Her Forever Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 4)

by Donna Michaels

  It had been nice to leave her worries upstairs and take two hours off from reality. Really nice. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the opportunity.

  “I’m glad,” her boss said from the other end of the table. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Shayla nodded. Since Brandi only lived down the street, she’d fallen into the routine of walking to the designer’s cottage where they’d go through the day’s schedule over coffee.

  “I’m getting ready to head back to the station. How about I walk you out?” Kade asked.

  His offer didn’t come as a surprise. The National Guardsman had a misguided sense of duty where she and Amelia were concerned because her fiancé had died under his command in Iraq. But both soldiers had been doing their jobs. No one was to blame, although the sheriff apparently didn’t see it that way. He shouldered all the blame, carried all the guilt, and stared at her with so much remorse darkening his eyes, at times her heart literally hurt.

  It was wrong and unfounded, and last month, she’d risked a boatload of trouble by confiding in him the truth about her daughter. Bobby was not the biological father. That seemed to help a little, and bless him, Kade never turned her in for falsifying documents.

  A real sweetheart. And gentleman. Tough to believe he was related to the self-centered Casanova regarding her with a lazy smile. The man didn’t appear to have a care in the world. And why would he? He designed and played video games for a living. Kevin Dalton was a freaking billionaire with devastating good looks and life on easy street. If he wanted something, he went out and bought it. When he was tired of it, he threw it away. Shayla refused to ever become that ‘it.’

  The cowboy’s lack of responsibility astounded compared to his cousin Kade’s.

  Probably why she’d trusted the sheriff enough to confide in him even further when he had pressed about her guarded behavior. Kade was fair and just, and she felt it was in her daughter’s best interest, as well as Caitlin’s, to divulge a little of her past if they were going to stick around the area while her sister went to college. Sheriff Dalton and Deputy McCall were the only ones who knew Shayla’s situation involving her deadbeat dad.

  Fresh out of prison, Lyle Richardson was a threat. The ex-con was the reason she and her sister had changed their names, and moved around a lot. Never put down roots. Always looked over their shoulders, even while he’d been locked away.

  Her thumb brushed over the dragonfly tattooed on the back of her wrist. A symbol of resilience in honor of her mother. Just touching the ink strengthened her perseverance to deal with her dad.

  Lyle had a lot of sly, three-piece suited friends. The bastard had gotten wind that she’d come into some money when her fiancé had died, and she wouldn’t put it past him to threaten her daughter to get it. Didn’t matter that Amelia was his grandchild. Lyle Richardson didn’t see people. He saw material objects. Meal tickets.

  But Shayla was tired of moving around. So very tired. She didn’t want to run anymore. She loved her apartment. Loved her new friends. For the first time, ever, she had a fulltime job with benefits, which was a miracle considering she didn’t even have a high school diploma. And all of it gave her hope that, maybe…just maybe, she could make a stand and stay in Harland County.

  Kade and Jordan had insisted it was possible.

  The latter slid off her man’s lap and joined her, waving a hand at the sheriff. “No need, Kade. Finish your coffee and enjoy a few extra minutes with your fiancée.” Then the off-duty deputy draped an arm around her shoulders and chuckled. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your apartment while Kevin catches his breath. I’d love to see that little sweetheart of yours anyway, if she’s still awake.”

  Jordan and Kade were also the reason she had the wonderful, spacious, two-bedroom apartment above the restaurant. At first, Shayla had been leery of living over a bar with her baby, but the place was never rowdy, and the entrance to the upstairs was private and secure. Two things Kade had insisted on and the very things that helped her sleep easier at night.

  “Okay. Goodnight, everyone,” she said, nodding to the chorus of responses and ignoring the smiling cowboy to her right. She wanted out of there before things escalated. He was not going to ruin her otherwise wonderful night. She wouldn’t allow it. Dammit. She worked hard and deserved a few hours of fun with the girls.

  “Not his type my ass.” Her friend laughed as they walked into the quiet kitchen to find Kerri McCall cleaning off the grill, the rest of the staff apparently dismissed for the night.

  The pretty chef turned to them and smiled. “Hi, Shayla. Jordan. How was your night?”

  “Great,” she replied.

  “Great? It was priceless,” Jordan corrected with a grin. “She just put Kevin in his place.”

  Kerri stopped cleaning and twisted around, brown eyes wide and full of curiosity. “Oh, do tell. Please.”

  Reluctance tightened Shayla’s chest. She wasn’t one to relish the spotlight. She leaned against the counter and shrugged. “Not much to tell.”

  “She’s being modest.” Her deputy friend shook her head. “Kevin told her she wasn’t his type.”

  Kerri’s brows disappeared under her dark bangs. “What? Of course you are. You’re breathing.”

  Shayla exchanged a look with Jordan before they burst out laughing.

  “What’d I say?” The chef frowned, small smile tugging her lips.

  Jordan sobered first. “That’s exactly what Shayla told him.”

  Now Kerri was laughing. “Oh man,” she said between giggles. “I wish I could’ve seen his face.”

  Jordan nodded. “Like I said, priceless.”

  “Well, be that as it may, I just hope he leaves me alone.”

  The deputy shook her head. “Oh, honey, that isn’t going to happen.”

  “Why not?”

  Chapter Two

  The last thing Shayla needed was the devastatingly handsome cowboy going out of his way to tempt her. She was already on the cusp of giving into her attraction to the charismatic hunk.

  “Because you’re breathing,” Kerri replied, before her hand flew to her mouth and she blushed.

  Shayla chuckled and straightened from the counter. “Well, I’d better take my breathing self upstairs and relieve my sister.” Caitlin was on holiday break from college, and although she appreciated her sister’s offer to watch her daughter, she didn’t want to take advantage.

  “Okay.” Jordan straightened, too. “See you later, Kerri.”

  They exited through the side door and into the cold winter night. That’s when she realized she’d left her jean jacket back at the restaurant. What little brain cells she had these days seemed to disappear when that cowboy was around. Oh well. No way was she going back inside and risk round two with the charismatic temptation. Better to pop down in the morning when he wasn’t around.

  Admiring the clear sky and brilliance of the stars, Shayla shivered as they walked around the back to the stairs that led to a covered walkway. The crisp night air was a great neutralizer to her over-heated hormones. If Jordan noticed, she kept it to herself. Thank God.

  The instant they stepped inside, warmth surrounded in a much welcomed hug, and by the time they reached the door at the end of the hallway, her shivers subsided. Control was returning, and she was better, stronger…calmer.

  Inserting her key in the lock, she turned to her escort. “You know, you really didn’t have to walk me up here.”

  “I know,” Jordan replied. “But your sister texted me and said she had a question.”

  A question…

  Ah, crud. She knew what her sister was going to ask. A heaviness settled in Shayla’s chest.

  “Uh oh.” Jordan cocked her head, gaze intense. “I can tell by the look on your face you know what your sister wants, and you’re not crazy about it.”

  She sighed as she twisted her key. “Yeah, but, as much as I want to keep her safe, I have to let her live her own life.”

  “I know
how that is.” Her friend nodded, following her inside. “It was tough watching Kerri go off to culinary school in New York when she was eighteen.”

  Caitlin was a few years older, and her college was only thirty minutes away. But still, with their dad on the loose, Shayla was too uneasy about her sister being out of eyesight.

  Walking down the small entrance hall, she could hear the TV on low, and when they rounded the corner the lights on the massive live spruce—compliments of Cole—twinkled brightly beneath plastic cartoon ornaments and tinsel garland, while her sister sat at the kitchen counter working on her laptop.

  “Hi, Caitlin. Ah, looks like we missed Amelia,” the deputy said, nodding to the baby monitor next to the computer, a disappointed frown on her face.

  Her sister glanced up and smiled. “Hi, Jordan. Yeah, I put her down a half-hour ago. Sorry.”

  “No problem,” their friend replied.

  Caitlin glanced at her and frowned. “I was going to ask if you had a good time, Shayla, but since you returned without your jacket, I’ll take that to be a ‘no, I couldn’t wait to leave.’”

  Shayla laughed. “No, I had a good time. I just forgot my coat. That’s all.”

  She did have a good time. Not counting the Casanova fiasco. That man was eye-candy best viewed from afar. And she knew better than to glance at the deputy. The woman’s gaze already bore into her like a hot skewer, but Shayla wasn’t in the mood for an assessment.

  “Good. I’m glad. You deserve to have some fun,” her sister stated, then turned her attention to Jordan. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to ask your opinion on continuing to dorm.”

  Shayla’s stomach clenched tight. They’d had this discussion already and it terrified her. But she’d agreed to let Caitlin run it by Jordan. Her sister deserved to have as much of a normal college experience as possible. It was bad enough the poor girl was a twenty-two-year old freshman, but it just hadn’t been feasible for her sister to attend any college until this past year.

  Having used some of her beneficiary money to legally change their names, Shayla then told her sister to pick a school of her choosing. Things were going fine. Her sister was excelling, enjoying her studies in her Veterinary Technician major and making new friends, thriving on a consistent routine. Something that had been foreign and missing from their lives for over four years.

  Then they received word their dad was out and looking for them.

  Caitlin had stuck out the semester at the freshman dorm, but Shayla had no intention of her sister going back. Attending college was fine, but by commuting. Not dorming. She needed to see her sister daily, to reassure herself Caitlin was all right.

  If she had to get up an hour earlier to drop her sister off before work, then pick her up after work, she would. She could also purchase a car for her sister, although, the thought of Caitlin driving alone for that long stretch didn’t sit well, either. Anything could happen. But, she’d wait to hear what the deputy had to say. Shayla didn’t trust many people, but Jordan and Kade were an exception. The only exceptions when it came to her sister’s welfare.

  “What are the particulars?” Jordan switched to deputy mode as she sat across from her sister, gaze direct and alert.

  Determined to stay out of the conversation unless pulled in, Shayla kept busy by cleaning off the counter, starting with the Rubik’s cube she’d been working on for almost a year now. She placed the colorful square in a drawer and admitted the toy wasn’t so much a game as it was a crutch, an out, something to occupy her mind when she needed a break from everyday pressures. Although, now, solving the cube was becoming more a matter of accomplishment. She was determined to succeed. A concept seeping into her life more and more.

  With her sister now continuing her education, Shayla was toying with the idea of finishing hers. Getting her GED. Okay, she wasn’t toying with the idea. She was getting her GED. Period. This spring.

  Even though she wanted to stay in Harland County, she knew want and reality rarely met in the middle. Life was too unpredictable, and she’d learnt long ago to be prepared for anything. So she had to work fast. This time, if she was forced to leave, she was going to leave with a diploma, dammit. No more job turnaways because of her lack of education. Not that she wanted another job. She didn’t. Shayla loved her job. Loved working for Brandi. Loved organizing, planning, coordinating work sites. Giving people a purpose. Watching her boss’ visions come to life. Helping her boss’ visions come to life.

  But Shayla was a realist, and the reality was…her dad was going to show up and ruin everything. He always did. And if it wasn’t him, it was one of his friends.

  So, she already set things in motion. Discovered the nearest testing site was at the local community center through some career link program. They even had weekly classes and workshops to prepare for the test. Shayla was already signed up, had the pretesting out of the way, which showed what subjects she knew and those she needed to study. Math, some science and history, the parts of the courses she would’ve had in eleventh and twelfth grade. Brandi had insisted she take the morning classes since Jen, Kade’s cousin, was already scheduled to watch Amelia at the Dalton’s Shadow Rock Ranch on the days Mrs. Masters and Mrs. McCall weren’t. Her boss didn’t want her to have to struggle to find a sitter at night, even though it was only going to be a few weeks. Three, four tops.

  “I’d be staying in an off-campus apartment already rented out by three other roommates,” Caitlin informed.

  Shayla brought her thoughts back to her sister’s conversation as she threw junk mail in the garbage, loaded dirty dishes into the dishwasher, then put on a pot of coffee. Now, they just needed a snack.

  Pulling out the last of the pumpkin roll with red and green tinted cream cheese Kerri had given them for the holidays, she vowed to only have one slice and part with the rest. As much as she hated to share the delicious, spicy dessert, her hips didn’t need any more cushioning. Hell, she’d already eaten half the roll herself.

  “The lease is in their names, so mine won’t be on record,” her sister continued. “And as far as the college knows, I’m still in my dorm, since freshmen aren’t allowed to be off campus.”

  “How far is it from the university?”

  “Only a block away.”

  She leaned back against the counter and watched Jordan. The deputy’s gaze was serious as she tapped her jaw. Shayla could almost see the wheels turning behind the woman’s dark eyes, but had no idea what it all meant. Her friend was tough to read.

  “Security?”

  Caitlin nodded, gaze open and hopeful. “Routine patrols that end right at the corner of the block.”

  Shayla knew all of this because she’d already grilled her sister with the same questions. Still, she didn’t know if her reluctance was a product of years of being protective, or a real sense of danger. She just couldn’t tell anymore.

  Rubbing her temple, she sighed. God, she was tired.

  Pouring out three mugs—the set a present given to her by Mr. and Mrs. McCall—she set them on a tray next to the sugar and creamer—given to her by Mr. and Mrs. Masters—then carried it all to the island where she settled onto the stool next to her sister.

  “Thanks.” Caitlin smiled.

  Jordan’s face lit up. “Mmm, Kerri’s pumpkin roll. I kicked mine this morning.”

  “I can understand that,” she said, and eying the snowmen on the blue mugs, relaxed a little as warmth seeped into her chest and eased some of the chill surrounding her heart.

  It had been years since she’d received a gift from anyone other than her sister. The unexpected presents had touched her deeply, and Shayla knew, no matter where she resided in the future, she’d always remember her time in Harland County.

  “I’ll tell you what, Caitlin,” Jordan said, setting her mug down. “How about we go to the university so I can actually take a look at the area and the set up? I know your sister would feel better, and so would I.”

  “Thanks. That would be great. I
appreciate it.” Her sister eagerly nodded. “When do you want to go?”

  Jordan smiled. “Well, since tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, how about we go on my next day off, which is Thursday, the second?” The deputy slanted her a look. “Sound good to you, Shayla?”

  No. “Yes,” she replied, the delicious roll turning to sawdust on her tongue.

  “Perfect.”

  Hopefully. She hated to see her sister disappointed. The young woman deserved the moon. She’d been a rock, helping Shayla through the pregnancy and birth. Bobby’s death. Their recent move, and watching Amelia two mornings last week while she had taken that pretesting.

  “Speaking of perfect.” Jordan smiled, mischief sparkling in her gaze, the deputy hat apparently off again. “What time are you arriving at the Dalton’s New Year’s Eve bash tomorrow?”

  She wasn’t.

  Pushing crumbs around with her fork, she shook her head. “Yeah, about that…”

  “Oh no, don’t even try to weasel out of it, Shayla,” Jordan warned. “I know for a fact Cody is looking forward to playing with Amelia. And like your sister said, you deserve to have some enjoyment. Both of you.”

  Enjoyment. When she thought of enjoyment, Kevin Dalton immediately came to mind. Which was stupid with a capital S. The kind of enjoyment that sexy cowboy oozed was the very kind Shayla had given up and no longer needed.

  Liar, her body parts—the good ones—protested.

  “I tell her that all the time.” Caitlin frowned. “It’s like she thinks because she’s a mom now she’s not allowed to let her hair down.”

  “Hey, she is right here,” Shayla said, sitting straight and pointing to herself.

  “Yeah, and she is going to the party tomorrow,” her sister volleyed, touching her arm. “Look at how much fun we had at the McCall’s Christmas party a few weeks ago. It was so nice of them to invite us, and even though you were the only one I knew, I didn’t feel like an outsider. The McCalls, Masters and Daltons are really nice people. We’re safe with them. I know we’ll have fun.”

  “Yeah,” Jordan said. “I’ll be on duty, but I’m stopping in. Wouldn’t miss the chance to ring in the New Year with my family and friends. And you shouldn’t either.”