Page 62 of Lost and Found Cowboy

She shook her head. “No. Gertie will be here, and I really don’t expect him to come back today.”

“Any chance you have a gun in the house?”

“Hell no. What I do have iskidsin the house. So, I don’t need or want a firearm. And I’m not good enough with one to be able to confidently use it anyway. I’m afraid if I tried to, someone would just take it away and use it on me.”

And by someone, she meant her ex-husband. She’d always been thankful he wasn’t much a gun guy. Things could have gone much worse for her if he had been.

Mack frowned. “I get your point. But you might be the only single woman in Colorado not to have a handgun and their concealed permit.”

“I’m fine with that distinction.” She gently pushed him toward the door. “Now, will you please go make some frappucinos. And don’t worry, Emily can practically run the shop on her own, so just do whatever she tells you to do. And please tell herthank youand that I’m sorry for sending a cowboy to make coffee, but you’re cute, so that should make up for it.”

Lorna jerked awake,the image of a broken and bloody Mack still in her mind’s eye. Bleary-eyed and disoriented, she tried tocatch her breath as she untangled her legs from the sheets on her bed.

How long had she been out? She’d only meant to close her eyes for a few minutes.

She found her phone next to her pillow and was surprised to see she’d been asleep for almost two hours. The trauma of the morning must have gotten to her more than she’d thought, and her body had retreated into sleep. The sleep she could use, the nightmare of Lyle trying to kill Mack, not so much.

She tried to push the dream from her mind. Lyle had been a defensive end in high school, but he didn’t often pick fights with other men. Not when he had his own personal punching bag at home. So, she didn’t imagine he’d try to start something with Mack, but she also knew her ex-husband liked to fight dirty.

After taking a few minutes to wash her face and clean the smudges of mascara from under her eyes, she walked down the stairs to find Max and Mocha tucked into one corner of the sofa and Gertie and her latest knitting project in the other. Izzy was on a blanket in the middle of the floor, enclosed in a fort of pillows. An episode of Bluey was on the television, and they all appeared to be watching it.

“Oh, you’re up,” Gertie said, setting down her knitting. “How was your nap? I checked on you once, and you were out cold.”

“A bit groggy, if I’m honest. I’m all about the fifteen-minute power nap, but I’m not sure passing out for two hours in the middle of the afternoon is a great idea for me.”

“I made a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies, and there’s some iced tea in the fridge,” Gertie said. “Do you want me to make you a glass?”

Lorna shook her head. “No, you’ve done enough for today. Why don’t you go home?”

Gertie raised an eyebrow. “And miss this episode of Bluey? I think not. Plus, I was hoping you’d invite me to stick around for supper.”

“Yes, of course you can stay, if you want to. I just don’t want to overstep.”

“No such thing when it comes to family. And that’s how I’ve come to think of you and these sweet babies.”

“In that case, please don’t ever leave us.”

She and Gertie laughed as Max waved his hand in their direction.

“Shh. You’re missing the show,” he said, not taking his attention from the screen.

Lorna squeezed in between him and Gertie, pulling her son into her lap and cuddling him and the puppy as they all finished watching the show together.

Mack showed up around five, just in time to help set the table. He and Max both had second helpings, and he couldn’t stop telling Gertie her chicken and noodles were the best he’d ever had.

He helped clear the table and load the dishwasher, and Lorna noticed that Max had started doing the same after watching Mack’s actions the last few times he’d been there for a meal.

“You got a few minutes to talk?” Mack asked her after the dishes were done and Gertie had gone home. They were sitting in the swing together on the back porch watching Max run around the yard with the little dog.

“Sure.” There was something she wanted to talk to him about too. She’d been thinking about it all afternoon. The nightmare had really shaken her, and she would never forgive herself if Mack got hurt because of something her idiot ex did.

The only thing that made sense to her was for them to back off and stop acting like they were a couple. Especially, if it only antagonized Lyle.

Mack was so protective of her and the kids, and there was part of her that loved that, but another part of her knew he didn’t understand her willingness to give up the shop and that she needed to handle this Lyle business on her own.

But she’d let Mack talk first, before she brought up the idea that she expected she’d be getting some resistance to.

“I want to talk to you, too,” she said. “But you go first.”

---