Single-Dad Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Chapter Seventeen
“You look great in that black shirt, Dad. Are you excited about your date?”
“Sure am.” It took all he had to make that response sound casual. He put the truck in gear and pulled away from the bunkhouse. “Are you excited to be spending the night at Gramma Henri’s?”
“I can’t wait! We’re going to have so much fun. Those trains in the basement are awesome, Dad. I can’t believe you and my uncles haven’t been down there yet. Georgie loves them, too.”
“We keep talking about it. To tell the truth, I think some of your uncles are afraid they’ll get emotional.”
“That’s what Gramma Henri said. She was at first, but she got over it. She said Charley would want someone to enjoy them.”
“I’ll bring it up with Jake. He’ll give me the straight scoop.” He loved being able to count on that.
“I have my fingers crossed for Uncle Teague and Miss Jenson. I hope they have a good time.”
“They probably will.” He had to admit Val and Teague had gravitated to each other from the get-go. Val had already planned to go to the Moose with the Buckskin gang. Teague’s offer to pick her up on his way into town made perfect sense. But none of that would have happened without Claire.
“I had a feeling they’d like each other. Wish I could be there to see how it goes. I don’t suppose you would—”
“Spy on them?”
“Not spy, exactly. I’d just like to know—”
“Sorry, sweetie. I won’t give you a report on their date.” Or mine.
“I knew you’d say that.” She sighed. “I get it. Whatever happens is their private business.”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask you to report on your date with Miss O’Connor, either.”
“Good.”
“I don’t need a report, anyway. I know you’ll both have an amazing time. I—oh, look! There’s Uncle Garrett and Aunt Anna with Georgie. We arrived when they did. Hey, they could leave their truck here and ride into town with you!”
“Well, actually—”
“No, you’re right. Bad idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
His breath caught. Was she aware he’d be spending the night at Nell’s? If she was, that made him a little uncomfortable. She was eight, so she probably had some knowledge about what went on between couples.
But he hadn’t ever discussed the birds and the bees with her. He’d figured on waiting until she was… nine? Hell, he had no idea when it would be appropriate. He needed some advice on that before long. In fact, he should—
“You can’t all ride in your truck, Dad. Your backseat’s way too small.”
“You’re so right, sweetie.” He shut off the engine and breathed a sigh of relief. The talk could wait a while longer.
No sooner was Claire out of the truck, her overnight bag in her hand, than she was assaulted by Georgie. He grabbed her free hand and tugged her toward the porch steps. “Sissy! Come on! We play trains!”
Anna laughed and glanced over at Zeke. “You’d think they hadn’t seen each other in months.”
“To Georgie, last Sunday probably feels like months.” Zeke lowered his voice as he drew closer to Garrett. “Appreciate you taking Claire for the day on Sunday. I was…” He trailed off and managed a sheepish grin. “Not quite with the program.”
“Glad to do it.” Garrett squeezed his shoulder. “She’s a big help to us.”
“That’s for sure,” Anna said. “I love having her around and Georgie really loves it.”
“Claire does, too. She talks about him all the time. He’s the little brother she always wanted.”
“I see that.” Garrett smiled as he watched Claire slowly climb the steps so Georgie could keep up with her. “We’d offer to repeat the situation tomorrow, but I’m escorting a large group on a trail ride and Anna’s taking Georgie to day care. Jake desperately needs her at Raptors Rise. They’re crazy busy.”
“That’s good to hear, and I would never assume you’d cover for me every weekend. I’ll be in better shape tomorrow. I’ll make sure of it. Clare’s supposed to be shadowing me this summer, so I’ll be introducing her to the joys of digging post holes.”
“Funny thing is, for her it will be a joy. I’ve never seen a kid so excited about ranch chores as that girl.”
Zeke nodded. “This is her happy place, all right.” He glanced at his phone. “I need to get going, but first I’m going to pop in and tell Claire goodbye.”
“We’re right behind you. I’m not sure Georgie cares whether we say goodbye. He’s usually too involved in whatever he and Claire are doing. The goodbye part is more for Anna and me.”
“Right. We want them to be self-sufficient, but…”
“We still hope they need us,” Anna said. “At least a little bit.”
Henri had the kids in the living room taking pictures of them in the engineer’s hats she’d bought them.
“Oh, my goodness!” Anna grabbed her phone and hurried to do the same. “Henri, you realize you’re spoiling these children.”
“That’s a gramma’s privilege.” She picked up a baby version of the hat. “This one’s for Cleo Marie. She won’t be here for another fifteen minutes or so. When I get one of all three of them, I’ll send them to you.”
“Great.”
The goodbye scene was short and sweet, because Claire and Georgie were impatient to head for the basement. Zeke thanked Henri for the hat and her willingness to keep his daughter overnight.
“I have more fun than they do,” Henri said with a smile.
“I just want you to know how much I appreciate—”
“I know you do, Zeke. You’re a good man and a wonderful dad. Now go have a great time with Nell. You deserve some fun, too.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” He put on his hat, touched two fingers to the brim, and left. He was running a few minutes behind, so he swung into the driver’s seat and sent a short text to Nell. Leaving Henri’s now. Be there as soon as I can.
Her reply came zipping back. I’ll be waiting. Don’t speed.
He’d planned to do exactly that and keep an eye out for cops. Okay, I won’t. So now he couldn’t. And the limit was fifty-five.
He kept the needle on the double nickel and tapped the steering wheel, his nerves screaming at him to push the pedal to the metal. Other vehicles passed him, which was humiliating but bearable because he didn’t know them. Then CJ swerved around him while honking and waving out the window. Cheeky bastard. To be fair, though, hardly anyone did fifty-five on this road, especially when it was still light out.
After an eternity, he arrived at her bungalow as sunset bathed the house in golden light. Parking quickly, he jumped out and hurried up the walk, the blood pumping through his veins as he took the porch steps two at a time.
She pushed open the screen door. “Hi. I’m glad you wore that black shirt.”
“You said you liked it.” He stepped inside and reached for her. Then he paused and gazed at her carefully applied makeup. It was much more elaborate than she’d worn last week and included sparkles on her eyelids and something that made her red lips gleam like satin. “If I do what I intended to do, I’ll mess you up.”
“I could repair it.”
“No, that wouldn’t be right. You look beautiful, Nell. Not more beautiful than you are without it, but I’ll bet you had fun putting it on.”
“I did. The fancy stuff matches my mood. Tonight, I’m not Miss O’Connor, circumspect grade-school teacher.”
“Oh?” He smiled. “Who might you be, then?”
She stroked a hand up his chest. “I’m Eleanor, sex goddess, worshipped by handsome cowboys like yourself.”
He swallowed. “You’ve got that right. And if we don’t head out to my truck immediately, I’ll start worshipping ASAP.”
“Then let’s go.” She grabbed the same small purse she’d had a week ago, picked up her keys lying next to it, and started out the door. “We promised each other we’d go to the Moose tonight and hang out with the Buckskin gang.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He followed her out and waited while she locked the door. “But I didn’t know I’d be dealing with Eleanor, sex goddess.”
She laughed. “Neither did I, but I went shopping today and bought a few things.”
“Like that outfit?” He’d been so focused on not kissing her that he hadn’t paid attention to what she had on. He stepped back to admire the combo of a low-cut white knit tank top and a swirly white skirt, both decorated with silver beads. “I like it.”
“It kinda goes with your black shirt. A yin/yang thing.”
“That round symbol with the black and white parts curved against each other?”
“Yes, that.”
“That always seemed sexual to me.”
“It is, in a way.” She tucked her keys in her purse and started across the porch. “I bought party boots, too.”
“Sexy.” The short white boots also had silver bling. The memory of stroking her shapely calves made his fingers curl.
“The party boots suit Eleanor. Everything does, including my undies.”
He sucked in a breath. “You really shouldn’t have told me that.”
“Oh, but I had to. That’s how a sex goddess operates. She teases you with the possibilities and then makes you wait for it until you’re crazy with lust.”
“What if the crazy-with-lust part has already happened?”
She glanced over her shoulder and flashed him a grin. “Then you’re in for a challenging evening.”
He groaned.
“Don’t feel too bad. It’ll be challenging for me, too. My lacy white panties are already damp.”
Her shenanigans might be the death of him, but he’d die a happy man.
