For His Daughter's Sake

by Stella Bagwell

  Was he talking about himself or about people in general? She started to ask him, but Maeve chose that moment to start pounding her fist against her chair tray.

  He fished out another plastic toy and was trying to distract the baby when the waitress suddenly arrived with their food.

  Minutes later, Maeve was happily cramming soft finger foods into her mouth and making goo-gaa noises at her daddy.

  Callie delicately picked at her salad, while Tyler worked his way through a Rueben sandwich and a mountain of french fries.

  “I’d like to hear about your job, Tyler,” she said. “Do you like ranching?”

  “Very much. My dad, Hutch, has always been a rancher and that’s how he raised me and my four brothers. He built the Flying A—that’s our ranch. Or maybe you already knew that?”

  “No. I’m acquainted with a few Abernathys and, of course, I know the Ambling A, but I don’t believe I’ve heard the Flying A mentioned. There are so many of you Abernathys here in Bronco. Your family is so huge.”

  “And getting bigger every day,” he replied with a grin. “I think I’ve lost count of all my cousins.”

  “I recall your brothers were the ones helping you run the Abernathy Meats booth at the Fourth of July celebration.”

  Nodding, he said, “That was all five of us—Dean, Garrett, Weston, Crosby and me. I have a separate house on my parents’ property. So does Dean. All of us guys are ranchers and we work with Dad to keep everything running and profitable.”

  “The winters can be brutal here in Montana,” she said thoughtfully. “Working outdoors during those months has to be tough.”

  “We’re all acclimatized to the extreme temperatures. And if calving happens during a spell of bad weather, we’re too busy seeing after the cows and calves to pay much attention to the snow or rain, electrical storm or whatever the case may be.”

  “Oh my. You must be tough. I freeze whenever I run from my apartment to my car just to get to work.”

  He chuckled. “You have to wear plenty of thermal underwear, wool socks and an oiled duster when the rain comes. It wouldn’t look quite as pretty as what you’re wearing today, but you’d be warm.”

  He thought her blouse and skirt were pretty? The idea was enough to make her glow inside.

  “Ooooeee! Aaaggaa!”

  Maeve’s happy squeal had them both glancing over to see the baby smearing a piece of banana on the top of her head.

  “Oh, Maeve!” Tyler exclaimed with a groan. “You’re supposed to be eating that banana. It’s fruit, not a hair ornament!”

  Callie tried not to laugh. “Well, once it dries, it will act like setting gel and hold her curls in place.”

  He shot her a dry look before he chuckled. “You would think like a girl.”

  “Naturally.”

  He grabbed up a napkin and tried to wipe most of the gooey fruit from Maeve’s hair and hands.

  “At least she’s happy,” he said. “It’s much easier to clean her up than to stop her crying.”

  Callie couldn’t help noticing how gentle he was with the baby, even when she was fussing or making a mess. It made her wonder if he’d learned those parenting skills from his late wife or if they’d come to him naturally. She’d heard that, contrary to their rugged looks, cowboys were usually gentle and softhearted. Maybe because they worked so closely with nature and saw firsthand how animals nurtured their babies. Whatever the case, Tyler seemed to have the touch.

  “Do your brothers have children, too?” she asked.

  He let out a short laugh as he offered another piece of banana to his daughter. This time the baby decided to eat it rather than use it for pomade.

  “No,” he said. “I’m the only one who has a child. Garrett was married once, but he’s divorced. Dean, Crosby and Weston have never been married.”

  That surprised her. “Where are you in the birth order? The oldest?”

  With another laugh, he forked up a fry doused in melted cheese before he popped it into his mouth. “I’m twenty-eight and the baby of the family.”

  “I’m the baby of my family, too,” she told him. “I’m twenty-five and I have an older sister, Dakota.”

  “Does she live in Bronco?”

  “No. She lives in Cheyenne. With her boyfriend. I live here with my roommate, Vanessa Cruise. My boss’s sister. But I don’t expect her to be staying in the apartment much longer. She and Jameson John will probably be getting married sooner rather than later.”

  “I know Jameson, but I don’t see him often. As for Vanessa and Evan, most of us Abernathys were surprised as heck when it turned out their grandmother Daisy was actually Josiah Abernathy and Winona Cobbs’s daughter. Guess that makes those two related to me and my brothers as some degree of cousins, or something like that.”

  Callie shook her head. “It amazes me that there are so many branches to the Abernathy tree. My family is small. Just me and my sister and parents. My mom’s parents retired to Florida, so we rarely see them, and Dad’s folks both passed away at an early age. I think we might have a couple of cousins through our dad’s side, but we’ve never met them. You see, Dad’s brother entered the navy when he was very young and ended up making his home in Virginia.”

  “What do your parents do?”

  Was he actually interested in her family? Or was he just being polite? She wanted to think the former. Especially when he was the only guy who’d ever made a point to ask about her parents.

  Warmed by that thought, she said, “My mom, Patricia, works in Bronco Heights as an administrative assistant for an insurance broker. And my dad, Martin, is a carpenter. He works for a local construction company.”

  He grinned. “And I’ll bet they’re very proud of you, Callie.”

  She felt her cheeks turn pink as she tried to laugh off his compliment. “I don’t know about that. They were proud I managed to get a business degree in college. But I think they were planning on me having a more traditional job. Bronco Ghost Tours isn’t exactly an average sort of business.”

  “No,” he said thoughtfully. “But apparently it makes Evan a living and you and your coworkers like it. Something being traditional doesn’t always mean it’s the best.”

  He was feeding her ego and she wondered how and where she could find any man around Bronco who could make her feel the warmth and happiness that Tyler was giving her at this very moment.

  To her, it felt like the lunch had just started when Tyler suggested they finish up so she wouldn’t be late getting back to work.

  After he’d paid the bill and they’d walked along the sidewalk to where his truck was parked, she tried not to feel disheartened that her time with Tyler was over.

  “Thank you so much for lunch, Tyler. It was very nice.”

  He smiled at her. “Even with Maeve turning her hair into a banana split?”

  Callie chuckled. “Maeve was adorable. And now it looks like she’s about to fall asleep on your shoulder. Her eyes are very nearly closed.”

  “She’ll sleep all the way back to the ranch.” He glanced at Maeve then turned his eyes back on Callie. “I, uh, enjoyed this today, Callie. I don’t do any socializing. The shower the other night was the first party I’ve been to in—well, a long time.”

  A long time. In other words, since his wife died. All throughout their lunch, Callie had noticed that he’d never once mentioned losing his wife or even said her name. It was rather sad to think it was too painful for him to talk about her, even in an offhand way. But maybe he felt like he hadn’t known Callie long enough to talk about his private life.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  He glanced at his watch then looked up at her again. “I was thinking... Uh, before you leave, I wanted to ask if you’d like to go out for dinner one night.”

  Her jaw very nearly dropped. Tyler Abernathy was asking her out to d
inner? Lunch was one thing, but this sounded like a real date!

  “Dinner? I’d love to.” She probably sounded far too eager, but she hardly saw any point in acting coy. What little she’d been around him, she had gotten the impression that he was a man who appreciated frankness from a woman, not silly games.

  A pleased expression suddenly lit up his face and the sight sent Callie’s spirits straight into the blue sky.

  “I’m glad. Real glad,” he said. “And don’t worry, I’ll try to find someone to watch Maeve.”

  Instinct pushed her forward until she was close enough to place a hand on his forearm. “Tyler, Maeve is a part of you. I could never resent her. I might not know how to interact with her, but I can learn.”

  Relief washed over his face, followed by a wry smile. “Yes, you can. When Maeve was born, I was totally clueless about babies. Over the months, she’s taught me how to be a dad. I’m grateful to you for understanding about her.”

  The man needs me.

  The signal is strong.

  Oh Lord, those strange thoughts were rolling through her head again. What had Winona Cobbs done to her?

  Pushing the crazy question from her mind, she asked, “When did you want to have dinner?”

  He didn’t flounder about answering, “Tomorrow night would be good for me. What about you?”

  She’d expected him to say a few days or even a week from now. Not one day! Had she stepped into some sort of wondrous dream from which she’d wake at any moment?

  Trying to hide her surprise, she said as casually as she could, “Oh sure. Tomorrow night would be fine.”

  “Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.” He pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “You’d better give me your address and phone number.”

  He tapped in the information she provided and followed the task with a quick goodbye.

  “See you tomorrow night,” he called to her as he carried Maeve to his waiting truck.

  “Yes. Tomorrow night.” Callie waved him off and then forced herself not to skip and dance her way along the sidewalk to her Jeep.

  * * *

  “Mom, you’re a gem for watching Maeve tonight.”

  Inside the kitchen of his parents’ ranch house, Tyler placed Maeve’s bag of necessities on the end of a long counter and then stepped over to where his tall, auburn-haired mother was ladling leftovers into a plastic container.

  “Give that precious little darling to me.” A wide smile on her face, Hannah held her arms toward her one and only grandchild. “I’m never too busy for my girl.”

  Tyler handed the baby over to his mother and, instantly, Maeve cooed and patted her grandmother’s face. Hannah had always known how to put a happy face on Maeve. After raising five sons, she was a natural with babies, and while Luanne had been alive and struggling to deal with Maeve’s constant crying, Hannah had tried to help her daughter-in-law. But Luanne had resented her offers.

  She’d wanted Hannah, and everyone else, to believe that her mothering skills were above reproach. And to add insult to injury, Luanne had told Hannah that she’d already raised her own babies and that Maeve was none of her business.

  Tyler had been furious over his wife’s hateful behavior, but he’d been caught in an awkward spot between the two women. Understanding the situation, his mother, being the diplomat of the family, had kindly held her tongue. After that, Hannah had never offered to help with the baby again. She’d given up the joy of being with her new little granddaughter just to make Luanne happy.

  Damn it, for over five years, he tried to make his wife happy. In the end, he’d failed miserably.

  The sound of his mother laughing and smacking kisses on Maeve’s face pulled him out of his dark thoughts and he smiled as the baby shrieked with laughter.

  Hannah turned her attention to her son. “You can’t imagine how good it makes me feel to see you dressed up like this. And going out with a young woman, too. I’m proud of you for making this effort, Ty.”

  He couldn’t figure why the thought of being with Callie filled him with happy anticipation, or what it was about her that charmed him. Looking at her and experiencing that pull of attraction was like he’d been risen from the dead. Yet there was part of him that felt extremely guilty for letting himself feel those pleasures again.

  “Having dinner with Callie is just that, Mom. Nothing more. She’s just someone I met at Mel and Gabe’s shower.”

  She angled him a knowing look. “There must’ve been something about the girl that prompted you to ask her for a date. Is she pretty?”

  These past few days, Tyler had been trying to figure out what it was about Callie that he found attractive. One look at Luanne and anyone could’ve guessed why she’d turned Tyler’s head. Her blond, blue-eyed looks had flashed in his eyes like the city lights where she’d been born and raised. She’d been alluring and sexy, and at twenty-two years of age, he’d been ripe and ready for a woman like her. But it was nothing like that with Callie. She had a gentle beauty. One that had slowly reached out and taken hold of him.

  “Callie is pretty in a quiet way. She has dark hair and brown eyes, and she’s tiny. She comes to about here.” He measured a spot in the middle of his chest. “But more than any of that, she’s easy to talk to.”

  Nodding, Hannah said, “That’s good. Because you haven’t done a whole lot of talking since Luanne died.”

  His mother couldn’t have been more right. For the past six months, he’d had to force himself to utter a few words at a time, much less string several sentences together. He realized his friends and family had all become frustrated with his grunts and single-word responses, but he hadn’t wanted to communicate with anyone.

  “I haven’t wanted to talk,” he admitted. “Talking takes a lot of thought and effort, and I don’t have much of either.”

  Ignoring that, Hannah carried Maeve over to a high chair situated at one end of a long, polished-pine breakfast table.

  “I didn’t see Dad anywhere in the house when I came in. Where is he, anyway? Out in the barn?”

  Hannah said, “Some rancher south of town has a bull for sale that Hutch thought he might want to buy for the Flying A. He went to take a look at him.”

  Tyler shot her a look of concern. His parents were far from elderly. In fact, at the age of sixty-four, both were fit and vibrant. Even so, Tyler worried when either went out driving at night. He realized his fears resulted from Luanne’s accident, but acknowledging the reason wasn’t enough to make it go away.

  “I hope he didn’t go alone. The elk are still down on the flats and they wander onto the highway. If—”

  “Ty, stop worrying. Dean is with him. They’ll be careful. Besides, the last thing you need to be doing is worrying about your dad or brothers. Or, for that matter, little Maeve. You go enjoy yourself with your date.”

  Sighing, he pushed up the slide on his bolo tie. “Yeah, and quit being paranoid.”

  He placed a kiss on Maeve’s forehead and started out of the kitchen, but another thought had him pausing at the door and looking back at his mother.

  “Mom, do you think people are going to see me out with Callie and think I’m being disrespectful to Luanne?”

  Frowning, she walked over to him and laid a hand on his upper arm. “Oh, Tyler, no matter what you do, people are going to think and say things. The moment Luanne died, that part of your life ended. Days, months, years—no amount of passing time will change that. You have to quit dwelling in the past and, when you do, you’ll understand that you have to live for you—not anyone else.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “How did I manage to get a mother like you?”

  “Just lucky, I guess.” She kissed his cheek, then gently shoved him out the door. “Get out of here. You don’t want to keep that woman waiting.”

  * * *

  Callie was dropping a few extra items into
her handbag when a knock announced Tyler’s arrival.

  Her heart racing, she smoothed her dress down the sides of her hips and walked quickly to the door of her ground-floor apartment.

  A quick peek through the peephole confirmed it was Tyler and she quickly opened the door and pushed it wide enough for him to enter.

  “Hi, Tyler. Won’t you come in? I’m almost ready.”

  “I’m a few minutes’ early,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind?”

  He stepped past her and into a hallway that doubled as a foyer. As Callie shut the door behind him, she tried not to gape at him. There was no mistaking that he considered tonight a date. He was dressed in dark jeans, a Western-cut shirt with pearl snaps, and a bolo tie with a slide made from a turquoise stone. His dark waves were damp and tousled in a sexy way and a hint of spicy aftershave drifted from his newly shaved face.

  “Uh, no. I don’t mind. Do we have enough time for me to show you my apartment?” she asked.

  “Sure. I’d like to see it.”

  She motioned for him to follow.

  After they’d taken a few steps down the hall, she gestured to an open doorway to their left. “The kitchen is in here. Let’s go through and we’ll come out on the other side to the living room.”

  “This is cozy,” he said as he eyed the row of cabinets and the bright yellow-and-white curtain hanging over the single window. “Do you and your roommate do much cooking?”

  Callie’s laugh was sheepish. “I have to confess, Tyler. I know very little about cooking.” She walked over to a small microwave and patted the top of it. “If not for this thing, I’d probably starve. Van cooks, but she’s not always here.”

  He glanced at a peninsula that separated the kitchen from the living room. “Is Vanessa not here now?”

  “No. She’s out with Jameson somewhere,” Callie told him. “They spend as much time together as possible. You know how it is.”

  “Yeah,” he said dolefully. “I know how it is.”

  As soon as he answered, it dawned on Callie that she’d spoken without thinking. Embarrassed heat rushed to her cheeks. “Oh, excuse me, Tyler, I shouldn’t have said that.”