Her Surprise Cowboy--A Clean Romance

by Claire McEwen

  The weather today had started out cool, but now, getting close to eleven, things were warming up a bit. Liam removed his jacket, surprised when Trisha took it from him. “You can put this in the stroller. That’s one great thing about having a baby.” She folded it neatly and placed it in the bottom compartment.

  “I’m assuming that’s not the only great thing,” he teased.

  He loved her self-conscious smile. It was that sweetness he’d fallen for that first night, like she had all these amazing ideas inside of her that she’d share if you just paved the way for her a little. “There are a lot of great things. Right now it’s all the firsts. The first time he laughed, rolled over, sat up, crawled, made a sound that might be a word...and his personality, starting to shine through. He’s funny. He tries to make people laugh. Now I’m realizing that might be something he inherited from you.”

  “He got your pretty eyes, though.”

  She flushed. “No compliments, please.”

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure if they’re real. It could just be you, doing that cowboy charm thing again. Or it could just be because I ended up having your baby.”

  He glanced at her, startled that she’d even think that. “You don’t think I’d find your eyes pretty if we just met?”

  “Maybe, but how can I know that now?”

  That was one more layer of complication he hadn’t thought of. He’d be drawn to her no matter what, just like he was the night they first met, but how could he convince her of that?

  Maya approached, a welcome interruption. “Are you two going to take Henry to find some Easter eggs? I think they’re starting the hunt over at the park soon. Let’s all walk over there.”

  “That would be fun.” Trisha glanced Liam’s way. “Sound good?”

  “Of course.”

  They were a big group, walking together to the egg hunt, which looked to be at the same park with the redwood trees where Trisha had told him about Henry not too long ago. All of the women Liam had seen the night of the Spring Art Fair were there, the ones Trisha called The Book Biddies. They seemed to function as a team of surrogate grandparents and aunties for the kids.

  Monique, who’d given Liam the pep talk outside Trisha’s house that first day, was sipping a lemonade and chatting with Jace and Caleb. Flanked by the two handsome cowboys, Monique seemed to be in her element.

  A woman named Priscilla, who he gathered from Trisha was a retired teacher, was holding hands with Alex and Amy and listening to them recount their egg-rolling adventures. Trisha had pulled ahead of Liam. She was pushing Henry while talking with Eva, who owned an art gallery. According to Trisha, she’d also founded the Shelter Creek Wildlife Center.

  Maya was in animated conversation with Annie Brooks, the rancher who’d come by Jace’s place to get her hoof trimmer a week or two ago. An older guy held hands with Annie. He’d introduced himself to Liam earlier today as Juan Alvaro and said he’d been ranching in Shelter Creek practically his whole life.

  Maya’s grandmother Lillian, and her friend Kathy, appeared on either side of Liam, a little breathless, as if they’d rushed to catch up with him. “Liam, how are you holding up?” Lillian asked, not standing on ceremony. “I know this must be quite a time for you.”

  “Something like that.” He was inarticulate inside and out when it came to his current situation. He’d called Wyatt last night, intending to tell him, but his feelings seemed to run too deep to surface. He’d ended up gabbing about Jace, and his ranch, and the difference between getting state versus national organic certification, and left it at that. It was almost like Trisha and Henry were too precious to share. Too important to expose them to the way they might be seen by his family—as one more poor choice he’d made while under the influence.

  “We have an idea.” Kathy glanced his way with a kind smile. “To help you find your feet.”

  “Lessons,” Lillian continued, as if the two were used to finishing each other’s sentences. “Baby lessons.”

  “Diapering. Feeding. Holding. Playing. Laundry. The works,” Kathy explained.

  “We’ll have to use a doll, since we don’t have a baby at our disposal,” Lillian said. “And anyway, we suspect Trisha wouldn’t appreciate us borrowing Henry for this little project, since she’s rather protective of him.”

  “But this way, when she does give you a chance, you’ll amaze her with your baby knowledge.” Kathy’s smile was full of pride and Liam suspected she’d hatched this plan.

  Liam tried to imagine himself with a baby doll. The image was about as dignified as a pig in a dress. “I don’t know... I mean, I do appreciate it and all, but you know I’ll just look a fool.”

  “Oh, and you think a woman doesn’t feel foolish every time she heads into the hospital for a prenatal exam?” Lillian inflated with indignation. “Or when she’s giving birth and there are a bunch of strangers in the room looking at her girl parts? If you’re man enough to get someone pregnant, seems like you should be man enough to do what it takes to be a good daddy.”

  There was no answer to that except “Yes, ma’am.” She was absolutely right. He had to do what needed to be done, just like Trisha had. “Tell me where and when. I’ll be there.”

  “Well, we’re hopeful that you’ll be busy with Henry and Trisha for the rest of today. So how about tomorrow evening after work. My house at seven?”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Give me your phone. I’ll enter my address and phone number in your contacts.”

  Man, these ladies took their meddling seriously. Liam tapped in the security code and handed Lillian his phone. “Why are you all doing this for me?”

  “Because you look a little pathetic?” Lillian’s grin softened her sharp words.

  “Lillian, be nice,” Kathy admonished. “The truth is, Liam, we love Trisha very much. She hasn’t had the easiest time of it, what with her accident and her parents leaving and all. We want her to be happy. We want her and Henry to have the best life possible. And since you’re now in their lives, we want things to go well.”

  “You all are mighty kind. First the cookies, and now this.”

  “So we’ll see you tomorrow night, then?” Kathy patted his arm. “I bet we can turn you into daddy material in just a few hours.”

  “That’s all it takes, huh?”

  “If you pay attention.” Lillian handed him his phone. “There will be pizza. See you at seven.”

  The two veered off to look at a display of hand-painted Easter eggs, leaving Liam to walk on his own for a few moments, letting the group get ahead of him. Lillian and Kathy’s tough love reminded him a little of Wyatt, and how he’d always pushed Liam to be a little more, to try a little harder. It had been Wyatt who’d encouraged him to pursue his love of bull riding, saying that if Liam had the talent, he shouldn’t waste it. Though now, Liam suspected that Wyatt felt somewhat guilty about encouraging something that had led to Liam’s injury and addiction.

  But sometimes a little encouragement, or a solid shove forward, was just what Liam needed. And he’d received that, courtesy of those two cookie-wielding Book Biddies today.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “HE’S REALLY SWEET, TRISH.” Maya had fallen into step beside Trisha as they crossed the road to the park.

  “Maya!” Trisha glanced behind her to see if Liam was anywhere near, but he was walking at the back of their group, chatting with Lillian and Kathy.

  “I’m just saying that if you had to have Henry’s daddy show up unexpectedly, at least he’s handsome, kind and funny.”

  Trisha drummed her fingertips on the padded handle of Henry’s stroller. “He is, right? But it’s so complicated, you know? I don’t feel like there’s any room for my personal feelings, when it really needs to be about him building a relationship with Henry. And what if he decides he doesn’t want to
be involved after all? He might just lose interest.” Glancing around again, she moved closer to Maya. “He’s only twenty-six. That’s practically a baby in guy years.”

  Maya let out a snort of laughter. “He’s only two years younger than you!”

  “But come on. You and I got old fast, after what we went through.”

  “Well, still. That should just show you that one person’s twenty-six is different than another’s. He seems like a responsible guy.”

  “He’s a guy who lives in Texas. He has to go back there, you know. He’s supposed to use all the stuff he learns at Jace’s ranch to improve his family’s business.”

  “Think about it this way. A couple weeks ago you thought you’d never see him again. Now he’s here and trying to be involved. A lot can change in a short time. Try to relax and have some faith. You could even try flirting with him a little. I mean, you were attracted to him at one point, right?”

  “Clearly.” Trisha pointed down to Henry in the stroller. “Do you think I’m awful for the way this happened? For crashing a wedding and meeting a guy and getting pregnant like that?”

  Maya shot her a wry smile. “I figured it must be something like that. Henry didn’t just appear out of nowhere.”

  Now that she’d asked, Trisha needed to know the entire answer. “Do you think less of me?”

  “No! I’m not judging you, Trish. We handled the car accident and Julie’s death in ways that seem different at first glance, but the truth is, we both hid. I hid out in the wilderness, doing science, and you hid out here in Shelter Creek, living a very quiet, simple life. It makes sense that eventually you’d need to break out of your shell. But how could you do it here in Shelter Creek, where everyone knows your past? Where you felt like they might be watching and judging? Being in our situation makes us feel guilty for having fun, because Julie won’t ever do those fun things.”

  “It’s such a relief to know that you understand.”

  Maya smiled gently. “I live with the guilt, too, remember? It makes sense to me that when you finally left town, you cut loose. It was your chance at a little freedom.”

  Trisha looked at her friend with wonderment. “Our lives are tangled together, aren’t they? There aren’t many people who’ve been through something like what we’ve experienced.”

  “I understand how hard it is, Trish. And I know we both get busy, and maybe me being your boss now makes it a little weird, but I am always here for you whenever you want to talk, or just hang out or anything.”

  “Thanks, friend.” Trisha stopped the stroller and reached for Maya, giving her a quick hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “You’d probably have a much more peaceful life. I wouldn’t be calling you in the middle of your weekend to go deal with bobcat kittens. How are they doing, by the way?”

  “They’re so cute. I’m having a hard time not cuddling them after I feed them.”

  “Is the formula working?”

  “Two are thriving.” Trisha’s heart ached when she thought of the smallest baby. “One seems a little listless. Emily said she’d come look at it later today.”

  Maya sighed. “I wish we could afford a full-time vet at the center. Emily already runs a busy practice. I feel guilty that she has to give up part of her Easter Sunday. It’s probably her one day off this week.”

  “Yeah, but she loves it. She comes to the wildlife center on days when I’m already there, just to hang out. She’s fascinated by those coyote pups. And if we’re not careful, she’ll end up taking Peanut the rabbit home with her.”

  Maya laughed. “She can’t have him! Peanut is going to be our wildlife education bunny, right?”

  “That’s the plan. Vivian has started spending time with him. She’d like to bring him out to the schools with her.”

  Liam caught up to them. “Maya, have you seen the coyote on your cameras?”

  Maya put a hand on his shoulder and looked right at him. “Hi, Liam, how are you enjoying the Easter celebration?”

  He grinned. “Sorry. That was abrupt. And yes, maybe I’m a little coyote obsessed. The celebration is really nice, thank you. How are you today?”

  “I’m fine. And I caught sight of the coyote last night, but not near the den. She showed up on that other camera we set up, closer to where she was shot. She was moving pretty well, so fingers crossed that she’ll make a full recovery. Vivian and I are thinking that if she stays around the area for another week or so, we can try releasing the pups and see if she’ll bond with them again.”

  “Why not now?”

  “An animal’s behavior is unpredictable when they’re in pain. The last thing we want is for her to turn on the cubs, to attack them or scatter them. It’s best to wait.”

  Liam nodded. They’d reached the park and he looked at Trisha, his eyes warm with enthusiasm. “Can we take Henry out of the stroller? If we park it here, we can walk him around and see if he can point out the eggs. I read that babies his age are gaining more object permanence, so they can find things that are hidden much better.”

  “I think that’s more like if you take his toy and hide it under a blanket,” Trisha corrected, then noticed Maya’s chastising look. Her friend was right—she had to go easier on Liam. “But yes, let’s definitely get Henry involved.” She moved the stroller to a picnic table at the edge of the park and lifted the baby out. Henry seemed relieved to be free of the stroller. When she held him against her chest, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and looked around eagerly.

  “Ouch.” Trish tried to dislodge her hair from her baby’s grasping fingers.

  “I’ve got it.” Liam picked up Henry’s squeaky giraffe from the stroller. He carefully untangled the strands from Henry’s hand and replaced the hair with the giraffe. “Here you go, big guy.”

  Henry gripped the giraffe and it squeaked. He laughed in delight and squeaked it again, waving the giraffe in the air.

  “Thank you.” Trisha smiled at Liam. “The hazards of wearing my hair down.”

  “It looks nice, though.”

  His compliments threatened to seep into her heart. It didn’t feel safe, but it did feel good.

  “I’m going to go find Caleb.” Maya winked at Trisha. “Have fun. That’s an order.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Maya waved and wandered off in search of her husband.

  A horn sounded. The mayor had one of those funny long plastic ones. She blew it two more times.

  Kids started running everywhere. The Shelter Creek Business Association had hidden plastic eggs all over the park, each filled with a sweet, or a toy, or even a gift certificate for one of the shops downtown. When she was about ten years old, Trisha had found one with a gift certificate to the ice-cream store. She’d taken Julie and Becca for ice-cream sundaes the following weekend and they’d felt so grown-up, sitting at the table in the ice-cream shop all by themselves.

  It was a bittersweet memory now. Just like Maya had said, every moment of happiness was tinged with guilt and sadness, because Julie would never have any more moments like that.

  “You ready?” Liam pointed to a spot by the creek, close to where they’d sat when they talked last week. “I think I see an egg.”

  “Would you like to carry Henry?”

  There was relief in Liam’s smile. Like he’d thought she’d never offer him even this. “I’d really like that.” He took Henry and settled him carefully on his hip so the baby could easily look around. “Do you see any eggs, Henry?”

  “Gah.” The baby looked up at Liam and smiled, far more interested in the big tall cowboy than in anything going on around them.

  Trisha retrieved an egg hidden under a picnic table. “This is an egg, Henry.” She showed the baby the purple plastic egg. Henry took it in his free hand and shook it. It made a gratifying rattle, so he shook it again.

  “I won
der what’s in there.” Liam eyed the egg. “It sure is noisy.”

  “It could be jelly beans,” Trisha guessed.

  “We’ll have to be careful.” Liam frowned. “It could be a choking hazard. I know babies Henry’s age like to stick things in their mouth.”

  Trisha looked at him in amazement. “You’ve been reading again.”

  His gaze met hers and held for a moment. “I’m behind, so I’ve been cramming.”

  It was so hard to look away, when every instinct was ordering her forward, wanting to be closer to him. That chemistry that had initially brought them together was still there and getting stronger with every smile he gave her, every moment of sweetness they shared. But this wasn’t the right time for chemistry. Their situation was too complicated for that. Trisha swallowed hard and made herself take a step back instead. “I’m glad you’re taking your studies seriously. Come on. Let’s see what else we can find.”

  They wandered around the park, watching kids hunting eggs, listening to the happy shouts and laughter. Henry seemed to adore watching the big kids, pointing to them and even offering them a chance to squeak his giraffe when they got close.

  After a while he seemed to tire of the excitement and reached his arms out to Trisha. “Mama.”

  Trisha brought her hands to her mouth to try to contain her astonishment. She looked at Liam. “Did you hear that?”

  His smile was so wide it carved a dimple in his cheek. “Did I ever. Henry, is that your mama?”

  Henry reached out his arms even farther. “Mama.”

  His first word. Tears rose in Trisha’s eyes and she took Henry from Liam and held him close. “Oh, you sweetie.” She kissed the soft curls at the top of his head. “Here’s Mama.” He laid his cheek on her shoulder and gave a sleepy sigh.

  “So he really does know the word,” she said to Liam. “I thought I was just imagining it.”