Little Cowgirl Needs a Mom

by Thayer, Patricia

  Those days were over.

  Thanks to her mother she now had to deal with him again. No doubt Marsha thought Todd had turned over a new leaf, but Jenny doubted he could do anything good, ever.

  Time served or not, Todd Newsome was a convicted felon. The last thing she wanted him to do was cause any trouble for her or her friends. She only hoped she’d convinced Todd that she didn’t want any more to do with him. Good luck with that. He hadn’t cared about her wishes, ever. She couldn’t have been happier when he was sent away.

  “Jenny,” Gracie called.

  She turned to the girl in the back seat. “What, sweetie?”

  “All the other girls think I’m lucky because I get to take you to my house.”

  She was touched. “Well, you need help with the project, too. And remember, you have to sew new blocks together.”

  Gracie nodded. “Daddy, can I have one of your shirts? The one Mommy liked.”

  Evan frowned. Meg had liked one of his shirts? She’d never said anything to him. “Sure. You’ll have to remind me which one that is.”

  He stole a sideways glance at Jenny, seeing her curious look.

  “It’s the one you wore when we all went to church on Easter that last time,” his daughter said. “I want to use something that Mommy liked.”

  “Okay, we’ll find it then,” he said hearing the sadness in his child’s voice.

  He glanced at Jenny. “Once an altar boy, but I’m not much on church these days.”

  “Grandpa Sean is Catholic and Mommy and me are Lutherans,” the tiny voice came from the back. “What are you, Jenny?”

  She smiled. “Oh, I’d say I’m a mixture of a little Catholic with some Presbyterian thrown in. All religions work if you pray.”

  “At my church they say you have to repent if you do bad things. What does repent mean?”

  Gracie was too young to hear those kinds of words. “It means to make up for what you did wrong,” Evan said. “If you were bad, you should say you’re sorry, and then take your punishment.”

  “Oh. What if that person was really, really mean to me? Do I still have to say I’m sorry?”

  Evan stepped in. “If you said something bad to that person, you should.”

  “But Aaron Jacobs is mean to everybody. He made Sara Hartley cry.”

  Evan didn’t like to hear of someone bullying his child. “Did you tell the teacher?”

  He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her nod.

  “But he won’t stop being mean to us girls.”

  “Then I need to have a talk with his parents.”

  “You will?”

  He drove under the ranch archway. “Of course, Gracie. You should have told me sooner.”

  He pulled up in front of the house. He climbed out and opened the back door as his daughter unfastened her seat-belt and climbed down. Evan squatted down to her level. “Gracie, you can always come to me if you have trouble with anything. I’ll always be there for you.”

  She glanced away.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Mommy always said not to bother you if you’re busy ’cause you have a lot on your mind.”

  He worked to keep his anger under control. “Remember this, Gracie Anne Rafferty. I’m never too busy for you.”

  A bright smile appeared on her face. “Okay, Daddy.”

  “Now, go take the bread to Grandpa.”

  His daughter took the long sticks of sourdough and headed up the steps. Sadness washed over him. Had he been that distant from his own family? Or had Meg deliberately kept him from having a relationship with his daughter? He knew they hadn’t had the best marriage, but why had she prevented him from being Gracie’s father? If she had, he’d let her.

  “Evan, are you okay?” Jenny asked.

  “No. My own daughter is afraid to come to me.”

  “A lot of children go to their mother first.”

  “Did you?” Suddenly, he remembered Jenny saying her mother was too busy for her. “Or did you have to fight your own battles? How did you handle bullies?”

  She shrugged. “I guess I did a lot of my own fighting.”

  “What about your dad?”

  She glanced away. “He was never in my life.”

  His gut tightened as she tried to seem nonchalant, but he knew it mattered to her. “Well, I’m not going to let Aaron the bully get any more out of control. He has no right picking on little girls.” His fists clenched. “I plan to have a talk with this kid.”

  “Whoa, Rafferty. As a teacher myself, I can tell you it isn’t wise to go running off half-cocked. Talk to Gracie’s teacher first. Better yet, to Lily Perry. She’ll look into the situation, then, if that doesn’t help, set up a meeting with the boy’s parents.”

  Evan realized how new this was to him. Had Meg handled this before? Now it was his chance. “Thanks, Jenny.”

  She nodded. “It’s not easy to be a single parent.”

  “Meg probably would have handled this on her own, too, and never said a word to me.” His gaze locked on hers. “Now you know just how perfect my marriage was.”

  “I’m sorry, Evan.” She gave him a sad smile. “But now’s your chance to play hero for Gracie.”

  He frowned. “Whoa, I’m nobody’s hero.”

  “You’re going to bat for your daughter. Any girl would love it.”

  He studied her for a moment. “Who was your hero Jenny?”

  “Not all girls are lucky enough to have one.”

  Evan couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was getting in deeper and deeper as he watched Jenny. She got along with everyone. Not that Sean and Matt Rafferty weren’t pushovers for a pretty woman, but he could see they truly liked her. And Gracie was excited just to have her here. He couldn’t remember this much joy during a meal with Meg. In fact, they hadn’t had many family dinners. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Was he so busy that he didn’t take the time to notice? Or had Meg wanted it that way?

  Throughout their marriage, it had been that way with most things. Even though he’d put his blood and sweat into this land, for a long time he’d felt more like the Kercher family’s hired hand than their son-in-law. Not that he wanted a free pass, but acceptance would have been nice. After their deaths, he and Meg had worked doubly hard to keep striving toward their dream. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember now what that was.

  Suddenly, laughter broke out, bringing him back to the present as he caught the girls with their heads together, sharing secrets. Gracie looked at him. “Do you know any jokes, Daddy?”

  He stole a glance at his dad, then back at his daughter. “I haven’t heard a good one in a long time. You tell me one first.”

  She looked unsure at first, then asked, “Where do snowmen keep their money?”

  “I don’t know. Where?”

  “In a snow bank.”

  A cute blush covered Gracie’s cheeks.

  Evan laughed. “Okay, I got one. How do you make a hot dog stand? Steal its chair.”

  Gracie groaned along with Jenny.

  “I know another one. What is a tree’s favorite drink? Root beer.”

  Gracie’s eyes widened. “Okay, I have one. Why did the tomato turn red? It saw the salad dressing. Get it? The salad was getting dressed.”

  Evan loved her responding to him. “What has a lot of keys but can’t open any doors?”

  “A piano,” everyone answered in unison.

  “Okay, I guess that one’s been around a while.”

  “It’s still funny, Daddy,” Gracie assured him. “That was fun. Maybe we can play more games.”

  Another shock to him. “Okay.” Evan stood and began to stack the plates. “Why don’t we do the dishes first?”

  Jenny got up too. “I’ll help.”

  “Me, too.” Gracie picked up her plate and followed everyone to the kitchen.

  Jenny enjoyed watching the interaction between Evan and Gracie. She wanted to leave the twosome alone, but it might be too obvious. She returned
to the table to clear the rest of the dishes. Sean was there.

  “Hey, the cook doesn’t clean up,” she told him.

  “I’ll stop after I take these in.”

  Jenny glanced into the kitchen and saw Evan tie an apron around Gracie’s small frame.

  “It does my heart good to see those two together.” Sean looked at her. “You brought this on, Jenny girl. Sometimes my son has trouble seeing what’s right in front of him.”

  “It would have happened sooner or later,” she assured him. “Just the fact that he wants to play an active role in her life means a lot.”

  Sean sighed. “It should have happened a long time ago. It’s sad that Megan and Evan didn’t have a better marriage. It was never a perfect match.” He beamed. “Except they made the perfect little angel.”

  Jenny had suspected that things between husband and wife hadn’t been as perfect as people believed. “Gracie’s precious, and she loves her daddy.”

  “And my son loves her right back, though he may have trouble showing it.” Sean sighed. “Years ago, when his mother left, Evan took it hard. Probably the reason he holds back his feelings.”

  “We’re all afraid of getting hurt,” Jenny said, not realizing she’d said it out loud. “I’d say Evan’s pretty lucky to have you and Gracie.”

  Those big burly arms went around her. “You have us, too, lass. And any father would be blessed to call you his daughter.”

  She felt tears welling and pulled back. “Thank you. Well, we’d better get these dishes finished so we can play a game before Gracie goes to bed. And I need to get home.”

  And away from what she’d always wanted. The perfect family.

  Two hours later, Jenny closed her eyes in the passenger seat. She was enjoying the quiet music playing on the radio and Evan’s company as he drove her back to town.

  Talking would only interrupt the intimacy created in the darkness of the truck cab. She was surprised when he reached across the seat and took her hand.

  “I have to say, I haven’t had such a nice evening in a long time. And Gracie…” He shook his head. “Let’s say I haven’t seen her this happy since…well, in a long time.”

  “She’s happy because she has your attention.”

  He pulled into the alley and parked behind the store. There was a soft light overhead, leaving shadows in the cab. He shut off the engine and turned toward her.

  “What about you, Jenny? Could you use some attention?” Time slowed as he tugged her gently toward him. He slid his hand around the back of her neck. “I know I’d want some of yours.”

  She weakly tried to pulled back. “I thought we weren’t going to do this?”

  “I can’t seem to help myself.”

  Jenny couldn’t seem to fight it any longer as Evan leaned down and covered her mouth with his. She was unable to resist his taste and the feel of him. Then she opened her mouth, their tongues touched and there wasn’t any denying the desire.

  He slipped his fingers into her hair and held her as he explored her mouth. Jenny’s hands found his shirt, holding on tight, trying to resist, but she was losing the battle quickly.

  This was not a good idea. There were too many reasons to stop, but she couldn’t deny what they both wanted. And darn if he wasn’t a great kisser.

  With the last of her common sense urging her, she pulled back. “Rafferty, we need to stop. This isn’t a good idea.”

  “That’s the last thing I want right now. I want you, Jenny Collins.”

  She pressed her forehead against his. “Don’t say that. You need to go home, be with Gracie.”

  Working to steady his breathing, Evan concentrated on slowing down. He’d never ached for a woman like this, and the last thing he wanted was to leave Jenny tonight.

  “My daughter’s asleep. This is adult time.” He took teasing bites along her jaw, then finally closed his mouth over hers again. It wasn’t enough as he tried to pull her closer, moving his hands over her.

  Jenny gasped as he worked his hand under her shirt and finally touched her breasts. He wanted more.

  He groaned. “You’re killing me, woman.”

  “You started this, Rafferty.”

  Evan pulled away, looked down at her. He started to speak when something distracted him, and he glanced over her shoulder.

  “Someone’s in the shop,” he whispered and waited. “I see a light moving past the window. And the back door is partly open.” He climbed out of the truck and whispered through the open window. “Call the sheriff.”

  “No!” She grabbed at him. “Evan, you can’t go in there.”

  “Call them.” He disappeared through the back door.

  Jenny grabbed her cell phone from her purse and punched in the numbers as Evan went inside. “Emergency, 911.”

  “Someone broke into the Blind Stitch quilt shop on Main Street,” Jenny told the dispatcher. “Please, send someone quick.”

  “Are you inside, ma’am?”

  “No, in the alley behind the store, but my friend went inside.”

  “Then you stay where you are. A patrol car has been dispatched to the location, so wait for the officer, ma’am.”

  Jenny was about to hang up when she saw the door open and a shadow appeared. Someone dressed in black took off down the alley. “A man came out of the shop,” she said over the phone. “He’s running down the alley toward Maple Avenue.”

  “Okay, ma’am. I’ll alert the officer.”

  She looked back at the doorway, hoping to see Evan come out. He didn’t. Oh, no, was he hurt? She dropped the phone, got out of the truck and hurried inside. “Evan!” she yelled. Oh, God, please, let him be okay.

  She heard a groan and then a curse. She reached for the shop lights and turned them on. “Evan? Where are you?”

  “Here,” he said as he appeared from behind the counter.

  The sound of sirens pierced the silence. “Oh, Evan, what happened? Are you hurt?”

  She reached him, helping him into a nearby chair.

  “Not sure,” he admitted. “He hit me with something hard.” He cursed again. “My head hurts like the devil. I can’t believe I walked into that.”

  She stood back. “Dammit, Rafferty. You shouldn’t have gone in at all.” She felt the tears well in her eyes. “You could have been really hurt, or worse…” She turned away, unable to say any more.

  “Jenny,” he whispered her name, reaching for her.

  She raised her hand. “Please don’t say anything more. I’m barely holding it together.”

  “Police!” Someone called from the alley, then she recognized Chuck Reynolds, the duty sheriff, as he walked in with his gun drawn. When he saw them, he lowered his weapon. “Evan. Jenny. Are you two okay?”

  “No,” she told him. “Evan’s hurt. Call the paramedics.”

  “No, don’t.” Evan reached out and grasped her arm. “I’m fine.” He rubbed the back of his head and winced. “We need to talk to Chuck.”

  Jenny couldn’t stop shaking. She’d never been so scared in her life. Another officer moved through the shop into the classroom section. Jenny looked around and did her own inspection. All in all, the shop wasn’t in bad shape. The cash register was open, but it had been emptied at closing time. Millie had taken the day’s receipts to the bank earlier.

  One of the officers came into the room. “The perpetrator ransacked the upstairs apartment.”

  Jenny’s heart sank. She walked toward the back and found Evan on her heels.

  “Jenny, wait. You don’t need to go up there right now.”

  “Yes, I do. Everything I own is up there. It’s not much, but it’s mine.”

  Evan’s head was pounding, but he saw more pain in Jenny’s eyes. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

  “I need to go, too,” the deputy said, “and get a list of anything that’s missing.”

  Jenny nodded and the men escorted her up the back staircase to the attic apartment. Evan watched her swallow a sob as she surveyed the mess. D
ishes were broken, cushions tossed, furniture toppled over. She walked to the bedroom and saw that the bed had been pulled apart, sheets stripped off, clothes from the closet and dresser thrown on the floor.

  “How long were you gone from the shop?”

  She looked back at Evan. “Maybe three hours. I was out at the Rafferty ranch.”

  Evan saw Chuck glance at him, then write down something. He’d known Chuck in school, and his wife, Claire, had been friends with Meg. Did he care if anyone knew he spent time with Jenny? No.

  Chuck ran his hand over his thinning sandy-colored hair. “This could be the work of someone needing drug money. Although robberies are still rare in this community.”

  Jenny went to the golden-hued brocade-covered box she’d had since childhood. The treasure box was on the floor with its lid torn off. “He took my necklace. Allison and Alex gave it to me for my birthday. There was a small sapphire in the center of a heart.” Another tear fell. “It was my birthstone.”

  “Anything else missing?”

  “A few other pieces of jewelry,” And, as she checked the dresser drawer, she added, “And about three hundred dollars in cash.” She picked up a ragged-looking stuffed bear and hugged it to her body. “Who would do this?”

  She paused as if something had come to mind. Her gaze connected with Evan’s, then just as quickly she glanced away. “I need to let Allison know what happened.” She wiped away the tears and pushed past him out of the room.

  Evan looked at Chuck. “What does your gut tell you about this?”

  The deputy shrugged. “I don’t know. Someone needed money pretty badly.” He glanced around the room. “It’s odd that the thief bypassed the shop and did all the destruction up here. It seems personal.” He looked at Evan. “Does Jenny have any enemies?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  TWO hours later, Jenny sat in the waiting room at the urgent-care facility after she’d finally managed to get Evan checked out. She glanced at her watch. It was after eleven o’clock, she was exhausted and still shaken from what had happened tonight.

  What worried her the most was that Todd could have been the one who broke into the shop. Was it possible? Would his parole officer let him leave San Antonio?