The Cowboy's Little Surprise (14 page)

“We could have used you even more an hour ago.”

“Why? Something wrong?”

“Scott had a meltdown when Pete told him he couldn’t help build the fire.”

He winced. “Sorry to let you in for that. I guess I shouldn’t have taken Andi up on the offer and left him here all day. But I’ve got to be honest and say I’ve only seen him have one short spat with Rachel. I’ve never witnessed a full-blown tantrum and probably wouldn’t have been much help, anyway.”

Still, he couldn’t help feeling good that Tina thought he could’ve handled Scott. Maybe that proved he
had
made some progress in the time he’d been back in Cowboy Creek.

She shrugged. “He calmed down when I told him he could be in charge of giving everyone their bottles of pop.”

“Plastic bottles.” He nodded. “Good thinking. When it comes to the kids, you beat me hands down.”

Her cheeks turned a dusky pink.

He reached up and tapped her chin lightly just below those soft, pink lips he wanted to taste again. But not here in the afternoon sunshine on the Hitching Post’s back porch. Not where someone could come along any moment and see them. Or worse, to interrupt.

“I’d like to think that blush comes from standing so close to me,” he said. “But I’ve got a hunch the compliment’s having more of an effect.”

Now her entire face flamed.

He transferred one of the sacks to his free hand for safety’s sake. His own safety. That platter she held sure didn’t create enough space between them. Having his hands full just might keep him from reaching out to her again.

“No need to feel embarrassed,” he said. “I’m only stating the truth.”

“You don’t need to compliment me for it. I’m just doing the best I can, like everyone else does.”

“Not everyone,” he said grimly. “Some folks haven’t got what it takes to be a parent.” He tried to push away the memory of his father’s face. “But you’re a heck of a mom. And you’ve done a great job with Robbie.”

She pressed her lips together, forcing their softness into a firm line. The sight piled yet more guilt onto him, a weight he couldn’t shift the way he could the sacks in his hands.

She shrugged. “I’ve had help.”

“But not from me,” he said shortly.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I see it in your face.”

“You’re so sure you know everything that crosses my mind, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. You’re easy to read. You always have been.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “Or maybe I’ve always let you read only what I want you to know.” Brushing past him, she went down the stairs.

Yeah. And maybe you’ve always told me only what you want me to know.

Lies of omission are still lies.

Either of those thoughts were enough to make him keep his distance. Yet he was finding it more and more difficult to stay away.

Chapter Fourteen

Her seat in the shadows on the far side of the fire ring, away from the crowd, allowed Tina a full view of the entire campsite. Automatically, she scanned the area for anything that might spoil the evening for their guests. Technically, Pete and the cowhands oversaw all the dude ranch activities. But even as a child, she had considered herself their backup. Part of the team.

Her scan complete, she looked across the fire ring at her son.

Robbie sat beside Cole, who at this very moment was breaking her heart. When he had claimed some people didn’t know what it took to be a parent, she knew he had meant himself. And yet he had spent most of this evening with Robbie and Scott, doing exactly what a parent did best.

Days ago, she had noticed how Scott had taken to her son. Now Robbie seemed to have done the same with Cole. He had shadowed him all evening, dogging his heels and doing everything Cole did.

Cole had chosen Robbie as his teammate for a game of horseshoes. The last horseshoe clanged, hitting its mark. Cole high-fived Robbie. They had won.

She couldn’t keep from cheering along with the rest of the crowd.

Cole smiled at her across the open space between them, and her heart gave a tiny leap, just the way it had every time he had looked her way in school.

“Got any room left on that log?”

Startled, Tina turned to see Jane standing beside her. She scooted sideways. “Have a seat.”

Jane sank gracefully onto the log. She wore jeans and a T-shirt in her usual black. Though Tina found the color even blander than her own neutral choices, she had to admit black suited the other woman, making her look taller and slimmer and more sophisticated than ever.

“Not a bad view from here.” Jane looked across the fire ring. At Cole.

“There are some extra seats over there.”

“Hey,” Jane said. “Showing your claws, aren’t you, cuz?”

To her dismay, her cheeks burned just as they had when she’d stood on the porch with Cole, only not for the same reason. Jane hadn’t given her a compliment. Still, her tone hadn’t sounded malicious, and she sat smiling.

“Sorry,” Tina said. “I didn’t mean that the way it must have sounded. I just thought you might like getting closer and need a push.”

“Closer to Cole? I don’t think so. He’s all yours.”

“No, he’s not.”

“You could have fooled me.”

She stiffened. Abuela had admitted knowing all along about her schoolgirl crush on Cole. Andi had said something similar. A week ago, she wouldn’t have followed up on Jane’s comment. “What do you mean?”

“You watch him... He watches you... That’s what I mean.”

“We’re just keeping an eye on the kids.”

“Yeah, right.” Jane laughed softly, her teeth flashing. Everything about her gleamed in the firelight—her eyes, her dark, shoulder-length hair, the silver jewelry she favored. She shook her head and tapped the camera hanging by its strap from her neck. “You’ll be surprised when I show you a couple of the shots of you and Cole together.”

“You might as well delete them.”

“And you might regret that.”

What did it matter? She had plenty of regrets. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at the flames.

“You don’t want the photos now,” Jane added softly, “but you might want them in the future. For Robbie.”

Tina froze. “How—?”

“How do I know? I notice similarities.”

“And when did you notice these?”

“As soon as I got here.”

Now she turned to meet Jane’s eyes. “Who else knows?”

“No one. Not from me, anyhow. And Andi hasn’t said anything. I doubt she picked up on it.” She glanced quickly across the fire ring and back at Tina. “Except for their eyes, the likeness isn’t that obvious. It’s just apparent to me because I spend a lot of my time behind the camera, watching faces.”

For a moment, Jane looked as upset as she felt.

“I’d appreciate it,” Tina said, “if you’d keep this conversation to yourself.”

“Don’t worry. I intend to.” Suddenly, she smiled. “But the night’s still young. You might feel differently about that even before I board the plane back to New York tomorrow.”

Tina hesitated, on the verge of telling Jane that since Cole had returned, she didn’t seem able to understand her feelings at all.

Before she could say anything, Jane rose. “I think I’ll go make another one of those s’mores.”

After she walked away, Tina stole a glance across the fire ring.

Cole had kicked back with a beer, and the boys had done the same with bottles of pop. Cole guzzled his last few mouthfuls and then pretended to make a basket as he dropped the empty bottle in the tall metal bin. He lifted first Robbie, then Scott so they could make their shots too.

Years ago, she’d had so many good reasons for not telling him about her pregnancy. He had dumped her. He was nothing but a playboy. He had left Cowboy Creek and his sister and everyone else behind him and never come back. She had struggled to hang on to all those reasons by reinforcing them with the most important fact of all. The reason she couldn’t share her secret.

Cole could never be a good daddy to her son.

But now he had returned and she had seen him with Robbie and Rachel and the boys, she realized she had been deceiving herself.

Yes, he sometimes was apprehensive around the kids. But he was also always patient and attentive and kind.

She thought of what he had said about getting left at the altar, about not wanting to get married, not wanting a family of his own.

Maybe he had been deceiving himself, too.

* * *

L
ATER
IN
THE
EVENING
, one of the cowhands brought out a guitar. The guests clustered around, eager to join in a singalong.

Cole had been vigilant about watching the boys while they roasted their franks over the campfire. He didn’t feel paranoid about it, but neither did he want to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t kept his eyes open. One moment of inattention... One distraction that lasted too long...

Taking care of kids was a full-time job. Being a responsible parent meant working 24/7. Any fool could see that.

Being the best daddy a man could be...

He had no frame of reference for that one. But the more time he spent with Robbie, the more it worried him.

Robbie sat rubbing his cheeks.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Huh-uh. But that smoke keeps getting in my eyes.”

“All right, then. Let’s head this way. I think it’s time for dessert now, anyway.” Cole led the boys upwind and watched them run to join Andi and Jane near the picnic table still laden with food.

Their relocation brought them within a few yards of Tina, who had been sitting on the fringes of the action for most of the evening. He sauntered across the clearing and took a seat on the log beside her. “Just thought I’d mosey on over and stake a claim before this spot gets taken.”

She smiled and slipped her braid behind her shoulder. “You noticed Jane sitting here earlier.”

“No. I noticed you.”

She shifted as if she felt uncomfortable. When her hip bumped against his, he damned sure felt something, too, but uncomfortable wasn’t it. “Same old Tina, always shying away when someone tries to give you a compliment.”

“I’d say calling someone ‘same’ and ‘old’ cancels out the compliment.”

He laughed. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“People don’t always say what they mean. And sometimes they don’t mean what they
do
say.”

“That’s a little deep for me. Maybe it’s the couple of beers I had after the horseshoes.”

“I don’t think so. You’re smarter than you let on. I should know.”

He laughed again, more softly. “Yeah. Which reminds me, I never did thank you for English and biology. I won’t say I’d have flunked those classes in senior year, but you sure helped keep my grade point average from crashing.”

“You’re welcome. And I never thanked you for...”

“For what?”

She took a deep breath and let it out again. “This wouldn’t be the place to discuss it.”

The place and the time might never be right for some conversations.

He thought about what she had said to him earlier.

Maybe I’ve always let you read only what I want you to know.

He didn’t like the statement then and he liked it even less now. He also didn’t like her blank expression or the feeling of her shutting him out.

“Speaking of high school...” He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and said sheepishly, “I probably acted like an ass a lot back then.”

“‘Probably acted like?’ Mr. Franklin would have given you a solid D for a sentence like that one.”

He shot a glance at her. Quiet little Tina didn’t look at him, but he saw the tiny smile curving the corners of her full lips. “All right, then. I behaved like an utter jackass. Is that better?”

“It’s a start.”

“Anything else I need to brush up on besides grammar?”

She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at the fire. “You could practice your storytelling skills,” she said finally. “You could tell me why you left Cowboy Creek.”

Now he took a turn staring off somewhere else.

Near the picnic table, Jane and the boys were skewering marshmallows. The fire still crackled. The singalong had mellowed to a ballad. One of the couples staying at the hotel waved as they walked past. He nodded back, then linked his fingers together and stared down at them.

He could never give Tina what she wanted, could never offer her a future together. But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t make up for the past. Or try to. He owed her an apology just as much as he owed his debt to Jed.

“This is going to take some time,” he said. “To give you an explanation, I have to go back to a while before I left town.”

“I think we’ve got the time.”

She glanced over at the boys and evidently considered them in good hands, because she settled herself more comfortably on the log beside him. Again, her hip brushed his, and again, he felt a lot of things...

No, he’d go for an A grade on this one.

He felt a spark as hot as the blazing fire and a damned foolish desire to tell Tina anything she wanted to know.

* * *

“W
ANT
ANOTHER
HEADER
on that?”

Cole placed his hand over his coffee mug and shook his head. He and Jed were alone in the hotel kitchen. “No, I think I’ve had enough. As it is, I’ll be up half the night.”

Up and stimulated from caffeine and restless energy and thoughts of bumping hips with Tina.

He hadn’t told his story, after all. Robbie and Scott had come over, wanting to go back home. While she and the other women had brought the kids back here to the hotel, he and Jed had stayed to help the cowhands douse the fire and clean up the campsite. Then they’d taken a slow ride home in one of the ranch’s SUVs.

“You won’t be the only one awake,” Jed said.

“You, too, huh?”

He laughed. “No, I sleep like a log.”

The word
log
made him think again of sitting beside Tina. He shifted in his seat.

Jed turned off the teakettle on the back burner and poured water into a mug beside the stove.

Cole frowned. “You mean the boys are still up?” That morning, Layne had given the okay for Scott to stay overnight. The three boys, armed with Robbie’s sleeping bag and some extra blankets, had taken over Andi’s hotel room floor.

“The kids are okay. I checked in with Andi when we got back. I meant Tina.”

He recalled what she had told him about having her room in the family wing off the kitchen. His ears had been half tuned for her footsteps since they’d returned to the hotel, but he hadn’t heard a thing. “I thought she and Paz had gone to bed already.”

“Paz, yeah, she’s not much of a night owl. Not like Tina. The light was on in the attic when we drove in, and she hasn’t passed by here. That means she’s in her room up there, probably with her nose in a book.”

“She’s still a big reader?”

“When she has some spare time to sit in one place. We keep her moving around here. I don’t know what I’d do without that girl.”

“Yeah. This project for the hotel has her hopping, doesn’t it?”

Jed nodded. “Sure does.” He began puttering around the kitchen.

Cole took another mouthful of coffee. It was too soon to say anything to Jed about his plan to offer financial assistance for the renovation, but he ought to have the deal firmed up soon.

He hadn’t had the opportunity to mention it to Tina.

He had more important things to talk to her about.

“Well, I think I’m turning in,” Jed said. “Want to do an old man a favor and save him another trip upstairs?”

“Sure. I’m headed up there, anyway. Do you want me to look in on the kids?”

“Nah, they’ll be fine. Andi knows where to find us if she needs us.” He held up the insulated mug, now covered with a lid. “I usually run this up to Tina when I know she’s going to be reading late. But I’ll tell you, I don’t think my legs can make it. Playing horseshoes tonight wore me out. You could drop this off with her.”

Cole hesitated, then shrugged. “Sure.” He got up to rinse his coffee mug and leave it in the sink.

Jed turned off the light, and they parted ways in the hallway. The old man shambled toward the family wing.

Cole watched him go. Jed had been doing a masterful job of pushing Tina at him.

How would she feel about Jed trying to get them together, if she knew about it? Would she go for the idea?

More likely, it would have been another item on her list of worries. Though the thought bothered him, it might also explain why he had been dragging his heels about conversations they should be having. He didn’t want to add to her stress.

He wished he hadn’t been a jackass in high school.

And for the first time in his life, he wondered whether he should have stayed in Cowboy Creek all along.