Maisey Yates - Untamed Cowboy

It made his heart squeeze tight. Made his whole body feel a little bit numb.

“Right here,” he said as they turned a corner. He pushed the door to the coffee shop open and held it, letting Dallas walk on through.

Sugar Cup was busy, even at this early hour, with tables filled with older people reading the paper and drinking their morning coffee, and the line full of people on their way to work. Ranchers, teachers and guys who worked in the mill out of town.

Teachers . The school year was about over, but eventually, Bennett was going to have to figure out school. In fact, Dallas might need some kind of summer school.

“How are you doing in school?” Bennett asked.

Dallas choked out a laugh. “Um. Not great.”

“Why?”

“Could be the moving around. And also the hating it.”

“Is it hard for you?” Bennett pressed.

Dallas shrugged. “It’s boring. Anyway, there’s no point to it. It’s not like I’m going to college.”

Bennett frowned. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I don’t have any money, dumbass,” Dallas muttered.

“I do,” Bennett pointed out.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’m not smart enough to get a scholarship. I’m not like a piano prodigy or really good at football or anything like that. So, I would have to get perfect grades, and I already don’t do that. So yeah. What’s the point of school?”

“I wouldn’t... I wouldn’t make you go to college. But know that you could.”

Bennett had money, his family had it. And he was more than able to take out loans if necessary.

Dallas looked stricken by the information, and not really pleased or excited, or anything that could be construed as positive. “You don’t mean that,” he said.

“I do,” Bennett said, the two of them moving up in the line. “I told you, I’m your dad. That means that you’re my responsibility.”

“And I told you we’re not going to be speaking in a couple of years. You know how I know that? Because nobody that was in my life a couple of years ago still talks to me. Except for Grace, and that’s because it’s her job. It’s because she’s assigned to me and she has to. But believe me, the minute she doesn’t have to deal with me anymore? She won’t. I’m not telling you a sad story, I’m not fishing for sympathy. That’s just the way it is.”

“Not anymore,” Bennett said. “We don’t have to talk about this now. But eventually we’re going to have to figure out how to get you caught up in school. Because you’re going to have options. I know you’re not used to that. But I’m going to make sure you have them.”

Dallas didn’t say anything after that. He occupied himself by studying the case full of pastries, and Bennett did the same. At this point in the day eating healthy seemed overrated. He needed something that paired nicely with the emotional turmoil that came with discovering you had a secret son.

He had no idea what the hell that was, but he imagined it contained a lot of butter.

“Good morning.” Kelly, the usual morning shift worker at Sugar Cup, who never gave any indication that she felt like the morning was good at all, addressed Bennett and Dallas. “What can I get for you?”

“Coffee for me,” Bennett said. “And a cinnamon roll.”

He turned to Dallas and waited. “You’re just going to buy me something?” he asked.

“Yes,” Bennett said.

“A mocha. And a chocolate doughnut.”

“Okay.” Kelly gave them the total, and Bennett handed her his card.

They walked over to the part of the counter where the drinks came out, waited for a few moments and then were presented with their pastries and drinks.

While they waited in line he shot a text to Kaylee to check if she was in the clinic today and if she’d mind if Dallas hung out in the break room, in case he didn’t want to drive around with Bennett all day while he saw to his appointments.

She shot back an affirmative text. “Let’s sit for a minute,” Bennett said, gesturing to the tables. They took their breakfast over to a table by the wall. “I have a couple of scheduled appointments today. I have to go out to some of the ranches and vaccinate some baby animals. Horses, mostly. But if you want to you can hang out at the clinic.”

“What clinic?” Dallas asked around a mouthful of doughnut.

“Valley Veterinary. That’s the name of the practice I run with Kaylee, the woman you met last night.”

“Yeah, I remember the one other person besides you I was introduced to yesterday.”

Bennett pressed on as if Dallas hadn’t spoken. “I do a lot of work outside of town. My truck has all my equipment, so it’s easy to travel around. If you want the chance to see some of the area, we can do that. Otherwise, there’s a break room at the clinic. If you want to hang out there Kaylee will be around if you have an emergency.”

“An emergency? Like blood or fire?”

“Is that...a serious concern?”

Dallas shrugged, which was clearly a favored gesture of his. “Maybe. I’m a problem after all.”

“The kind that sets things on fire?” he asked. “No judgment, but I feel like I should know that.”

“I haven’t set anything on fire.”

“Okay. Good.”

“All right.”

“All right to which?” Bennett leaned back in his chair.

“I guess I’ll go sit in the break room. Not really interested in driving around. We just drove all the way here yesterday from Portland.”

“Right.” Bennett couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed that his kid was opting to not spend the day with him. But they’d only been together for about a half hour this morning and Bennett already felt...taxed. Full of emotion he didn’t know how to sort through and weighted down by the idea he had to be something he didn’t know how to be for this kid. “Okay. And then after that we’re going to go over to my brother’s place. Well, it’s actually my brother’s and my other brother’s and my sister’s place.”

Dallas looked stunned by that. “You have all that family?”

“Yeah,” Bennett said. “And they don’t know about you either. Since I didn’t know about you. But they’re your uncles. And your aunt. I’m going to have to call your grandfather.”

His dad was going to have something to say about being a grandfather.

“I have...a grandfather?”

“Yeah, and he’s married. Not to my mom. My mom is dead. But he remarried a great lady a couple of years ago. They’re down in New Mexico with her family right now. But you’ll meet her. Then, for holidays and things like that. He’ll probably want to make a trip up to meet you.”

Dallas looked surprised by that. “They would?”

“Of course. You’re family.”

“That’s never mattered before. My mom never talked to her family. I don’t even know where they are. I just know they aren’t here anymore. She told me that much.”

“That’s true. Her parents moved away after she left. She left home when she was sixteen.”

Dallas nodded. “I know that much. She didn’t want to be trapped in a small town anymore. She said she hated it here.” He took another bite of doughnut. “She wanted to go somewhere more exciting.”

“I didn’t know she hated it here,” Bennett said.

“That’s what she told me. But I don’t know how much of anything she said is true. And it’s not because I trust you,” he clarified quickly. “It’s just because she’s a liar. She always has been. At least, as far back as I can remember. Because that’s how addicts are. She’s not the only addict I know. Every guy she ever dated was one. They’re all liars.”

A sobering thought occurred to him then. “Are you... Do you have any problems with that? I mean, addiction stuff.”