Page 3 of Cowboy Stalker
Turning the key, I pray the air conditioning starts tonight. But it’s the wrong prayer to mutter because the engine won’t start. I try twice before I put my head against the steering wheel.
Daisy stirs in the backseat, letting out a soft cry. It’s almost time for her next bottle, and she’s already getting fussy. Before I can decide what to do, there’s a gentle rap on my window.
I yelp and turn to see Griffin standing there. So much for being situationally aware.
Grasping the handle, I roll it down. Yeah, my car is that old. My budget didn’t stretch far enough to get me anything made within the last twenty years.
He leans down, his face so close to my own. He gives me a sympathetic look. “Do you and the little one want a lift?”
Chapter 2
Griffin
There’s a moment when everything feels right in your world. For me, that moment was the first time I wrapped my hands around Missy’s hips. Holding her close felt like stepping into church after a long time away. Holy and sacred. It was an experience that I knew I wanted again and again for the rest of my life.
That’s why I’m hanging around the parking lot of Ernie’s Diner. He’s already flipped the sign to closed, but I’m waiting for Missy, the new waitress in town. She’s a pretty little thing with eyes as blue as a Carolina sky after a rainstorm.
She felt the chemistry between us. I saw it on her face when she was in my arms. But she’s scared of something. I don’t know what it is yet, but I plan to figure it out. Then I’ll help her put those fears to rest so we can start building a life together.
Aunt Dorothy, the woman who raised me, always said love will hit you out of the blue. I didn’t quite know what she meant until today. Now, I get it. The moment I laid eyes on her, my soul took its first breath. I was born the moment she smiled at me.
Standing in the dark behind my truck, I fiddle with my phone. For a moment, I debate calling Luke, the local sheriff and my boss. It feels weird to say that about a man I grew up with, but I got tired of being a beat cop in the city. Saw too much crime and too many politicians hamstringing us from doing our job.
If I had it my way, the victim would get to decide the punishment. Not a district attorney who’s more interested in making a name for himself than actually standing up for truth and justice. Crying shame, if you ask me. No one asked me though, so I quietly left.
I can’t deny that I’ve felt a pull toward home for the past year. Now I can’t help but wonder if it was her. Sweet Missy calling me home. What if I’d continued to ignore the churning in my gut that said to come back? What if I’d never met my sweet angel?
The thought sends an unexpected pang of pain through my being. I laid eyes on her for the first time today, and I’m already having trouble at the thought of letting her go. That’s why I’m still hanging around the parking lot.
I need to know she gets home safe tonight. I need to know she’s safe every day. If that makes me obsessive, I don’t care.
Finally, I pocket my phone. I won’t call Luke and demand he run a background check on the new waitress in town. I’ll be patient and let her tell me what’s made her so skittish.
The door to the diner swings open, and I straighten at the sight of my curvy woman leaving. Only, she has something she’s carrying. It’s too square shaped to possibly be a garbage bag. I squint in the dark, trying to make out the shape, when it hits me clear in the chest what it is. She has a baby car seat clutched in her hand.
My heart skips a beat, and joy fills me. She has a child. A little one I can look after and spoil. I didn’t think life could get better than discovering my soulmate. But now I’m seeing she has a baby. The family I’ve always wanted is being handed right to me. I could fall on my knees in gratitude.
Missy takes a step back, and I realize I must have shifted and drawn attention to myself. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She relaxes when she sees it’s me, and I take that as a good sign. Even though she’s scared, she knows she can trust me on some level. “Don’t worry about it.”
She settles the little one in the backseat. I have a million questions about her and her child, but I don’t let myself pepper her with any of them. There will be time to get to know them, I remind myself.
It’s hard to be patient when I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Only this time, Santa brought me a family. Seems too good to be true.
She climbs into her car. It’s an aging piece of junk. I make a note to replace it soon. I won’t allow her and the little one to want for anything. It’s my job to take care of them now, and that’s what I plan to do.
I listen as she starts her car. The ignition turns over and over again, but nothing is happening. I swear under my breath. Yep, she definitely needs something reliable.
I rap on the window, hating the way she startles. When she rolls it down, I do my best to keep my voice soft. I don’t want to scare her any more than I already have tonight. “Do you and the little one want a lift?”
She doesn’t want to accept my offer. I can see it on her face plain as day, but then her baby lets out a wail. She looks back at the diner and says, more to herself than me, “Ernie and Lorna have already done so much for us. I’d hate to bother them with this.”
She’s out the door faster than I expect and is already opening the baby’s door. “I really appreciate this. Are you sure it’s not too much of a bother? I can walk.”
Courage County is safe enough for a person to walk after dark. But the thought of her wandering the streets alone has my blood pressure rising dangerously fast. “Folks around here help out their neighbors.”
I don’t have to convince her. She has the baby out and strapped into my truck before I can even offer help. She has the car cleared in less than sixty seconds, climbing into the passenger seat with the green diaper bag clutched tightly in her hand.
