Stunned, he watched her nod.
“You are part of their lives. I’m not going to stand in the way of you seeing them.”
It was more than he could have hoped for. More than he deserved.
In the babies’ room, he went directly to the cribs. All three were awake, probably ready for yet another feeding. He lifted Bree from the crib and held her against him.
There’s my little girl, he wanted to say, but didn’t.
“She’s...bigger,” he managed.
“Yes.” Shay’s features softened in a small smile. “When you’re only a month old, a few weeks make a huge difference.”
“Are their checkups going okay?”
“They’re great.” And now he saw the full smile he had been waiting for.
He wanted to reach out and touch her cheek. Instead, he brushed Bree’s head lightly with his fingertips. “She has curls.”
“They all do, now that their hair has grown a bit.”
Bree turned her head, nestling against him the way she had before he had left. His chest swelled with pride. “She remembers me.” His voice shook.
“I was just getting their bottles.” Shay’s voice sounded wobbly, too. “Do you want to hold her while I go downstairs?”
“Yeah, I do.” He wanted much more than that.
One step at a time.
Shay’s question felt like a nod of acceptance. It gave him hope that coming back here had been the right thing to do.
He hadn’t lied. He wanted to see the babies whenever he could. Being a part of their lives had become more important to him than he could have believed possible. But as much as that would mean to him, it wasn’t enough.
He wanted his return to lead to something he might never be able to earn—a permanent place in Shay’s life, too.
When she left the room, he carried the baby over to the rocking chair in the corner. “What am I gonna do, Bree?” he asked quietly. “I hurt your mom last summer. I hurt her a lot. And now I want to win her back.” Bree stared up at him.
The nurse at the hospital had told him babies this age couldn’t see very far. He held Bree up closer to his face. She kept her gaze fastened on him. “It’s not going to be easy, I know that. First, I’m going to have to make amends...somehow. And then...your mom said I wasn’t in this for the long haul. Maybe I didn’t have an answer at the time, but I have one now. I’m with you and your brothers for life.”
He watched her closely. “It’ll take some doing to convince your mom I’m not just making empty promises. But when all is said and done, she’ll believe me, don’t you think?”
The baby squirmed in his arms. Her eyes crinkled shut. Her mouth pursed, then curved up at the corners. He didn’t care what Cole said—his little girl had just smiled at him.
He kissed her forehead. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bree.”
From downstairs, he heard the doorbell, followed by Shay’s voice and another, deeper voice he recognized.
A minute later, he heard Jed’s boots on the stairs.
The older man appeared in doorway. “Well, look who’s back.” He crossed the room, his hand outstretched. Tyler shook hands with him. “Couldn’t stay away, could you, boy?”
“No, I couldn’t,” he admitted.
“I can’t say as I blame you, with three little ones like these. If they were mine, I’d come home, too.”
“Home?”
Jed smiled. “They say that’s where your heart is.”
Tyler looked down at Bree, then over at the boys in their cribs, and finally at the woman who had just walked through the doorway.
Jed was right. He had come back to Cowboy Creek because this is where he’d found both his heart and his home.
* * *
SHAY WATCHED TYLER move restlessly around the babies’ room. He looked like he wanted to run, the way he had not once but twice before.
Grandma had come upstairs to greet Jed. They all chatted for a few minutes, then the two of them had gone downstairs for a glass of sweet tea before supper. By that time, Shay had fed the babies. Tyler had thought Bree was ready to go first this time, and Shay had agreed. Timothy had followed, and Jamie had eaten last.
She tucked Jamie into the crib and returned to the rocking chair. “You’ll stay for supper?” she asked Tyler.
He turned to her. “Yes, I will.” He cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his back pockets. “In case you were wondering where I went when I left, I went back to Texas, to the ranch where I’d been working. But things weren’t the same as when I’d been there before. I wasn’t the same.”
“Becoming a daddy must make you look at everything differently. I know becoming a mom has had that effect on me.”
“That’s part of it.” He crossed the room to her and took a seat on the footstool she had put aside. The small lamp on the dresser made his hair a glossy black. The pearl snaps on his shirtfront winked at her, and his champion belt buckle shone in the light.
“The other part is,” he went on, “I’ve been feeling restless for a long time without knowing why. The feeling kicked in last summer, when I came here for the wedding and spent time with all the Garlands. And with you. Once I left, the feeling got worse instead of better.”
She held her breath.
He smiled. “I think being around the Hitching Post made me see what I was missing. A family. And being with you made me want something I’d never wanted before. A place to settle for good.”
“Then...then why didn’t you come back?” Her voice broke.
“I didn’t know all this last summer. I didn’t know it even a few weeks ago.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “It wasn’t until I left this time that I figured out what was wrong.” He rested his elbows on his knees and linked his fingers together in front of him. “While I was back in Texas, I took a trip to see my folks.”
“How did that go?”
He stared down at his hands. “Badly. But nothing worse than I might’ve imagined. I told you my parents never had my back, that my father pushed me.”
When he didn’t continue, she said, “I remember. You said he tried to make a man out of you.”
“Yeah. But it wasn’t the kind of man I wanted to be. And I wasn’t the son they wanted. My father’s a corporate lawyer with a big salary and the clothes and cars and condo to go with it. My entire life, my parents attempted to talk me into following in his footsteps. I tried. I tried to accept their views and their idea of success. Finally, I got to the point where I couldn’t do that anymore. Because they’re not my views.”
Now, he looked at her, his eyes shining in the lamplight. “Shay, I might have grown up in a city, but I’m a born cowboy. That’s the life I want. But I don’t want to live that life alone.” He took her hand and brushed his thumb across her knuckles. “I gave up the job in Texas—again. Permanently, this time. I talked to the manager at the hardware store here in town. He said he might have an opening coming up. He also gave me the name of a couple of local distributors he works with, said they’re always looking for folks to do outside sales.” He squeezed her fingers. “I’ll do anything I have to, to prove to you I’m ready to settle down. I want roots. I want a family—our family.”
Her eyes flooded. She blinked but couldn’t hold back tears. He wiped them away. “Oh, Tyler.” Her exhalation sounded more like a sob. “You already have proven yourself—to me and to everyone else who has met you here. I told you, we can all see what a good man you are, just by the way you care about our babies.” She squeezed his fingers. “You must have believed me, or you wouldn’t have come back.”
His eyebrows came together in a puzzled frown. “You told me?”
“Yes. In my message.”
“What message?”
She blinked. “On your phone. I had Layne get your number from Cole, and I called you this morn
ing.”
“I haven’t looked at my phone since I left my parents’ house last night. I heard a call come in earlier today and figured it was my father, wanting to ram his point home about how irresponsible I’d been.” Suddenly, he laughed. “You left me a message?” he said wonderingly.
She nodded. “I told you just what I said now—that we all know you’re a good man. And,” she added softly, “I asked you to come back so we could talk things out.”
“I’m here now.”
She nodded again.
“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me for leaving you—twice?”
“Yes.” She laced her fingers through his. “And I hope you’ll forgive me for how I treated you when you came back. I’m sorry, Tyler. I was so wrong to push you away just because of what you do—of who you are. And you were right. I was holding my own experience with my dad against you. When I kept comparing you to him, I never really gave you a chance.” She sighed. “I’m as bad as your parents are, not accepting your choices.”
“You didn’t know about them.”
“No, but I know about me and how overly sensitive I am about cowboys and the rodeo. I also know you were right about my controlling the babies’ future. Or at least, that’s what I seemed to be doing, only because I was too determined to justify my feelings and to win the argument.” She blinked a few times, then stared at him again. “I wouldn’t try to run my own children’s—our children’s—lives. I’m so sorry I tried to do that to you, too.”
“Does that mean I won’t have to give up wrangling?”
She laughed. “Yes, that’s what it means. I believe in you, Tyler. And if you ever listen to my phone message, you’ll know that I love you.”
He smiled. “I love you, too.”
He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his mouth against hers, kissing her the way she loved to begin, soft and easy and sweet. But this time there was a hint of the spice she loved, too. It felt like a promise offered and accepted, a promise that wouldn’t break.
She put her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head back to look up at him. “You know,” she said with a smile, “I’ve decided I would be content to have our babies follow in your footsteps.”
“Become cowboys, you mean?” When she nodded, he laughed. “Well, it’s up to them, of course.” She nodded again. “But if that’s what any or all of them choose, it’s fine with me. Because my footsteps won’t ever take me far from home.”
Epilogue
Two months later
In the banquet hall of the Hitching Post, Tyler stood looking around him. Everything had turned out perfectly, according to Shay, who had told him more than once she was over the moon with happiness.
He was just glad his new bride hadn’t had to do any of the work to prepare for their wedding. In fact, she had given up her job at the hotel, for now anyway, to stay home with their babies.
If her former boss resented the fact, he wasn’t letting on.
Jed looked darned good in his tuxedo and cummerbund.
Tyler smiled. The man had given Tina away to Cole at their ceremony last year...at the wedding where he had first met Shay. “You’re making a habit of walking brides down the aisle.”
“It’s great advertising for his business,” Shay said with a laugh.
“The Hitching Post can use the plug,” Jed agreed.
“I meant the matchmaking business.”
Now Jed and Tyler laughed.
As Jed walked away, Tyler looked across the dance floor to one of the tables at the front of the room. Shay had convinced him to extend a wedding invitation to his parents, and to his surprise, they had accepted. They sat at the table with Mo and Sugar. All four of them had their heads bent over the baby books Mo had brought to show off to everyone at the reception.
Pictures were nice, but he looked forward to seeing the kids upstairs later, where Pete’s housekeeper was minding them for the evening.
“What do you think?” Shay asked.
She was looking in that direction, too.
“For the babies’ sakes, I think I can make an effort to get along.” The band struck up another slow song. He took her into his arms. “Speaking of getting, you’re happy you got your June wedding?”
“Of course I am. It’s something I’ve dreamed about my entire life. And so are you.”
Her unconditional support was all he ever could have wanted, too. “That’s little enough to give you, after everything you’ve given me. Love and a home and a family. And you’ve made today the best day of my life.”
“I’ve done more than that.”
He smiled down at her. Her eyes sparkled. “I’ll say. You carried our kids for almost nine months and brought them into this world.”
“And named them Timothy and Jamie and Bree.”
“So you did.”
“Timothy. Jamie. And Bree,” she said with soft emphasis.
“Great names. Timothy. Ja—” He stopped short in the middle of the dance floor, hardly believing the mental leap he had just made. “Timothy. Jamie. Bree. Tyler John Buckham,” he said, his voice cracking. “You gave them my initials.”
She nodded. “I decided on that the day the doctor told me I was carrying three babies.”
“The day—?” His throat grew so tight, he couldn’t speak. He waited a moment and tried again. “Even after I’d left all those months ago?”
“Even after. I wanted them to have a connection to you.” She rested her cheek against his chest. He tilted his head down to hear her voice over the music. Her breath tickled his ear. “Even when I wanted to hate you, I loved you, Tyler. When the doctor told me the news, I was still upset about your leaving, about realizing I might never see you again and that the babies might never know you. But I also realized you were part of them and always would be.” She raised her head to meet his eyes.
He saw her through a blur. He blinked, cleared his throat and smiled. “I love Timothy and Jamie and Bree.”
“I know you do.”
He held her closer. “I love you, Shay. I’ll always be here for you and the kids.”
She smiled. “I believe you, cowboy. And we all love you, too.”
* * * * *
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A Cowboy to Call Daddy
by Sasha Summers
Chapter One
After a leisurely drive admiring wildflower-laden fields, open pastures, and acres of cattle and horses, Eden’s morning took a sharp U-turn back into Sucksville. Only this time she wasn’t trapped at work, she was stuck in unknown territory. Boone Ranch Refuge was far off the beaten track, smack-dab in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. Things had been looking up when she turned off the two-lane county road and driven through the impressive wood and stone archway that assured her she’d reached Boone Ranch.
Her sudden flare of nerves wasn’t surprising. She had a lot to do and a limited time to do it. And this time, she was determined to earn her father’s respect. Did she wish there was another way? Yes, definitely. Her mother’s support of Boone Ranch Refuge had been unwavering. And on paper, the work done here was worth funding. But her father insisted things weren’t as on the up-and-up as they seemed. So Eden was here—without her father’s blessing—to look deeper, review every scrap of paper, bill, invoice and ledger. Her father might believe that his word was enough to sway the board’s opinion, but Eden knew better. Before she left, she’d make sure her father and the board were satisfied.
Logically, she needed to start at the refuge. But dropping in on a grantee for a surprise audit was a first. Normally, she’d give her applicants a checklist of what she needed and time to get everything in order. But this was different. She had a job to do and not much time to do it. The infamously prickly Dr. Boone would have to deal with the inconvenience. Still, she suspected he wouldn’t be pleased. But dealing with Dr. Boone would be worth it if she left with information that made her father happy.
The Cowboy's Triple Surprise Page 18