Rita Herron - Cowboy in the Extreme

A myriad of emotions flashed across her face; then she opened the door to get Lucy.

“I’ll get her,” he said, knowing Kim was exhausted and he had a flight of stairs to climb to carry her to one of the guest rooms.

Kim shook her head. “No, just get the luggage.”

“Stop arguing, Kim,” Brandon said between clenched teeth. “You’re dead on your feet. Just grab your purse and follow me.”

He opened the back door to the car, then unfastened Lucy’s seat belt and scooped his little girl into his arms. Love swelled in his chest as she snuggled up against him.

He swallowed hard, then led the way up the cobblestone steps to the wraparound porch. How many times had he sat in that porch swing and imagined Kim cuddled up beside him?

Fool. That’s what he was.

When he reached the front door, Kim hesitated, and he juggled Lucy to one side and unlocked the door, then stepped inside. He wasn’t much for decorating so the place seemed bare as he flicked on a light. It definitely needed a woman’s touch.

But it was home, so he strode up the winding staircase. Kim followed, her sigh indicating her fatigue.

He shoved open the first door to the right and gestured inside. “There are two guest rooms,” he said. “You can stay in the first one nearest the stairs. I’ll put Lucy in the one beside you. There’s a bathroom in between.”

Kim nodded, then walked with him to the second room, where he flipped on a lamp and headed toward the white four-poster bed. Foolish again. He’d let the store clerk talk him into it, saying female guests would like it. He’d thought of Joanie, who would have loved it, then a little girl that he’d never have, but he’d bought it anyway.

Kim rushed to the bed and turned down the lavender comforter, and he helped ease Lucy onto the bed. For a moment, he simply stood and looked at her, soaking in the fact that she was his child. Memorizing her face again as if he feared she was a mirage and might disappear in the night.

Finally he dragged himself away, then strode down the steps and returned a few minutes later. He dropped Kim’s bag off in the first room, then took Lucy’s little rollaway and bunny backpack and put them on the window seat in front of the dormer window in her room.

He hesitated, soaking up the sight of his daughter again, then watched Kim bend over and kiss Lucy on the forehead and tuck her in tight. He’d never thought he could feel so many emotions at once.

Love for Lucy. An instantaneous bond that overwhelmed him with the need to protect her and the desire to make up for all the time he’d lost.

Admiration for Kim because she obviously loved their daughter and was a wonderful mother.

Anger that he’d missed out on being with both of them.

Kim smoothed the covers down, then turned and looked up at him, her eyes instantly wary. She looked exhausted, and for a brief moment, he wanted to give her a reprieve. To hold and comfort her and forget all the pain between them. All the bitterness that surfaced at the thought of her with Carter.

Of her and Johnny keeping his daughter from him.

He gestured toward the door. “Downstairs. We need to talk.”

Kim bit her lip, then sighed and headed down the stairs. He followed her, then led her into the study and poured them both a drink.

He’d held his tongue during the drive.

But her reprieve was over.

He wanted answers, and he wouldn’t sleep until he had them. His heart hardened.

Although even then, nothing Kim said could ever make things right again between them.

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