Page 45 of Curvy Nanny for the Cowboy

My lips curled into a smile. Breakfast had been a welcome surprise. “Haven’t had a breakfast like that since I was a boy.”

Wyatt nodded, his gaze taking on a faraway look as he smiled. “Your mama was a magician in the kitchen, that’s for sure.” He shook his head, probably remembering her the way I did, a larger-than-life figure with thick red hair who wasn’t afraid to take a wooden spoon to a ranch hand no matter his size. “She would be happy to see the kitchen full like that again.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. The same thought had crossed my mind when I stood in the kitchen doorway and watched her dance around the same way Mama used to throughout my childhood. “I think I’m finally ready to move on with my life and be happy again.” Or maybe for the first time if I was being brutally honest with myself.

“Good to hear, man. You’re the marrying kind, Colton, and Molly seems to fit.”

I sighed. “Yeah, she does fit. But would it be stifling to expect her to stay here, out in the middle of nowhere at her age?”

“You’re still hung up on the age difference?”

I nodded and turned my attention to the oversized bottles of goat’s milk that we needed to move for pickup this week. The suppliers always showed up with their own packaging and took a few hours to transfer it and load it up, and if it was all ready when they arrived, I wouldn’t have to supervise. “It’s a pretty big obstacle, don’t you think?” She was damn near two decades younger than me. “She has her whole life ahead of her.”

“You’re right about one thing; it’sherlife, and I’d say she’s more than capable of deciding how she wants to spend it.” He folded his arms and gave me a glare that would’ve deterred other men. “Give her a chance to make the choice.”

“Sara grew to hate it here. What if Molly does too?”

“Yeah, that’s always a possibility. What if she doesn’t? What if she loves it and wants to stay until she takes her last breath?”

My own breath caught in my throat at the visual that presented. She had whispered that she loved me as she fell asleep in my arms last night. I love you. It wasn’t just the sex; I was sure of that. Which meant I had to figure out what my next move would be.

“I can see that you’re almost there in your head. Let’s get these bottles loaded and back to the barn; we’ve got more fencing to fix up.”

“Yeah, let’s get to it.” The one thing I knew for sure was that I had to tell Molly that I loved her too, and then I would ask her to stay. Not just for Hunter, but for me too.

Chapter27

Molly

“What about this flower, Molly?” Hunter holds up a purple flower that I don’t recognize. “Is this okay?”

I nodded, flashing a wide smile. “It looks beautiful, and it’s the color of your mom’s sweater in one of the photos. What do you think?”

“It’s pretty.” He rushed back to the blanket I had laid out and set the flower beside me. “Do we need more?”

I couldn’t help but smile up at him; my chest was so full it was a physical ache. Hunter was so excited about this project, and I was happy to give him a piece of his mom, his history. “If we have too many, we’ll just have to make another, won’t we?”

His smile grew even wider, and he looked so much like Colton that I couldn’t help but pull him close and squeeze him in a tight hug. “Molly,” he groaned.

I released him with a laugh. “Sorry about that, kiddo.”

He rushed off a half dozen more times; every return brought back another brightly colored flower until he had exhausted himself and plopped down on the blanket beside me, his head resting in my lap. “I’m pooped.”

I laughed. “Flower picking is harder than it looks.”

“Yep,” he sighed, his eyes fluttering shut as I brushed his hair from his forehead.

A man-shaped shadow blocked the sun, and I looked up with a smile that died on my lips at the sight of the man who glowered at me. “Travis,” I growled. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He smiled, but there was no joy at all coming from him as he whipped out a shiny blade. “I’m here for you, Molly. Obviously.”

“Well then, you wasted a trip,” I shot back and wrapped a protective arm around Hunter. “You should go home.”

“I will,” he said and squatted down so we were face to face. “But not without you.” Before I realized what he was doing, Travis scooped Hunter up in his arms and stood, putting a few feet of distance between us.

“Put him down right now!”

Hunter screamed, his green eyes wide with fear as his body flailed in an effort to break free of his abductor. “Molly!”

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