by Linda Warren
Leah placed a napkin in her lap. “Alma’s a great cook.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Alma nodded her head. “I already ate so I’m going to my room to call my sister and leave you two alone.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Falcon told her. But the woman wasn’t listening as she disappeared through a door.
They ate in silence for a moment and then Leah said, “I never cooked for you.”
“What?”
She picked at her food. “Your mother did all the cooking and I never had a chance to cook us a meal.”
Falcon never realized that, or that she had actually wanted to. How could he have missed it? “My mom would have been glad to have the help.”
Leah looked at him with a dark stare. “I did the dishes, Falcon, and cleaned up. That’s different than cooking a meal for you and me. Alone.”
He laid his fork down. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware of your feelings at that time.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know why I brought it up.”
“Because it still bothers you.”
She stirred the mashed potatoes with her fork. “I guess it does. We were going to clean out your parents’ old house and move in there, but we never did.”
“No.” He leaned back in his chair. “Quincy, Egan and Elias finally cleaned it out and got rid of some stuff and stored the rest in a barn. They live there now. Well, Quincy and Elias do. Egan got married and moved to his own place.”
“Who did he marry?”
“Rachel Hollister.”
“Judge Hollister’s daughter?”
“Yes, and they’re very happy.”
“That’s nice.”
There was silence again, and he knew she was thinking about all the mistakes they’d made. For once he was seeing them up close and personal, and most of them were his fault.
“I have to go back to the ranch for a while to tell Eden.”
She placed her napkin on the table. “I know.”
“She’s going to want to come here to see you.”
“I can handle it now. I want to see my daughter, but there’s no need for you to stay here. You have to run the ranch and I know you have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. I’ll be fine and I’ll take very good care of the baby.”
“Look at me, Leah.” She met his eyes and he recognized the terror hidden in the green depths. He was feeling a little of that himself. “This is my child and I will be here as often as I can. I have six brothers and if they can’t run that ranch, then we’re in trouble. I just have to go home to prepare Eden and my family, but I’ll be back. I will not let you go through this alone.”
“Okay,” she replied in a forlorn voice.
He reached for his hat and got to his feet. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“There’s no rush, I’m fine.”
He watched her for a moment and recognized that expression. Alma was right. His wife was stubborn. But he now knew why. She didn’t want him to watch her suffer, so he didn’t read too much into it.
He twisted the hat in his hand. “I was thinking that Eden and I might spend some time with you. She has school, but I think I can work out something so she can do homework on the computer. “
Her chin jutted out as she got to her feet. “That would be nice, but sometimes I can’t see and I get real sick. I don’t want my daughter to witness that.”
“Wait until you get to know your daughter and you’ll change your mind. Just let us be here, that’s all I’m asking.”
She walked him to the door and for a moment nothing was said. “I don’t know what to say,” she finally mumbled. “I hurt you so much and I’m struggling to figure out if I’m making the right choices and decisions.”
“Just relax and let us, your family, help you.”
She nodded and he put his hat on his head and walked out the door. He didn’t attempt to hug her or touch her in any way because he knew she didn’t want that. Not now.
Driving away he couldn’t help but think that he shouldn’t be leaving. She needed him, but they also had a daughter who had to hear the truth. Falcon had to find the right words to break it to Eden gently. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
* * *
LEAH WATCHED THE truck from the window until it turned the corner and was out of sight. Wrapping her arms around her waist, a calm came over her, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. The future was so dim, but now with Falcon by her side a glimmer of hope began to burn in her heart. She wanted to live and she wanted to have this baby. She wanted it all and she would fight to have it. But she knew it could come with a big price.
Feeling dizzy, she went upstairs to lie down. She’d been so angry with David and now she could see how mistaken she’d been. She was making wrong decisions and everyone knew that. Later, she’d call David and apologize.
She pulled the locket from her blouse and stared at it. The two people inside were all she ever thought about. Somewhere inside her heart she had to forgive herself and move on. All she had to do was stop feeling the guilt and the pain of leaving them.
Curling up on the bed, she thought about the question she’d asked Falcon. About why he’d come to Houston. She was hoping he would say because he still loved her. But he hadn’t. As her eyes grew heavy she wondered if he could ever love her again, the way he had when they were teenagers. That was her fairy tale. Her dream, and she prayed she lived to see it come true.
If only...
* * *
WHEN FALCON DROVE into the yard at Rebel Ranch, his brothers had two trailers backed into the supply barn and were unloading salt and mineral blocks and bags of feeding cubes for the winter. He got out of his truck and walked to the entrance. Elias, Paxton and Phoenix were horsing around as usual.
On Elias’s back was a sign that said Punch Me. As if Elias needed a reason to fight. That had to be the handiwork of Phoenix, the joker of the family.
Grandpa walked by Elias and punched him in the back.
“Hey, Grandpa, what’d you do that for?”
“Don’t wear a sign if you don’t want to get punched.”
“What?” Elias turned round and round trying to see his back, and Phoenix bent over laughing, as did the other brothers. “I’m gonna kill you, Phoenix.” Elias made a dive for his younger brother, but it was hard to fight someone who was laughing so hard.
“Stop it,” Falcon shouted. “I’m not in the mood for this childishness.”
Phoenix rolled to his feet, tapped his heels and saluted. “Yes, sir.”
“Cut it out, Phoenix. I need to talk to the family.”
Silence fell in the barn and the brothers gathered around. His mother came in at that moment and asked, “What’s going on?”
“I have some bad news and I want to get it over with because I have to talk to Eden when she comes home from school.”
“What is it, son?” his mother asked.
“It’s about Leah.” He told them the whole story and watched their faces turn to stunned disbelief. “I’m taking some time off so I can be with her. I’m also going to talk to Eden’s teachers to see if she can do her classes online because I feel that Leah would want her close.”
“Of course, son. You do what you have to. Don’t you worry about the ranch. You need to take care of your family.”
“Rachel can probably help with getting Eden’s classes set up online,” Egan said. “I know she’d do anything to help.”
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that. I have to tell Eden, and I don’t know how she’s going to take this.”
“We’re here for you.” Quincy stepped forward.
“I know, and I’ll need each of you to pick up the slack around here and try to stop fighting and keep this ranch on an even keel.”
; “You can count on us,” Elias said.
Paxton laughed.
“What?”
“Just do it,” Falcon stated. “And stop baiting each other. Life is too short.”
That brought on the silence again and no one knew what to say. Falcon didn’t, either. He requested that they give him time to talk to Eden before anyone came to the house. They agreed.
An hour later he sat in the den with Eden by his side, once again searching for words. He told her the truth because that was all he had.
She stared at him with big rounded eyes and an expression on her face he couldn’t describe.
He gathered her in his arms like he had when she was three years old and a truck had run over her dog. “She’s hurting, baby, and she needs us. I’m going to talk to your teachers to see if you can spend some time with her. I think she would like that.”
Eden straightened. “Would she? I mean, she wasn’t even gonna tell you about the baby. That makes me mad.”
Eden’s attitude scraped across his last good nerve.
“I mean, she was here, like, two hours and you had sex, and she still left like she did before. Moonbeams don’t mean too much to her.”
He didn’t want to talk about this with his daughter. He got to his feet. “Your mother needs us now.”
“What about the times we needed her?”
He didn’t know where Eden’s anger was coming from, or maybe he did. She was remembering that little girl who grew up without a mother—a mother who could have come home but didn’t.
“I’m not going to force you to go if you don’t want to. It’s your choice. But I’ll be leaving soon to make sure your mother and the baby are okay. Yes, she made some bad choices, and I hope somewhere in that big heart of yours you will find a way to forgive her. Because, baby, if you don’t, you might regret it later.”
Eden hung her head. “Is she gonna die?”
Now Falcon knew where all the anger was coming from. Eden was afraid of losing her mother for good.
“The doctor didn’t say that, but there could be complications from the tumor, like losing her eyesight, or it could become malignant, and then her chances of survival are lower.”
“No, Daddy.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
Once again he took her in his arms and held her. “I know you’re having conflicting thoughts.”
“I’m just mad at her for not telling us the truth.” She wiped her face on his shirt.
“What do you want to do, baby girl?”
She scrubbed at her eyes with her fists and then glanced at him with a stubborn expression just like Leah’s. “I’m going.”
“I’ll call Rachel to see if she can get things started with your schoolwork and you go pack.”
Within the hour they were packed and ready to leave. Falcon decided he didn’t want to be away from Leah in case she needed him. Like his daughter he had conflicting thoughts, too. And a little anger. And he, too, would have to find forgiveness in his heart. He really hoped that was possible. But no way was he walking away from his child. That might make him controlling, but then that part of him was hard to change.
Chapter Thirteen
A time for family...
After showering, Leah slipped into some pj’s she’d bought at Victoria’s Secret while out shopping with Anne. The bottoms were soft silky pink capris and the top was a white tank top trimmed in lacy pink. It came with a skimpy robe and Leah had loved it on sight. It wasn’t something she usually wore at night, but this evening she was feeling better than she had in a long time.
Earlier, she had talked to David and Anne and apologized for her behavior. David was kind, as always, and she had to admit that her thinking was off and she was happy he had called Falcon when she had been unable to.
It was hard to explain all the emotions churning in her. Looking back, she tried to figure out why it was so important to her to stay away from Horseshoe. Guilt was one thing. But for her, the past weighed her down until she couldn’t think straight. It had a lot to do with the tumor affecting her thinking. She should’ve listened to the doctors and not been so adamant about her decisions. She could see that now.
Sitting on the bed, she reached for lotion and applied it to her arms and legs, wondering when Falcon and Eden would come back. After all the years she had stayed away from them, she couldn’t believe how anxious she was to see them now. It was like Falcon had said. They were family.
“Miss Leah,” Alma called.
“I’m in here,” Leah responded.
Alma walked in with a glass of milk. “Thought you might like this before going to bed.”
“Thank you. That was so sweet.” She took the glass and placed it on the nightstand.
“I bought a gallon so there’s plenty to make this baby as strong as possible.”
“You’re spoiling me.”
“Mmm. Do you need anything else?”
“No, thanks.” A smile tugged at Leah’s lips. “My daughter is coming, Alma. You’ll get to meet her.”
“I’m looking forward to it, and if she’s anything like her mother, I’ll love her.”
Leah was silent for a moment and thought how she knew nothing about the daughter she’d given birth to. But she wouldn’t let that bring her down. She was taking steps forward and she would concentrate on that.
“Good night,” Alma said, walking out of the room.
“Night.”
Leah picked up the glass and took some sips. She wasn’t that crazy about milk, but she would drink anything to make this baby healthy. She finished the milk and took the glass into the bathroom to rinse it out. Her cell rang and she hurried into the bedroom to find it. Her purse was on her desk and she grabbed it and found her phone. It was Falcon. Her heart raced.
“How are you?” he asked and she soaked up the soft tone in his voice that she didn’t hear often enough.
“I’m fine and the baby is, too.”
“Would you like some company?”
“You mean tomorrow?”
“No. I mean now. I’m about two blocks away.”
“Is Eden with you?”
“Yes.”
Her heart raced even faster and she took a deep breath to calm herself. “I’ll open the front door.”
“We’ll be there in a minute.”
She placed the phone on the desk and slipped into her robe. Hurrying downstairs, she had to make herself stop. She didn’t want to fall. As she opened the door, the cool night air rushed in. The yard was well lit, so it was easy to see the big truck as it pulled up to the curb.
Falcon got out, tall and imposing, but Leah’s attention was on the person coming around the front of the truck: her daughter. She paused by her father, and Leah wrapped her arms around her waist as she waited.
Eden said something to Falcon, and he frowned—even she could see that from the front door. Falcon strolled toward Leah and Eden trailed behind, which was not a good sign.
They stood there, staring at each other, words eluding them. Falcon broke the silence.
“Let’s go inside, ladies.”
Leah stepped back. “Come in. Come in.” They walked into the living room and Falcon and Eden sat on the sofa. Leah took a wingback chair facing them.
Years ago Leah had very little self-confidence and even though she’d gained some of that over the years she was still struggling to be the woman she should be. She didn’t know if she’d ever make the full transformation into a confident, independent person. But she was determined to give it her best, even with Eden glaring at her.
“Why didn’t you tell us about the tumor?” Eden asked with a bite in her voice. “Why did you have to lie?”
Leah knew she would have to answer some hard questions and this was one of them. She
didn’t evade it or put it off. She was honest. “I didn’t want to be a burden to your father after what I’d done. I wanted to be completely well before I came home.”
“Did you ever think I might need my mother, sick or not?” The words were fired with the force of a bullet and Leah felt the piercing pain.
Tears threatened, but Leah fought them off. Her daughter had every right to be angry and Leah had to dredge up her courage to tell her side of the story. She told her about the day she’d left Rebel Ranch. She didn’t leave anything out, even sharing her awful childhood and her feelings about her own mother, and Leah’s fear of hurting Eden. Then she told her about the accident, the long road to recovery and her fear of removing the tumor.
“I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” Eden mumbled. “I just don’t know why you didn’t come home when you were better.”
“Fear,” Leah admitted. “It’s a powerful thing when you’ve hurt someone like I hurt your father and you. Falcon is a very strong and forceful man and I felt he would just never forgive what I’d done and...and I felt you were better off without a mother like me. A mother who would leave her baby didn’t deserve second chances. That was my attitude, and I couldn’t get past that. I—”
“I’m hungry,” Falcon said, interrupting her and getting to his feet. “We haven’t had supper and I know there’s some banana pudding left from lunch.”
“Oh, yes, I can make you a sandwich or something.” Leah was glad for the reprieve and followed Falcon toward the kitchen.
Falcon stopped to look at his daughter. “Eden?”
“I’m not hungry,” she muttered and hung her head, her dark hair falling forward, covering her face.
Leah wanted to say something to ease her pain, but words were useless now. Eden had to come to terms with what happened because Leah couldn’t change it. They all had to accept it and move on.
In the kitchen, Leah pulled out lettuce and tomatoes. “How about a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich?”
“Sounds great.” Falcon sat in one of the bar stools at the granite island. “Eden is just angry and she doesn’t stay angry for long, so give her time.”
