Her Cowboy Hero (The Colorado Cades)

by Tanya Michaels

  “The wedding’s at the end of next month,” he pointed out. “That’s not long.”

  “I have a great idea,” she said as if he hadn’t spoken. “Elisabeth’s family is throwing a couples’ shower for Elisabeth and Justin in two weeks. Nobody expects you to come to Cielo Peak for that, but what if Hope and I drive down to see you? We can go shopping for gifts together.”

  “Or I can mail them a card and a check.”

  She huffed in exasperation. “I know shopping’s not your favorite thing in the world, but man up. Justin’s worth a little effort. Besides, are you saying you wouldn’t welcome a visit from your favorite sister? I’m pregnant,” she reminded him. “You should humor me. I’m emotionally fragile.”

  He bit back a laugh. His little sister was about as fragile and delicate as a charging bull. “Admit it, the shopping’s a ruse. You just want to harass me in person and meddle in my life.”

  “Says the man who once threatened to break Garrett’s kneecaps if he hurt me,” she said wryly.

  That wasn’t meddling; that was being a brother. “As long as he keeps you happy, he’s in no danger from me.”

  “I’ve never been happier,” she said softly. “I can’t even imagine how that would be possible.”

  He could hear the truth of it in her voice, and it made him smile. “I’m glad. You deserve it. Look, I have to go, but Elisabeth and Justin have one of those wish lists, right?”

  “A registry? Yeah.”

  “Email me the information, and I promise I’ll send them something more personal than a check.”

  “All right. But start answering your phone more, or I will program my GPS for Bingham Pass.”

  He tried to appease her without actually making any promises he might not keep, then they said their goodbyes.

  Now officially late, Colin took the newly reinforced porch steps two at a time, Scarlett at his heels. He let himself in, calling “Knock, knock” as he approached. The buttery smell of pancakes beckoned.

  He walked into the kitchen, where Evan, Annette and her husband sat at the table. Hannah stood at the island, slicing squares of hash brown casserole.

  Her welcoming smile brought out her dimples. “You made it.” She did a double take, her hazel eyes avid. “And you shaved. You look... I’ve never seen you clean-shaven.” Her gaze slid over him, warm and sweet.

  Colin swallowed. “It seemed like time.” Acutely aware of their audience, he turned back to the table, ignoring Annette’s raised eyebrows and extending a hand to the man who sat at her side. “Colin Cade, nice to meet you.”

  “Todd Reed.” The man had a good grip.

  Hannah had mentioned Annette’s husband was an accountant. From the guy’s stout build, buzz-cut auburn hair and skin that looked ruddy from time in the sun, Colin wouldn’t have necessarily pegged him as having a desk job. But Todd’s clear gray eyes radiated sharp intelligence.

  Colin turned from greeting the Reeds and bumped fists with the little boy. “Mornin’, Super-Ev.”

  He grinned, his face sticky with syrup. “Mr. Colin, are we going to start building my house today?”

  “Not yet. But I did sketch some ideas last night. We can look at them later.”

  Colin poured himself some coffee and refilled everyone else’s mugs. As he and Hannah sat at the table, he apologized for his tardiness. “My sister called with big news as I was leaving the bunkhouse. She’s pregnant. Again.” He shook his head. “Their first one’s not even six months old.”

  Across the table, Annette’s expression crumpled. “Excuse me.” Her chair let out a discordant squawk as it scraped across the linoleum.

  Todd’s gaze was troubled as he watched his wife hurry from the room. Hannah sighed heavily. Evan kept shoving bites of pancake into his mouth, oblivious.

  Colin caught Hannah’s eye, keeping his voice to a whisper. “I put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”

  She leaned so close that the rich, feminine scent of her shampoo blocked out the food smells. He briefly imagined closing his eyes and breathing her in, tangling his fingers through the silky jet strands of her hair.

  She brought him back to the present with her murmured, “Pregnancy’s a sore subject right now.”

  “Sorry.” He glanced to Todd, including him in the apology. The man nodded stiffly in acknowledgment.

  When Annette returned to the table, she was composed, once again her smiling self, but Colin was careful not to mention babies or pregnancy again for the rest of the meal. After breakfast, all four adults helped clear the table, but Hannah insisted she had to load the dishwasher by herself.

  “I’m obsessive-compulsive about where everything goes,” she admitted with a self-deprecating grin.

  “How about Annette and I go to the bunkhouse and start pulling up the carpeting?” Todd volunteered. The way he excluded Colin made it sound as if he needed a moment alone with his wife.

  Colin nodded. “Sounds good. My stuff is packed up to bring over here, and I put the minifridge out on the carport. Only thing left to move is the bed.”

  Once the Reeds exited the house, Hannah instructed her son to put some toys and books in his backpack to keep himself entertained on the carport while the adults were painting. With four of them helping, it shouldn’t take too long.

  Colin stepped closer so that he could be heard over the running water as Hannah rinsed dishes without Evan overhearing. “I’m sorry I upset Annette. Did she...lose a baby?”

  Hannah shook her head. “They’re trying to get pregnant. No luck yet. Annette was trying some medication that might help, but the drugs make her pretty emotional. She and Todd have an appointment with a specialist coming up to discuss options.”

  Turning off the faucet, she stared sightlessly out the window, her expression faraway and pensive. “When I first found out I was carrying Evan, I was thrown by the timing. I mean, I was happy, but because of when it happened, I knew Michael wouldn’t be with me when the baby was born. I really regretted that. But I see now what a gift it was. If I hadn’t conceived before he left...”

  “It’s amazing how you do that.” That first afternoon he’d been here, she’d commented on her diminutive height, speculating that it made others see her as weak. Hannah Shaw was one of the strongest people he’d ever met.

  She turned toward him, her forehead puckered in confusion. “Do what?”

  “Instead of sounding bitter about losing your husband, who died too young on the other side of the world, you count your blessings.”

  “Being bitter won’t bring him back.”

  “Do you still miss him?” He regretted the question immediately. It was too personal, too intrusive. Inappropriate, somehow, when he was standing this close to her. “I— Forget I asked. I’ll go see if Evan needs any help gathering toys and make sure he isn’t trying to dismantle his whole train set and stuff it into his backpack.”

  Not until he rounded the corner did he realize it was the first time in two years that he’d deliberately sought out a kid’s company. But, for the moment, hanging out with Evan seemed a lot less complicated than remaining in the sun-dappled kitchen alone with Hannah.

  * * *

  ALTHOUGH COLIN GENERALLY preferred walking to and from the bunkhouse, it was logical to take the truck since they were bringing paint supplies, tools and outdoor toys for Evan. The little boy asked if he could ride in the bed of the truck with Scarlett. Since it was for such a short distance on private property, Hannah indulged him but only after dire threats of what would happen if he didn’t stay seated and an announcement that she’d drive extra slowly for safety’s sake.

  As the truck began crawling forward, she gave an embarrassed laugh. “You must think I’m being ridiculous. At this rate, snails will pass us.”

  “It’s never ridiculous to want to protect your child,”
he said softly. In his head, he heard the bone-chilling crunch of metal and glass, but it was a phantom memory. He hadn’t been there that day, yet he’d relived the incident hundreds of times in his nightmares. He forcibly suppressed those thoughts, changing the subject. “I wanted to ask you a favor. Well, two technically.”

  “After everything you’re doing for me and Evan? Anything you want!” Red bloomed in her cheeks as she reconsidered her statement. “I mean... What, um, was the favor?”

  The way she stumbled over her words might have been amusing if he weren’t suddenly having difficulty marshaling his own thoughts. He worked to think of Hannah in a platonic, she’s-my-employer-and-nothing-more light, but she was a beautiful woman. The rosy blush and obvious direction of her thoughts only magnified her appeal.

  He cleared his throat. “My sister’s emailing me information for a gift registry. I, uh, wanted to borrow your laptop to do some online shopping. And I was hoping to get your opinion. This isn’t my area of expertise.”

  Her face softened. “Baby stuff, huh? I can’t wait until Annette does announce she’s expecting. Buying clothes for infants is so much fun. And, needless to say, she will have the most awesome baby shower menu ever.”

  “This is actually for a wedding shower.”

  “Your brother’s? You mentioned he’s getting married.”

  “Justin,” he said. It felt unexpectedly important that she know his brother’s name. The more pieces of herself she revealed, the pettier it seemed that Colin never shared even casual information. “Arden’s my sister, the youngest. After my parents died, it felt like the three of us against the world.”

  She turned to look at him when he mentioned losing his parents, but didn’t ask for specifics. “So Arden’s pregnant and Justin’s getting married?” They rolled up in front of the bunkhouse, and she shifted the truck into park. “A lot to celebrate.”

  He nodded as he opened the door. Was it selfish, hiding out here in Bingham Pass instead of being part of the celebrations? Or did it give them room to experience their joy fully, without worrying about being insensitive to the brother who’d lost his entire world in one split second? Arden in particular seemed incapable of being in a room with him without pity haunting her gaze; Natalie’s death had been nearly as difficult for her as for Colin. The two women had grown up childhood best friends.

  He didn’t want to be a black cloud hovering over other people’s happiness, a grim reminder of how fleeting that happiness could be.

  Hannah opened the tailgate. Evan scampered out of the truck like a monkey, Scarlett right beside him. The boy went straight for Colin’s motorcycle.

  “Stop right there!” Hannah pulled an old coffee can out of the back of the truck. It was full of large, colorful pieces of chalk. She drew a thick blue line across the concrete of the carport. “You don’t go past this, understand?” At his nod, she added, “And when we’re all done here, maybe we’ll go fishing since you and Henry never got around to that yesterday.”

  The boy brightened, letting out a gleeful whoop that startled a nearby grackle and some sparrows into the air. He sat down with the chalk and his bag of toys. Hannah and Colin began unloading the paint supplies.

  Reaching for a bucket of rollers and brushes, she slid him a curious look. “So you don’t have a laptop? It’s hard to imagine someone without a computer these days.”

  “A lot of my stuff is in storage, back in Cielo Peak. I’ve been on, I guess you could say, sabbatical.” He hefted a can of primer. “I can check email and everything on my phone, but I don’t like shopping on the small screen. Damn fingers are too clumsy,” he admitted.

  She laughed. “I watched you do detailed work on the porch—you’re not clumsy. Your hands are just really big.” Her gaze dropped as she spoke, and her cheeks flushed with color again.

  An answering heat rose within him. He was grateful when the side door opened and Hannah looked away.

  Annette stuck her head out. “You two need a hand out there?”

  Hannah tried unsuccessfully to muffle a giggle. “Um, no, we’re covered as far as hands go.”

  Colin bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

  Once Annette had disappeared back into the house, Hannah said, “If I didn’t say so already, of course you’re welcome to use the laptop.”

  “And you’ll give me your opinion on the gift registry? I don’t understand why people need half that stuff.” He recalled Natalie rolling her eyes when he commented that gravy boats were misnamed; they looked more like genie lamps than any boat he’d ever seen. “You, on the other hand, know your way around a kitchen better than anyone, and you have a flair for domestic details. I can’t believe how much you’ve improved the living room and kitchen in one week.”

  Her smile was glowing. “That’s the best thing anyone’s said to me in months. Some days, it feels like such an uphill battle that I...” She shook her head in a visible attempt to dismiss doubts.

  Realizing he’d said and done things to contribute to that self-doubt made his stomach turn. “Only way to get uphill is one step at a time,” he told her. Wanting to put the smile back on her face, he teased, “This morning, I had a moment where I caught myself thinking Scarlett was cute. If that mutant mutt can look adorable, anything is possible.”

  * * *

  THE FRESH PAINT on the walls and absence of criminally ugly carpet gave Hannah hope. There was more work to do, but at least now the space more closely resembled a potential guest cottage than an abandoned cabin where teens would get murdered in a low-budget horror film. But the fumes were too intense to stand around admiring their work.

  She shooed everyone outside to breathe the fresh air. “Thank you, guys, so much for your help this afternoon. And yours, too,” she told her son. While the rest of them were speckled with dabs and splatters of paint, Evan was covered in dirt and multicolored chalk dust. “You helped by being so good.” He’d kept his boyish impatience to a minimum. Hannah could count on one hand the number of times he’d whined that the project was taking “forever and ever.”

  “So we can go fishing now?” he demanded.

  “Sure.”

  Todd sighed. “Not us, unfortunately. I’ve got paperwork I need to get in order for a client meeting tomorrow. But hook a big one for me, okay, buddy?”

  “Okay.” Evan nodded confidently, in no doubt whatsoever about his fishing prowess.

  Hannah grinned. Sometimes her son’s innate belief in himself was nerve-racking because, in a four-year-old boy, that occasionally translated to thinking he was invincible. But mostly his conviction that things would turn out for the best was charming. Growing up with no dad and having moved away from his friends in their former apartment complex, he could have a very different outlook on life. She hoped she was leading by example, showing him that happy endings were within reach of anyone willing to work for them.

  Evan hugged the Reeds goodbye. As they were driving off, he tugged on the hem of Colin’s T-shirt. “Will you come fishing with us, Mr. Colin?”

  Colin hesitated. Even if he was simply stalling until he decided how best to say no without hurting Evan’s feelings, she was gratified he hadn’t refused automatically. Colin’s teasing comment earlier made it sound as if Scarlett was beginning to grow on him. Was the same true of her son? That would certainly make it easier for all of them to share a house.

  A zing went through her at the thought of sleeping under the same roof as Colin. It wasn’t the first time she’d had a physical reaction today. Be honest, it didn’t just start today. What about the cake she’d almost let burn yesterday because she’d become entranced by the sight of Colin riding Viper? And she was starting to have Pavlovian responses to the sight of his weathered cowboy hat.

  Between grief, long working hours and the demands of being a single mom, she’d had maybe ten dates since Eva
n was born—and one of those was counting a man who’d bought her a coffee after he bumped her and spilled her first one. With only one unoccupied table left in a crowded café, they’d sat together and chatted for fifteen minutes. There’d been one man in Colorado Springs whom she’d gone out with three times, but when he kissed her, she’d had no response. It left her feeling flat and empty inside, and she’d wondered if her libido had died with her husband.

  The only man she’d gone out with since moving was Gideon. She’d agreed to dinner to learn more about ranching, but he’d spent two straight hours talking about himself. She didn’t learn anything useful, although she did leave the restaurant with keen insight into how he’d won a high school football game and what he looked for in a woman.

  Aside from an occasional flutter when a hot guy delivered a great line in a movie, it had been a long time since she’d experienced much sexual interest. Now she was torn between wishing it was anyone but Colin who’d triggered it and simply being grateful she could still feel something. The key was to stick to feeling, not acting. As someone who’d been on the receiving end of sexual harassment, she knew better than to lust after someone who worked for her. Given Colin’s customary aloofness, he wouldn’t welcome the attention any more than she had. But even if the attraction were mutual—her palms dampened at the thought—she had an impressionable young child in the bedroom across the hall from hers.

  She’d become so absorbed in her own prurient daydreams that she nearly jumped when Colin’s deep voice broke the silence.

  “Not today,” he told Evan. He sounded almost regretful. “I’ve got some shuffling to do to get settled in my new room at your place. And I need to get started on my supply list for Super-Ev HQ. Which reminds me...” He walked to his motorcycle and unzipped a large black bag, pulling out a sketch pad. A charcoal pencil fell to the concrete. After retrieving it, he tore a page out of the pad and handed it to her son. “What do you think?”