Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1 (25 page)

Adam nodded.

“Don’t nod, Adam. Answer Papa Rob.”

Adam swallowed and said, “Yep. Me and Mitch been working every day.”

“I think you mean ‘yes, sir’,” Olivia said.

“Yes, sir,” Adam said. “I help Mitch every day.”

Rob Landry smiled. “So I hear.”

A puzzled look crossed Adam’s face. “You’re Mitch’s real daddy. And Caleb’s daddy, right?”

“That’s right.”

Olivia’s heart pounded in her ears. She’d never explained the relationship between Mitch and Nana SuSu and Papa Rob, but her son was putting together pieces of information. Was today the day? Was this the sign she’d been waiting for?

“Momma?” Adam said with a serious facial expression. “Do I have real daddy?”

A loud silence fell over the table. Even the tree frogs stopped their croaking to hear her answer.

Olivia stood and walked around the table. Mitch scooted his chair back and offered it to her. While her ankle and knee were making excellent healing progress, she wasn’t back to normal, so she took his chair with a smile of appreciation. Plus, sitting would put her at the same eyelevel as her son. She’d never liked talking down to people and knew she needed to be at Adam’s level to judge his response to her answer. She sat and Adam turned toward her.

“You have a real daddy.” Olivia’s voice quaked with fear. She silently prayed for strength. She drew in a deep breath. “Mitch is your real daddy.”

Adam looked at Mitch standing behind Olivia, his hand resting on her shoulder. “How come he doesn’t live with us?” His bottom lip began to quiver. “Didn’t he like me?”

Olivia’s heart broke. She swallowed against the rising tears. Instead of jumping into the conversation as she’d expected, Mitch squeezed her shoulder and remained quiet. She sighed. “He didn’t know you, honey. Momma never told Mitch about you.”

“Why not?”

“You remember when you and Frankie had a fight over the red fire engine at school and you didn’t want to play with him anymore?”

Adam nodded.

“Well, adults get mad at each other too. Mitch and I…”

Mitch squatted alongside Olivia. “I did something that hurt your mom’s feelings, Adam. Really bad. It was my fault she never told me about you.”

“Is she still mad at you?”

Mitch thought about the previous night he’d shared with Olivia in the master suite and smiled. “No, I’m pretty sure she’s not.”

Olivia laid her hand on Mitch’s knee. “I’m not mad at him anymore, honey.”

Adam nodded. “Like me and Frankie?”

“Yes. Just like you and Frankie.”

He thought about that for a minute. “Okay. Can I call you daddy instead of Mitch?”

Mitch’s heart leapt into his throat in joy. “I’d like that very much, Adam, as long as your mother doesn’t mind.”

Olivia sniffed back a tear. “I think that would be great.”

“Nana SuSu? You have some dessert? We’re celebrating,” Mitch said as he rose.

Olivia saw Sylvia wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. “I sure do, Mitch. How about apple cobbler and ice cream?”

Mitch held up his hand and Adam slapped a high five.

Chapter Thirteen

Saturday started as every other ranch morning had started since she’d been there. Olivia was up before the sun getting Adam ready to ride the range, as he called it. She wondered if Adam had picked that up from Mitch or Hobbs. There were a number of new sayings in Adam’s vocabulary, but nothing she’d had to worry about…yet.

Adam had taken last night’s news that Mitch was his father much better than she’d feared. Adam had been thrilled with the news, but then again, he’d been thrilled when the cobbler and ice cream was served. Without doubt, he
understood
the fact of his parentage, but didn’t appear to be as worked up over it as the adults. Maybe grownups could learn a lot from kids on how to not overreact.

“Hey, Momma. Guess what?” Adam said, his mouth full of oatmeal.

“I don’t know. What? And don’t talk with your mouth full, honey.”

He swallowed and drank some milk. “Mitch—I mean Daddy—said I was the best cowboy he’d ever trained. And that if I…” He scrunched up his eyes as he tried to remember what Mitch had told him. “That if I played cards with him, I could have a ranch like this when I grow up.”

Olivia leaned over to wipe oatmeal off his cheek. “Did he? Well, grown up is a few years off yet. Besides, I thought you wanted to own the gym.”

“I could do both.” His face beamed at the idea.

Mitch came to the table and sat. “Ready to ride, partner?”

Adam nodded his head vigorously. Olivia enjoyed Adam’s enthusiasm when around Mitch, evident even before last night’s revelation.

Mitch hadn’t brought up her remarrying Drake again, but Drake had last night when he called, just as he had every night since their conversation two weeks ago. When he’d first asked her—before she and Mitch had reconnected—she’d given thought to living with Drake again and being the wife of a college professor. She’d decided that a life with Drake would probably be calm and agreeable and, maybe even a little boring.

Would that be a good life for her son? After all, nothing was more important to her than him. Her needs and desires ran a distant second.

But if she decided to stay with Mitch, was raising Adam so far from town the right move? By virtue of the distance of Mitch’s ranch from the nearest grade school, Adam would be separated from other children of his own age. No neighborhood children to play with. No close friends to ride bikes with. Was it fair to Adam to uproot him from the only life he’d ever known and plop him on such an isolated ranch?

“You going today, Olivia?”

Olivia’s meandering thoughts jarred back to Mitch’s kitchen. Mitch and Adam stood hand-in-hand looking at her. Both wore jeans, classic snap-closed plaid cowboy shirts, and dirty boots. Adam’s cowboy hat sat slightly crooked and off to one side. Her heart seized at the vision of man and son.

“What are you two cowboys doing today?” She’d been with them every day, but she needed to get away from this house and her feelings for a while. She needed some time for herself.

“Well, the guys are branding and neutering today.” When she flinched, he went on. “But I need to check a fence the hands did last week, run by and pick up some dewormer, see if any of the pregnant heifers have delivered. We’ll be in the truck. Plenty of room for you if you want to ride along. We’d like that, wouldn’t we, partner?” He tapped the crown of Adam’s hat.

“Yep. You can come if you want to, Momma.”

Yep.
That’d be Hobbs’s influence. She stifled a grin.

Relieved Mitch wasn’t taking her son to watch calves be neutered, she shook her head. “Sounds like a great plan for the day, but I need to run to town for a while. Since your mom brought back your other truck, I thought maybe I could use it today.”

“Sure. You know where the keys are,” Mitch said with a tilt of his head toward the laundry room.

“Can I have a word with you before you two head off?”

“Okay.” Mitch squatted down. “Will you go grab us a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator and put them in the truck?”

Adam’s face beamed. “Sure, Daddy.”

Olivia’s breath caught. Her son had been thrilled to find out about Mitch. Getting him to bed last night when they’d gotten home from the cookout had taken reading three books—all read by
Daddy
. It was as though Adam didn’t want to let Mitch out of his sight for fear he’d disappear.

Adam’s boots thudded on the kitchen tile as he raced across the kitchen, flung open the refrigerator door, grabbed two bottles, slammed it and ran back. “I’ll wait for you by the truck.”

Mitch tapped on the crown of Adam’s hat, straightening it. “Wait for me by the front door, okay?”

“Sure.” Adam galloped through the door. The echo of his boot heels on the entry hall tile made Olivia smile.

“You know, I had to make him take his boots off before bed last night. He wanted to sleep in them.”

Mitch smiled and stroked a finger down her cheek. “Good morning,” he said, and leaned in for a kiss.

Olivia glanced around to make sure Adam was out of the room before returning his kiss. “Morning,
Daddy
.”

Mitch shrugged. “Every time he calls me daddy it feels like my chest is too small for my heart. What a kid.”

She laughed. “I know.”

Mitch brushed a kiss across her lips. “You were gone when I woke up this morning.”

“I know. I thought it would be better if Adam didn’t find you and me together. Finding out you’re his father is enough of a shock for now. Let’s give him some time to adjust.”

He pressed his lips into her hair. “Agreed. Now, what do you need? Unless it was just use of my lips, and in that case I can hang around a minute or two longer.”

She laughed. “Good thing you have a ten gallon hat to fit over that huge ego.” He chuckled, the sound sending desire curling through her like hot smoke. “I wanted to thank you for finding things to do with him today besides the calf neutering.”

“Olivia. Honey,” he said on a long sigh. “He’s a five-year-old boy. Boys love stuff like that. I did when I was his age, but I’ve got enough hands on that job. I really do need to run these errands and I want the company of…my son.”

He said the words with such affection, Olivia’s throat swelled in emotion. She swallowed past the lump and fought against threatening tears.

She nodded her understanding, not trusting her voice not to crack.

“Is there anything else?” Mitch turned to leave.

“Do you know when you’ll be back?”

“Nope. How long will you be in town?”

“I’m not sure, but probably most of the day.”

“No problem.” He took a couple of steps then came back for another quick kiss. “Don’t worry about Adam. Have a good day. Get a massage. Get a manicure. Do whatever it is that women do that drive us men crazy.” He winked. “I’ll be checking those toes tonight,” he said with a leer.

Olivia laughed. She heard Adam starting in with questions as soon as Mitch walked into the foyer. She sighed. It’d be fun to do some women stuff today.

Olivia sat and picked up her now cold coffee. She looked at the almost empty coffee pot across the kitchen, sighed and stood. It felt wonderful to be off those crutches for short steps around the house.

“I’ll get it. Sit.” Magda shuffled into the kitchen wearing a pair of Daisy Duke cutoff denim shorts, a tie-dyed T-shirt and house shoes. “I like my coffee fresh anyway.” She poured the remaining coffee down the sink, refilled the basket with fresh grounds, the reserve with water, and pressed the start button. “There,” she said with a satisfied smile.

Olivia pointed to one of the chairs at the breakfast nook table. “Sit down and keep me company.”

Magda dragged back a chair and sat. “Where are the guys?”

“Mitch took Adam with him to check on a fence and run some errands.”

“And you’re not going.”

“Right.” Olivia drew her fingers through her hair. “It’s a guy day.”

“You know you don’t have to worry about Mitch. Adam will be fine.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Then why the wrinkles in your forehead?”

Olivia laughed and smoothed the skin between her eyes with her fingertips. “Not enough coffee.”

Magda stood. “Well, that I can solve.” She took Olivia’s cup to the counter, got another from the cabinet, poured two coffees and made her way back to the table. After setting Olivia’s cup in front of her, Magda sipped hers and sighed. “Love the first taste of coffee in the morning. It was always like that with cigarettes too. The first drag was always the best. The rest simply fed my nicotine habit.”

Olivia twisted her cup around in her hands. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smoke since I’ve been here.”

“You haven’t. Hobbs made me quit.”

Olivia smiled. “Good for him. Bad habit.”

Magda shrugged. “I know, but before Hobbs no one ever cared enough to make me quit.”

Olivia thought that was the saddest thing she’d ever heard. Growing up with three brothers, a mother who’d stay up late sewing a new dress that Olivia just had to have the next day and a father who’d spoiled her rotten, Olivia had always considered her life normal. Now, she realized how fortunate she’d been.

“I’ve never had a chance to ask. How did you end up here with Hobbs…if you don’t mind me asking?”

Magda finished her coffee, went for a refill and retook her chair. “I’m sorry. I should have asked if you wanted a refill.”

Olivia covered her mug with her hand. “I’m fine.”

The two women sat there for a minute, the hum of the refrigerator the only sound.

“It’s times like these I wish I could have a cigarette.” Magda ran her finger around the rim of her coffee mug. “Mom was…well, I guess the best description would be a buckle bunny. She followed the PBR circuit. That’s the Professional Bull Riders circuit.”

Olivia nodded. “Right.”

Magda drank some coffee then said, “I think her goal was to bed all the majors. Back then Hobbs was quite the rider. A top contender for the world championship.”