Page 15 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

“Anytime,” he said and meant it. “Anytime at all.”

When they got to the high school for trunk-or-treat, they had to park down the street and walk to the event, which was being held in the school’s parking lot. Daryl held out his hand as they walked down the sidewalk, and Laura slipped her free hand into his. “I’m surprised they’re still doing this,” she said as they walked. “I remember going to the trunk-or-treat as a kid.”

Daryl remembered that too. His parents didn’t take them every year, but he had a distinct memory of begging for candy dressed as a Transformer. “It’s a project for the homecoming court,” he said. “They have to put it on each year as part of their duties.”

Laura glanced at him. “Were you on homecoming court?”

Daryl shook his head. “Nah, but Kyle and his buddy Shane were during their senior year. He came home with a list of things he had to do. Mom was psyched, and even though Kyle didn’t really care, she had already gotten her cancer diagnosis, so he went along with it for her sake.”

“That was sweet of him.”

They wove their way through the crush of people milling around the decorated cars, stopping here and there so that Lily could “trick or treat.” At one car—decorated like a unicorn, complete with gigantic horn affixed to the roof—they run into Sam Carden and his baby daughter, Molly. “Hey, Carden!” Daryl called, getting the man’s attention.

Sam turned, and Daryl had to bite back a laugh: Sam’s face had been painted to make him look like a frog. Molly had a tiara on her head. “Say nothing, Rivers,” Sam warned a split second before he took in Daryl’s outfit and burst into laughter.

“Where’s your better half, Sam?”

The man smiled. “Arielle got roped into helping with the concession booth by Michael.”

Daryl nodded. “Sounds about right.” Michael Townsend was one of his best friends and a natural-born organizer. The man had a way of making things happen—and dragging everyone else along for the ride. To be on the safe side… “Let’s avoid that area,” he told Laura. “Unless you want to be pulled into some task or other.”

Laura laughed and looked at Lily, who was gazing around with wide eyes. “Sounds like a plan.”

“She’s beautiful,” Sam said to her, and she beamed at him. “What’s her name?”

“Lily…and your little princess there?”

“Molly.” The little girl began to fuss. “Well, I think that’s my cue to keep going.”

Lily let out a squeal, and the adults laughed. “Us too, I think,” Laura said, eyes flicking to Daryl. “I’m sure your nieces and nephew are wondering where Uncle Daryl is.”

They bid Sam goodbye and went back to wandering the trunk-or-treat until they found Georgina and the kids, gleefully shoving handfuls of candy into their buckets. He chuckled at his sister’s half-dismayed expression. He glanced down at Laura’s hand, still in his, and at the way she was smiling at Lily. A feeling of contentment swelled in his chest at how right it all felt—being there with her, having her and Lily as a part of his life. He knew it wasn’t forever…but when the time came, he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to let go.Just enjoy the moment, he told himself.Don’t let it go to your head.

NINE

Her house almost looked worse than she’d feared when she and Daryl pushed the door open. They were loaded down with tools and paint: Daryl had told her over coffee that he had cleared his whole schedule today to get started on getting her house repaired. There were some big fixes that had to be made, of course, but that would have to wait until she had unrestricted access to her trust fund. Until then, Daryl had seemed hopeful that they could take care of some of the smaller things themselves. They would make note of anything that was beyond his abilities, and they would find a contractor.

Laura was nervous. Not only had she left Lily with Georgina for the day, a first for her, but the house smelled from being shut up for over a week. The day after moving out, she’d come up to clean up the water that had leaked through the ceiling during that bad rainstorm, but other than that, she’d stayed away. She was a little disturbed by how much shehadn’tbeen thinking about the house until Daryl had brought it up.

When she’d returned to Windy Creek, the only thing she had wanted was to get her house fixed up and settle into raising Lily, but after spending Halloween with Daryl and his family, getting to be a part of that, she realized how lonely living in this house had been for those first few days that she had been back.

“Is this a lost cause?” she asked as they stacked their tools and building materials in the living room.

Daryl looked at her. “You having second thoughts here, Laura Jo?”

He really does know me, she thought, but the wave of affection was quickly followed up by the feeling of dread. Lately, the affection she felt toward him seemed to be tipping toward something else. Something that definitely wasn’t in her plan. She refused to fall in love with Daryl Rivers. She refused to fall in love with anyone; she couldn’t put herself in the position of allowing someone to have that kind of power over her life like that again. “No second thoughts,” she said, pushing those feelings away.But that kiss, she thought yearningly and quickly shook herself again.Stop that. “I’m just worried about putting in all this effort, and we find even bigger problems than I already have.”

He smiled kindly. “It’s going to be fine,” he promised and handed her some safety glasses. She put them on and struck a pose; Daryl made a noise of exaggerated appreciation. “I love a woman in oversized goggles.” Laura knew that he was joking, but it still caused heat to fill her cheeks. Daryl noticed, and his smile became smug and full of a kind of masculine pride. He reached out and touched her cheek. “NowthatI could get used to.”

“Me blushing?”

“You blushing because of me, Laura Jo,” he said in a voice that had grown thick. He brushed his thumb over her cheek again before he seemed to remember himself and stepped away. “Let’s start with the bedrooms—see what we can take care of in there first.”

She nodded, and they went down the hall together to Lily’s room. The ceiling was dotted with yellowed water spots, and the whole room could use a fresh coat of paint to take care of the smell of age and disuse. “Should we check under the carpet too?” she asked. “For mold?”

He sighed. “Yes, we should do that for sure,” Daryl said. “I just really hope there’s no mold. We’d have to tent the whole house and get it fumigated.”

Laura’s stomach rolled uneasily. That would be a huge expense, and they still didn’t have any funds from the trust. But also, it wasn’t something that could be put off. It wouldn’t be safe for Lily in the house if there really was a mold issue. “Let’s get this over with?”

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