Lincoln emerged from the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. “Dayum that smells good.”
Going back to the cooking, she focused on something she could control. These eggs. She cracked one after another, the process always the same. The white or brown shell would crack, and a yellow yolk and its white would come out. She appreciated the constancy of cooking and baking. The comfort of watching the simplest of ingredients come together each and every time. Unless you messed with the recipe.
Fully clothed now, Lincoln came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck and her body, who hadn’t yet engaged from her mind, responded as it always did. She leaned into him, tilting her head to give him better access.
She could ask about this message. But she’d have to admit that she looked, and besides, this would also give him a chance to lie to her. If he lied, she would know. The lie would cut deeper. That would slay her.
She could ignore the message and be exactly who she used to be. Squash down any problems or doubts and forge on. Because if she asked, she might not like the answer. She could admit that to herself now. She’d known on some level that her so-called friends were keeping secrets from her. There were little smirks and smiles and jokes she didn’t quite get. Looking back, it all made sense.
It became easier to ignore the painful truth. To hide from the discomfort until she couldn’t any longer. Maybe someday she would call and thank the so-called friend who’d been the first to confess the indiscretion. If not, Sadie might be living in Australia right now, happily ignorant, until the day when her world cracked open with the truth.
Not this time.
Maybe she didn’t have the right, but damn it all, maybe she did. Sadie turned off the stove with a flick of her wrist, picked up Lincoln’s phone, and handed it to him.
“You got a text while you were in the shower. Who are you meeting with in Kerrville?”
There. She’d asked. She was strong enough to hear the truth.
Just slice open a vein and bleed.
Yes, thank you, Daddy. Loving someone is messy, but she wouldn’t trade this feeling, this sweet and tender ache for Lincoln. Not for all the safety in the world. Lincoln paused for a second, in which Sadie swore she heard the sound of her own heartbeat. But he didn’t look away or avoid her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” He met her gaze head on. “I didn’t want to get you involved in this mess.”
“W-what mess?”
He shoved a hand through his damp hair. “It’s Daisy.”
Okay, okay. She could handle this. If he’d kept anything from Sadie, it was for Daisy’s protection. “What’s wrong?”
“You’ve heard all the rumors about how Hank might not be her real father.”
“That’s nasty talk from jealous men. No one really believes that.”
“I didn’t want to believe it and I still don’t. But a man who claims he might be her father contacted Hank. And he wants to see her.”
Sadie’s hand flew up over her mouth. This would kill Daisy. She was so close to Hank and having been abandoned by her mother, this could be a game changer. Her entire life would be upended. She wouldn’t know where she belonged. Or to whom.
She went into his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I almost did last night, but we were talking about your parents.” He stroked her back. “You were too upset to hear this latest family drama.”
“Oh, Linc, I feel terrible. You should always be able to talk to me about anything that’s botherin’ you.”
“I’ve got it all under control. I’m meeting the man Saturday and drivin’ him to Daisy’s auto shop. He just wants to see her and agreed to do this from a distance. It’s going to have to be enough. I believe I’ve convinced him that no good can come from a paternity test which will cause too much pain and may wind up not matterin’ anyway.”
“Because she might still be Hank’s daughter.”
He nodded. “I don’t know. Am I doin’ the right thing keepin’ this from her?”
“Yes.”
He was doing what he’d always done. Protecting his family. Sadie was familiar with truths that mattered and with those that didn’t. To bet her future on a man who couldn’t ever be faithful? This was a fundamental truth that mattered. But to tell a woman that the man who’d raised her, and was her father in every sense of the world, had only a fifty percent chance of being her biological father?
“I don’t see what good can come from that.”
“What about medical history, that sort of thing?”
Sadie worried a nail between her teeth. “You can ask him, if it comes to that. See if there’s anything significant.”
“Wish she looked like Hank, but she looks just like her.”
No need to ask who he meant. “But how did he even know about Daisy?”
“Maggie told him. Called him up after she left us, told him that he might have a little girl.”
Sadie drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, God.”
“Her last gift to us.”
“Does he know where she could be now?”
“He never heard from her again.”
Poor Lincoln. He’d been carrying this weight around, not knowing how best to protect Daisy. He took care of everyone, but no one took care of him.
Until her.
Chapter 21
A week later, Lincoln drove to Rusty’s motel in Kerrville at the appointed time, Sadie’s support and belief the only thing moving him forward.
All week, she’d taken care of him, assured him he was doing the right thing keeping this from Daisy. In whispered words late at night, she told him she loved him over and over again. During one of those sweet and erotic nights, he’d nearly told her he loved her a dozen times. But something held him back, something deep and dark that kept him from believing he deserved Sadie. If he had to put a name to it, he’d call that darkness Maggie Mae Carver.
And this could all go sideways on him. If not today, then in the future. Maybe he should forget the whole thing. Call Rusty and explain he’d gotten hung up with some ranch task. Lord knew there was a long list. When on their two-day trip to the auction Lincoln told Hank about the talk with Rusty, and the plans they’d made, it was as if a bomb went off.
“You did what? When? Why?” Hank had yelled.
“I told you I’d take care of this. This man won’t be botherin’ you anymore after this weekend.”
“How can you be sure? Now he knows her name.”
“If he found you, he can find your children,” Lincoln yelled back.
“It would have taken him a little longer, at least.”
“And then what? What if he just goes straight to Daisy? He could do that, too. You’ve ignored this long enough.”
Eventually Hank’s mood was visibly improved by the current price of a head of cattle. They’d sold enough heads to pay for the next year’s operations.
Lincoln still wondered whether he was doing the right thing for Daisy. He didn’t like the dishonesty. The secrecy. Hank certainly liked the idea of ignoring Rusty, but that wouldn’t have lasted long. If left up to his father, he’d have continued to ignore the repeated emails while the fear ate away at his gut. The drinking would have become worse and eventually it would have spilled over into the rest of their lives. Lincoln was no different than his father in one way. The worry and stress consumed him. But he had Sadie.
As he drove, his thoughts turned to her again, that soft and tender place she’d become for him. Her sweetness tugged on his heart until he gave up the fight. Now, he was particularly vulnerable. He’d seen it time and time again, even if this made the first time for him. Men who were in love had so much to lose. They made knee-jerk mistakes out of fear. It was Sadie who helped him decide the risk of telling Daisy wasn’t worth the rip it might tear through his family. The family that he believed now, one day, would include Sadie.
Sadie, his wife. Someday. No hurry. He was still getting used to the idea that
he loved her and if she would have him, this would happen. Marriage. He’d marry Eve’s best friend. Jackson, the only one in the family who, understandably, still hadn’t forgiven Eve. He would just have to get over himself.
Rusty stood outside the motel, leaning against a post like it was difficult to stand without the assistance. No doubt.
“Howdy,” Rusty said as he climbed into Lincoln’s truck.
Lincoln gave him a moment to get comfortable and adjust his seat belt before he pulled out of the motel parking lot and headed toward the auto shop.
“Ready for this? Are we still in agreement?”
“Yup.”
The plan was to park a distance from the shop so that Daisy wouldn’t see and recognize his truck. Rusty would sit with Lincoln and watch Daisy at a safe distance. Lincoln would answer any questions he could, if they came up. He also planned to ask Rusty about any medical history, just in case.
The late morning sun shined bright in the sky, the temperatures already warming up the day. Seeing the auto shop, Lincoln pulled to the side of the road and parked.
“This is it.” He turned and didn’t see Daisy. “She usually takes a break at this time.”
“Could she be under a car?” Rusty chuckled. “Maybe we didn’t think this through.”
Lincoln began to wonder how solid his plan was, when Daisy crossed the street holding a couple of coffees in her hands.
“That’s her,” Rusty said. “Pete’s sake, she’s the image of your mother.”
While Lincoln knew this to be true, it sure would have helped now if she looked even a little bit like Hank. He’d love the certainty.
Now, Daisy smiled as she handed a coffee over to someone, but then she disappeared into the shop.
“I can’t see much from here,” Rusty said.
“That’s all you need to see. You’ve seen her. She looks like our mother.” Lincoln sucked in a breath and turned the key in the ignition. “Ask yourself if it really matters who her father is.”
Rusty studied him as if he wondered whether Lincoln had been hit in the head one too many times. Without another word, he opened the door, and climbed out of the truck.
“Hey!” Lincoln reached for his shirt to grab him, but the little guy was wily and quick for an old man.
What should he do now? Haul the man back into his truck? Lincoln should have never trusted a bareback rider. Those dudes were crazy. Destructive. If he followed Rusty now, Daisy would see Lincoln. He couldn’t afford her to make the connection. He’d just have to sit here, helpless, and hope he wasn’t about to watch Daisy’s life implode right before his eyes.
Because if that happened, he’d climb out of the truck and so help him, knock an old man into next week. But by then, the damage would have been done.
Lincoln watched as Rusty approached the auto shop and disappeared inside. His fists tightened around the steering wheel and he heard the sound of his heart thudding in his ears. A similar sensation happened every time he sat in the chute.
He’d taken a chance and this time it might blow up in his face. He wasn’t a fan of losing.
The need to hear the sound of his brother’s voice hit him with the force of a sledgehammer. And what else could he do now anyway, sitting in the cab of his truck, completely helpless? Fury ripped through him. He was sick of people who didn’t honor their word.
Like his mother.
As if leaving wasn’t enough damage, she’d phoned Rusty and planted a seed of doubt.
And speaking of damage, Lincoln had avoided something else for too long. He’d avoided Eve’s name with Jackson because every time he mentioned her in passing, something went cold and dark inside his brother. But Jackson would have to accept Eve would be a big part of Lincoln’s life, through Sadie. He wouldn’t like it, but Jackson would have to live with it.
Having been loyal to his brother for years, Lincoln would think of himself first for once. Because he would not give up Sadie, not even for his brother.
He’d keep this latest debacle with Daisy quiet. Lincoln usually kept uncomfortable situations from his brother. They all did. He lived in Nashville and toured all over the country. And sure, Lincoln felt protective of the little brother that hadn’t been abandoned once, but twice.
“Hey, brother,” Jackson said, the sound of sleep thick in his voice. “What’s up?”
“Lots,” Lincoln said. “Cause for an update.”
“Oh, yeah? Must mean huge things because you never have an update. One thing you can say about Stone Ridge is ‘same day, same shit.’”
Lincoln cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing. Turns out, I’m seeing Sadie.”
Dead silence on the other line of the phone. “Sadie? Sadie Stephens?”
“Yep.”
“What the hell! Is it serious?”
“I don’t know. Probably...yes.”
It had to be love when he couldn’t stop thinking about her. When he wanted to see her, and if more than a day passed, he wanted to jump out of his skin. She’d become his best friend in a short time, and he depended on her. Needed her.
More silence. “Shit, Lincoln. You couldn’t find anyone else? Why Sadie?”
Lincoln took a deep and measured breath and ran a hand through his hair. He loved his younger brother, but damn it, high time for him to grow up.
“Because it’s not all about you. Hell, I’m sorry Eve left you, and I was pissed for years about it. But you got married, you moved on, and she never has. You’re doin’ fine. Better than fine. And Eve…well, she’s okay.”
Yet another truth Lincoln would keep from Jackson. Lincoln didn’t know what happened to Eve, but he guessed something tragic. No one would tell him, and he wasn’t one to pry. She’d come home from grad school hearing impaired. She’d been in an accident and wound up in the hospital for weeks. Nearly lost her life. There was something a bit lost about her ever since, as she tried to adjust into life back home and find her footing again. Sadie was her only friend for a while, and then Mima forgave her, shocking their family.
“The Lord calls on us to forgive,” she’d said to Hank and Lincoln, after announcing that Eve would be their new horse groomer. “I’ve talked to Pastor June about this and I know I’m in the right.”
After that, she refused to hear another word about it. Conversation over. Hank, who’d never once sided against Eve, was relieved. Daisy didn’t seem to care too much one way or another. Only Lincoln didn’t appreciate the prospect of letting Eve back into their lives as if nothing ever happened. But damn, they lived in a small town, and he couldn’t stay mad at a woman for too long. Even if she’d crushed his brother’s heart.
More silence from Jackson and then he spoke slowly. “Do you love her?”
“Either that or I’m havin’ a heart attack every day.”
He snorted. “I never thought I’d see it happen.”
“You and me both.”
“But you sound kind of agitated about it,” Jackson mused.
He didn’t know the half of it. No one else had either come in or out of the auto shop while he waited. Lincoln wanted to kill Rusty with his bare hands.
He cleared his throat. So many half-truths. He’d never been comfortable with them.
“Well, I’m not used to it, I guess. I don’t know how to sound.”
“You could have any woman you wanted. Someone from another town. Wish you’d found anyone else.”
“I wish for a whole lot of things, brother, that I’m probably never goin’ to get.”
Were someone granting wishes, he’d want a normal family. One in which his mother hadn’t been a buckle bunny that abandoned her family. And also, that this old cowboy didn’t find Hank. Lastly, Lincoln wished he’d never offered to take care of this. Maybe ignoring the man would have been the better plan.
“A long time ago, someone told me you don’t get to choose who you fall for,” Lincoln said. “And I didn’t plan on this. On her. Just…she took me by surprise.”
“It�
�s a great song lyric.” Jackson groaned. “Guess I did say that.”
“God knows you wouldn’t have fallen for Eve because Hank loved her and would have chosen her for you if he could.” Lincoln chuckled.
“Hell no, that’s the reason I wanted to hate her.”
“Didn’t work out that way.”
“Guess not. At least not until later. And she earned that hate.”
“But Sadie didn’t.”
“Guess I don’t have a problem with Sadie. It’s her choice in best friends. That’s my problem.”
“Well, don’t make it mine.” At that moment, both Rusty and Daisy wandered out to the front of the shop. “Gotta go.”
The two of them were laughing, Daisy’s hands in the pockets of her work jumpsuit as she tossed her hair back. Then Rusty waved to her, and Daisy went back into the shop. It seemed that whatever he’d said to her, it hadn’t changed her life.
Rusty strolled back to the truck and climbed inside.
“What the hell was that, old man?” Lincoln wanted to push him out of the truck and let him find his own damn way home.
“Hot dang, that was somethin’ else,” Rusty said, unapologetically. “I haven’t felt that rush of adrenaline in years. Thought you’d come and drag me back to the truck. Expected any second to be lassoed, dragged away, and tied up like cattle.”
“You must like takin’ risks. I was maybe two seconds away from doing just that.”
“Hell, yeah, I miss it. Don’t you? The thrill of the rodeo? Wonderin’ whether you’re goin’ to live or die?”
Lincoln realized quite suddenly that he didn’t miss that feeling at all. He spoke between gritted teeth. “What did you say to my sister?”
“Nothin’. We talked pistons and engines, stuff I’m bettin’ you don’t know a lick about.”
“You talked to her about cars?” Lincoln narrowed his eyes.
Lucky Cowboy Page 23
