Page 42 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
She liked that he’d done that.But then she liked a lot about this guy.
Including kissing him?
Desperate for distraction, she threw herself into the tasks that always accompanied a birth.And pretended to be too busy to hear when her father asked Miles, “Sticking around?”
“If you don’t mind,” Miles said politely.“I’ve never seen a birth firsthand before.”
“Not even your own kid?”
Riley froze, unable to quite believe her father had actually asked that.Or figure out why.After a silent moment in which she could sense the strain even though she wasn’t looking at him, Miles answered in a voice that was so flat it barely seemed human.
“I saw my son born.And watched him die a few minutes later.”
Riley straightened then and turned to look at the two men.Her father looked as if he regretted asking, and Miles as if he regretted answering.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, drawing his gaze.“No one should have to go through that.”
He drew in a deep, audible breath.“It was a long time ago.”
So was her doctor telling her she’d never bear a child, and yet it still jabbed at her.“It only changes over time.It never goes away.”
He shifted his feet, as if uncomfortable.And she knew then for sure he wished he hadn’t said it.“Yeah,” he muttered.
“No wonder you understand so well why Jackson had to move for Jeremy’s sake.”
His eyes widened, in a way she didn’t understand until he spoke again.“I…Jackson doesn’t know.”
“About your son?”She was surprised, as close as the two men were.
He shook his head.“It…never came up.”
“Even when his wife was killed?”her father asked.“That would seem like a good time to say something.”
It wasn’t like her father to pry, and she wondered why he was now.
Miles shrugged.“I thought about it.But I didn’t want him to think I was trying to compare losses, like it was some kind of contest.”
“You only would have been sharing that you understood,” she exclaimed.
He shrugged again and Riley, not for the first time in her life, marveled that two creatures who thought so differently, men and women, ever managed to really connect.
Before that thought could take off running, she turned back to the task at hand, trying to focus on that instead of what Miles had said.And why her father had asked.Pushing like that was very unlike him.
A text notification sounded on her phone.
“That’s Ed,” she said, with a glance at her father, who was watching the new foal carefully as it figured out what hooves and legs were for.
She pulled out the phone and read the text on the screen.Then sighed.“His wife’s a little better, but still not good.He wants to know if they can start a rotation, with two of them coming back to work while one stays with her.”
“That’d help,” Dad said.
She frowned.“I know we need the help, but I’d hate for any of them not to be with her, if…the worst happened.Maybe we should see if we can find some temporary hires.Just for the stuff I can’t physically handle.”
“Or you could call your temporary neighbor.”
Her head snapped around as Miles spoke.“What?”she asked.
“I’m going to be here a while, and I didn’t do any damage yesterday, did I?”
