“Me, too,” Holly said, joy bubbling up in an embarrassing way. “And I don’t like sweet potatoes, either.”
At that revelation Dixie beamed.
Suddenly Colt’s spicy male scent wafted in Holly’s nose, taking her by surprise. In a good way. He hovered at her shoulder and surveyed the potatoes.
“In case anyone was wondering, I happen to like sweet potatoes,” he informed them. “And chicken.”
“You’re definitely odd man out,” Dixie said with a smirk. “Voted off. No longer on the island.”
He put a hand to his heart. “Anything but that.”
“Sorry!” Dixie informed him with a grin. “Sweet potatoes are an automatic disqualification.”
“Ouch. For that, I’m eating all the mashed potatoes. And you have to eat chicken.”
“No way.” She looked at both of them. “I know the two of you probably want to sit with me. And I’m okay with that. But would it be okay if I go sit with Allie? She has a horse and she told me I can ride it.”
“Go ahead,” Holly told her.
With a grin Dixie was off to join her cousin. Allie hadn’t been in the family long. She’d come to Hope with her mother, Rebecca. And then Rebecca had met Isaac and a family had been born.
“We’re going to be okay, you know, and so is she.”
“We didn’t believe we could do it eleven years ago. What makes you think we can do it now?”
“We’re in a much different place than we were back then. We’ve both grown up and I think we’re both responsible adults. We’ll do this. For her. We can build a friendship.” He gave her an earnest look. “Trust me.”
Trust. That was the part where their relationship always broke down. For Dixie’s sake she wanted to—needed to—trust him.
Her heart wanted to believe it could happen. But her head...not so much.
Chapter Seven
On Monday morning, Colt knocked on Holly’s door. He could hear what sounded like chaos inside. Someone running. Someone else yelling about a backpack. He knocked again and Opal appeared. She looked at him through the window of the locked door.
“Opal, please let me in.”
She shook her head.
“Opal, I need to help Holly.”
“She’s going to school,” Opal yelled through the door.
He knocked a third time, then he pulled out his phone and called Holly. She answered, breathless.
“Opal won’t let me in in the house. I’m here to help get Dixie ready for school.”
“Really? Because you know what shoes go with skinny jeans and which top will make her look cool and which one makes her look like a loser?”
Holly opened the door, her hair in a messy bun that probably hadn’t started out as such.
“Come in, because if you think you can handle this, have at it.” She motioned him inside. “She’s in the living room. Wailing.”
“I’m not wailing,” Dixie called from the front of the house. “I can’t go to school my first day looking like a loser. I get that you wore a unicorn costume for picture day, but I’m not that...” She paused. “Brave.”
Entering the living room, Colt saw that Dixie had three pairs of shoes on the floor in front of her, two tops in her hand, and her hair was sticking out in all directions. Colt wasn’t an expert but he was pretty sure they were going to be late for her first day of school.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Dixie hid her face in a throw pillow she grabbed off the couch.
“I’m sorry.” He looked at the clothing, then said, “I think the tan sneakers and the pink shirt.”
She looked at them, then held them together. She held the shirt up to her body and slipped a foot in the shoe.
“You think?”
“Yeah, I think.” He winked at Holly.
She didn’t look amused. He guessed if he’d been arguing with a preteen about clothing, he wouldn’t be in the best mood, either.
“I don’t know...” Dixie began.
“You know that outfit is as good as any,” he told her, taking her by the shoulders and guiding her to the stairs. “Get up there and get dressed. Being on time is important.”
She huffed at that. “What if no one likes me?”
“Everyone will like you, I promise, and you’re going to look great,” he encouraged. “But you have to get there first.”
“Right.” Finally, she stomped up the stairs.
Holly sighed loudly, then sat down on the bench in the foyer. “That was exhausting. And as much as I appreciate your help, I’m a little miffed that you could swoop in, pick an outfit and have her upstairs in five minutes.”
“I have some skills.”
“Mmm-hmm. I already told her that outfit was good.”
He pulled her into his arms and she went willingly.
“It’s going to work out. I promise.”
“Is it?” she asked. “I want it to. I want her more than I can even put into words. But I don’t know if she wants me. And I don’t know if I’m good for her. I’m so tired and I had to leave the café mid-breakfast rush in order to get here and wake her up.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been here to help.”
She looked up at him, her expression unsettled. But as he rubbed her back she put her head against his shoulder. He stroked her hair and after a moment she gazed up into his eyes.
Slowly he lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. At first she was still, but then her hands moved from his shoulders to his neck. She kissed him back, her lips brushing his.
Just then, they heard a door slam and then someone running. He heard Dixie make a gagging noise.
“No PDA,” she called out from the top of the stairs. “I’m young and impressionable.”
“We’re your parents,” Colt informed her.
“Yeah, but...that’s just not okay. I don’t want to see that.”
Even though Holly had turned bright red, she laughed and Colt felt a wave of relief. She was okay. They weren’t falling apart. She wasn’t pushing him away. She might not have noticed, but she’d remained in his arms.
Dixie came down the stairs, a backpack over her shoulder, her dark hair in a braid. “I’m not going to be late.”
“No, you’re not.” Holly herded her to the back door.
“What about Grandma Opal?” Dixie asked as they went out the back door.
“I’ll check on her,” Holly promised. “I try to come home several times a day.”
“Will she be safe by herself?” Dixie asked they headed for Colt’s truck.
“She’ll be fine. She’s used to this routine.” Holly had her keys out and Colt didn’t know how to stop her or if he should.
“Can’t we all go together?” Dixie asked, taking care of the situation for him.
Holly looked from her car to his truck. “I suppose we can go together.”
They climbed in his pickup and headed towards school. Dixie jabbered for the first few minutes, then she was silent.
“What if no one likes me?” she whispered.
“They’ll like you,” he told her. “Give them time. Give it a chance.”
He glanced in his rearview mirror. She made quick eye contact with him and looked away.
“I miss my friends,” she admitted. “I didn’t tell them goodbye. But they might wonder where I’m at.”
“I think Daisy probably took care of things,” Colt told her. “But we can get numbers and you can call your friends.”
“I miss Daisy, too.” Then there was silence again. He saw her swipe at a tear sliding down her cheek. Another followed.
Holly half turned in her seat. “We can call Daisy. Maybe she could come see you or we could go visit her. And pick up some of your stuff that you’re missing.”
Dixie nodded. “I’d like tha
t. I don’t think she would come, and she has the twins.”
“Twins?” Holly choked on the word. “What?”
Colt sighed. Dixie sighed.
“I’m not good at keeping secrets,” Dixie said.
Colt agreed with that. “It’s hard to do.”
“Should you all tell me something?”
“We can’t.” Dixie spoke softly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that... Daisy made me promise.”
“Of course.” Holly gave him a look and he shrugged. He’d made the same promise.
He pulled up in front of the school. “Here we are.”
“Here we are,” Dixie said a little too happily.
“Yes,” Holly repeated. “Here we are. Saved by the bell.”
He parked and they walked together into the school. Dixie stayed between them and he thought he heard her teeth clenching.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “Really.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered.
“I had to change schools when I wasn’t much older than you. My mom left my dad and we headed to Texas. We never came back.”
“You never saw your dad again?”
He shook his head. “Not until recently.”
“I can’t imagine not seeing you again. Even if I live with Daisy, I would still want to see you.”
Holly’s face fell. Dixie must have noticed because she gave a bright smile.
“I would want to see you both,” she said.
“The point is,” he said. “Going to a new school can be scary, but it can also be a good experience. You’ll make new friends, maybe learn new things, try new activities.”
“I guess.” She shifted her backpack to her other shoulder. “Like maybe volleyball. I wanted to play but there were a lot of girls on the team. We couldn’t all play.”
“We can check into volleyball,” Holly assured her.
And just like that, they were doing the parent thing. It felt good. Maybe better than good. They entered the school office together and filled out some paperwork. Holly told her she could come over to the café after school.
Normal parent stuff.
Then they had to leave her, because that’s what parents did. Colt didn’t want to tell her goodbye or leave her with strangers.
Holly took his hand. “Come on, she’ll be fine. If there are any problems, they’ll call us.”
He wasn’t so sure about that. “Do they have our numbers? Maybe we should have gotten her a cell phone. What about lunch?”
Holly led him out the front door. She hugged him tight and he knew that the dampness on his shirt came from her tears. She wasn’t as tough as she’d let on.
“We did it,” she blubbered. “Oh wow, I can’t imagine what kindergarten would have been like.”
He wanted to imagine it. In his mind, he saw a boy with dark hair and dark eyes with his mother’s sweetness. The desire to have that dream became a living thing in his mind.
What did Holly dream about? Did she think about them as a family, having more children, doing this parenting thing together? Or was she content with the way things were between them, co-parenting, him on the road part of the year?
He’d never considered himself to be a coward but when it came to knowing the truth about her feelings, he didn’t have the courage to ask.
Not yet.
* * *
There were several police cars in front of the café. Officers were gathered in a group. Carson West stood with them.
And then she saw her mother.
“Colt, they have my mom.” As soon as the truck slowed to a stop, she jumped out and ran, leaving him to figure it out for himself.
“Holly, she’s fine,” Carson said, taking her by the arm.
“What is she doing here?” She tugged away from him and hurried to her mother’s side. “Mom, are you okay?”
Opal was clearly confused. “I couldn’t find the school but I knew I had to pick you up.”
“No, Mom, I took Dixie to school. Remember?”
“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Opal let out a long sigh and shook her head. “I just don’t know.”
“I can take her home now.” She put an arm around her mother’s waist but knew as she looked from Carson to the officers that she wasn’t taking her mom home again. Ever.
Colt limped toward them, and oh, how she needed him there. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know why her heart would pick the person who had broken her and would more than likely do it again, but right now, she needed him.
“Holly.” One of the officers, a regular, cleared his throat. “Miss Carter, we found your mom walking along the highway outside of town. She was clearly confused. We asked her for an address so we could take her home but she couldn’t remember.”
Tears fell, hot and salty, down her cheeks. She swiped at them, angry for the weakness, angry that she hadn’t done better. She put her hands on her mother’s cheeks and looked deep into dark eyes, wanting to see recognition.
“Mom.” She whispered it again. Opal gave her a sympathetic look.
“Holly, you have to keep her safe and you can’t do that at home anymore.” Colt’s hand rested on her back, giving her strength.
She’d kept it together for so long. She’d managed it all without having to rely on anyone. As it came crashing down on her, she thanked God that Colt, as much as his presence troubled her, was here. Because without him, she knew she would have been alone.
“Holly, we can take her to Lakeside.” Carson’s gaze shifted from Colt to her and then to Opal. He smiled at her mom. “I called and they have a room available for her. She’ll be less than five miles away.”
“I know,” Holly agreed. “I know I have to do this. I just don’t know how I can.” What would life be like without Opal in their home?
Colt’s hand grabbed hers. “I’m here.”
She nodded, unable to talk for the incredible lump in her throat.
“Carson, I have another call. If you all have this taken care of, we’re going to take off.” Officer Gentry spoke up. “I’m sorry about all of this, Holly. I know how tough this is for you. My grandmother has dementia.”
She nodded, managing a weak attempt at a smile. “I appreciate you all bringing her here.”
Dementia was the epidemic that every family understood. She only wished they didn’t have to. She wished that no one ever had to suffer the loss of their memories, their loved ones, everything they’d ever known. And she wished it hadn’t happened to her mother. Opal had struggled to be a good mother and just as she’d settled down, in Holly’s twenties, dementia had hit, affecting her the way the drugs and mental illness had done.
“Holly, you’ll probably need to drive her,” Carson spoke up. “Right now she probably wouldn’t get in my car.”
“We can take her in my truck,” Colt answered. She let him take control because she was so tired of always being the one in charge.
“I can get her clothes later.” She knew her mother would be worried about that.
“But I have to go home.” Opal gave her a worried look. “Where are they taking me? For surgery?”
“No, Mom, we’re taking you to Lakeside Manor.” Holly watched her mother’s expression grow more confused and she knew there was no way to really explain. “You have friends there.”
“Oh, good. I like friends.”
Holly took her mother by the arm and guided her to Colt’s truck. She glanced back at the café.
“I should tell Stacy what I’m doing. They expected me to be back after dropping Dixie at school.” She helped her mother into the back seat. As a precaution she flipped the child safety latch in the door.
Colt stood next to her, watching her with dark-lashed gray eyes that saw her more clearly than anyone. To everyone else, she might as wel
l be wallpaper. She existed, but did they ever really see her?
“Call her, Holly. I’m sure everyone in that café saw what went down and they all know. Stacy is a good worker and she understands your business. Let her help.” Colt opened the front passenger door. “Get in.”
She stood there facing him. “You’re bossy.”
He grinned. She grinned. It felt good to know she could smile. She closed her eyes and thanked God, because without Him, she knew she’d be falling apart. She whispered a prayer and thanked Him for putting up with her, for understanding when she didn’t go to church and for sending Colt to help her through this.
“Holly?” Colt’s voice held concern.
She opened her eyes and smiled. “I’m fine. I just needed a minute to get it together and to thank God for you. Don’t let that go to your head.”
“Too late.” He winked and motioned her into the truck. She climbed in.
“He’s a nice young man.” Opal leaned forward, stretching her seat belt.
“He is,” Holly agreed. “Mom, sit back so you’re safe.”
“I’ve never been a good person,” Opal whispered.
“You’re a good person.” Holly smiled at a memory. “You built a fire once and we had s’mores for dinner. What other kid got to do that?”
“I don’t know but it doesn’t sound good to me,” Opal said.
“It was very good.”
Colt had climbed in and started the truck. “Are you ladies talking about me?”
From the back seat Opal laughed. “You’re not nice. You broke Holly’s heart.”
“Mom!” Holly covered her face with her hands.
Colt backed the truck out of the parking space and headed for the highway. “I know I did, Opal. But I’m trying to make up for that.”
“Are you going to marry her?” Opal asked.
“She won’t have me.” Colt glanced at Holly and she gave him the best frown she could manage. “I don’t deserve her.”
“That’s probably true. I went for a walk earlier and I met a nice young man.”
Just like that, Opal was gone. Holly knew that in time she’d disappear for good, lost inside a body with no memory of who she used to be or the people who loved her.
The Prodigal Cowboy (Mercy Ranch Book 5) Page 8