BILLY AND THE KID

by Kristine Rolofson

  "Not tonight, please?" Daisy couldn't help laughing. "I think one baby is enough for now."

  "Easy for you to say," Jane grumbled, but she didn't look upset. "Let's see what happens when you're three days overdue."

  Daisy patted Josh's dark curls. "I would love that, I really would."

  "You're not thinking that Will—"

  "Oh, no," she assured the worried woman. "I'm looking for a family man, one who wants to settle down. I've had enough wild cowboys to last me a lifetime."

  Jane grinned. "Let's finish up here so you can tell me all about them."

  "There's not much—"

  "Sure there is," Jane said, carrying an armload of dirty plates across the room. "You forget that a pregnant woman is easily entertained."

  "Okay, but don't forget I warned you." Daisy hurried after her with the baby. "You take Spring and I'll take care of the dishes." It had been a long time since she'd had a friend.

  It felt good. At least she could thank Will Wilson for that.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  «^»

  "No problem." Joe hung up the radio in his Explorer and stepped on the gas. "Jane and the kids are at Daisy's. I'll pick them up there."

  "Good." Will watched the miles of prairie speed by in the darkness. "What a mess, huh?"

  "Yeah."

  "What if I can't find her?" He felt Joe's gaze on him, but he kept looking out the side window.

  "We'll find her. Someone will turn up sooner or later, whether it's Sarah or somebody else," his friend assured him. "All in all, I think you're pretty lucky."

  "Yeah?" He turned toward him. "How's that?"

  "You haven't had any relatives around here for a long lime. If this baby is Sarah's, then you've got a family again."

  The radio squawked and Joe raised the volume to listen to an exchange between a deputy and the dispatcher. A truck was in a ditch on the north side of town.

  Family. Will smiled to himself as the meager lights of Cowman's Corner shone in the distance. "I'm not sure I'd call me and that little baby a family."

  "It's about time," Joe declared. "Don't you ever think about settling down?"

  Well, damn it, he wasn't sure he wanted to think about that question, so he and Joe spent the last five miles listening to the dispatcher chat about thee weather and the latest score of the high school basketball game. Joe drove around to the back of the café and parked along the sidewalk next to Daisy's private entrance. Light spilled over thee door and through the curtained windows. Joe shut off the engine and opened the door. "Well, should we go check on our kids?"

  "Shut up," Will said, taking a deep breath as he opened the door and stepped out into the cold night. He'd become a family man after two days? No way. He was protecting his own, that was all. He followed Joe to the door and waited for Daisy to open it and let them inside where it would be warm.

  "Hi," she said, looking up into their faces, wondering if there was good news. "Come on in. The boys fell asleep watching TV, and Jane and I were having tea. Did you find—who you were looking for?"

  "No. Not yet." Joe took off his hat and wiped his feet on the mat. "Is Jane doing okay?"

  "She's fine. We've had fun."

  Joe hurried into the living room, but Will paused in front of Daisy. She didn't look like herself, but he couldn't figure out what was different. That curly hair was loose and wild and she'd changed into jeans and a faded yellow sweatshirt, but that wasn't the change. She looked happy. Will inhaled thee scent of apple pie. "Something smells good."

  "I took a pie out of the freezer. We got hungry." She touched his sleeve. "I'm sorry about tonight."

  "Yeah. She turned out to be someone else, a woman running away from her husband. The baby turned up at her sister's house."

  "Come on in and get warm." She dropped her hand from his arm and he followed Joe into the living room, where two little boys lay sprawled in a heap of blankets on the floor. "Spring's asleep in the bedroom. I fed her and she fell asleep right away."

  "We've had a good time," Jane said, stretched out on the couch. "Daisy's been waiting on me too much, though."

  Will wasn't surprised. "She likes to take care of people."

  Daisy paused in the doorway. "Would you two like pie and coffee, or would you rather have a sandwich? There's roast beef out front."

  "God, that sounds good." Joe sat down by his wife's stocking feet and took them on his lap. "You look okay," he said, worry lines easing from his face

  "Quit worrying," Janie said. "We've been having fun."

  Will turned from the domestic scene of sleeping children and a loving couple to look at Daisy. Big mistake. Despite the beauty-queen looks, she was definitely the kind of woman who wanted a home and family and a man to rub her feet at the end of the day. He could tell from the wistful expression in her eyes as she looked at the Pierces. "Is the beef in the restaurant?"

  "Yes. In the cooler."

  "I can go through the back and get it? I wouldn't want you to get mad at me again."

  "I'll make the sandwiches there," she said. "It'll be easier."

  He didn't ask her if she wanted help, because he knew she'd most likely refuse. So he followed her through the hall and waited while she turned the key in the lock. She turned to look back at him. "What are you doing?"

  "Being with you."

  "Well, don't," she muttered, opening the door to the back room.

  "Why not?" He lengthened his strides to keep up with her as she hurried into the dimly lit restaurant. She ignored the question. Instead she went behind the counter and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Will no choice but to follow.

  "Mustard or mayonnaise?" she asked, opening the cooler and retrieving a packet he assumed was the meat.

  "Mayo." He stepped closer as she took a jar of mayonnaise and set it on the counter. "What's going on?"

  "Wheat or white?" She grabbed two loaves of bread on a shelf by the freezer.

  "Come on, Daisy." He put his hand on her arm. Gently, so not to scare her. "What's the matter?"

  She took a deep shuddering breath and that was when he realized she was crying. He saw a tear hit the spotless metal counter. "Go somewhere else."

  "No way." One thing he understood was a weeping woman. Lord knew he'd dealt with his share. "Come here," he whispered, folding her neatly into his arms. She resisted at first, but a couple of tugs had her against his chest. He could feel her trying to get control of herself, but she didn't pull out of his arms. She was a little thing, with the top of her head barely up to his chin. He tried to ignore the feeling of those incredible breasts touching his shirt, tried to concentrate on Daisy's mysterious tears. He held her in his arms for too short a time, because he wasn't ready to let her go when she finally pulled away.

  "Sorry," she said, reaching for the paper towels. She wiped her face and gave him a funny lopsided smile. "It just came over me."

  He remembered that look of longing when she'd thought no one noticed. "What is it that you want and you don't have?"

  "Nothing." She took a deep breath. "Wheat or white for your sandwich?"

  "Do you miss your husband?" He wondered if the poor bastard knew what kind of a woman he'd left.

  "Please stop." Her voice was low as she turned away and fiddled with the metal tie that sealed the bag. "Just let me do this. You must be starving, and I—"

  He put his hands on her shoulder and turned her around. "Daisy, would you quit for a minute?" Before he realized what he was doing, he bent and touched his lips to hers. She was sweet and warm, her lips soft and slightly parted against his. She melted against him for a brief moment, just long enough to tempt him to lengthen the kiss. Long enough to feel like he'd been tossed into the air by a three-thousand-pound bull.

  And long enough to make him want to haul her into his arms and carry her to bed. And if ever there was a woman who looked ready for bed, it was Daisy. He didn't know which one of them stopped the kiss, but when she backed away and he looked
down at her, that was his first thought. Bed. Or better yet, the kitchen counter.

  Daisy looked up at him as if she was going to start crying again. "Aw, honey," he said, moving to hold her again.

  She glared at him and took a step backward. "Don't you 'honey' me."

  "Why not? You kissed me back."

  "Well, of course I did. But I'm not going to do it again, so go away."

  "Are you sure?" He watched as she selected a particularly sharp knife from the rack above the chopping board. "Yeah, I guess you are."

  "I am through with cowboys," she muttered.

  "Let me take a wild guess here," he drawled, reaching past her for the mayonnaise jar. He opened it and set it on the counter. "Was your ex-husband a cowboy?"

  "Yes," she said, her back to him as she assembled thick sandwiches. "Both of them."

  "Both?" He gulped, yet it wasn't surprising that a woman who looked like Daisy McGregor had had men lined up to marry her. "What happened to, uh, them?"

  "They're both still alive, if that's what you're wondering." She cut the sandwiches into thick wedges and put them on plates. She added pickles and potato chips, then picked up both plates and turned around. "I didn't poison their chili or stab them while they were sleeping. Here."

  He took one of the plates. "Looks good. Thanks."

  "You're welcome," she said, leading him out of the kitchen. He lengthened his strides to keep up with her.

  "Neither of them rubbed your feet, huh?"

  Before Daisy slipped through the door to her apartment, she stopped and looked up at him. "Both of them turned out to like rubbing other women's feet," she said. "Which is one of the reasons why I'm not going to let myself get involved with another sweet-talking cowboy who can't keep his jeans zipped."

  "Meaning me."

  Daisy sighed. "Especially you, Will. You're not even married and you have a baby you didn't even know about two days ago and somewhere out there is that baby's mother and I won't even start telling you what I think of her for what she's done." She took a deep breath and looked him right in the eye. "I'm looking for a man who wants to settle down and have kids and go to Parents' Night at school, not some rodeo star who hasn't figured out safe sex and birth control."

  Will didn't speak until she had spun around and started to walk away. "So I guess that means I'm not spending the night?"

  She didn't answer, so he figured she'd lost her sense of humor. Truth was, he should have told her all about Sarah, but damn, he didn't like explaining himself. And he didn't owe anyone here in Cowman's Corner a damn thing.

  * * *

  "And then what happened?" Barlow cracked four eggs onto the grill and wiped his hands on the towel wrapped around his waist.

  "He ate his sandwich and went home. Everybody went home," she added, remembering how gentle Joe Pierce had been with his sleeping boys. "Except the baby. She stayed with me." She didn't tell Barlow that she'd enjoyed the company, or that she'd rocked the baby until they'd both fallen asleep in the chair. Spring didn't seem to mind that Daisy couldn't carry a tune. Daisy glanced over at the baby, who was wide awake and snug in her car seat at Daisy's feet. "You're such a good girl," she told her, and the child waved her arms.

  "And that was okay with Billy?"

  "Will," she corrected, going back to writing a list of supplies she needed to get in North Bend. "He didn't have a choice, really. I guess that house is no place for a baby."

  "That's where he was raised, I think," Barlow said. "His grandmother left him the ranch when she died a while back. Everyone in town thought he'd just put it up for sale."

  "Why?"

  "They were an odd group out there. His mother moved back in with her parents after her youngest was born and I guess it wasn't one big happy family. We're gonna need extra onions," he said.

  She underlined the onions. "He said something about selling it. After he fixes it up."

  "That's going to take some money, I'll bet." He walked past her carrying a plate piled high with eggs and hash browns. "Darlene! Your order's up!"

  "Okay," she called from the other side of the pass-through. "You don't have to yell."

  "Yes, I do," Barlow said, "or Gordon's going to be complaining about cold eggs again."

  Spring screeched and kicked her feet, so Daisy leaned over and tickled her chin. "You like all the noise, sweetheart? When you get older your daddy can bring you in here and you can have all the ice cream you want, okay?"

  "When is Daddy coming to get her?"

  Daisy looked at her watch and then leaned over to play peekaboo with Spring. She loved the way the baby's blue eyes widened with surprise each time. "Peekaboo! I see you! He'll be here any time now. I told him to come before eight."

  "Good thing Darlene's working with Heather today," Barlow said. "You're a little distracted."

  "What?" She straightened and picked up her pen. "What do you want radishes for?"

  Barlow sighed and went back to his grill. "Never mind, Daize. You did the right thing."

  "I hope so. Even used, this pizza oven wasn't cheap."

  "I meant, sending Billy Wilson home last night He's not your type."

  "I know. I thought about it a lot last night." She wrote family man at the bottom of her list. "Maybe I'll tell Leroy Doyle I'll go out with him the next time he asks me."

  "He's sure asked you enough times," Barlow muttered. "But jeez, Daisy, Leroy Doyle?"

  "Orders!" Heather called, pinning three slips to the clipboard. "We just got a rush."

  "You need help?"

  "Nah, I can handle it." Heather grinned. "How's the baby doing?"

  "She's fine. Happy."

  "What are you saying about Leroy? Did he ask you out again?"

  Daisy shrugged. "I thought I might start dating, that's all."

  "But he has kids," Heather protested. "Three of them."

  "That's okay."

  "But they're teenagers, Daisy. Can't you find a guy with no kids?"

  "I like kids."

  "Obviously." She turned when the door jangled. "Your boyfriend just walked in."

  "Who?"

  Heather gave her a thumbs-up sign. "He looks like he needs coffee," she said, and disappeared from Daisy's view. She assumed the thumbs-up meant that Will was here to pick up his daughter, which was good. She had a lot to do today and the sooner she started the better.

  "I guess we'd better go see your daddy," she told Spring, bending to unhook the safety strap that held the baby in the seat. She lifted her into her arms and grabbed the top of the car seat with her free hand. It was time to stop playing mommy and start acting like someone who had a business to run. She would treat Will like any other customer, like any other person who needed help. She'd made herself perfectly clear last night, she told herself, stepping into the restaurant and seeing Will cross the room toward them. He was smiling, damn him. A honey-I-could-eat-you-up smile that was designed to make a woman believe anything he said.

  But he wasn't looking at Daisy.

  "How's my girl?" He held out his arms and Daisy put the baby into them.

  "She's fine. I think she likes the smell of food."

  "Yeah, she's a Wilson, all right." He looked past her shoulder. "Good. An empty booth. I can grab some breakfast before I head out."

  "Here's the seat."

  He took it and headed across the room, with Daisy hurrying behind him. "Did she keep you up all night?"

  "No." She almost wished he'd shown up a little later. She wasn't ready to stop playing mom. "She woke up at two for her bottle, but she went right back to sleep. She ate at six—"

  "Meaning you were late for work?"

  "I have Heather filling in for me today, so it didn't matter." She hovered like an anxious auntie, suddenly unwilling to leave Spring in her daddy's care. He managed to get the baby settled in her car seat beside him, then looked up at Daisy again.

  "You have the day off?"

  Before Daisy could reply, Heather appeared and set a coffee cup in fro
nt of him and filled it from the glass carafe. "Daisy's going to North Bend today, for the pizza oven."

  "Great," he said, checking to make sure Spring was safely tucked into the corner. "That's where we're going, too."

  "Cool." Heather took the order pad from her pocket. "You want breakfast first?"

  "Sure do." He turned that dazzling smile toward the young waitress. "Just give me a couple of fried eggs and some bacon. Throw some toast on the plate, too."

  "Will do." She grinned at Daisy. "I'll bet Billy could help you with the oven."

  "I don't—"

  "Good idea." Will leaned forward, ignoring his coffee and looking like he was going to touch her hand. She quickly put her hands in her lap and then felt like an idiot. "I'll buy you lunch," he continued, "if you'll join us."

  "Us?"

  "Me and Spring. We're going to buy a crib for her new room."

  "I didn't think your house—" She stopped, reluctant to hurt his feelings by repeating what Jane had said about the building not being suitable for an infant.

  "Was fit for a kid?"

  "Well..."

  "I'm working on it." He took a swallow of coffee and Daisy noticed the dark shadows under his eyes. He hadn't shaved, either, which should have made him look sinister, but only added to all that masculine sex appeal.

  She ref used to fall for it. After all, she didn't have time to sit around staring at handsome cowboys all day.

  "I've been insulating windows," he explained. "I'm getting rid of the drafts. Downstairs, anyway, so Spring won't catch cold."

  "Then you don't think her mother's coming back."

  "I hope she will," he said, glancing toward the content baby. "I'm scared to death of all this." His gaze met Daisy's, and she was surprised at the naked honesty there. "Just give me a few more hours, Daisy. And then I promise we won't bother you again."

  She should have said no. She should have slipped out of the booth, grabbed her shopping list and hustled to her car. "Okay. And you're not bothering me," she heard herself say. Liar.

  "Thanks, Daisy." He smiled.

  She really wished he wouldn't.

  * * *

  "There are times when I really hate being married to a cop."