Mary Leo - A Cowboy In Her Arms

He knew Callaghan well enough to see that hidden under all her bravado, she was still hurting. He didn’t know quite how to tell her what had happened to Sarah, how to break it to her gently. He decided instead to simply come out and say it.

“Callie, Sarah died six months ago in a small plane accident. I thought you knew. I’m so sorry.”

* * *

IT FELT AS if someone had punched Callie in the stomach and forced out all the air in her lungs. She took in a deep, ragged breath. Her eyes instantly reflected her emotion. She tried to control the tears, but it seemed impossible to do.

“I had no idea, Joel. I’m so sorry. What happened?”

As Joel sucked in a breath to answer her question, a blond-haired little girl, with those same sky blue eyes that Joel had, with traces of pink cotton candy on her cheeks, appeared behind him, running full out.

“Daddy! Daddy! Did you see the fireworks? Weren’t they beautiful, Daddy? Which ones did you like best? I liked the great big red ones that burst into spinning stars. Those were my favorite. You should’ve come back, Daddy. We waited for you, but you didn’t come back like you promised.”

Joel ignored all her questions and instead swooped the child up in his arms and settled her on his hip.

“I’m sorry, kitten, but I’d like you to meet someone I knew a long time ago.”

The child wrapped her arms around her dad’s neck and nestled her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want to meet anybody, Daddy. I just want to go home with you and Auntie Polly.”

Callie suddenly felt awkward and out of place. Obviously, she was the intruder in this child’s world.

“That’s not very nice, Emma,” Joel whispered to his daughter. “I taught you better than that. Where are your manners?”

“I’m tired, Daddy. I want to go home.” She balled up her hands and rubbed her tearful eyes. Callie couldn’t tell if her fatigue was genuine or if she was trying to manipulate her dad. Either way, Callie wanted the awkward meeting to end.

“It’s okay,” Callie told him, not wanting to intrude on Joel and his child.

“I apologize,” Joel told Callie. “She’s usually not like this.”

“I’m sure it’s been a long day for her...for me, too. I’ll be heading home soon, as well.”

“See, Daddy, even the lady wants to go home.”

“Okay, baby,” Joel said as he rubbed Emma’s back. “But first could you at least say hello to the nice lady? Her name is Callie and she knew your mommy when she was a little girl.”

Emma slowly turned toward Callie as she twirled a thick strand of her golden hair between her fingers.

Callie blinked a couple times, trying to take in what she was seeing. Little Emma looked exactly like her mom, down to the dimpled chin and the way her hair curled in little coils around her face. She even played with her hair exactly like her mom had. The vision brought back the good memories of Sarah. The memories Callie had locked away and never wanted to think about again.

“You knew my mommy?” Emma asked in between staggered hiccups.

Callie could hardly speak as she stared at Sarah’s child. The resemblance was striking. “Yes, we used to play together at Aunt Polly’s house.”

“Aunt Polly said she was going to teach me how to ride a horse. Do you know how to ride a horse?”

But Callie suddenly felt tongue-tied, especially after her exhibition that afternoon.

Joel answered for her. “She sure does, kitten. She rode a horse in the parade today.”

Emma pushed herself up and away from her dad, then stared at Callie as if she was studying her for a moment. Joel pulled a tissue from his pocket, wiped her nose and dabbed at her tears.

Soon a wide grin spread across Emma’s cherub face. “Were you the lady who stopped the parade? She was funny.” Emma giggled.

“I...um...”

“Callaghan Grant! Well, I’ll be. It’s so very nice to see you again,” Polly Sloan said, her voice cracking with emotion as she walked up to Callie and gave her a tight hug. “Oh, my darling girl, it’s been way too long.”

Once Callie was surrounded in Polly’s love, she could barely control her brewing emotions over the news of Sarah’s death. It was one thing to hold a grudge against her former best friend for all those years, but that grudge didn’t overshadow how she felt now that she’d learned about Sarah’s passing. Callie never wished her any harm; she simply didn’t want to ever talk to her again...big difference.

“Joel just told me about Sarah,” Callie whispered, trying to keep her voice low enough so Emma wouldn’t hear her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. It was a shock to us all.”

When they separated, Callie quickly dried her tears using one of the endless supply of tissues that Joel seemed to have in his shirt pocket.

“You’ll come over for dinner one of these nights?” Polly offered. “We’d love to have you as our guest. The place still needs a lot of fixing up, but it’s coming along.”

Callie didn’t know what to say. She had always loved Polly like the aunt she never had. Polly was Sarah’s mom’s older sister, but she might as well have been Callie’s mom’s sister, as well. She had treated Callie and Sarah as equals.

When she and Sarah were young, they’d spend most of their summers on Polly’s ranch. The Snake River ran right through Polly’s land, and the beauty of it was never lost on Callie and Sarah. Most of those long summer days were spent playing in or around the river, sometimes fishing with Polly’s husband, Daniel. Callie had acquired a love of fishing from Daniel, and even now, when she felt stressed or anxious, a few hours of catch and release acted like a balm on her raw nerves.

But all those good memories happened a long time ago, Callie reminded herself. A lot had changed since then, changes that hurt even more now that she’d met Emma.

“Sure, but can I take a rain check on that invitation? I have some work I have to do in the next few days. My new job requires a lot of prep time.”

“Whenever you’re ready, sweetheart. No rush. Besides, like I said, the place needs more time. You might be disappointed if you stopped by before we brought the Double S back to its former glory.”

Emma leaned in on her dad’s shoulder, still playing with her hair. Joel held her tight against his chest, then he ran a hand over her hair and lovingly kissed his daughter on the top of her head.

Callie couldn’t help feeling a mixture of jealousy and profound sorrow as she watched Joel and Emma together. There was a time in her life when she had wanted nothing more than to have Joel’s baby, to be his wife, to raise their children together.

But her best friend had stolen her dream and made it come true for herself instead.

Callie still wanted a houseful of children, more than ever, but she also knew falling in love with the right man, a man who would love her back with the same commitment, was the single most important aspect of a solid relationship and a loving environment to raise those children.

Now, standing this close to Sarah’s child and seeing how much that child looked exactly like her mom only made Callie’s hurt deepen. Emma should have been her child, not Sarah’s.

“Okay, then let’s wait. You’re living here now, so we have all the time in the world,” Callie told her.

“Can we go home now, Daddy?” Callie detected a whine in Emma’s voice.

“Sure, baby,” Joel cooed.

The child not only looked like her mom, but she seemed to be just as strong-willed.

“We’ll see you soon, Callie,” Joel told her, then turned and walked away. Polly gave her another quick hug and joined them.

As Callie watched them disappear into the dark night, she knew she had no intention of ever stepping one foot on the Double S Ranch, and she certainly had no intention of ever breaking bread with Joel Darwood, the man she had once loved with all her heart.