in edgewise, you'd understand that I don't even want Luke. I mean, sure, I'd like him around for Kolt, but he does nothing for me—you know, as far as the whole butterflies in the stomach thing goes. In fact Luke is—”

“Someone mention my name?” The beast strolled through the open front door.

Mortification
didn't come close to describing Daisy's embarrassment level.

Georgina cleared her throat. “Luke, I was just commenting on how my daughter wrangled me into unpleasant household chores when all I promised in regard to this old relic was help in restoring the garden.”

“And that's when your name came into the conversation,” Josie said as a quick cover. “We thought you would be the perfect person to help Daisy with her project. Dallas is all the time saying how handy you are when it comes to fixing things around the house.”

“Nice to know he thinks so highly of me,” Luke said, tugging on the brim of his cowboy hat.

“Josie, hon…” With a grunt, Georgina pushed to her feet. “Would you be a dear and drive me over to Lucky's? I have a powerful craving for sweet tea.”

“That does sound good,” Josie said, already gathering her purse and keys. “Daisy, you going to be all right with your jug of ice water?”

Daisy shot her so-called loving family the dirtiest look she could muster. They thought they were playing Cupid, but in reality, they were only making her situation worse. She longed for a nice, comfortable friendship with Luke—that was all. She'd grown weary of bickering and just wanted peace.

Once Georgina and Josie left, Luke said with a slow, sexy grin, “You might look into hiring new help. Those two seem worthless.”

“Tell me about it.” Sitting on one of the collapsible camp chairs she'd brought, Daisy said, “If you stopped by to see Kolt, he's not here.”

“Bummer.” Luke removed his hat, hanging it on the newel post. “I'd hoped we could have a tree fort planning meeting.”

“He would like that. I'm picking him up from Jonah's tomorrow at noon. Want to come back around one?”

“Sounds doable.” Instead of returning his hat to his head, and then leaving, Luke stood around, fidgeting with this and that. He picked up a bottle of lemon oil, read the label. Took a few leaves that'd skittered from the porch through the open door, stashing them in a trash bin.

“Good.” Grabbing the broom, Daisy avoided eye contact with Luke by working dirt from the nearest corner. “He'll enjoy spending time with you.”

Luke had grown uncomfortably aware of how much he enjoyed the company of Kolt's mom. Had he one iota of smarts, he'd have long since been out the door.

Daisy glanced his way. In the process, hair escaped her ponytail, spilling into her eyes. In his mind, Luke
stood next to her, sweeping it back, making her own escape an impossibility. He'd pin her into her corner, relishing the way he made her heart race as if she were a caged canary. She'd lick her lips. He'd sweep his hands from her cheeks, down her throat, her shoulders, her arms to land on her hips. Then he'd kiss her. Long and leisurely until she begged for more.

Had things between them not been so complicated, the afternoon might take on a whole new spin. As it was, he felt dirty for even thinking he wanted her. The two of them were over. What was his body's problem with understanding that message?

“I'll be sure and tell Kolt you stopped by.” Dripping it all over the battered wood floor, she took her filthy wash water to the kitchen.

Luke knew better, but he trailed along behind her, liking the view until reaching the room that had last been renovated in the seventies and featured avocado everything.

Pushing himself up onto a dusty counter, he noted, “You do know all of your modern stuff from San Francisco is going to look like crap in here.”

“Did I ask your opinion?” After pouring the dirty water in the sink, she filled her bucket with fresh water, this time opting for warm.

He shrugged. “Just saying…”

Daisy added a few capfuls of cleaner to her bucket. “Is there a specific reason you're still here? Other than to harass me?”

“Is that the way you think of me? As an imposition?” Why, he couldn't say, but the notion troubled him.

She sighed. “Honestly, I try not to think of you. You've made it clear how you feel about me and I'm making peace with that.”

“Good. Great.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he nodded. “Glad we're on the same page.”

From the front of the house came the sound of clomping footfalls on the porch.

“Hello?” Georgina sang out. “If y'all are thirsty, we brought sweet tea!”

Luke took that as his cue to exit.

He seriously needed to go on a date. Needed to work out his frustrations with a woman with whom he stood a chance in hell of going the proverbial distance.

 

“H
EY
, L
UKE
!” K
OLT CALLED
at the zoo Sunday afternoon.

Luke had originally planned to invite Daisy, but changed his mind. When it came to spending time with his son, Luke couldn't get enough, but lately, each time he and Daisy shared space they shared ugly words.

“Did you see how the mom chimp was looking at me?”

“What did you do to make her stare?”

“I was sticking out my tongue and jumping. Like this.” Kolt did his best monkey imitation loud enough to startle a baby who'd been sleeping in her stroller.

The baby's mom gave Kolt a glare, but the chimp mother seemed unaffected by his performance.

“Hey, bud, take it down a notch.” Luke guided his son from the building. “Hungry?”

“Nah. Let's look at more animals.”

After winding their way through forest and swamp-land and even the petting zoo, Luke was beginning to think he'd gotten an Energizer Bunny instead of a kid.

In front of a giant rope spiderweb, Kolt called, “Let's climb that!”

Luke asked, “Do I have to?”

“Yeah! Come on!”

They'd climbed around for a while, with Luke finding web-climbing to be not so bad, when two teens strolled by hand-in-hand, doing more kissing than animal observation.

“That's gross,” Kolt noted, nodding in their direction. “But my friend Jonah was talking about you and Mom and wondering why you're not, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

The question had come from so far out in left field that Luke couldn't think of a damned thing to say other than, “Is that what you want?”

“Well,” Kolt said, hanging by his knees from the web's top rope strand. “You are, like, my mom and dad, which means you're s'posed to be married, so I guess it'd be okay, but it would be better for me if you were married, 'cause that way it'd be easier talking about you guys with kids from school. But then you guys fight a lot, so it's probably a bad idea.”

Luke's chest tightened. It hadn't occurred to him that in this day and age kids even cared if parents were together or divorced or never married.

“Why haven't you talked about this before?”

Shrugging, Kolt admitted, “You never asked.”

Marriage. Wow. Luke would be lying if he said he
hadn't thought about the notion—especially with Daisy. But that had been back in high school when his most important goals had been passing Chem
II
and finding something fun to do on any given Saturday night.

Since Daisy's revelation about Kolt, Luke would've expected his parents to press the wedding issue. Far from it, they'd urged him to keep things casual between him and Daisy.

Oddly enough, even Georgina, who was a renowned stickler for having all of her offspring wed the moment children became involved, hadn't said so much as a peep on the topic. At least not to Luke. Did she feel the same as Dallas when it came to the topic of a reunion?

If so, why did that make him feel about six inches tall?

Moreover, why did he care what Daisy's family thought of him? He never wanted her back, did he?

 

“I'
M CURIOUS
,” L
UKE SAID
to Daisy after they'd both tucked Kolt into bed. They sat on the front porch, cloaked in darkness save for the flickering gaslights. The temperature was, for once, in the comfortable eighties, and crickets sang in conjunction with occasional house-rattling explosions coming from Dallas's movie room. “Why do you think your mom hasn't wanted us to marry?”

“E-excuse me?” Judging by her expression, Luke's question took Daisy by surprise.

“She practically held your brothers at gunpoint to marry Josie and Wren. Should my feelings be hurt she doesn't want me in the family?”

“Where is this coming from?” Daisy asked. “Days ago you confirmed you want nothing to do with me. Now, all of the sudden you want to talk marriage?”

“No. That's not at all what I said. What I want to know is, does Georgina think that the two of us would be a poor match? Dallas does. In fact, at the cookout, he pretty much warned me to steer clear of you.”

“Why?” Daisy leaned forward sharply enough to set the frame of her chair creaking. “How is what we do even any of his business?”

“It's not,” Luke said, “but I can see how Dallas would feel protective toward you. Especially with what went down with Henry right under his nose.” When she failed to comment, he probed, “What are you thinking?”

Her eyes had turned glassy. Was she tearing? “God's honest truth, I love the idea of us being a family. An official family. But we both know there's more to it than that.”

“You think?” He hoped his half smile sent the message he was teasing.