Cowboy Daddy Read Free Page A

until the afternoon sun hit her full in the face. He knew the light at his back would keep his expression in shadow. That’s what he wanted. For Laurel’s sake he had to know everything Anne Baker thought, dreamed or lied about.
    “I told you my wife passed away two years ago,” he said abruptly.
    Anne watched him warily but didn’t speak.
    “Laurel took her death pretty hard. They’d always been close. She started running with a bad crowd.”
    The corner of Anne’s mouth twitched slightly, as if a spasm of pain had caught her off guard. This was hard for her, he realized, then squashed any thought of compassion.
    He folded his arms over his chest and continued. “We moved recently. It seemed the best solution for both of us. Laurel hasn’t adjusted to our new home yet. She misses her friends. I’m sure that’s why in the past couple of months she’s started talking about her birth mother. She wants to meet you.”
    “As easy as that?” She rose to her feet and approached him. “Why don’t I believe you? It’s been thirteen years. Tracking me down is obviously the last thing you wanted to do. Why did you agree to this?”
    She was close enough that he could feel the heat of her body He told himself to ignore it, but he couldn’t. Something flickered in her pale blue eyes. It took him a minute to identify the emotion, then he realized why. He’d never seen an open wound before—nothing as raw and exposed as the haunted emptiness that flashed through her eyes. She looked away quickly, then back, and by then, the feelings had been shuttered. But he’d seen them. It was her pain that allowed him to speak the truth.
    “I didn’t handle Ellen’s death any better than Laurel did,” he said. “Her grandfather, Ellen’s father, also fell apart.” He thought about his last conversation, then forced the older man’s harsh words from his mind. “We’ve all spent the past two years missing her. I thought moving would make it better for Laurel and me. Get her away from those kids and bring the two of us closer together.
    “But it hasn’t?” she asked.
    “No. If anything, it’s worse. She didn’t want to move and now she hates the new place. About two months ago there was some program on TV about adopted kids finding their birth mothers.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked over to the bookcase.
    “She knew then?”
    “Yeah. We talked about it from the beginning. She probably doesn’t remember not knowing. Anyway, after this show, she started mentioning that she wanted to find her—you.” He studied the titles of the books, seeing the words, but not really reading them or understanding what they said. Just thinking about Laurel made the knot in his gut double in size. She was his baby—he couldn’t lose her. But she was slipping away before his eyes. Day by day she pulled back until he worried he wouldn’t be able to reach her ever again.
    “She seems a little young to make that kind of decision,” Anne said, from somewhere behind him.
    He didn’t bother to turn around. He didn’t want to see the look on her face. Compassion would be more than he could handle, and triumph, well, he didn’t want to distrust her any more than he did.
    “She ran away.”
    Silence.
    “She was gone overnight. Hid out in a neighbor’s barn. When we found her, she was fine, but it made me realize she wasn’t kidding. That’s when I called the attorney.” He fingered the thick volumes. Something about zoning laws, he noticed. “Just meet with her one time. That’s all she wants. Then we’ll be out of your way. “
    I’ll do anything I can to help.”
    “How about dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.
    “W-where—” she had to clear her throat”—where would you like to meet?”
    Not the hotel, he thought, knowing he was being a jerk but not able to help feeling he had to protect his own turf.
    “How about my place?” she asked.
    Why not? he thought. At least he would be able to see