Her Last Chance Cowboy

by Tina Radcliffe

  Jake’s name was on the birth certificate, but Tiff hadn’t always told the truth. Callie’s loyalty to her friend had warred with what was right. But she’d made it a lifetime habit to always do what was right. So after much prayer, she’d finally contacted Maisie’s father.

  Still, she hadn’t figured on how doing the right thing would hurt so much. She cupped the crown of Maisie’s silken head in her palm. And now... She wasn’t sure how she was going to give Maisie up.

  Jake went down on one knee. His eyes never left his daughter’s face, but he was careful not to touch Maisie.

  He propped his arm on his thigh. “Hi, Maisie,” he rasped. “You are the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen.”

  Callie’s heart warmed to the ex-soldier. Maisie was everything and more a parent could ever ask for. Smart and kind, a furious ball of energy.

  Maisie let go of Callie’s legs. She immediately felt the loss of the child’s warmth, a harbinger of the future. She wrung her hands.

  The little girl pointed her index finger to the photo of Jake on the bookcase. “My daddy?”

  He choked off a half sob. “Yes, baby. I am your daddy, and I am so happy to finally meet you.”

  Callie’s eyes misted. He loved Maisie. This was what she’d been hoping for, praying for, ever since she contacted the army. But her arms ached with a coming emptiness. Her heart was breaking.

  This is the right thing, isn’t it, God? Her precious child would be all right. Won’t she, God? A girl needs her dad. Doesn’t she?

  Maisie inched toward her beloved miniature barn. Reaching inside, she withdrew a tiny plastic farmer. Golden curls brushed Maisie’s shoulders as she held it out to Jake. “Pway with me?”

  He stared at her a second, not realizing he’d been given an invitation. But when he did, he nearly fell over himself crawling to the barnyard.

  Sinking onto the leather ottoman, Callie watched as they played together. Actually, Maisie played and Jake, her adoring servant, moved things where Maisie told him to put them. Maisie had already captured his heart.

  Maisie ran the green tractor over the circular rag rug. “Me big-gull bed.” She arched her tiny eyebrow at her father. “No mow cwib.”

  Jake cocked his head. “What, Maisie?”

  Callie smiled. “She’s been after us to take her out of the crib and get her a big-girl bed.”

  He leaned on his elbows. “But you don’t think it’s a good idea?”

  “We’ve been so busy getting the orchard ready for harvest, I haven’t had time to look into it. Maybe soon, though.”

  He nodded and his focus returned to his daughter.

  Despite his short military haircut, she could imagine how his dirty-blond hair could’ve easily been the same buttery blond as his daughter’s when he was her age. Awe shone out of his eyes as he gazed at Maisie. And, when he glanced over to Callie, gratitude, also.

  “Maybe you should go over her schedule with me, Callie.”

  She blinked. Her heart pounded. Not yet. She wasn’t ready. Although would she ever be ready to relinquish Maisie?

  Was Jake the father Maisie needed? Callie had had him investigated before contacting the military after Tiff died.

  From humble beginnings in Texas, Jake McAbee had joined the army right out of high school, where he’d excelled in almost every sport. An excellence he brought to the army, serving his country with distinction.

  He was a three-tour combat veteran, well spoken of by his commanding officers and the men with whom he served. By all accounts, he was a good man who hadn’t deserved what Tiff had done to him.

  Callie closed her eyes. There she went again. But Tiff had made poor choice after poor choice as long as Callie had known her.

  Perhaps one of Tiff’s biggest mistakes had been filing divorce on her young husband of two months while Jake was deployed.

  “Uh, Callie?”

  She opened her eyes.

  “I booked a motel room tonight in Asheville. I didn’t want to drive over the mountains in the dark on unfamiliar roads.”

  Ready or not, Jake was Maisie’s father. She’d hoped to convince him to stay the night at the orchard to give Maisie more time to adjust. But Asheville wasn’t far. She was on shaky ground here. If she pushed too hard, too soon...

  “I’ve packed her clothes.” Callie rose. “And most of her toys.”

  His lips curved, and something like the sweep of butterfly wings fluttered in her belly.

  Jake gestured at the living room. “She’s got more than this?”

  Callie gave him a small smile. “You, Sergeant, have a lot to learn about girls.”

  The light dimmed in his eyes, and his mouth flattened. “I think Tiffany walking out on me underscores how little I actually know about women.”

  “Jake, I didn’t mean—”

  He rose abruptly. “But I’m a quick learner.” His broad shoulders tapered to the narrow waist above his jeans.

  The clean, spicy scent of his male presence robbed Callie of coherent thought. This was ridiculous. A person would think she’d never been around a man before.

  Although none so...so male as Jake McAbee.

  “Callie?”

  She jerked.

  “Maisie’s schedule?”

  She seized on the first thing that came to her mind—food. “Maisie usually has a snack around this time. Goldfish.”

  Maisie’s head popped up over the wooden barn. “Fish?”

  Callie nodded. “And apple juice.”

  Maisie smiled, wrenching Callie’s heart. “’Appy juice.”

  “Happy juice, huh?” He gave Callie a grudging smile. “What else at Apple Valley Farm?”

  Strolling into the adjacent kitchen, she poured the juice into a sippy cup. “Apple juice makes everyone happy.”

  Maisie stood beside the farmhouse table, waiting to be hoisted into her booster seat, strapped to one of the chairs. The booster was yet another item Callie had forgotten to pack. Maisie’s possessions were scattered throughout the house, blending in with the other furnishings. Belonging.

  Jake raised his hands to lift Maisie into the booster seat, but stopped short of touching her. His brow scrunched. “Will she let me put her in the seat?”

  Callie took a deep breath. Now for the test. “Let’s try.” She injected an over-the-top note of cheer into her voice. “Can Daddy put you in your big-girl seat, Maisie?”

  There was a long second where Callie held her breath. Probably Jake, too.

  “’Kay.”

  The relief on his face was poignant. Callie’s head insisted this was the best possible outcome. But her heart...?

  Maisie held her arms up to her father. And as if afraid he’d break her, he gingerly lifted his daughter.

  For a fraction of a heartbeat, he held her against himself, breathing in the little-girl fragrance of his daughter. The fresh-out-of-the-bath, baby-shampoo smell. A scent that, after today, Callie would never know again. Sudden tears blinded her, and she spilled some of the apple juice on the counter. After that split-second pause, just as gently, Jake deposited Maisie into the booster seat. Flustered, Callie carried the green sippy cup to Maisie.

  “Daddy wikes gween.” Maisie quirked her eyebrow. “Wight, Cawee?”

  Jake’s eyes cut to her.

  She flushed. “That’s right, Maisie. Your daddy’s favorite color is green.”

  “I’m surprised Tiffany remembered. Did she ever talk to you about me? Did she ever explain why—” His voice went hollow.

  “Only bits and pieces.” She moistened her bottom lip. If she wasn’t careful, she’d become like Tiff—a liar. “I’m sorry, Jake.”

  “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about, Callie.” There was pain in his voice. In his eyes, too.

  But she was sorry. At the moment, sorry that s
he’d done the right thing in contacting Jake McAbee. There had to be something—anything—she could do or say to make him change his mind about taking Maisie away.

  She took hold of his arm. At the touch of his skin against hers, something sparked. A tingling sensation ran from her hand up to her elbow. She drew back.

  “Please, Jake,” she whispered. “Please don’t take Maisie from the only home she’s ever known.”

  His blue eyes flickered. “She and I will make a new home together.”

  Callie’s gut tightened. “I’m begging you to think of what’s best for Maisie, Jake.”

  His face went hard. “I am thinking of what’s best for Maisie.”

  At the sound of her name, Maisie looked up, the cup spout between her lips.

  “Being with her father is what’s best for Maisie,” he growled.

  Callie grabbed on to the spindles of the chair. “But where are you taking her, Jake?”

  His eyes narrowed. “A friend in Houston is hiring workers for an oil rig.”

  “Texas?” She’d been thinking, hoping, maybe he’d settle nearby. “What do you plan to do with her while you’re out on an oil rig for days at a time?”

  A muscle ticked in his cheek. “I’ll make sure she’s safe and cared for.” The look he gave Callie wasn’t friendly. “But I won’t let anyone ever keep me from my daughter again. She’s mine.”

  Despite common sense telling Callie she needed to let this go, she couldn’t. Not for Maisie’s sake. Not for her own.

  “Maisie isn’t a thing to be possessed, Jake. She doesn’t know you. If you leave now she’s going to be scared. You could damage your relationship with her for good.”

  He went completely still. This man was a soldier. He could be dangerous, especially to anyone he perceived as a threat. But she couldn’t stop now, not when Maisie’s well-being hung in the balance.

  “We could visit you in Houston over Christmas. Let Maisie learn to trust you—love you—in her own way and time. Please, I’m begging you to do the right thing.”

  Sucking in a breath, he crossed his arms over his well-muscled chest. “The right thing?”

  At the anger lacing their raised voices, Maisie let out a whimper.

  His jaw jutted. “How dare you lecture me on the right thing. How long have you known I was Maisie’s father?”

  She dropped her eyes, not able to meet his gaze. “Since Tiff filled out the birth certificate.”

  He loomed over Maisie, getting in Callie’s space. “And how hard did you try to convince Tiffany to do the right thing by me?” He was so close his breath fanned her face.

  She stood her ground, not giving an inch. Maisie’s future was at stake. And everyone’s happiness. Everyone, except Jake? She hardened her heart. She couldn’t let him take Maisie.

  “Tiff wouldn’t listen.”

  He gave a short bark of a laugh. More bitter disillusionment than mirth. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  Maisie’s big blue eyes ping-ponged between them. “Cawee?” Her bottom lip trembled.

  “You’re already scaring her.” She placed her hand on Maisie’s shoulder and curled her lip. “What kind of father does that, Jake McAbee?”

  Something flashed across his face, something raw, evoking a reluctant compassion in her tender heart. But she mustn’t weaken. “I won’t let you take her.” She gritted her teeth.

  “You can’t stop me,” he growled. “I’m within my parental rights, and you know it.” In a swift, unexpected move, he lifted Maisie out of the booster seat.

  Maisie and Callie cried out at the same time.

  “I’ll figure everything out as I go.” Clasping the squirming child close, he strode toward the hall. “We’re leaving.”

  “No, Jake. Stop.” Callie ran after him. “Don’t leave this way. She won’t understand.”

  Maisie’s little arms grasped the air over his shoulder, stretching toward Callie. “Cawee! Cawee!”

  He flung open the door. Leaning against the porch railing, her father startled at the commotion.

  Callie’s chest heaved. “Dad, don’t let him take her.”

  Her father’s features sagged. “She’s his child, Callie. Not ours.”

  Jake rushed down the steps. Like a wild thing, Maisie thrashed in his arms.

  Callie plunged after them. But catching her around the waist, her father held Callie on the porch. “Don’t make this worse, honey.”

  She didn’t see how this could be much worse. She strained against her father’s grasp. “Maisie!”

  How had it come to this? How had this escalated so far out of control? God, where are You?

  Copyright © 2019 by Lisa Carter

  ISBN-13: 9781488042713

  Her Last Chance Cowboy

  Copyright © 2019 by Tina M. Radcliffe

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