Just What the Cowboy Needed

by Teresa Southwick

  Grace glanced at the suitcases sitting in the entryway with all Cass’s clothes and toys. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and watched Tracy get out of the car. The last days had flown by. Heck, the whole summer had passed in a blur of laughter, longing and a feeling of belonging—even if it was only temporary.

  “I’m going to answer the door.”

  Grace was right behind her and looked on as Cassie pulled it wide and greeted her mom. They hugged, laughed and cried.

  After a few moments, Tracy brushed the moisture from her cheeks. “Hi, Grace.”

  “Welcome home. How was your trip?”

  “Magical.” She stood but settled a hand across her daughter’s shoulders, keeping her close. “London. Paris. Rome, Venice and Florence. And to see those stunning places with the love of my life—” Her eyes grew suspiciously moist again. “I don’t even have the words to describe how wonderful it was.”

  “Did you bring me something?” Cassie looked up, excitement lighting her face.

  “No. This trip was for me and my new husband—” She started laughing at the child’s change of expression. “I can’t do it. Of course we brought you something—from every place we went. In fact, we had to buy another suitcase just to bring home all the things we got you.”

  “I knew you were just kidding.” Cassie wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist.

  “Can’t fool you.” She met Grace’s gaze. “So, how did things go here? Knowing my daughter, she would have said something during our phone calls, but...just checking.”

  Probably wouldn’t be a good idea to share that she’d slept with Logan—especially with Cassie standing right there. Or that, for Grace, nothing had changed. Her attraction hadn’t gone away, and he wasn’t a handsome jerk. Just the opposite—too caring for his own good.

  “Things went really well,” she said.

  “Mommy—” Cassie tugged on her hand to get her attention “—Daddy’s teaching me to ride a horse.”

  Tracy blinked first at her daughter, then Grace. “Get out.”

  “It’s true. And in the interest of full disclosure, after her very first ride, she fell off.”

  “But I’m okay, Mom. Daddy took me to see Aunt Jamie, and she took a picture of the bone in my arm. It wasn’t broken.”

  “Thank goodness.”

  “And the next day, I went riding again!”

  “Did you sneak a ride, or was your father around?” Tracy asked skeptically.

  “It was actually his suggestion,” Grace said. To be fair she’d encouraged him, then stood back and watched. It was a moment she’d never forget. And Cassie wouldn’t either.

  “Wow. Do you like riding, honey?”

  “I love it! It’s so much fun.”

  “She’s her father’s daughter,” Tracy said.

  “That she is,” Grace agreed. “But I think she got the obsession for tea parties from you.”

  “Remember I told you, Mommy. Daddy came to one and he played Prince Adam from Beauty and the Beast.”

  “He was a big hit,” Grace explained. “You’re probably already aware, but there’s a deplorable lack of men to play the male leads.”

  Tracy laughed. “Oh, to be a fly on the wall and see Logan at a tea party. You didn’t by any chance take videos?”

  “No. YouTube’s loss. But I did promise discretion.”

  “Ah.” A gleam of understanding slid into the other woman’s eyes. “So you got him there through some kind of magic.”

  “The word you’re looking for is blackmail.”

  “This gets better and better.”

  “What does blackmail mean?” Cassie asked.

  The two women exchanged a glance, then Grace thought for a moment. “It means that after a playdate with Emily and Paige when Wendy showed up to retrieve the girls, the words pick up took on a whole new meaning.”

  Tracy nodded her understanding. “Revenge body strikes again. Not to be repetitious, but oh, to be a fly on the wall. What happened?”

  Grace took pity on him even though she was annoyed because he’d disappeared emotionally. “There was dedicated flirting, and I may have bailed him out. But he was the one who said he owed me.”

  Tracy obviously understood that his forfeit was attendance at his daughter’s pretend tea party. She looked down at Cassie. “That sounds awesome, sweetheart.”

  “It was so much fun, Mommy.” She looked up, pleading in her eyes. “Can we go home now? I want to see what you brought me.”

  “Of course we can. But first I want to say hi to your dad and thank him for taking such good care of you. And you need to tell him goodbye.”

  “He’s in the barn.” Cassie headed for the front door. “I need to say goodbye to Chocolate, too.”

  “That’s the horse she’s been riding,” Grace explained.

  “Oh, thank God. I was afraid she meant the candy and somehow that was going to create a challenge for me.”

  Grace laughed. “I think the name came from his coloring. And other than her little spill, she’s really taken to him. He really is a gentle pony.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. That’s exactly what Logan would pick for her.” Tracy slid her big sunglasses to the top of her head. “The shocker is how he got talked into putting her on a horse in the first place.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “For quite a while now she’s been wanting to ride.”

  “I figured. The first night I was here he explained she’d be spending a lot of time with me because he had to run the ranch.” It was surprising how clearly she recalled the exact conversation even though that night felt like a lifetime ago. And yet it seemed like yesterday, too. “She reminded him he had to teach her to ride.”

  “So he agreed?” Tracy sounded amazed.

  “Not then. It took some convincing.”

  “Blackmail again? Because I’m fairly sure you had something to do with persuading him.”

  “Someone had to.”

  “Mind telling me how you did it?” Tracy folded her arms over her chest.

  Since the job was technically over now, there was no reason not to explain. Grace shrugged. “I threatened to quit.”

  The other woman’s eyes went wide. “Bold move.”

  “It was something I felt very strongly about.” For a lot of reasons.

  Some of them were about Cassie and the part of Grace’s job that had to do with caring for her. But concern for Logan was what had finally made up her mind to go for it. She had to make him see that he was wrong about himself, that he could have a positive impact on his daughter’s life. Put a crack in the wall that kept everyone out. Show him that he didn’t have to be a loner. Cassie needed him, and almost as important, he needed her.

  Tracy was thoughtful for several moments. “I’ve been trying to talk him into teaching her for months. But I had nothing to bargain with because he doesn’t care about me.”

  “Of course he does,” Grace protested. “You’re friends. More important, you’re the mother of his child.”

  “That’s my point. I can’t quit either one of those things. I could have made threats to stop being his friend, but that’s only symbolic since we still have to deal with each other regarding Cassie.” She shook her head. “Plus, he just doesn’t feel that way about me.”

  “What way?”

  “I can’t believe I have to spell this out for you.” The other woman sighed dramatically. “He has the hots for you, Grace. I saw it at the wedding. Everyone could see it.”

  Grace’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, and no doubt the other woman could see that, too. Denying they had the hots for each other would be a lie, what with having sex when they got back here to the ranch. And then there was that night in the kitchen when he came right out and said he wanted her but couldn’t touch her because he would hat
e himself in the morning.

  The problem was that passion was one thing and making a life together was something altogether different. That required commitment, and Logan was committed only to being alone.

  “I admit there was an attraction,” Grace said delicately.

  “I knew it.” Tracy’s look was triumphant. “That’s great. I’m so happy for you two.”

  That made one of them. “There is no ‘us two.’ It doesn’t change anything.”

  “Maybe it could,” the other woman persisted. “You’re good for Logan, Grace. Take it from his best friend. He needs someone like you, someone he respects and will listen to.”

  “Threatening to quit is a lot different from his listening to me.”

  “The fact that it worked is because he didn’t want you to go. That means he cares,” Tracy insisted.

  “It means he didn’t want childcare responsibilities to interfere with him running the ranch. He has very specific ideas about where it’s safe for her. So darn obstinate—”

  “And there’s another reason why I think you’d be perfect for him.” Tracy looked exasperated.

  “I’m sorry. That one went right over my head.”

  “You’re just as stubborn as he is.”

  “I take that as a compliment.” Grace laughed.

  “Good, because that’s the way I meant it.” Tracy sighed. “I just wish you’d think about it.”

  Grace had thought about little else since meeting Logan, but that hadn’t gotten her very far. Even if she wanted her and Logan to be an “us,” it wasn’t a smart move.

  “You’re sweet to say so, Tracy.”

  “Okay. Message received. Thanks for indulging me.” The other woman nodded. “And now I’ll mind my own business. My only excuse for sticking my nose in is jet lag. And I care a lot about Logan.”

  Grace cared, too. So much that part of her was tempted to believe he did need her and still had the hots for her. The truth was that if he touched her, kissed her, she would be his for the taking.

  So it was a good thing she had to spend only one more night under his roof. The drive back to Buckskin Pass was kind of long, and he’d agreed that she should tackle it first thing in the morning. Tonight she would put her belongings in suitcases, but she didn’t need anything to carry her feelings in. There was a reason emotional leftovers were called baggage.

  Her tenderness toward Logan would come with her when she went back where she came from. She refused to call it home. Not until she had roots, and that meant a house with her name on the title. Thanks to this job she now had the money to make that happen.

  Maybe someday it would be enough.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Daddy, Chocolate is gonna miss me when I go back to Mommy’s.”

  Logan had walked his daughter and her mom back up to the house. He glanced at Tracy, who was pressing her lips together to hide a grin. “I’m sure he will miss you, baby girl. I know I will.”

  “What if I forget how to ride?” she asked.

  So that’s where she was going with this, he thought. If not for all these weeks with his daughter, it would have taken him a lot longer to figure out she wasn’t so much worried about missing the horse as she was not being able to ride him again.

  “You won’t forget, honey. It’s like driving a car,” he assured her.

  The little girl looked up at him. “But I don’t know how to drive a car.”

  Logan ignored Tracy’s snort of laughter. “I just meant that everything you learned will stick with you. Especially because your mom and I are going to work something out so you can come over and ride all the time. Chocolate is going to see you so much he’ll take one look at you and say, ‘Not her again.’”

  “No, he won’t. He can’t talk.” She giggled. “I’m gonna tell Grace.”

  Logan watched her run into the house and thought about Grace. She was leaving for good, and he hated the thought of saying goodbye. “I guess you can see for yourself that Grace did a great job with Cassie while you were away.”

  “Yeah. The little stinker probably didn’t even know I was gone.”

  “She noticed, believe me. But Grace stepped in seamlessly.” He glanced at the house. “Cassie’s really going to miss her.”

  “Is she the only one?”

  Logan’s gaze snapped back to hers. “What?”

  “You heard me.” She leaned back against the hood of her SUV. “I think you’re going to miss Grace as much, if not more, than your daughter.”

  He was trying not to think about life after Grace. More than that he really didn’t want to talk about this. “I just wanted you to know she did a good job. In case you were wondering.”

  “First of all, I knew that. She’s the one who convinced you to let Cassie ride. Second—” she paused dramatically “—this is me. I know you’re not this dense.”

  In his opinion, one of Tracy’s best qualities was her determination. It was also her worst. When she took a bite out of something, it was next to impossible to get her to let go. She was right. He knew exactly where she was going with this.

  “Just leave it alone, Trace.”

  There was regret in her eyes. “You’re different since Grace.”

  “Nope.” He looked down at his scuffed and dusty boots, his old comfortable jeans. What wasn’t comfortable was this conversation. “I’m the same.”

  “You’re deliberately misunderstanding. I mean with Cassie. You’re different.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t know how to explain it, but you have a bond with your daughter that wasn’t there before.”

  “You’re imagining things.” He pushed back, but the truth was he did feel closer to Cass.

  “No.” Tracy shook her head. “It’s like some invisible wall inside you has disappeared. You’re more at ease with her. More accessible. Not holding back.”

  “I think it’s just that you’ve been away for a while,” he said. “And this is the longest stretch of time she’s spent with me.”

  “No. It’s more than that. This is because of Grace.”

  “How could you possibly know that? You’ve been back for what? Fifteen seconds?”

  Tracy just smiled at his outburst, as if she knew some secret handshake. “You forget how well I know you.”

  “Apparently not well enough since you’re wrong about this.”

  “I had a chat with Grace before Cassie and I met you in the barn. I know you taught your daughter to ride because she threatened to quit. It worked because you were more terrified of losing Grace and being alone with your child than you were of putting her on a horse.”

  Women had an annoying way of talking about everything, he thought. Good, bad, ugly, it didn’t matter. They talked and bonded. They spilled it all. There was a good chance she also knew Grace maneuvered him into that tea party, too. But the memory made him smile. The happy little girl who hugged him hard that night. It was something he would never forget.

  “We had some good times,” was all he said.

  “Thanks in no small part to Grace.” Tracy studied him. “She made a difference.”

  Logan chose to believe the difference she meant was his relationship with his daughter. “Cassie really took to her.”

  “I think you did, too. And why not? She’s fabulous.” Tracy was dead serious.

  He waited for her to blister his ears with what she thought about him sleeping with Grace, an employee. But she just stared at him, which meant not quite everything between the women had been shared. Then her words completely sank in. She believed he’d taken to Grace. Personally.

  “She’s got a way about her,” he admitted.

  “I knew it!” Tracy straightened away from the car and hugged him. “She’s good for you, Logan.”

  “No point in debating whether or not that’s true. She’s leaving
tomorrow.”

  “Does she have to?”

  “Yeah. She’s got a life in Buckskin Pass.”

  “She’s a teacher. School doesn’t start for a couple of weeks.” She gave him a sharp look. “You do the math.”

  More time with Grace. That thought shot adrenaline straight through him. They did have fun together. But she had work and a life somewhere else, so it was inevitable that she would go. Still, because of that time limit there was no danger of him doing her long-term damage. And what if...

  He smiled at Tracy. “Have I ever told you that you’re a major pain in the neck?”

  “It’s why you love me like a brother.”

  “Says who?”

  “Enough said.” She laughed. “Seriously, though, we will have to work out a schedule for Cassie to ride. I can bring her out here. You could pick her up.”

  “If ranch work runs late or something, we can ride and she can spend the night. I’ll take her to school,” he offered.

  “The connection to this land and the animals is in her blood. She is her father’s daughter.”

  “That’s what Grace said.”

  Tracy’s expression clearly said “I told you so.”

  “She’s a very special woman.”

  The front door opened, and Cassie came running out, followed by Grace. “I forgot this stuff,” she said, holding up a bag. “Grace found my bedtime bear and my favorite book.”

  “Thank you, Grace.” Tracy hugged her. “You may have just saved one of us an emergency trip.”

  “Happy to help.”

  “I’m hungry.” The little girl handed the bag to her mom. “Grace is makin’ mac and cheese. It’s my favorite.”

  “Your daughter is not subtle.” Grace laughed. “But I made plenty. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

  “Tempting,” Tracy said. “But my husband is waiting.”

  “Wow, husband.” Logan was sincerely happy for her.