Single Dad Cowboy

by Brenda Minton

  “You don’t think you’ll change your mind and want to stay in Dawson?”

  She shrugged a little. “I don’t know. I came here wanting a place to hide. Now it feels like I finally came home after a long journey. I didn’t expect that.”

  “I know how you feel.”

  She glanced his way. “Really?”

  He shifted and made the turn that would take them to her place. “A few years ago, home was suffocating me. Everyone had expectations for me. People thought they knew who or what I should be. I wanted to make my own way. I started hauling our bulls to different events. It made sense that I did it. I’m single and I don’t mind being gone. But then when I ran across Katrina and she needed help, it felt like staying in Texas with her was the only option. Gage drove the truck and the bulls home and I thought I’d follow a few weeks later. I was gone a year.”

  “Were you...” He knew what she wanted to ask. She wanted to ask if he’d loved Katrina. But something had stopped her. They were parked in front of her barn and the Appaloosa, Beau, was grazing the short grass in the corral.

  He knew that they weren’t there for the horse. It was her excuse for getting away from the crowd of Coopers and taking a deep breath. He got it, because he’d needed that himself plenty of times.

  She got out of the truck and he followed. They walked through the open double doors at the end of the barn, from sunlight to the shadowy interior that smelled of animals and hay. The horse walked through the stall door, whinnying a greeting but shying to the back of the stall.

  “He seems to be getting used to you.”

  “It’s only been a couple of days.” She pulled a sugar cube from her pocket and held it out to the animal. Beau took a step forward, head outstretched. He brushed his mouth across her outstretched palm and took the sugar.

  “I think that’s progress.” Dylan stepped close.

  He could smell the light, floral scent of her. It was distracting in a way he hadn’t expected. Especially when her arm brushed his, catching him so off guard it made his heart take a big pause.

  She looked up at him, awareness flickering in the deep blue of her eyes. Blond hair curled down her back. Harmony Cross was trouble.

  Trouble because she’d always been able to unnerve him. Years ago, he’d known how to cover up his teenage insecurities with attitude and bluff, but he’d never been able to outrun what she did to him.

  He could no longer act like a smart-aleck teen and loosen her horse’s girth strap like in the old days. At twenty-seven what he really wanted to do was...

  Well, why not? He took the step that put him firmly in her personal space, realizing that was exactly where he wanted to be at that moment. She looked as surprised as he felt, but there was no going back.

  Chapter Five

  They were standing in front of the stall with Beau in the corner eyeing them. It had surprised Harmony when the horse took the sugar cube. Her surprise had doubled when she looked up and saw Dylan staring at her with those hazel eyes fringed with long, dark lashes.

  The air left the building, leaving behind stifling heat and buzzing flies. Her heartbeat sounded like a ticking clock in her ears. He should do something crazy now, something Dylan-ish. Jell-O should fall from the rafters or someone should jump out and spray her with a hose.

  Instead he lowered his handsome face to hers. His hand slid to her back, holding her close and his lips brushed hers, light as a feather, then returning for a second, more lingering touch. His mouth on hers was firm, demanding, and yet gentle. He kissed her with the easy practice of a cowboy who knew his place in the world. She remembered the way he kissed from years ago, but this time he held her longer, easier, like he didn’t want to let go.

  She knew that this time when he let her go there would be no teasing words.

  She knew that when he let go, everything would change. But she couldn’t make herself step out of his embrace. The kiss shifted things inside her, making her feel more than her broken body, more than her broken heart.

  He ended the kiss. She could hear the rushed exhalation of his breath and felt the softness of it against her ear. His forehead rested on hers and he continued to hold her close. His hands were strong, capable. She needed that strength.

  “I can’t say I’m sorry,” he whispered as he remained where he was, holding her.

  “Hmm,” she murmured, not knowing what to say.

  “Maybe that will clear the air.”

  “The air seems to be missing.” She drew in a deep breath and felt a quiet breeze stir through the barn, brushing across her face. “There it is.”

  He grinned down at her as he took a step back. “Yes, there it is.”

  “We shouldn’t have...”

  One shoulder lifted, casual, easy. “No, maybe not, but we did. I did.”

  “Dylan, I can’t do this.”

  “I know.” He brushed a hand across her cheek and she wanted to close her eyes and allow herself to be the person who would turn to Dylan.

  She knew she couldn’t. They had a plan that would give them each space if they didn’t muddle the lines and forget why they were doing this. As much as her heart responded to him, she couldn’t let him be her strength. She couldn’t hold on to him, thinking he would be her happiness.

  She couldn’t take the chance that another man would walk away from her the minute she made a mistake, showed herself to be less than worthy. She didn’t want to fail another person. She was so tired of letting people down. Most of all, herself. For five years she’d been racing through life, not thinking about the future, about how she was hurting herself and other people.

  She couldn’t be that person anymore. She had to want more for herself. She believed God wanted more for her.

  “We should go.” She had backed against the rough wood of the barn and now took a step away, toward the door. “They’ll be wondering where we are.”

  “So we’re not going to talk about this?”

  She shook her head. “I think not. I’d like to pretend nothing happened and that we’re still two friends just helping each other out.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.” He stepped close, offering her his arm. She took it, holding tight.

  When they got to the truck she reached for the truck door. He already had it open, a big cowboy smile back on his face.

  “I can pretend it, whatever it was, didn’t happen. I can’t pretend I haven’t been raised to open doors for ladies.”

  She climbed in and smiled down at him. “You should think about getting a new truck.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve had this one since I turned sixteen. Getting rid of it would be like putting down my favorite dog just because it got old.” He leaned in, close. A little too close. His hazel eyes flickered with humor and she realized he had the tiniest dimple in his left cheek.

  “That’s very sentimental of you, but your old truck smells a lot like an old, wet dog.”

  “Yeah, but me and this old truck, we’ve made a lot of memories together.”

  She reached to close the door. “Go away, Dylan. I don’t want to know about your memories.”

  He laughed as he closed the door. When he got behind the wheel of the truck, he laughed a little. “You always think the worst of me, don’t you? I was talking about learning to drive, going to rodeos with Gage, those kinda memories.”

  “I think your memories include a pretty girl in the middle, sitting close, maybe your arm around her shoulders.”

  “You paint a pretty picture.” He winked at her. “Annabelle Johnston. She had brown hair that smelled like strawberries.”

  Laughter slipped out before Harmony could stop it. “That’s the Dylan Cooper I know and...”

  “Love?” He flicked his gaze at her, winking again, then looked back at the r
oad.

  “Not at all. The Dylan I know and remember. Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “No, you probably can’t.”

  She grimaced as they bounced over a few potholes. Dylan slowed the truck down. “You okay?”

  “I’m good.” She pulled another piece of gum out of her purse.

  “Does the gum help?”

  “No, not really. I started chewing gum in rehab and it’s become my new habit.”

  “How did it happen, Harmony?”

  “What? The accident or the addiction?”

  They were pulling up to the big Georgian two-story brick home that Tim and Angie Cooper called home. It was where they’d raised their dozen children and countless foster children. Harmony had good memories of visiting here as a child. They’d gone on trail rides, had bonfires and eaten family dinners here.

  Dylan stopped the truck but didn’t kill the engine. He looked at her with hazel eyes that were now somber, thoughtful and nearly more than she could handle.

  “I guess maybe I’m wondering about both, Harmony. But if that’s too personal...”

  “It isn’t. It’s just a long story.”

  “But you’re okay now?”

  She looked down as he closed his hand over hers. “Yes, most of the time I’m okay.”

  As she said it, she realized that it was becoming the truth. For the first time in a long time she really did have more good days than bad. Most of the time she did feel as if she would make it.

  They entered the kitchen a few minutes later. Children attacked Dylan as they walked through the door. Callie had a picture she wanted to show him that she’d drawn with the help of Jackson’s daughter, Jade. Cash grabbed his leg and Harmony noticed that the toddler didn’t smell pleasant.

  Dylan looked at the picture first. “Callie, that is the best pony I’ve ever seen.”

  The little girl’s nose wrinkled and she frowned. “That isn’t a pony, Dylan.”

  “It isn’t?” He looked the drawing over. “Well, I’ll be, you’re right. That’s a cat.”

  She frowned bigger. “It isn’t a cat.”

  “It’s a picture of Cash?”

  Callie shook her head. “It’s a flower.”

  He held the picture out and grinned big. “You’re right, that is a flower and it’s about the prettiest flower I’ve ever seen.”

  “You knew it was a flower,” Callie insisted.

  He ruffled his hand through the child’s blond hair. “Yeah, I knew it was a flower. Now, I have to go change your brother and I guarantee you he doesn’t smell like a flower.”

  “He’s stinky.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  Callie ran off with Jade, the teenager that had landed on Jackson’s doorstep two years earlier, claiming to be his daughter. For some reason Harmony followed Dylan from the kitchen. She knew several pairs of eyes followed her, and knew curious looks were exchanged. But it felt better to follow Dylan than to stay and answer questions about her relationship with the third to youngest Cooper.

  How could she answer that her childhood tormentor and antagonist was becoming a friend she hadn’t expected? How could she answer anything at all when she was still remembering the kiss they’d shared?

  * * *

  Cash squirmed on the changing table but he grinned big and reached for the toy truck Dylan handed him. A year brought a lot of changes in a person’s life, Dylan reckoned. When he’d driven that trailer load of bulls to Texas he’d been as single as a guy could get. He’d been living his dreams and chasing after more.

  Now he was pretty good at wrangling a squirmy toddler while reaching for a diaper and wipes. A year ago he’d used almost a whole tub of wipes in one changing. Nowadays he could change most diapers with less than five wipes. He claimed that as one of his victories.

  Cash grinned at him and reached to knock his knuckles with the truck. “Truck.”

  “Yeah, buddy, you’ve got a truck.”

  As he finished up the diaper, he realized he wasn’t alone. A shadow moved to his right and he knew that it was Harmony. She moved to his side, handing him the pair of shorts he’d placed on a nearby table.

  “You’re pretty good at that.” She leaned in close and, man, she smelled so good.

  “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

  He picked up the little guy and dropped the diaper in the trash can next to the changing table. Harmony was still watching them, her big blue eyes cautious, as if she didn’t want to step too far into his life. He didn’t blame her, not after “the kiss.”

  “It hasn’t been easy, has it?”

  “No, it hasn’t,” he admitted as they left the room. He slowed his pace to match hers. “I wake up sometimes still feeling like the guy that left here free and single but then I hear Cash crying from his crib or Callie at the door asking for breakfast and I’m back in my reality.”

  She didn’t reply. He guessed in her own way she woke up to a different reality every day, too.

  Callie met them in the dining room. The family was sitting down to eat and he could see that three chairs were left at the end of the table, plus a high chair for Cash. For a moment Dylan faltered and couldn’t move forward. He looked around the table at his big family and he saw how much had changed the past couple years.

  Changes that he guessed his family must be expecting for him, because they were seeing him as a part of a pair now. Would they start calling Harmony and him a couple? Is this how it had started for Jackson and Maddie a couple of Christmases ago? Sophie and Keeton West had fallen in love next, and Sophie now had a baby boy, as well as Keeton’s daughter, Lucy. And then Reese had taken the plunge with Cheyenne. Their little boy had his own high chair between their seats and Cheyenne was pregnant with a little girl.

  He glanced to the other long table in the room, because it took two long tables to seat all of the Coopers. His brother Jesse was seated with his wife, Laura. And Mia had married one of Dylan’s best friends, Slade McKennon. He thought maybe Mia had loved Slade for years.

  Gage had taken him by surprise. He’d never thought, not in a million years, that his angry little brother would be smiling like a cat in the cream. But he did smile as Dylan’s gaze landed on his. Gage had married Layla Silver last spring.

  The happiest man at the table had to be Dylan’s older brother Blake. Blake’s wife had returned to Dawson after ten years and she’d brought Blake’s daughter, Lindsey, back. The three of them were seldom apart these days.

  A lot of these changes had taken place since Dylan had been gone. He’d missed a couple of weddings, the birth of a baby. He’d missed his grandmother falling in love. Myrna Cooper wasn’t at the family lunch today. She and her husband, Winston, had gone on a cruise.

  Changes.

  He sat down next to Callie, who had taken the seat between him and Harmony. The little girl reached for his hand and Harmony’s as Tim Cooper prayed a blessing over the meal.

  After the “amen,” he raised his head and met his sister Heather’s curious look. She’d visited him in Texas and helped him more than anyone knew. Somewhere along the way they’d gone from tormenting each other to keeping each other strong.

  The only one missing from the table was Dylan’s little brother Bryan. He’d gone with friends for a summer mission trip to South America and he’d stayed. He’d been gone a few years now, only coming back home for a week or two each year.

  “Dylan, what do you think about that new stud horse Jackson is looking at?” Tim Cooper passed a plate of roast as he asked the question.

  “I’m not sure if I like him.”

  Jackson cleared his throat. “Well, I do.”

  “You’re getting old and your eyes aren’t as good as they used to be.” Dylan smiled as he said
it. The conversation felt good. It eased the tension that had settled in his gut.

  “What’s wrong with him?” their oldest brother, Lucky, asked. Lucky’s wife, Eva, had left the table for a minute. Soon she returned with a pitcher of tea.

  “I’ve seen a few of his colts,” Dylan explained. “I know he looks good on paper, Jackson, but the colts he’s throwing aren’t up to Cooper Creek standard. I’m not saying they wouldn’t work cattle but I don’t like the way the way they’re put together. A little short in the neck and long in the body.”

  “Maybe we can get a good look at a couple of them?” Jackson spooned potatoes onto his plate.

  “I think there’s one down south of Oklahoma City.”

  “I’ll take a drive down there one day next week.”

  The next thirty minutes passed this way, with conversation drifting around the table, changing frequently, sometimes midtopic.

  Somehow Callie ended up in his lap, her eyes closing and her head nodding forward. He cuddled her close and watched as Harmony stood to help clear the table. She said something to Cash, her voice soft. Cash grinned and popped a bean in his mouth. Harmony was the farthest thing from broken. He wondered if she realized that about herself. He let it go. There was a sleeping kid on his lap and one in a high chair rubbing potatoes on the tray.

  Harmony reappeared from the kitchen. “I should go.”

  “Let me walk you out.” He started to stand but her hand dropped to his shoulder.

  “Stay. And thank you for today. It was good to be here again.”

  “Call if you need anything.”

  A smile broke across her face. “You do the same.”

  And then she walked away, saying goodbye to his family as she left. Heather followed her from the room and he fought the urge to go after them, to make sure the conversation didn’t turn to one that would include him and Harmony.

  Callie had fallen sound asleep in his lap, though, and Cash had gone from painting with potatoes to dropping them on the floor.

  “Hey, little man, that’s about enough of that.” He reached for a napkin and wiped off pudgy toddler hands. “I think its nap time for both of you.”