Cowboy in Charge (16 page)

“Nothing like having family around,” Jed said contentedly.

Again, Jason’s thoughts strayed. This time, to Scott... His family.

On the other side of the room, Cole and Mitch were helping a couple of Jed’s great-grandkids set up a plastic corral for a herd of toy horses. Jason wandered that way. “Need an extra pair of hands?”

Mitch looked up. “Always. In fact, you can take my place. I’m going to check on the baby. She’s teething and on the cranky side.”

“You put her teething rings in the refrigerator? That’s what Layne does.”

The other man laughed. “Looks like she’s breaking you in right.”

Or breaking me down.

He took a seat on the floor beside Cole and Tina’s son, Robbie, who was a couple of years older than Scott.

“You can help,” Robbie said, handing over two plastic pieces of the fence.

“What are we doing?”

“Making a corral for the horses. The other corral was just boxes. Just pretend. But this one’s for real.”

“Well, let me see what I can do.”

“Speaking of real,” Cole said, “I hope you’ve got some fence-repairing skills. We’ve got a stretch of pasture that needs some work done on it.”

Judging by his lack of success with Layne, he didn’t have any fence-mending skills at all. Still, he nodded. “I think I can handle that, boss.” As acting manager while Pete was away, Cole would give him his orders. He didn’t see why they couldn’t work together—as long as the subject of Layne didn’t come up.

“Jason, how’s Layne feeling?” Cole’s wife, Tina, asked.

So much for that thought of his, too. “Fine. I think she’s just about over her flu.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Jed said. “She’s got to make it out this way for dinner this weekend.”

“I’m sure she’s looking forward to that.” He glanced at Robbie. “Scott’s been talking about you and your horses. I know he wants to come for the visit, too.”

“He likes horses.”

“And cars and coloring.” He couldn’t help but smile as he recalled Scott’s crayon stubs and his excitement over getting a new coloring book.

As he reached for another section of fencing, he caught Cole’s gaze on him. He expected a stony-eyed stare but was surprised to see the other man’s thoughtful expression. He recalled what Cole had said to him about Layne.

I’ll break your neck before I let you break her heart again
.

Cole appeared mellow enough now, but things weren’t always the way they seemed. Instead, the man could easily be plotting ways to make good on his threat.

Chapter Sixteen

Jason reined in and dismounted, then handed the reins of his mount over to the stable boy. A few yards away, Cole did the same.

They had spent some long, chilly hours out on the ranch during these past couple of days fixing the fence line, checking on the water pipe Cole had repaired and moving some of the herd to a pasture with more vegetation. Casual conversation wasn’t much on their agenda, but the talking they had done had been civil.

Inside the barn, they found Jed and Robbie in front of Daffodil’s stall.

“Hi, Daddy. Hi, Jason.” Robbie stood on a small stool feeding Daffodil a carrot. “Daffy’s hungry.”

“She’s not the only one.” Jed laughed. He turned to explain to Jason. “When Paz gives Robbie a carrot for Daffodil, she gives him a cookie for himself.”

Jason laughed, too. “I’ll bet Daffodil is the best-fed horse in the stable.”

“You wouldn’t be far wrong,” Cole said from the workbench near the office. “Robbie’s got quite a sweet tooth.”

“Yeah, Scott, too. Especially when it comes to syrup on his pancakes.”

“I like chocolate candy,” Robbie announced. “And chocolate chips in my pancakes.”

“So does Scott. That’s his second favorite after the syrup.”

Jed clapped Robbie on the shoulder. “Well, Daffodil’s about finished, and we need to get back to the house and clean up for supper.”

“That makes two of us,” Jason said.

“You coming, Cole?” Jed asked.

“No, you all go ahead. I’ve got some work to catch up on. I’ll be there in a bit.”

When the three of them left the barn, Robbie ran ahead to the Hitching Post’s back porch. Jason walked beside Jed, who seemed content to amble.

Unlike Cole, the older man always had talk on his agenda. “Looks like you’ve gotten to know a lot about Scott’s preferences in just the week or so you’ve been here.”

“And gotten to miss him in just these couple of days.”

“They’ll all be here for a few hours tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” A few hours, and what then? Layne would go back home and do her best to keep herself and the kids away from him. In the short time before he had to leave town again, his chances of getting her to agree to visitations with Scott would be slim.

His chances of her ever trusting him were already nonexistent.

In their last conversation, her words and tone of voice and expression had all told him more than she probably wanted him to know. Jill’s daddy had hurt Layne badly. The way he’d let down both kids had hurt her even more. The experience had left her without any faith in men altogether, and especially in the two she’d once married.

She would always compare her first husband to her second one, and in her eyes, they would both always come out looking the same.

He couldn’t worry any more about getting Layne to trust him. She might never let down her guard, and he would have to live with what he had done to make her raise it. But he couldn’t live any longer without seeing his son on a regular basis. No matter how reluctant she was to grant them, he would fight for his rights.

Beside him, his companion had gone silent as if he were somehow aware of the thoughts filling his mind. Jason adjusted the brim of his Stetson, cleared his throat, and sighed.

“You might as well come out with it, boy,” Jed said quietly. “You’re about as easy to read as one of Robbie’s schoolbooks.”

He pictured Scott with his storybooks and recalled how raptly his son paid attention while his daddy turned the pages and read to him. He thought about when he might next have a chance to spend time with Scott. Reality hit, and his heart thudded.

The reaction told him even frequent visitations wouldn’t be enough.

He needed to be able to drop by on the spur of the moment to take Scott to the park or for ice cream, to bring him a new coloring book, to read him another story, to tuck him into bed. He couldn’t pass up any chance to be with his son. Which meant he couldn’t leave Cowboy Creek.

“Jed, you said you were shorthanded with Pete gone, and I know he and Jane are coming back home tonight. But some of the hands were telling me you’d mentioned needing another man around the place. I’d like to head back to Dallas and work out my notice, then pick up the rest of my gear and get back here as soon as I can. I’d like to fill the job permanently, if you’ll have me.”

“I’m more than willing to take you on. You ought to know that.” Jed clapped him on the shoulder the way he’d done to Robbie. “I’m just thankful you’ve decided to come to your senses.”

* * *

B
Y
S
ATURDAY
, L
AYNE
felt well enough to take on a few more hours at SugarPie’s.

When they reached a brief lull just before the noon rush, Sugar took her aside in one corner of the shop’s kitchen. “I don’t want you wearing yourself out.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m feeling much better, and I’ve been catching up on sleep.” To tell the truth, since Jason had left, she had gone to bed early both nights to keep from sitting alone in the living room. If she felt his absence so strongly after this short time, she didn’t want to imagine how Scott must feel.

She set an empty teapot beneath the hot water spout and watched to make sure she filled the pot to the brim. “Mrs. Browley just came in, and you know how she likes her tea.” She liked to tip well, too, and Layne could use all the tips she could get. With the refrigerator and pantry emptying, she was back to needing extra money to make up for the days she had been sick. She couldn’t—and wouldn’t—count on Jason’s offer of help.

In the small back office off the kitchen, the telephone rang. “I’ll get that,” Sugar said.

“I’ll take this out.” Carrying a tray with the teapot on it, she left Sugar and went into the dining area of the shop.

“Well, this is lovely,” Mrs. Browley said. “Why don’t you sit and have a cup with me, Layne?”

A quick look around the shop showed no new customers had come in. Sugar had stayed in the kitchen and must still be on the phone or she would certainly have joined them by now. “I’ll pass on the tea, thanks. But I can sit and chat for a minute.” She perched on the edge of the bench seat.

“I was disappointed not to have you and Jason and the children stop in to see me again.”

“I’ve been on the run quite a bit.” On the run from thoughts of Jason. “And I’m working extra hours today. Scott’s still talking about your cookies, though. He loved them.”

“Well, there will be more waiting for you when you stop in. I made another batch of chocolate chip today. They’re Jason’s favorites, too, you know. He used to eat them by the dozen when he was a boy.”

“You baked cookies for him?”

“I did. And I cooked for him, too, when I could get him to sit down long enough to eat. His mother wasn’t good at much but making frozen dinners and ordering takeout. He was too proud to stop by often—though I could always entice him with the chocolate chips.”

Just as he had enticed her with a pint of chocolate-marshmallow swirl ice cream. She didn’t want to think about his treat or the taste of vanilla ice cream on his lips. She didn’t want to recall her Mama’s Night Off or—most especially—the way that night had ended.

“Are you having your Saturday usual, Mrs. Browley?” The “usual” was pastrami on rye with extra mustard and two dill pickles. Even before she had filled the teapot, she could have had Sugar make the sandwich. After Mrs. Browley had nodded, Layne smiled and stood. “Be back in a few minutes.”

In the kitchen, she relayed the order.

“As I figured.” Sugar had already set out the rye bread. But she frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right to work?”

“I’m fine, really. And I’ll have some time tomorrow to take it easy.”

And the rest of the day forced to be around Jason.

“You still planning on going out to Jed’s?” Sugar asked.

She nodded. Normally, she looked forward to their visits to Garland Ranch, but not this one. How could she miss Jason so much at the apartment and yet dread the idea of seeing him at the Hitching Post? She almost winced at the echo of what he had said at the Big Dipper when she didn’t want to let him go off with Scott and had refused to leave Jill alone with him.

At your apartment, you were willing enough to take my help. But now we’re out in public, something’s different?

She had denied it, of course, and would deny it now. But somewhere inside, she knew the truth. The fewer people who saw her relying on him, the easier it would be for her to save face once he’d left.

“Oh, yes,” she told Sugar, “we’re still going out to the ranch. Scott’s ecstatic about getting to play with Robbie and his horses and maybe go for a ride on Bingo.” Yet this morning, he had seemed uninterested when she mentioned their visit, and the motorway Jason had made for him lay pushed aside in the corner of the living room.

She hoped he wasn’t coming down with the flu. But she suspected his listlessness came from the same reasons that had made her go to bed early.

According to all reports—from Cole, from Tina, from Shay, and even from Sugar when she had arrived at work this morning—Jason was still at the Hitching Post. Almost everyone in town seemed to know where he had gone.

Everyone but Scott.

His puzzled expression reminded her so much of the man he still didn’t know was his daddy. His questions nearly broke her heart.

Where Jason go, Mommy?

Jason read story tonight?

Jason come home tomorrow?

No, Jason wouldn’t “come home tomorrow.” But Scott would see him then. After dinner, they would leave the ranch, and all the questions would begin again.

Again, she weighed the difference between hit-or-miss visits and a real relationship and knew where Jason would fall in the balance.

“That was Jed on the phone,” Sugar said casually.

“What’s up? Did he say anything about tomorrow?” She grabbed the tongs and took a couple of pickles from the container in the refrigerated case.

“Just that he was looking forward to having you and the kids come for dinner.”

“That’s great.”

“Oh, and that Jason’s heading back to Dallas.”

The cold container slipped from her fingers and hit the preparation counter, spewing pickle juice over the clean surface. She lunged for the paper towel dispenser and wiped the spill before the juice could drip to the floor. Gaze focused on her task, she said, “Jason’s leaving?” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded high and tight and thready.

“Yes. Jed said he’s eager to get back home.”

“I can imagine. He’s been here for a while now.”

A while she couldn’t hope would last forever.

He had never said a word about seeing her again, and she could live with that. But what had happened to his claim he wanted a relationship with Scott? To his plan to talk to her about rights and visitation?

“I’ll take this sandwich out,” Sugar said. “Layne, you ought to sit down. You’re looking very pale all of a sudden.”

She waited till Sugar had left, then sank onto the high wooden stool beside the counter. Turning pale was the least of her reactions.

She had been tearing herself up inside about the way her last conversation with Jason had ended. Now, she gave thanks she hadn’t made any agreements with him. She gave more thanks she hadn’t told him she’d given him her heart again. All those yearnings to relent and trust him, all those wants and hopes and dreams, had come to nothing—just as their wild and crazy relationship had always been destined to arrive at that same end.

She wasn’t wrong about him. He was walking away from her and, worse, walking away from her son.

If he could leave without even saying goodbye to Scott, why would he make any promises to come back?

Even if he
did
make promises, what did it matter, when she knew he would only break them?