Page 30 of Rancher's Pride

“What’s wrong, sweets?” I asked as I knelt down beside her.

“Miss Mommy.” Tears formed in her eyes and I bet this was one of the first nights she’d been put to bed without Fallon.

“I know baby, I missed her for a long time too, but she always comes back.” Lifting her, I tucked her into my arm and looked at her as she rested her head on my shoulder. “Want me to sing to you?” Her nod against me was everything in the world that I’d ever wanted. Reaching for the guitar, I walked into her room.

“All right, here’s the deal. You crawl into bed and stay there, and I will play until you fall asleep.”

“Deal.” She grinned. Tucking her in, I sat at the other end of the bed and started playing softly. I hadn’t played since Fallon had come back. It felt good to be holding this old six string. The quiet notes filtered through the small room and I sang along. A little George Strait was always a good option.

Josie’s eyes were locked on my fingers strumming the guitar, and I watched as her eyelids grew heavy, as if she’d been hypnotized until one last time they didn’t pop open. This was so comfortable. I didn’t want to stop until I knew she was asleep. About twenty minutes passed, and I eased off the end of the bed, gently kissed her head and turned out her light.

“Fallon, what time did you get home?” I said as I walked into the hall and found her sitting on the floor, knees tucked up to her chin, and her arm wrapped around her legs. Pulling the door shut, I took one last look at Josie and smiled.

“Not long ago. I used to dream about you playing, you know.” My heart squeezed, and I turned and walked away from her, but I heard her get up and she followed me. “I’d dream I was sitting on the tailgate of your truck, watching you. Some nights were so real, but when I tried to reach out to touch you, I’d wake up or the dream would flit away.” Her voice trailed off, and she was staring at my guitar.

Choosing to ignore her words, I looked at her and she seemed relaxed, for the first time since she’d come home. “How was your day?”

“It was fantastic.” She sighed as she flopped down onto the couch. “I don’t know the last time I was that carefree. Knowing the girls were safe and looked after, I could just have fun.” She lifted her head and looked at me. “I missed the girls though. My arms felt empty without Lottie in them all day.” Fallon smiled and for the first time in a while I saw a sparkle in her eye.

All day, the one thought I’d tried to push away gnawed at me, and while I wanted to respect Fallon’s healing, I needed to know. “Did your ex-husband ever lay a hand on my daughter?” I turned away from her gaze and stared out the window into the darkness. I could feel it creep into my soul. It had been a long time since I’d had these dark thoughts, but my mind went over all the ways I would torture the man.

“No, Andrew was a shit husband and an awful man, but he never laid a hand on Josie.” Her voice trailed off and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shift.Turning to look at her, the soft expression on her face was gone, and it was replaced, but something I’d never seen from her before. “If he had Nash, I would have put him in the ground myself. I took all the angry outbursts to protect her.” Her eyes were full of rage, but it wasn’t directed at me. She went quiet but never broke eye contact with me.

“Thank you for protecting her,” I said as I stood. I needed to go to bed before I did something I wouldn’t regret.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

FALLON

The last few days had been almost perfect, and I’d felt like I belonged somewhere again. Kristin and Nora were easily the best friends I didn’t know I was needing or missing in my life. Mom was more than thrilled to spend time with the girls and Nash and I had been getting along, and were falling into a rhythm with the girls.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up to read the text.

Unknown: Hello sugar.

Frowning, I looked at the text. Nobody called me sugar.Why don’t people check who they’re sending messages to before they hit send?I thought to myself, but the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly became engaged.It’s just your paranoia, Fallon. The antidepressants have beenhelping. There’s nothing wrong. You’re fine, even if you don’t believe it.Trust my brain to state the obvious. But I wish I could get the nagging feeling that I was being watched to go away. I needed to relax. There was nothing here that was going to hurt me, and if anyone tried, they’d come face to face with whatever terror The Five knew how to dole out.

Things were buzzing around here thanks to Kipp and Nora’s wedding and then Christmas. I was baking up a storm for both events. My girls were down for a nap, I had the kitchen cleaned, and I was ready to dive into a book and drink my tea.

As I sat down, the door to the house swung open and two women stood in the entryway, letting the cold in. “What in the hell?” The woman with dark chocolate brown hair said with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah Fal, what gives?” The other woman asked. Her hair was more of a dark cinnamon but that wasn’t natural, her real hair color was a mousy brown.

“Well, if it isn’t the barrel racing twins. I heard a rumor you were coming to town.” I crossed my arms and stared at my sisters. “Could you close the door? I like the cold outside.” Staring at them, I was waiting for them to crack.

“Where are our nieces?” They squealed as they ran to me and enveloped me in a group hug.

“They’re both napping. I figured they’d need all the rest they can get since their aunties are going to make sure they never sleep again, I’m sure.” They took offtheir coats and settled in the living room. “So, what do you know?”

Tayla and Lark looked at one another, frowning. “We know you’re back, but that’s all.” Lark said. Trust Kipp to keep his mouth shut and not let me off the hook. Just this once I wish he were a gossip.

“Josie is two, and she’s, umm, well.” Did I tell them the truth? They’d figure it out and then be mad. I didn’t tell them, but they were perfect and I was the screw up.

“She’s mine.” His voice rumbled through the room, and my sisters turned openmouthed, staring at Nash. Tayla turned to look at me, mouth open wide, perfect to catch flies.

“Hey Nashy.” Lark said as if she hadn’t really heard what he’d said. As it sank in, she looked from him to me and then to Tayla. “Wait, you and Fallon.” Her voice trailed off like she was trying to work through her brain what we would have had to do for Josie to be his child. “You and Fallon?” She said a little louder, her mouth hanging open.

“Yes,” Nash said, taking his hat off and hanging it behind the door.

---