Brenda Minton - Single Dad Cowboy

“I can do this.” Harmony insisted, but she already knew that Bill would rather go with Dylan, someone he knew and felt comfortable with.

“Miss Cross, it was nice enough of you to offer, but Dylan won’t mind being up all night, sitting in a waiting room with an old man like myself.”

Harmony looked from Bill Tanner to Dylan. “Do you want to drop the kids off at my house?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at your place.” Harmony nodded and watched him walk back to his truck with Bill. She stood for a moment in the yard that had been ablaze with lights from emergency vehicles. In the distance she heard the wail of the siren as the ambulance headed for Grove. The volunteers were pulling away from the house.

She got in her car and pulled down the driveway, turning toward her house. She could see Dylan’s truck, already heading that way with Cash and Callie. This hadn’t been in her plans when she came to Dawson, getting so involved. There were good reasons for keeping to herself. But maybe the reasons to get involved were just as good.

When she got to her place, Dylan was helping Callie and Cash out of the truck. Harmony reached for Callie’s hand and Dylan followed her inside with Cash.

“You’ll be okay?” Dylan asked as he settled Cash on the couch and handed over a diaper bag.

“We’ll be okay.” She glanced down at Callie, who didn’t offer her a smile. A smile would have given her a healthy dose of confidence that she really could have used.

* * *

Dylan pulled up to the Cross Ranch the next morning. His eyes felt like sandpaper was rubbing against them and a look in the mirror confirmed that he looked as rough as he felt. He parked his truck and sat there a minute. The front door of the old farm house opened and Harmony stepped out.

She stood on the porch watching him, waiting. She would be wanting information on Doris Tanner. He opened the truck door and got out. He hoped she had a pot of coffee brewing, because he was going to need it if he planned on getting through this day.

“How is she?” Harmony sat down on one of the rocking chairs. He took the other.

“She’s going to make it. They were able to keep her in Grove. Bill is still at the hospital. Fifty-two years they’ve been married. He said the only time they’ve been apart is when he served in the military.”

“That’s a lot of years of loving another person.”

“Yeah, it is. Are the kids still sleeping?” He leaned back in the rocking chair to wait for her answer and he wished like anything he could fall asleep on that front porch with the morning breeze and the sound of cattle, probably from Cooper Creek, in the distance.

“They are. I have coffee.”

“I was hoping.” He sat forward in the chair planning to get up but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Stay. I’ll bring you a cup.”

“You don’t have to.”

She smiled down at him and he had to admit, when she smiled, it lit up a man’s world. Not that he was interested, but it felt good to know that he wasn’t too far gone.

She patted his hand and her smile teased. “If we’re going to have a truce and be allies, I think we might want to make it believable.”

“That sounds like a plan, Harmony. I like the idea of us being allies.”

“Purely platonic, right?”

“Platonic. Yes, just friends. But having each other will hopefully mean a lot less people nosing in our business.”

Her hand left his and she walked inside, the screen door banging softly behind her. He leaned back in the rocking chair and closed his eyes. From inside he could hear her singing along to the radio. He pulled his hat down over his eyes.

When he woke up, the sun was full on his face and it was hot. He came awake slowly, remembering where he was and why his back hurt. It was Saturday morning and he was sitting in a wooden rocking chair on Harmony’s front porch because he’d been up all night.

What had happened to that cup of coffee? He glanced at his watch and realized he’d been sleeping for a while. He started to push himself out of the chair but stopped when he heard laughter from inside. Callie said something in her high pitched, four-year-old voice. The sound of a guitar followed. Loud strumming and then soft. A moment later the strumming ended and turned into a song played by someone who had been taught by the best. Two voices, Callie’s and Harmony’s, sang a familiar country song.

He pushed himself up, stretching to relieve the kinks in his back. When he walked through the front door Callie looked up, her smile growing wide. Cash was stretched out on the floor pushing a toy truck. Harmony stopped playing the guitar and set it to the side.

“Don’t stop on my account.” He picked up the twelve-string acoustic and put it back in her hands.

“I think we’re done.” Harmony leaned the guitar carefully against the table next to her. “Are you hungry?”

“You babysit and cook breakfast?” He plopped down on the overstuffed sofa and watched with a smile as her cheeks turned pink.

“I’m multitalented.” She reached for the cane next to her. “And I can get you that cup of coffee now that you’re awake.”

“I definitely need it. One hour of sleep is going to make for a long day.”

He started to get up but Cash drove the truck over to his feet and made a siren sound. Or something that resembled a siren. Dylan moved from the couch to the floor and the little boy scooted next to him. He had a great smile, and his mom’s eyes. His blond hair would probably turn brown as he got older. For now he sucked his thumb and sometimes made it to the bathroom instead of wetting in his pants.

Katrina had insisted they start potty training early. Because she’d known she would be gone. She’d known it would all fall on Dylan, but that he’d have family to help. She’d counted on that, on the Coopers being involved in the lives of her two children.

She’d come from a crazy, mixed-up family herself and she had wanted something more for her kids. So she’d made him their guardian early on, before anyone could say she wasn’t in her right mind. No one as young as Kat should lose a battle with breast cancer, Dylan thought. If he could have fought the battle for her, he would have.

Callie had found a toy truck with a horse trailer that included horses. She pushed it to his side and grinned up at him, but something was missing in that smile. She was a smart girl, his Callie. She always seemed to know when he was lost in memories. She got lost, too, sometimes. She had nightmares and sometimes cried and hit for no reason. Dylan’s mom, Angie Cooper, had recommended a psychologist who could help a child process grief.

“Breakfast,” Harmony called from the kitchen. Dylan smiled down at the children. Callie pushed her truck away from him and brought back the television remote.

“Do you want to watch cartoons?”

The four-year-old nodded. Her blond hair matched her brother’s but Katrina had insisted it would stay blond. Dylan kind of doubted it. He channel surfed until Callie nodded her head at a show with ponies. After giving them each a hug, he walked through the dining room to the big country kitchen.

Harmony’s back was to him. Her shoulders were stiff and she was leaning on the counter. He walked up behind her and put a hand on her back. Her shoulders flinched. He rubbed her shoulders until she started to relax.

“Can you take anything for the pain?” he asked.

“Non-narcotic pain reliever. Over the counter, mostly. I drink lots of herbal tea.” She moved away from his touch and turned to look at him. “It just happened, you know.”

She meant her addiction. He waited, knowing she would talk about it when she was ready. Instead she shook her head. “It’s getting better.”