Page 66 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Millie.”
“That job we talked about yesterday morning. It’s a go.”
“I’ll take it.”
“Let me give you the details,” she said on a satisfied note.
After jotting a few particulars on the back of Hayley’s grocery list, he ended the call. Okay. This was his life. He’d tried to return home. The folks and Reed seemed to love having him there, but he wasn’t needed. Not with Henry and Cade both still there.
You’re needed.
Right—in some ways, but not in others. He wanted to be needed in all ways.
He went to the door that Hayley had come out of the previous evening when they’d met in the living room. It led to a set of stairs that in turn led into darkness. He snapped the string on the overhead light and made his way down to the washer and dryer hugged against the far wall.
His clothes were dry, and he carried them back upstairs and down the hall to Hayley’s bedroom. She pushed herself up on her elbows as he came through the door, her eyes heavy with sleep. Her welcoming smile faded as she saw that he was carrying his clothing.
“Are you leaving?”
“I have another job.”
She sat up straighter, not bothering to pull the sheet over her breasts, thus messing with Spence’s concentration, but he manned up and asked the question that had been niggling at him for the past several minutes.
“Last night you said that you wanted me to realize I was needed.”
She gave a slow nod.
“I thought you were talking sex.” He tilted his head. “Were you?”
His heart began to beat harder as he waited for her to reply. Not faster, just harder. Knock-against-his-ribs hard.
“No.”
“Explain.”
If Hayley was put off by the one-word demand, she didn’t show it. She gathered the sheet in front of her as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Back to my hypothesis.” She pressed her mouth into a thoughtful line, as if wanting to make sure she got it right when she spoke. “You were sandwiched between a wild older brother and a rambunctious set of twins.”
“Em was rambunctious. Cade was the sidekick.”
“But they were twins.”
“Yes, and you’re right. I was not the center of attention. I think we covered this before?”
“And I’m guessing you didn’t want to be the center of attention,” Hayley said as if he hadn’t spoken, “but you also didn’t want to be squeezed out.”
“What’s your point, Hayley?”
“So you come home to help, and you’re squeezed out again. Henry won’t quit. Cade comes home. You’re not needed, so you’re back on the road. Doing a job a lot of people can’t or won’t do because of the travel. You’re needed there. You do it because it fulfills a need.”
Spence opened his mouth to tell her that she was wrong. Of course she was wrong.
Except... it made perfect sense. Hayley’s theory explained why he, a guy with a stellar upbringing and family life, didn’t put down roots.
He’d gone where he was needed.
“Psychobabble,” he muttered, then glanced up to see that she was smiling at him.
