The Prodigal Cowboy (Mercy Ranch Book 5)

by Brenda Minton

  “I know, but still...”

  He smiled down at her, flashing that charming grin of his, the one that made her knees weak. She couldn’t be weak tonight. She needed the truth from him. She needed to know when he was leaving. And when he’d come back.

  As they waited for Dixie to take her turn in the arena, members of the West family joined them. Carson, Kylie, their children and Isaac, as well as Daisy. They all stood together, talking about Dixie’s chances of winning the competition.

  “She’ll be fine,” Colt said, seeming as if he were reassuring himself more than anyone.

  “Yes, she will.” Holly agreed. Dixie would be fine. They would make sure of it. Dixie wouldn’t live the life Holly had, a life without a father. A life spent caring for a mother who could never take care of herself. No matter what, Dixie’s life would be different than Holly’s had been.

  Dixie was up next and all talking ceased as her horse shot from the gate and headed for the poles that were spaced twenty-one feet apart. Dixie and Flash raced to the end of the line of poles and started their way back, weaving between the poles, turning on the last and winding back to the far end before racing straight back to the finish.

  They were all yelling and cheering her on. Colt climbed the fence and waved his hat as she crossed the finish line. When he hopped off, he grabbed Holly up, spinning her in a circle before putting her down. Taking her hand, he headed with her through the crowd to congratulate their daughter. She hadn’t won, but she came in third.

  She was smiling and happy with the ribbon, with her horse, with her life.

  Holly wanted her to always be like this, smiling and happy. She knew there would be hard times ahead for them, but tonight showed them all that there would be good times, too.

  * * *

  An hour later Colt shook his head and backed away from Isaac and Carson. Joe, the foreman at Mercy Ranch, stood a few feet away. Laughing. They were all laughing, so he couldn’t just blame Joe. They all thought it was pretty funny.

  Joe pointed to his missing arm. “It isn’t like I can hold a cup and milk a cow.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you an out on that one. But I am the guy who recently had a broken back.”

  “Cracked,” Carson inserted in his dry way.

  “That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.” Colt started to walk away but Isaac stopped him.

  “Come on, brother, this is all about bonding. We’re family. This is what we do.”

  “You want me to milk a cow that’s never been milked!” Colt reached for his horse’s reins. “That isn’t brotherly love. That’s torture.”

  “Chicken,” Joe said quietly. “I thought you liked a challenge.”

  “I do like a challenge,” Colt shot back. “But this isn’t a challenge, it’s a guaranteed trip to the hospital in the back of an ambulance.”

  “Trust us,” Isaac said, his ever-present toothpick stuck in the corner of his mouth.

  Colt laughed at those sage words. “Trust you?”

  “You won’t have to grab the heifer or drag her around, nothing too strenuous,” Carson offered.

  “Just rope her and then hop down and get a squirt of milk. One squirt, Colt. The rest of us will hold her.” Isaac pulled at his hat, making sure that his good ear was toward the conversation. Colt guessed that with the noise of the crowds, he had a difficult time hearing everyone.

  “Fine, if this is what I have to do to prove my brotherly loyalty, so be it.”

  “Said like a true West,” Isaac said, grinning.

  Like a West. He was a West. He’d been one from the day of his birth, screaming his way into the world. “Let’s go.”

  Despite his arguments, Colt found himself on horseback, joining Joe in a mad attempt to rope a cow that had no intentions of being their victim. After a failed attempt, Joe managed to rope her; Colt brought her around for Carson and Isaac to help subdue her. He laughed as he watched his brothers grabbing at her. He dismounted and rushed into the fray. Carson had her by the tail, Isaac by the head. She was still moving, taking them with her.

  Colt moved close to her side, grabbing at her as she twisted and turned. “It’ll be easy, they said. Fun, they said. This isn’t fun.” But he was laughing and so were they.

  He managed to get the cup under her belly and just as she gave a little kick to escape, he squirted a stream of milk into the tin cup. Ignoring the sharp pain in his leg, he hurried to the chalk circle at the front of the arena and handed the judge the cup.

  They didn’t win but Colt didn’t care. He’d managed to milk that cow. The bonus was that he, Joe and his brothers gave back-pounding man hugs as they walked away from the arena.

  He would never admit it but Isaac had been right about the bonding thing. It felt pretty good to spend this time with his family. On his way back to the trailer, he walked his horse to let himself and the animal have a break. When he reached the truck he realized he had company.

  Holly sat on the lowered tailgate of his truck. The sight of her waiting there for him took his breath away. She didn’t notice him and he paused to look at her. She had her head tilted up, looking at the millions of stars that glittered in the night sky. Her hair had come loose and tendrils hung around her face. He wanted to kiss her.

  He sat next to her but didn’t reach for her. He wanted her to know that she controlled the narrative of their relationship. Whatever she needed from him, he wanted to be the person she could count on.

  “Tonight was good,” she finally said.

  “It was. Dixie had a good time.”

  “I know.” Holly held her hand out and he took it. “I think we have to talk to her. About where she wants to be. I think she needs for us to be able to hear what is going on in her heart and head without being upset, because it might not be what we want to hear.”

  “I agree.”

  “It hurts,” she said, sobbing. Then she leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said. “We’ll figure this out.”

  He knew better than to make promises but he wanted to promise her everything. He wanted to tell her that Dixie would choose them. He wanted to tell her that he chose her.

  For now, holding Holly in his arms was enough.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Holly woke up Sunday morning curled on the couch with her daughter. They’d fallen asleep watching a movie, both having been exhausted by the rodeo event. She stretched, trying to relieve the kink in her neck and undo the back spasm that had woken her, and rolled off the couch. Cooter had been sleeping on the ottoman. He gave Holly an imploring look and she nodded. The dog relocated, curling up next to Dixie, who murmured in her sleep and pulled the dog close.

  For a long time Holly sat on the ottoman that Cooter had abandoned. She watched as her daughter slept, thinking of all the moments she had missed. She didn’t want to miss another second of Dixie’s life.

  Holly quietly walked to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and put biscuits in the oven. She spooned apple butter into a bowl and placed it in the microwave to heat. It seemed like the perfect comfort food for a morning like this one. Coffee and biscuits smothered in warm apple butter.

  She heard a car coming up the drive. It was Daisy in her red convertible.

  Holly poured herself a cup of coffee and watched as Daisy headed for the back door. Colt should be joining them soon. A quick glance at the clock on the stove made her realize that Daisy had arrived early.

  Holly met Daisy on the patio. “Can we sit out here?”

  In answer, Daisy pulled out a chair and sat down. “Does Dixie know we’re having this meeting?”

  “No, I wanted us all to talk before we talk to her.”

  Daisy placed a hand over Holly’s. “I don’t want to see you hurt. I think you’ve been hurt enough.”

  “I’m okay,”
Holly managed. “I know we will all be okay. I just want to make sure Dixie is okay.”

  “I promise you, we’re on the same side, Holly.”

  Holly buried her face in her hands, then brushed her hair back from her face. “I know.”

  Colt’s truck pulled up.

  “Do you want coffee?” Holly asked Daisy, preparing to get up. She needed to move, to do something other than sit and wait for whatever this conversation would be.

  “I never drink the stuff. But thank you.”

  Colt joined them on the porch. “Stay put and I’ll get the pot and bring it out.”

  “Thank you.” Holly smiled up at him and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

  He returned with a tray holding the thermal carafe of coffee, two mugs and spoons as well as the sugar bowl and creamer. He brought hot tea for his sister.

  “You’re a natural at this waitressing stuff,” Daisy teased her brother. “I don’t know why there have been so many complaints around town.”

  “Maybe because people don’t like to wear their sweet tea?” Colt offered.

  They shared a laugh, then the three grew serious because they all knew this wasn’t about sharing work stories; this was about Dixie and her future.

  “Why don’t we cut to the chase?” Daisy said. “I’d rather not sit here and pretend we’re all happy with the situation Becky put us in.”

  “I think she had the best intentions,” Holly offered. “But I don’t know that this is the best thing for Dixie. She’s trying to adjust and I think in time she will, but to be pulled away from everything and everyone she’s known and loved and placed with strangers... I can’t imagine how that feels. I had a chaotic childhood but I always had my grandmother. I had that stability.”

  “I don’t think that Dixie lacks stability,” Colt said. “We’ve done our best.”

  Holly reached for his hand. “We have done our best but it’s a simply bandage on a broken heart. She needs us but she needs her past more.”

  “Okay, so what do we do?” Daisy asked as she reached for the teacup, swirling the tea bag as she studied the brew inside.

  “We have an honest discussion with her about what she wants.” It hurt to even say the words. To think about losing her daughter all over again. She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

  “Holly, we don’t have to do this right now,” Daisy said, objecting to the plan. “I can’t imagine how you must feel. She’s yours and I know you’ve always wanted her.”

  “I do want her, Daisy. But I also want her happy. I want her to come here when she’s ready. Not because she has to.”

  “So we talk to her?” Daisy swiped at a tear that trickled down her cheek.

  “We do.” Holly picked up her cup and stood. “I have breakfast.”

  They gathered the tray, the coffee and sugar and the three of them walked up the steps and made their way to the kitchen. They found Dixie inside, making herself chocolate milk.

  “There’s the coffee,” she said. “I was looking for that.”

  “You’re too young to drink coffee,” Colt growled.

  She laughed at him, but the laughter soon faded as she looked from one adult to the other.

  “Are you having breakfast with us?” Dixie asked Daisy as she sat down at the kitchen table. She stuck her finger in the apple butter for a taste and Holly moved the container away from her.

  “I am. I have to get back to Broken Arrow,” Daisy said. “But I’ll be back at the end of the month.”

  “Is that when I go home?” Dixie asked.

  The words struck sharp, piercing Holly to the core. She’d hoped that Dixie was beginning to think of Hope as her home. She had wanted her daughter more than she could put into words, and even if it was selfish, she wanted Dixie to choose her.

  She turned away to the sink, needing something to do until she could gather her courage and blink away the tears that threatened to fall. She drew in a shuddery breath. Colt gave her a smile of encouragement.

  Last night as she and Dixie had drifted off to sleep on the couch, Holly had prayed for her daughter, for their future, and that they would make the right choices for Dixie.

  Right now she prayed for peace.

  Daisy put a biscuit on a plate and handed it to Dixie. The girl took it and spooned apple butter over the top.

  “Why are you all staring at me?” Dixie asked as she scooped up a bite. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Holly assured her. “You’re actually perfect. With an extra dose of spunk.”

  Daisy took a seat at the table, with Holly and Colt following, their chairs scraping on the hardwood floor. Dixie stopped eating and sat her fork on the plate with a clank.

  “You’re scaring me.”

  Holly looked to Colt, needing him to take the lead. He nodded but first he took off his hat and bowed his head just long enough for her to know he had prayed.

  “Dixie, this is about the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Second hardest.” His eyes filled with moisture that he blinked away.

  “You all just need to say what you want to say,” Dixie said, her voice sharp and the pitch high.

  “We think that this whole guardianship agreement has been unfair to you,” Colt told her. “As excited as we were to bring you here and spend time with you, we think it was unfair for the pressure to be put on you and we think it was unfair to move you here without giving you time to adjust to the idea.”

  Dixie took another bite of biscuit and apple butter and she chewed, acting as if nothing had been said, that none of this concerned her. Holly wanted to pull her close and make it all go away, all of the heartache, the confusion, the loss.

  “Well,” Dixie finally said, “I guess it hasn’t been easy.”

  “We want you to be able to do what feels best to you,” Holly told her daughter. “We know that none of this is easy but we want you to feel free to tell us what you’d like to do.”

  “Like right now, or at the end of the month?” Dixie bit down on her lip and a tear trickled down her cheek. She looked at Holly with hurt filling her gray eyes. “You don’t want me?”

  “Oh, Dixie, of course I want you. I want you so much. But more than that, I want you to be happy. I know you’re trying to act happy but I know you’re still sad sometimes. And that’s okay, too.”

  As they talked, Cooter came into the room. He eyed the humans and went directly to Dixie, practically crawling into her lap until she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

  “So it’s all up to me?” Dixie said, drying her eyes.

  “Pretty much.” Holly looked from her daughter to Daisy. “I think we all want you to know that we love you and that no matter what, we will continue to love you and be here for you. But for right now, we want to know that you’re happy and whatever you choose, we’ll work things out.”

  Dixie buried her face in Cooter’s scruffy neck. “I don’t want to make you sad.” She peeked up at Holly. “But I think I want to go home with Aunt Daisy. I miss my stuff and my friends. I miss my school.”

  With those words, Holly’s heart broke. Dixie pushed Cooter out of her lap, got up from her seat, and crawled into Holly’s lap, wrapping her arms around Holly’s neck.

  “I won’t be gone forever. I promise. I just want to go home for a little while.”

  “She can come back as soon as school is out,” Daisy suggested.

  Holly whispered into Dixie’s hair. “If you want, I’ll come see you.”

  “I want you to come see me,” Dixie said. “And Dad, too.”

  “I’ll be there,” Colt assure her. “And we’ll be here whenever you want us, whenever you want to come back.”

  Holly shot him a look, wondering about that statement. She would be here. She would always be here. But Colt had never planned to stay. Two d
ays ago she’d heard him discussing a clowning gig that he couldn’t miss.

  It was wrong to give Dixie false hope like that. Wasn’t it?

  * * *

  “When do we leave?” Dixie asked Colt’s sister.

  Daisy gave them all an apologetic look. “I didn’t know we were going to do this or I would have made different arrangements. I planned on leaving today.”

  “Today?” Colt pushed back from the chair and stood up, walking to the window, trying to get hold of himself.

  They were doing this for Dixie. But he had to wonder if this was the worst idea ever. Yeah, his sister had grown up but she was still his little sister. And now he was entrusting his daughter to her?

  “Colt.” Holly said his name, drawing him back. “We agreed.”

  “I know. I know that this is the right thing for Dixie. I just didn’t expect it this soon, or...” He shook his head. He wouldn’t give voice to his own pain, in case it hurt Dixie or made her change her mind for his sake.

  “I don’t have to go.” She looked down at the empty plate. “I mean, it isn’t bad here. I love you guys. And I love my family. And Grandpa Jack. I don’t have to go.”

  “But you just said you want to go,” Holly told her. She held Dixie in her lap, stroking her hair and telling her it would be okay. “I want you to be able to go home and see your friends. You need to have time to adjust to everything. And in time we will figure this all out.”

  “I want to go home,” Dixie sobbed into Holly’s shoulder. “For a little while.”

  “You take all the time you need,” Holly told her.

  Daisy got up and walked away from the table and Colt knew that this wasn’t easy for her. As much as his sister loved Dixie, he knew she didn’t want to pull her away from them.

  Nothing about this situation was easy but Colt felt a sense of hope, that someday soon it would get easier. They would all heal and life would find a path that made sense. God would get them where they needed to be if they just gave Him the time to get them there.