Page 10 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

The diner wasn’t overly crowded when they walked in, but she was shocked by howlittlehad changed. It looked exactly like she remembered, and it smelled even better: the aroma of cooking bacon and burgers wafted from the kitchen, and her stomach rumbled. “Hungry?” Daryl asked, as if he could read her mind.

She smiled. “Starving, actually.” She hoisted Lily up a little higher on her hip and looked around for a table. They found a booth along the back wall and settled into it. The waitress—her tag read “Mary Elizabeth”—brought them a highchair for Lily.

“How are y’all doing today?” she asked them.

Daryl reached out and grabbed Laura’s hand, flashing the woven band around his left ring finger. “We’re doing great, Mary Elizabeth,” he said with a grin. Laura could feel the woman’s eyes on their wedding bands; her surprise was palpable. “Could we have a few minutes with the menu, though? Laura Jo hasn’t been here in a while.”

Mary Elizabeth blinked. “Sure thing, Daryl.” She hustled away, and Laura watched as an older man stopped her. They spoke for a second, and his easy, almost flirty smile morphed into a look of surprise…and possibly concern. He looked their way.

“Who is that?” Laura asked, gesturing to him with her head.

Daryl turned to look, and he smiled. “Oh, that’s Mr. Perriman.” He turned back to her with a sudden look of realization. “You never got to have him as a teacher! You were gone before high school.”

His tone told her that she’d missed out on something. “Was he that good?”

Daryl whistled. “He was great,” he said. “He was the only English teacher that ever made mewantto read, you know? Everybody loves him. It’s a shame, but he’s retiring after this year.”

“That’s too bad,” she agreed. She couldn’t remember any of her teachers’ names, not before college. Her grandfather had sent her to the best schools, of course, but she’d never really connected with her teachers, and she’d certainly never seen them outside of school. Denver didn’t have that kind of community feel. She felt a pang in her chest. She’d missed out on so much, and she told him as much.

Daryl squeezed her hand. “Well, that’s over now, right? You’re a Windy Creek girl again.”

She was, and so was Lily. That was exactly what she wanted for the both of them. “You’re right,” Laura said with a smile. She glanced back at Mr. Perriman to see that he’d snagged Mary Elizabeth’s attention again. She took note that the flirty smile was back. “Are they a couple?”

Daryl looked over and shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “Though, I think everyone in town knows that he’s in love with her.”

After a lunch that was both delicious and a little tense—more curious community members eventually wandered over, and Daryl introduced her and Lily to them—Laura followed Daryl back to the ranch. She thought about going to check on her house, but she didn’t have the strength for that right now. Besides, she couldn’t be sure it would be a safe environment for Lily, and she didn’t want to take any chances. She kept looking down at the band on her left hand. She was a married woman. Again. While the circumstances were obviously very different, she hadn’t thought that it would ever happen again, especially so soon.

Laura pulled into the space beside Daryl, and she sat, just breathing, in her car. What was she supposed to do now? Go inside and act like a houseguest? Act like she lived and belonged here? Neither felt entirely right. Before she could decide what to do, a knock at her window startled her. Once her heart stopped racing out of her chest, she looked over to find Daryl standing by her door. She reached over and pushed the “down” arrow on the window button. “What’s up?” she asked, going for casual and totally failing if the stiffness in her voice was anything to go on.

“Want to take a walk with me?” Daryl asked. “I can show you the ranch.”

She nearly said no, but the day was lovely, and it would save her from puttering around the house, trying to decide what to do next. “Sure,” she said. “Let me go get the baby wrap and some better shoes for walking, okay?”

Laura climbed out of the car, and she heard Daryl mutter, “Baby wrap?” His confusion made her smile. She quickly got Lily out of her seat and checked her diaper as she carried her into the house. She traded her chic boots for tennis shoes and grabbed her wrap from her suitcase. So far, she hadn’t done as much baby-wearing as she had intended while she was pregnant, but both she and Lily liked the fabric wrap that held the baby close to her. Plus, it was a sight more comfortable than the backpack baby holders.

After tying the wrap around her waist and shoulders, she set Lily inside and settled her so that the baby was pressed securely against her chest. Then, she slipped into her shoes and headed back to where Daryl was waiting on the porch. He looked at the fabric wrapped around her body and nodded to himself; he must have remembered her wearing it when they first ran into each other on the street outside the bank. “Shall we go?” she asked. He nodded, and she watched him as he quickly picked a direction, and they set off.

At first, they walked on the trails of the ranch, quietly taking in the nature around them. She remembered being here before, back when they were younger, but a lot had changed over the years. They had refurbished the barn and built a bigger stable for the horses. New pastures had been cleared in the distance. “I forgot how much I loved it here.”

Daryl glanced at her. “The ranch? I didn’t think that you’d spentthatmuch time here.” It was true and not true. She remembered running around the Rivers family’s corral and rambling over the plains with Daryl, but it was all sort of hazy in that way that childhood memories could be.

Laura felt her cheeks flush with heat. “Notspecificallyhere,” she mumbled and made a motion towards the wide open plain before them. “Buthere, you know? Denver was great, but I’m not much of a city girl.”

Daryl smiled at that. “I never thought you were, Laura Jo.”

She shook her head, feeling a rush of warmth. “You’re the only person who ever called me that,” she said. “Outside of my parents.”

“Really? That’s how you introduced yourself to me.”

“In kindergarten!”

“Do you not like it?” His voice was entirely serious, which made her pause.Would he really stop calling me ‘Laura Jo’ if I wanted him to?Clark wouldn’t stop doing anything that he didn’t want to just because Laura asked.

That warmth spread throughout her whole body, down to the tips of her fingers and bottoms of her feet. “I like it very much,” she told him.

Daryl got that look that only men could have—totally and completely satisfied with himself. “Well, okay then,” he said and almost sounded smug. “Do you want to see the horses?” He looked at Lily, asleep against her chest. “Will it disturb her?”

Laura smoothed her hand down Lily’s back. “I think she’ll be fine—she sleeps through anything.”

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