Page 38 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

Daryl was quiet for a moment, and Laura thought that he would leave without saying anything else. She could tell he contemplated it for a moment. “I have bent over backwards to accommodate you,” he said in a quiet, strained tone. “I’ve left my family in the lurch more times than I can count because I was with you. Kyle gothurtbecause I was so wrapped up in what you needed that I forgot all about him.” Laura flinched when he mentioned Kyle. She would never forgive herself for that: she wasn’t totally to blame, and they both knew it, but she did forget to put the hearing on his calendar. She had said that she would handle that, and it completely slipped her mind.

“I never asked you for that,” she insisted, but her words were weak in her own ears. She swallowed and tried again. “I never wanted to disrupt your life.”

“You did,” he said flatly. “You disrupted my entire life, and the worst part is that I don’t regret a moment of that because I wanted you to be happy. I just don’t know what it is that you want from me.”

Laura took a breath; her anger abated slightly. In a sudden moment of clarity, she saw that she could forgive him, accept that he truly didn’t mean to hurt her by pulling down her growth chart, and they could move on from this. The option was there. But she knew that couldn’t happen. He had been right about one thing—they’d been heading toward this ever since the hearing. It might as well happen now. They needed to move on with their lives. “There’s nothing that I want from you,” she said, “besides an annulment. Jeanette has already started putting together the paperwork, and once everything is signed, I’ll transfer the money from the trust to you so that you can pay off the ranch’s debts.” She made her voice as flat and matter-of-fact as she could manage, but she couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes.

“So that’s it?” he asked.

“That’s it,” she said with a nod. “I’ll come by later to get our things.”

Daryl looked around. “You’re going to stay in a construction zone just to get away from me? You don’t have to do that, Laura Jo.”

He stepped towards her, but Laura forced herself to step back. If he touched her, she would give in, and she had to be strong. Not just for herself, but for Lily too. “If it comes to that, we can pay to stay in a hotel or get a temporary rental. With access to my funds, I won’t have any trouble affording something. Lily and I need to learn to stand on our own feet again,” she said, “and we can’t do that if we’re always relying on you.” The broken, frustrated expression on Daryl’s face nearly broke her resolve. She looked away. “I think you should go.”

The words landed between them like they were made of lead. Daryl stood there for a moment, and then he nodded. Laura moved so that he could get through the bedroom door. Although she wanted to, she would not allow herself to watch him leave the house. She had this horrifying thought that if she did watch him go, she would run after him.

Lily smacked her chubby, baby hand against her face, bringing her gaze down to her daughter. If an infant could look affronted, that was Lily’s expression. “I had to do it,” she murmured. “How am I going to teach you to be strong and independent if we rely on him, huh? What kind of mother would that make me?” She nuzzled her daughter’s hair, breathing in her comforting scent. “We’re going to be okay, just us two.”

The rumble of Daryl’s truck started and then faded as he pulled down the driveway and drove away. When she couldn’t hear that sound anymore, Laura allowed herself to pull in a shuddering breath. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she did nothing to stop them. She rocked with Lily, nearly dancing down the hallway and back into their living room. Broken baseboards and crown molding were everywhere: he hadn’t gotten to the point of bagging everything up to throw it away. “Let’s get this mess cleaned up,” she murmured more to herself than to Lily.

TWENTY-THREE

“Do you think this sounds good?” Daryl asked Kyle as they sat at the kitchen table. “‘Ranch looking to hire experienced hand who has worked with cattle and can easily lift fifty pounds.’”

Kyle mulled it over for a moment. “Sounds good to me,” he said and took a bite of his eggs. Daryl had gotten up early to make them both breakfast. Truth be told, Daryl hadn’t gone to sleep. He hadn’t been sleeping well since Laura moved out; it had started when she moved out of his room, but now that all traces of her and Lily had disappeared from the house, he felt empty.

Daryl had buried himself in work around the ranch to make up for Kyle’s absence, but now he was behind on his leather projects. It was time to find some more permanent help on the ranch: they had Caleb and a few floater hands, but they needed at least one more permanent hand. Maybe two, if they could afford it in a few months. “What’s on the schedule for today?” Daryl asked.

“Stitches removal.”

He looked up at his brother. “Already? Are you sure they’re ready to come out?”

“If I keep them for one more day, I’m going to rip them out myself,” Kyle said flatly, and Daryl couldn’t bite back a little laugh. After the first two or three days, Kyle began complaining about how much the stitches itched. The complaints were growing more colorful by the day.

“Do you need a ride?”

“Georgina’s coming to pick me up for the appointment,” Kyle said, and Daryl did his best to nod and not take it personally. He and Kyle hadn’t really talked about the night he got hurt, outside of Daryl apologizing, but Kyle had thanked him for stepping up when it came to covering for him on the ranch. That ‘thank you’ had been physically painful for Daryl: his younger brother shouldn’t have to thank him for doing the work that he should already be doing.

Despite the civility that now existed between them, Kyle had kept Daryl at arms’ length. He hadn’t wanted to talk to Daryl about anything but the ranch. Daryl couldn’t blame him, but he missed his brother. “I’ll get with Caleb about anything that needs to get done today.”

Kyle nodded. “Sounds good.”

Daryl cleared the table, and because he needed to meet with Caleb, he threw the plates and pan into the dishwasher instead of giving them a quick wash in the sink. When he bent down to put the plates on the bottom row, something small and pink at the bottom of the washer caught his eye. He shifted the rack out as far as he could and reached inside: he pulled out one of Lily’s infant spoons. Laura must have dropped it and didn’t realize. It was the first sign that Laura and Lily had been here, and it hurt more than it should.

“Dude, are you crying over a spoon?”

Daryl stood up, still clutching the pink plastic, and looked at Kyle. “I’m not crying.”

Kyle didn’t look convinced. “Have you talked to her?”

He knew that he shouldn’t question why Kyle was suddenly interested in talking to him again, but he couldn’t help but feel incredulous that his brother would choose now to start a conversation, especially about Laura. “She doesn’t want to hear from me,” he said.

“So, you haven’t called,” Kyle said, and Daryl could hear him rolling his eyes. “You’re giving up.”

Jackass. His hands balled into fists. “There was nothing to give up,” he said. “She made that very clear when she told me she was moving out. There was never anything there.”

“Oh, come on,” Kyle scoffed. “You and I both know that’s bullshit.”

---