A Dark & Stormy Knight: A McKnight Romance (McKnight Romances)

by Quint, Suzie

  He bought three snow cones and, while they ate them, tried to lighten the mood with rodeo stories. It took some time, but he finally got the girls to giggle over a story about a rodeo bull with a case of toxic farts. That lightened the mood enough for him to change the topic. Once he found out Deanne had been staying with the mother she hadn’t seen in four years, a few leading questions got the girls talking about all the things Deanne was learning about her mama, and Sol felt safe to tune out.

  Daniel wasn’t what Sol had expected. Or maybe he wasn’t what Sol had hoped for. He seemed like a nice guy. A responsible guy. He was certainly a more practiced parent than Sol. That mattered to Georgia.

  Sol fought down the urge to call it unfair. He’d never had the chance to prove himself. But it was fair to say he’d abdicated making decisions about Eden. It didn’t matter that he’d done it because he’d thought that was what Georgia wanted; he’d still done it.

  If Daniel were someone new in Georgia’s life, there was no question Sol would try to run him off. He’d done it before, but he didn’t think any of his old tricks would work. Daniel knew Georgia too well. Hmm. Maybe that was the key. Sol needed to get to know Daniel, to discover the chink in his armor. It would take time, and patience wasn’t one of Sol’s virtues, but it was the only hope he had.

  As Sol and the girls walked back to the trailer, Eden grew quieter and her feet dragged. Deanne took her hand. He gave his daughter a hug then looked around for Georgia only to find she and Daniel were missing. Sol didn’t want to look as though it mattered too much, so he didn’t ask where they’d gone, but when they walked up together a few minutes later, his chest tightened. Daniel said something in Georgia’s ear that made her smile, and Sol had to clamp down on his desire to go caveman on the guy.

  He tried to observe Daniel objectively. His competition wasn’t bad looking. Light brown hair, even features. A couple of inches taller than Georgia but a little shorter than Sol. Every instinct urged him to walk over to them and sucker punch the guy, but he’d promised Georgia he’d behave. If they’d been even holding hands, he wasn’t sure he could have controlled himself, but as long as Georgia did as he’d asked and not flaunt Daniel, Sol meant to keep his promise.

  Eden left Sol’s side to give Daniel a hug, and Sol’s jealousy flared again. This jackass wasn’t stealing only Georgia from him; he’d ingratiated himself with Eden. Sol forced his clenched fists to relax. Now wasn’t the time, but sooner or later, he would make it clear to this bozo that Eden was his. She didn’t need another daddy.

  Determined to look as though this claim jumper didn’t worry him, he asked Eden when she rejoined him, “Do you want to walk with them to their car? Say a little longer good-bye?”

  Eden nodded.

  “I’ll walk with you.” That would give him a chance to start making nice with Daniel.

  They were nearly at his car when Daniel said, “I think Georgia doesn’t give you enough credit. You look to me like you’re pretty good at the dad thing.”

  A knot tried to form in Sol’s throat, but he swallowed it down. “I appreciate that. I don’t get a lot of practice.” Under different circumstances, he could like this guy.

  Sol reminded himself he had an agenda here. Get to know this guy. Find his weak spot.

  The girls stood on the passenger side of Daniel’s car, saying their good-byes, as Daniel said, “It’s not easy. You never really know if you’re doing it right.” He shot a look that dripped love and parental pride at the girls over the top of his Prius.

  In that moment, Sol knew he’d found Daniel’s Achilles’ heel. The man would do anything for his daughter. Maybe even walk away from a woman he loved. It was so obvious, Sol couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it on his own. He should have; he had the same weakness.

  The question was how to exploit it. He took a tentative shot over Daniel’s bow. “Yeah, I’m learning that. It’s especially hard when you’re fighting your own doubts, and you have to defend your position to others. Georgia’s got kind of strong feelings about child rearing. She can be tough to reason with if she disagrees with you.”

  Daniel shot a puzzled look at Sol.

  “Take today, for example. Georgia hates rodeo. And because today didn’t go so well, it’s going to be hell getting her to let Eden try again.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows scrunched closer together, his puzzled look deepening.

  Come on. Figure it out. You’ve seen it. You know I’m telling the truth. Of course, he was giving it his own spin, but truth was truth. When she gets rights to your daughter, she’ll be the same way.

  The confusion on Daniel’s face faded to be replaced by a more thoughtful expression.

  It couldn’t be this easy. And it wouldn’t be. Not for Sol. Planting the seed was the easy part. Standing back, hoping it would sprout, that was the hard part.

  “And that’s not her only bias. Only the industrial-strength one.” Sol hoped he wasn’t pushing too hard. These things required finesse.

  Daniel tipped his head, indicating he wanted Sol to follow him. They moved to the rear of the car, where Daniel pulled something out of his pocket. “You’ve known Georgia a long time.”

  “Since first grade,” Sol said. “Of course, back then she had girl cooties, so we didn’t hang out much.”

  Daniel smiled as though Sol’s comment amused him, but then the smile faded a little. “I didn’t come here just to watch Eden ride. I mean, I’d have come for that anyway, but I was going to, well . . .” He took a deep breath. “With the horse getting hurt, it wasn’t the right time.” His hands moved as if breaking something open, then he held it out. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

  Sol stopped breathing. The ring Daniel held was blinding in its brilliance. Sol could already see it on Georgia’s hand. See her flashing it proudly.

  Gideon’s voice sounded in his head. She’ll be married within a year. No, she couldn’t . . . But he could see it all too clearly. The life Georgia would have with Daniel. The instant sister Eden already loved.

  Sol’s knees threatened to give way. He reached blindly for the car. His hand found the smooth metal, warm from the sun. He would not, absolutely would not, lose his dignity in front of this man.

  “I’m sure she will,” he heard his voice saying as though from far away. Even though she liked colored stones better than diamonds, she would love the ring because it came from Daniel.

  Daniel snapped the box closed and put it back in his pocket. The world slowly slipped back into focus as Sol lifted his gaze. Daniel was smiling again—or still smiling. Sol wasn’t sure which. The smile looked a little smug. How could he have thought for an instant he might like this guy?

  Daniel turned away and called to his daughter. “Time to go, honey.”

  Sol watched as they got in the car.

  “Take care,” Daniel said through his open window as he put the car in drive.

  Sol barely noticed when Eden came to stand by him. How had his plan backfired so badly? He was numb from the shock. Eden waved as Daniel and Deanne pulled out, but Sol couldn’t even lift his hand.

  ###

  Georgia was astonished at how quickly Daisy pulled everything together for the trip home. The mare was loaded in the trailer, her leg wrapped, booted, and iced when Sol and Eden returned.

  Eden’s mood seemed to infect everyone as they all felt the need to respect her feelings. Georgia tried several times to catch Sol’s eye, but his attention was either on Eden or on his preparations for leaving. It felt almost as though he wanted to avoid talking to her, but that was ridiculous. Unless . . . Sol had walked with Daniel and the girls to the parking lot.

  She couldn’t imagine what might have been said in that short a time that would affect Sol this way. Most likely, he thought she was going to give him grief because, if he hadn’t insisted on letting Eden race, Spitfire wouldn’t be injured, and Eden wouldn’t feel responsible. Did he really think she’d blame him? She had to admit that, as crazed as he thought sh
e was about rodeoing, it was a possibility.

  Great. Now she felt guilty because he expected her to yell at him.

  “Can I ride home with Dad and Daisy?”

  Georgia pulled herself back to reality to look into her daughter’s worried face.

  “You want to be there when they unload her, don’t you?”

  Eden nodded.

  “Go ahead.” Georgia watched as Daisy checked on Spitfire one last time before securing the trailer. Then Eden climbed into the truck’s cab to sit between her daddy and her aunt.

  It was a lonely drive home, but it gave her time to think about things, including Daniel’s theory about why she dressed up for Sol when she’d been sick. Not that jeans and a nice top was really “dressing up.” And the makeup, well, that had been to make herself feel better because when she’d looked in the mirror that day, she’d looked like death, not just warmed over, but about to go bad from botulism poisoning.

  Okay, so she hadn’t wanted Sol to see her looking like that. No woman with an ounce of pride wanted to give her ex a reason to feel as though he’d dodged a bullet.

  So there. She was right and Daniel was wrong.

  As she approached Dallas, she felt the pull of home. For half a second, she was tempted to go on autopilot and let her car find its way to her apartment. Instead, she took I-635, skirting Dallas. KVIL came out of a station break to a Garth Brooks song. One verse in, she realized the song was Rodeo or Mexico.

  She sighed. Garth sang few songs she didn’t like, but she’d had enough rodeo for one day. She tried another station. Joey + Rory. Cool. She liked them. Then she recognized the song: Rodeo.

  Next.

  KNON was playing Suzy Bogguss’ Someday Soon. Oh, yeah, that’s what she needed. A song about a woman who planned to travel with her rodeo cowboy “someday soon.”

  Next.

  George Strait. Yes.

  Amarillo By Morning.

  Oh, hell no.

  Next.

  When she heard Chris Ledoux’s voice, she didn’t even wait to figure out what the song was. Ledoux didn’t get much airplay, but she’d heard everything he’d recorded, thanks to Sol sharing his CD collection with Eden, and the odds were good the song was about rodeo.

  What the hell was wrong with her radio?

  She punched a preset button again, tuning back in to KVIL. Jason Aldean’s Dirt Road Anthem filled the car. Thank God. Country-rap was about as far from a rodeo song as you could get. Georgia breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been starting to think her radio was possessed.

  She left Dallas behind—and the future she’d thought she’d have with Daniel—and headed east on Highway 20.

  Georgia hoped Daniel was right about Tracy because she understood the allure of trying again. Having a shared history created a seductive bond. Even with Sol—who, in spite of what everyone seemed to think, she wasn’t in love with—there were moments when she wished they could go back in time and change things. A do-over. Sometimes it even felt possible. Like the morning she’d woken up at Sol’s. When he’d come up behind her as she’d brushed her teeth, she’d felt as if she could turn the clock back if she only knew how. The way Dorothy had clicked her ruby slippers together and said, “There’s no place like home,” and woken up in Kansas. Except Georgia didn’t know any wizards who could share the magic phrase that allowed a do-over of the past twelve years.

  She sighed. Daniel was about to get a do-over. Where did he find the courage to take the risk, knowing his ex could chew him up and spit him out the way she had before? Do-overs were no different from any other part of life; they didn’t come with guarantees. He and his daughter could again play second fiddle to a bottle.

  Georgia was nearly in Hero Creek when her phone rang. A quick glance showed it was Daniel. She’d call him back later, she decided, but it turned out to be much later because when she got home, she found Bethany ready to strangle anyone who came too close. Georgia sent her sister home, got supper on the table, sent her mama and Grams to separate corners, watched her daddy wisely disappear into his shop, and did the supper dishes. Finally, after all that, she called Daniel.

  “Whassup?” she said when he answered.

  “Have you heard anything about Spitfire?”

  “Not yet. I’ve barely had time to breathe since I got home.” Daniel and Deanne were spending the night in Dallas before heading to Houston in the morning. Daniel planned to propose sometime the following afternoon. “Are you nervous?”

  “About the proposal? No.” The statement was followed by a lengthy pause. “I’m a little nervous about what I have to do now.”

  “And that would be . . . ?”

  “Confessing to you that I kinda tweaked Sol.”

  Oh, no. “You tweaked him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And how did you do that exactly?”

  “Well,” he drew the word out, clearly wishing he didn’t have to own up.

  Georgia couldn’t imagine what he could have done that was so bad.

  “I sorta showed him the ring.”

  Georgia waited, knowing there had to be something more, her suspicion growing that the something more was the reason for Sol’s cold shoulder.

  “And I kinda asked him what you’d think of it.”

  “What I’d think—?” Georgia gulped a breath of air. “You made him think it was for me.”

  “Kinda.”

  For several moments, Georgia couldn’t decide if she should be angry or amused. It was kind of funny. Especially since she’d initially made that same assumption. She could practically hear Daniel wipe the sweat from his brow when she finally laughed. “Let me get this straight. You let Sol believe you were going to ask me to marry you, and he didn’t hit you?”

  “Oh, shit. I didn’t even think about that. He hit your friend Tommy for a whole lot less, didn’t he?”

  She knew how shaken he was because, unlike Sol, Daniel was usually careful not to swear. “Yup. You were born under a lucky star, my friend.”

  After they hung up, she tried Sol’s number, but her call went to voice mail. She left a message, asking about Spitfire. Almost an hour later, Daisy called. The news was bad. The ultrasound showed major bowing in both tendons. The healing process would take months. Spitfire’s barrel racing career was over, and all the time and effort Daisy had invested in the little mare, wasted.

  Eden was taking it hard, Daisy said.

  Of course, the news was still fresh. Eden was young, Georgia assured herself. She’d recover her bounce in a few days.

  Georgia called Sol again the next day, and the day after that, and again two days later. Each time, her calls went to voice mail, and each time, either Daisy or Eden called her back.

  Her conversations were subdued, but Georgia didn’t push her. She didn’t want her daughter to feel she had to pretend to be happy when she wasn’t.

  She’d have liked to talk to Sol about Eden, but from him, she heard nothing.

  Something was wrong, and she knew it had to do with Daniel and that damned ring. It seemed as if Sol was giving up, but she had never known him to wave the white flag. Not about anything. More likely, he was regrouping, thinking out some new strategy to make things go his way.

  Finally, she left him a message telling him about her parents’ anniversary party on Saturday and asking him if he would bring Eden. She made a point of telling him he was welcome, too, but she suspected he was too smart to put himself through an afternoon with her family and their friends. She wouldn’t have either if she had a choice.

  When he finally called her back, the call came through well after midnight. Since she was already sound asleep, his message that he’d drop Eden off for the party landed in her voice mail. Georgia suspected the timing was intentional.

  He couldn’t really be giving up, could he?

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gathering her family together on a schedule was as challenging as Georgia expected. She managed it every Sunday for church only because it
was the first thing on everyone’s agenda. Pulling it off later in the day, after her daddy had the chance to get involved with chores and Grams decided she wanted to make deviled eggs for the picnic and her mother decided it was a good day to be picky about everything, made Georgia wonder if she could get them out of the house even if it were on fire.

  She was surprised to see Sol’s pickup there beside the cars her parents’ friends drove.

  The smoky smell of grilling meat was thick in the air as Georgia’s daddy took her mama’s arm to steady her. Georgia led their little parade around the side of the house and into the backyard to the shrill, joyous screams of Bethany’s kids throwing themselves down the Slip’N Slide.

  She plucked at her tank top, pulling it away from the sweat trickling between her breasts, and wished she could join them. Instead, she and Grams headed for the grass green picnic table under one of the maple trees where the side dishes sat. Sol straddled the bench on the near side, looking over the offerings like a taste tester deciding what to sample.

  Eden, her blonde hair in twin braids, sat between his thighs, her legs drawn up against her chest so she could lean against him. Her face was wistful, as if she was resigned to being there even though she didn’t want to. Georgia’s heart twisted into a knot.

  Sol prodded Eden when he saw them then stood to offer Georgia a perfunctory “hey,” his gaze scooting past her without stopping to focus on her grandmother. “Here, let me.” He took the dangerously listing platter of deviled eggs from Grams’ hands.

  “Why, thank you,” Grams said. “Such a nice, helpful boy.”

  Grams’ compliment caught Georgia off guard. She set her pineapple pie on the table and said, “Uh . . . You remember Sol, don’t you, Grams? My ex-husband?”

  “Well, of course I do. The man passed on some good genes to Eden.” She winked at her great-granddaughter.