The Cowboy Next Door Read Free

fourteen anymore.”
    â€œNo, you’re not fourteen, but this is my house and my life that you’ve invaded.”
    Lacey closed her eyes and tucked the head of the baby against her chin, soft and safe. Be fair, she told herself. “I’m sorry, Corry, I know you need a place for the baby.”
    â€œI need a place for myself, too.”
    â€œI know that, and I’m willing to help. But I have to know that you’re going to stay clean. You can’t play your games in Gibson.”
    Corry turned, her elfin chin tilted and her eyes flashing anger. “You think you’re so good, don’t you, Lacey? You came to a small town where you pretend to be someone you’re not, and suddenly you’re too good for your family. You’re afraid that I’m going to embarrass you.”
    â€œI’m not too good for my family. And it isn’t about being embarrassed.” It was about protecting herself, and the people she cared about.
    It was about not being hurt or used again. And it was about keeping her life in order. She had left chaos behind when she left St. Louis.
    â€œYou haven’t been home in three years.” Corry shot the accusation at her, eyes narrowed.
    No, Lacey hadn’t been home. That accusation didn’t hurt as much as the one about her pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
    Maybe because she hoped if she pretended long enough, she would actually become the person she’d always believed she could be. She wouldn’t be the girl in the back of a patrol car, lights flashing and life crumbling. She wouldn’t be the young woman at the back of a large church, wondering why she couldn’t be loved without it hurting.
    She wouldn’t be invisible.
    Lacey shifted the fussing baby to one side and grabbed the backpack and searched for something to feed an infant. She found one bottle and a half-empty can of powdered formula.
    â€œFeed your daughter, Corry.”
    â€œAdmit you’re no better than me.” Corry took the bottle and the formula, but she didn’t turn away.
    â€œI’m not better than you.” Lacey swayed with the baby held against her. She wasn’t better than Corry, because just a few short years ago, she had been Corry.
    But for the grace of God…
    Her life had changed. She walked to the window and looked out at the quiet street lined with older homes centered on big, tree-shaded lawns. A quiet street with little traffic and neighbors that cared.
    â€œHere’s her bottle.” Corry shoved the bottle at Lacey. “And since the bed is already out, I’m taking a nap.”
    Lacey nodded, and then she realized what had just happened. Corry was already working her. Lacey slid the bottle into the mouth of the hungry infant and moved between her sister and the bed.
    â€œNo, you’re not going to sleep. That’s rule number one if you’re going to stay. You’re not going to sleep while I work, take care of the baby and feed you. I have to move to make this possible, so you’re going to have to help me out a little. I’ll have to find a place, and then we’ll have to pack.”
    Corry was already shaking her head. “I didn’t say you have to move, so I’m not packing a thing.”
    Twenty-some years of battling and losing.
    â€œYou’re going to feed Rachel.” Lacey held the baby out to her reluctant sister.
    Corry took the baby, but her gaze shifted to the bed, the blankets pulled up to cover the pillows. For a moment Lacey almost caved. She nearly told her sister she could sleep, because she could see in Corry’s eyes that she probably hadn’t slept in a long time.
    â€œFine.” Corry sat down in the overstuffed chair that Jolynn had given Lacey when she’d moved into the carriage-house apartment behind the main house.
    â€œI need to run down to the grocery store.” Lacey grabbed her purse. “When I get back, I’ll cook