Teresa Southwick - Just What The Cowboy Needed

Jamie nodded knowingly. “You and I need to talk sometime.”

“About what?” Cassie demanded.

“Grown-up stuff.” Grace felt guilty that her comment had slipped out and wished she could rewind and delete. She glanced at Logan, his brown Stetson shading his eyes, and caught something dark and intense in his expression. At least she thought so. It disappeared as soon as their gazes touched.

“Not to change this fascinating subject,” Max interjected, “but Bar None has a beer booth set up across the street. I think we should go get one.”

“I don’t like beer,” Cassie said.

“Do I want to know how and why you know that?” Tucker asked his niece.

“I just know,” his niece declared. “Because I want to go and play the beanbag game.”

Grace could tell Logan was conflicted about what to do and figured she could help him out. “You go with your family. I’ll take Cassie to see the games.”

“You’re not on duty. It’s a holiday,” he protested.

“I like hanging out with her. It’s not work.” She saw his hesitation and said, “Look, we can debate the issue and waste time until everyone is bored to tears—”

“I’m already bored,” Cassie chimed in. She pointed at someone nearby. “There’s my friend Lindsay. I wanna go play.”

“I rest my case. So you can give in—dare I say it—gracefully and everyone gets what they want,” she said.

“Not only is Grace pretty,” Max said, “she’s right. It would be best to go with her on this, big brother.”

Logan glared at everyone in general, but before he could respond, Cassie piped up.

“Daddy, please can I go with Grace?”

He thought for a moment, then finally nodded. “Okay, kiddo. But you stay with her.”

As if the little girl weighed nothing, Max lifted her from his shoulders and set her on her feet. “There you go, munchkin.”

“Thanks, Uncle Max. I’m goin’ over there to see my friend Lindsay.” She ran over and the two girls hugged.

“I guess that’s settled.” Logan slid his fingers into his jeans pockets.

“It was nice to meet you all,” Grace said.

“Likewise.” Max gave her a charming grin. “My brother doesn’t deserve you. But it’s good to know my niece is in expert hands.”

“One beer,” Logan told her. “I’ll call your cell to see where the two of you are when I’m finished.”

“Okay.”

She watched the four of them start across the street, then turned away when there was a tug on her hand. “What is it?”

“Grace, can I go on the roller coaster with Lindsay? Her mom and dad are comin’ with us. Please?”

“Okay, I’ll just tag along—”

“Hold on.” Logan came up behind her. “I thought you were taking her to play the games.”

Grace’s eyes were on Cassie, who drifted back to her friend’s family, out of hearing distance. Then she glanced up at her tense and decidedly displeased employer. “She changed her mind. It happens when you’re a five-year-old girl. She wants to go on a ride with her friend and parents.”

“We didn’t talk about this,” he said.

“You hired me to use my own judgment,” she reminded him. “But if you don’t trust me—”

“It’s not that.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I just feel as if I should be there.”

Be there? Really? She’d vowed not to offer advice, but technically she wasn’t. “If being there is so important, why didn’t you take ten minutes to sit and have a pretend tea party with her?”

“I’m not good at that.” Uncertainty mixed with the tension on his face. “And don’t ask me to explain how or why, but this is different.”

Grace searched his gaze for several moments, not exactly sure what she was looking for but convinced she wasn’t finding any answers there. “Do you want me to tell her she can’t go on the ride?”

He shook his head. “I’ll take her.”

“But your family is waiting for you,” she protested.

“They’ll live.” He looked down for a moment, then back at her. “And so we’re clear, I do trust you. This is on me, not you.”

Without another word, Logan walked over to where Cassie was with her friend’s family. He shook hands and smiled at Lindsay’s parents in a casual, friendly way before the group threaded through the crowd in the direction of the open area where the carnival rides were set up.

Grace saw the protective hand he put on his daughter’s small shoulder, and the sight tugged at her heart. He was the personification of the strong, silent, solid cowboy—polite and protective. She believed him when he said he trusted her but would bet almost anything that he didn’t trust himself.

Why was that?

* * *

Unlike his daughter, who’d conked out in the truck on the way home after fireworks, Logan couldn’t sleep when they got back to the ranch. He was tossing and turning in bed and couldn’t get Grace off his mind. For a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the feel of her bare skin beneath his hands. But mostly it was how she’d looked at him when he got squirrelly about Cassie going on a carnival ride without him there to watch her. You’d think he set Grace’s hot-pink panties on fire.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the best way to think of it since he was the one with hot pants and doing his damnedest not to let on. No, that look of hers was about judging him, and in the fatherhood department, he came up short. Trying to hide the fact that he had no idea what he was doing wasn’t working. She was too good with kids not to see the truth. Before she came here, things with him and Cassie were fine. Weekends were sacred, and the hired help took over. He hung out with his daughter, and when she was with him, he knew she was safe. He didn’t have to delegate that responsibility.

Now he had to trust Grace with what was most precious to him in this world. But trust didn’t come easy. The fact was, he’d never hated Foster Hart more than he did at this moment. Thanks to that bastard, he had no blueprint of what a good father looked like.

Logan heard something, and his eyes popped open, adrenaline pumping. The sound came again, and he realized it was Cassie crying out. He threw off the covers and jumped out of bed, his only thought to get to her.

He ran down the hall and saw that her bedroom door was open, and faint light from her lamp spilled out. Inside, Grace sat on the bed cradling the little girl in her arms. Since her room was next to Cassie’s, she got there first and was crooning comforting words.

“It was a bad dream, honey. You’re fine. I’m here. There’s nothing to be afraid of, I promise.” She met his gaze, and there was a question in her eyes.

Logan knew she was wondering if he wanted to take over, and he shook his head. Cassie was clinging to Grace, and he figured she was probably better off right where she was.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” The sobs were tapering off as Grace rocked her and rubbed her back. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’ll be scared.” Cassie clutched even tighter.

“Sometimes if we share something that scares us it loses the power to be frightening.”

“Somethin’ was after me.” Cassie sniffled. “I ran and ran as fast as I could, but it grabbed my shirt and I couldn’t get away. I kept saying, ‘Help,’ but nobody came.”

“Oh, honey.” Grace brushed a hand over Cassie’s hair. “I’m so sorry you were scared. It was just a dream, though, and can’t hurt you. I’m here. Your dad is here.”

Cassie lifted her head and looked at him. “I didn’t see you, Daddy. Sorry I waked you up.”

“It’s okay, baby girl. Are you okay?”

“Better now.” She yawned. “Do I hafta go back to sleep? I don’t want to.”