Single-Dad Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Although Claire protested mightily that she should get to stay up past her bedtime, the odds were against her, and Zeke was glad for that. She needed sleep.
Her grandparents were in favor of getting her tucked in by her usual bedtime of nine. CJ and Isabel were ready to take Cleo Marie home and they’d offered to run the folks back to their cabin on the way.
Claire came over to Zeke for one last try. “Daddy, if you said I could stay up, I’ll bet they’d let me. With all these people, we could catch a ride later. Grampa Bud’s waffling. Gramma Frannie’s the one you need to talk to.”
He crouched down so they were eyeball-to-eyeball. “Are you suggesting I veto my mother’s wise decision?”
“Um, not veto, exactly. Just try to talk her out of it.”
He smiled. “That didn’t work when I was your age and it wouldn’t work now. She’s as firm about bedtime as I am.”
“So that’s where you get it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She heaved a mighty sigh. “Then I’d better start hugging people.”
“You can begin with me.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Sliding her hands under his armpits, she reached as far as she could and squeezed him tight. “I love you.”
She said it all the time, but tonight it made him misty-eyed. His lack of sleep must be getting to him. When he hugged her, she felt taller, likely because she was. She’d grown an inch since they’d moved here, one of the reasons she had on a new pair of jeans. “I love you, too, sweetie.”
Letting go, she backed away, mischief in her eyes. “I have a lot of people to hug. That’ll take a long time, y’know.”
“Claire. People are waiting.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll make it snappy. Are you coming to get me at sunup?”
“I sure am, pardner.”
She grinned. “See ya then, pardner.” She hurried off to make her rounds.
After she finished her routine and left with his folks, Jake wandered over, a bottle of cider in each hand. He offered one and Zeke took it. “How’re you doing, little brother?”
“About like you, I expect.” He lifted the bottle. “Thanks. I’ve been going easy on this stuff tonight.”
“Me, too. But since they’re leaving, I wanted to toast their departure.” Jake stared in the direction of the parking lot as CJ’s truck rumbled to life. “Bud thinks he’s taken care of things. That this fixes it.”
“But not for either of our moms.”
“Nope.” Jake took a sip from his cider bottle. “It’s time to hold his feet to the fire.”
“Can we keep Claire out of it?”
Jake nodded. “I feel a Brotherhood meeting coming on. Tomorrow night would be good. Let’s say nine-thirty, around the fire pit. Your mom will have put Claire to bed by then. We invite your dad to the meeting as our special guest. I’ll pick him up.”
Zeke stared at him. “You’re not literally going to put his feet to the—”
“No, no.” His eyes glittered. “It’s a tempting fantasy, but I couldn’t do it. Even more important, Charley would never resort to something like that. He was the least violent man I’ve ever known.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“Not sure, yet. I need to talk it over with Matt and see if he’s on board for a meeting. If it’s a go, I’ll run my ideas by you if there’s any way we can talk in private. If not, just follow my lead at the meeting.”
“I’ll do my best to answer if you contact me tomorrow. Most of the day I’ll be with Claire and my folks.”
“Figured that.” His gaze was steady. “And I realize that having Claire stay with your mom gives you a chance to head out to Nell’s tomorrow night, but—”
“I’ll be at the meeting. Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good.” The light of battle had returned to his eyes. “This isn’t over.”
* * *
Zeke got a kick out of watching Nell and Val interact with the Babes. Something Josette said had them both doubled over with laughter. Then Pam executed a hip-swinging dance move, circling in place with her hand in the air. She pointed to Nell, who copied the maneuver perfectly. Val followed suit. Soon they were all doing it to whatever music was in their heads.
“I’m crazy about that woman, Zeke.”
He turned. Teague stood a few feet away, his attention focused on Val.
“Word has it that she’s into you, too.”
“Old news, buddy.” He came closer and lowered his voice. “We flamed out.”
“Seriously?”
Teague nodded, his jaw tight. “According to her, we’re finished.”
“What happened?”
“Premature proposal.”
“Really?” Zeke’s jaw dropped. “You asked her after a week? What’s wrong with you?”
He shrugged. “She’s the one. I knew it the day we met. But she says that’s impossible.”
“I happen to agree with her. That’s not a rational move, my friend. Tell me you’re not on something.”
“I’m high on her, is all. I thought it was mutual. I just knew she’d say yes. Instead she broke up with me.”
“Think you two can come back from that?”
“Don’t know. Time will tell.”
“I wish you luck.”
“Thanks. I’ll need it. I’m guessing Nell won’t be riding home with us tonight?”
“No. I’m taking her home.” The words brought a rush of heat. “Think I’ll go see if she’s ready to leave.”
“I’m happy for you, Zeke.”
“I appreciate that.” He gave Teague’s shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe you can smooth it over.”
“We’ll see.” He glanced at the group of women. “At least she still likes Ed.”
“It’s a start.” Pouring the rest of his cider into the grass, he put the bottle in a recycling bin before heading toward Nell.
She spotted him coming and said something to the others before walking in his direction. “Is it time?”
“Up to you. I don’t want to pull you away if—”
“We can go. I’ll grab my purse.” She made a detour and fetched if from the pile on one of Henri’s garden benches.
Was she tired? That could explain the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. Except a few minutes ago she’d been laughing and dancing around with the Babes.
“Is anything wrong?” He took her hand as they walked to his truck.
“I have something I need to ask you about, but it can wait until we get going.”
“Okay.” The way she said that set off alarm bells. “Does it have to do with Val and Teague? He told me there was a problem.” Please let it be about Val and Teague.
“There is a problem, but that isn’t what I want to talk about.”
Hey, it could be anything.Maybe she’d like to discuss his folks now that she’d met them. She’d want to keep that conversation private. Yeah, it was probably about his folks.
He could tell her that Jake was working on an intervention. The Brotherhood meeting would cut down on how much time they’d have tomorrow night, but she’d be fine sacrificing a couple of hours to such an important cause.
Anyway, they’d have Sunday night, more than they’d ever been allowed. Maybe they’d cook dinner together. Or he could take her to the Moose, just the two of them.
When they reached the passenger side of his truck, he paused. “Before we get in, look up.”
She tilted her head back. “Wow. You weren’t kidding. I can see twice as many out here. Maybe three times as many. What an awe-inspiring view.”
“I’m glad I remembered. Sometimes I take the stars for granted, but I try not to.” He opened the door and helped her in. “I think I know what you want to talk about.”
“You do?”
“My folks, mostly my dad. Don’t worry. Jake has a plan. I’ll tell you about it on the way back to town.” He shut the door, rounded the front of the truck and climbed behind the wheel. “Jake’s checking with Matt to see if we can have a Brotherhood meeting around the fire pit tomorrow night about nine-thirty. And invite Bud. Claire should already be asleep when Jake picks him up at the cottage.” He started the truck, backed out of his spot and headed down the sloping driveway.
“Sounds interesting.”
“Oh, it will be. I have to be there, so I’ll be late coming over to see you, but I figure you won’t mind, under the circumstances.”
“Not a problem.”
“If you were worried about whether he’ll continue to get away with victimizing both our moms, he won’t. We’ll find a way to set things right. And we’ll keep Claire out of it. That’s important.”
“Definitely.” She drew in a breath. “But that isn’t what I want to discuss.”
“All right.” He glanced over at her. She was staring straight ahead, her hands clenched in her lap. Anxiety gripped him, stealing his breath. “What, then?”
“Henri mentioned something tonight and it got me to thinking about our situation.”
He tightened his hold on the wheel. “What did she say?”
She looked at him. “Why didn’t you tell me she’d be willing to rent me one of the Buckskin cabins?”
He swallowed. “Because you love being close to the school.”
“I would love being close to you and Claire, too.”
“I see.” Cold sweat trickled down his spine. “You’d have a long commute five days a week. Don’t you think you’d get sick of that?”
“Not if it means I’d get to live on the ranch, which is beautiful, and look at the stars every night. And be with you and Claire more often.” An undercurrent of tension colored her words.
He heaved a sigh. “I didn’t tell you—or Claire—about Henri’s offer because I’m not willing to risk what Claire and I have for something that might not work out. If it didn’t, there would be no going back. That failure would seep into the fabric of our lives at the Buckskin. Things would never be the same.”
“Nothing ever stays the same, Zeke.”
“You’re right. But for now, when it comes to Claire and me, things are at least stable. I want to maintain that.”
“I thought I could, too. Until now. I was grateful for the time we had. There were no good alternatives, so I accepted the limitations.” Tension had become anger. Her voice vibrated with it. “But Henri’s invited me to come and stay, which means we could see each other more—”
“Only if Claire and I move into the guest cabin with you.”
“Not true. We could have meals together, go riding together, hang out at the barn together.”
“But ultimately you’d want Claire to give up her bunkhouse.”
“Is that such a big deal?”
His jaw tightened. “You know it is. You saw how proud she was to show it—”
“But she’s campaigning to get us together! Do you really think the bunkhouse matters?”
“Yes, damn it. She hasn’t connected the dots.”
“Then connect them for her! See what she says.”
“I’m not doing that. She’s only eight. She has some movie version of what it would be like if you were part of our lives. She has no idea what kind of issues we—”
“What issues?”
“I don’t know, but there are always issues.”
“Of course! And you work through them.”
“Or they tear you apart and everything’s ruined!”
“You can’t know that in advance. If you…” She gulped. “If you care about someone—”
“You look before you leap.”
“Or you take a leap of faith.”
He dragged in a breath that hurt going in and even more going out. “Nell, you’re asking more than I’m ready to give.”
She was silent for several seconds. “And you’re asking more than I’m willing to give.”
The pain slicing through his chest made him gasp. He covered it with a cough. “So that’s it?”
“I think it is, Zeke.”
He gripped the wheel to keep his hands from shaking. “What do you want to do?”
“Drop me at Val’s.”
“Then what? Do we continue the riding lessons with the girls?”
“Oh, crap.”
“Don’t pull out of that.” If it sounded like he was begging, he was. “Please.”
“I wouldn’t. I can’t. It’s not fair to them.”
A life raft. A flimsy one, but something to hold on to. “Look, this is Claire’s special weekend. What if we keep this discussion between us? Nobody has to know, yet, especially her.”
“I can do that. Except for Val. I’ll be talking to her. But she’ll keep quiet.”
“You’ll have to direct me to her house. I’ve never been there.”
She gave him directions. When he pulled up, Val and Teague were on the porch having a heated discussion involving lots of arm waving. Ed was sitting sideways in the back seat with the door open so the dome light was on. She was eating something as she watched the drama on the porch.
Zeke cruised by and glanced at her. “Still want me to drop you here?”
“Why not? I’ll go sit in Ed’s truck and talk to her until it’s over. It’s not like this night could get any worse.”
“That’s for damned sure.”
