Colorado Cowboy

by C. C. Coburn

  “This is Daisy, my little lady,” Luke said with a touch of irony and a smile that melted Megan’s heart. There was no doubting Luke’s love and affection for his daughter.

  Daisy looked up at Megan, then down at her feet and back up again as though sizing her up for a coffin. “Hello,” she said. Turning to Luke, the girl added, “She’s kinda skinny.”

  “Daisy!” The three other adults reprimanded her at once.

  “It’s fine.” Megan hastened to appease them. She shifted Celeste to her left hip and held out her right hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Daisy, and yes, I agree I’m too skinny. I’m hoping all this fresh country air will give me an appetite. What do you think?”

  Daisy shook her hand vigorously, then nodded. “Yeah, it will. But you gotta eat your veggies, or you don’t get dessert.”

  “Absolutely,” Megan said, straight-faced. She glanced toward Sasha, who’d finally dragged herself away from staring at Cody. “And you must be Sasha.”

  Sasha studied Megan’s outstretched hand, then accepted it reluctantly, shook it once and let go. Okay, thought Megan. This one’s used to being the alpha female around here. And that was fine with Megan. She had no intention of moving in on anyone’s territory.

  “Cody, come and say hello to your new sisters,” Megan called, and he sauntered over.

  “Did your hair growed like that?” Celeste asked Cody, and reached out to touch it.

  Cody pulled away. “Get lost!” he yelled. “Don’t you ever shut up?”

  Luke had had enough of Cody’s behavior. “That’s it. You!” He pointed at Cody’s chest. “In there. Now!” he commanded, hitching his thumb over his shoulder and gesturing toward the barn.

  Megan was relieved to see that Cody was so shocked at the anger in Luke’s voice, he didn’t argue or disobey. He looked around the circle of people who were all frowning at him in anger, disgust or bewilderment. Celeste had turned her face into Megan’s shoulder and was sobbing softly.

  Megan rubbed Celeste’s back and fixed her son with a look of utter contempt. How could he have used such language in front of the children and hurt such an innocent little girl? What had her son become? Tears burned the backs of her eyes.

  She’d wanted to admonish Cody but he was with strangers and she didn’t want to fracture his ego in public. On the other hand, it wasn’t acceptable that he get away with such behavior. Thankfully, Luke had stepped in before she’d even had a chance to open her mouth. She watched Luke striding toward the barn, Cody behind him, dragging his heels. At least he’d gone with Luke; that was something. If she’d told Cody what to do, he would’ve ignored her completely.

  She felt Matt’s hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Megan. Luke’s just going to talk to him, that’s all.”

  Megan turned worried eyes to Matt. Had she really looked as though she thought Luke would hurt her son? Mortified, she turned back to the rest of the group. “I’m so sorry about that. I… His behavior was unforgivable.” Celeste continued to sob quietly on her shoulder. “There, there, sweetie. It’s all right,” she cooed. “Cody didn’t mean to be rude. He’s just had a long day.”

  Celeste lifted her head. “He…he…he…yelled at me!” she sobbed, and dropped her head to Megan’s shoulder again.

  Megan didn’t know how to placate the sobbing child. What a way to start your life with your new family!

  Matt reached over and took Celeste from Megan’s arms. She snuggled against him and stopped crying. Matt put his arm out and drew the other woman to his side. “Megan, this is my wife, Beth.”

  Beth extended her hand. “Welcome to our family, Megan,” she said, shaking Megan’s hand with considerably more warmth than Sasha had displayed.

  Beth was tall, blond and elegant in spite of wearing faded jeans and a camisole under an unbuttoned chambray shirt. Her face glowed with health and contentment. Megan liked her immediately. “I’m not so sure we’ll be welcome after that little outburst,” Megan said as she glanced worriedly toward the barn. She half expected Luke to come out pulling Cody by the ear and tell them both to get in the vehicle and send them packing back to New York.

  “Nonsense!” Beth said. She reached out with her other hand and caught both of Megan’s in hers. “Luke will lay down the ground rules and then everything will be fine—you’ll see. He’s very much the boss around here and Cody needs to know that. Come on into the house. The girls have prepared a special surprise for you.”

  As they mounted the few steps to the porch, Celeste wriggled out of Matt’s arms and raced to open the screen door, then stood back to allow Megan to enter first.

  Megan’s breath caught in her throat. Strung across the hall was a banner with the words Welcome Home, Megan and Cody.

  Everyone piled into the house after her and Celeste looked up and said, “We made it ourselves. D’you like it?”

  Delighted that Celeste had apparently recovered from Cody’s outburst, she smiled down at the little girl and smoothed her fair hair. “It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, and so thoughtful.” She looked around at all three girls. “Thank you. I…I’m only sorry I haven’t got a present for all of you.” She cursed herself for not getting them something.

  “I have.”

  Cody stood just inside the door, Luke behind him. He no longer looked grim, so Megan presumed their “talk” had gone well.

  Celeste danced up to Cody, all unpleasantness forgiven. “What’ve you got for me?”

  Megan was curious, too. Cody hadn’t purchased anything apart from clothes for himself and the PSP Matt had bought him. He unzipped his bag and took out the airline wet packs and handed one to each girl.

  “Wow!” Celeste tore the cellophane wrapping off and opened the zipper. “Look! It’s got a little toothbrush ’n’ paste ’n’ a comb ’n’ a face washer ’n’ mouthwash ’n’ socks….” She emptied the contents onto the floor and sat down to inspect them further, then seemed to remember her manners and stood and held up her arms to hug Cody.

  His face red with embarrassment, Cody bent down toward Celeste.

  “Thank you, Cody. I love it!” she said, and hugged him fiercely, then let him go.

  Cody stood to his full height again. “You’re welcome, kid, and about before…I’m sorry.”

  Celeste smiled up at him. “That’s okay. You prob’ly missed your afternoon nap,” she told him with absolute guilelessness.

  Sasha and Daisy thanked him, too, but not so exuberantly. They looked more bewildered by their strange gifts than grateful. But Megan was thankful Cody had broken the ice with his peace offering.

  “I’ll show you your rooms,” Beth said, “and then we can have supper.” She led the way upstairs and opened a door off the wide hallway. “This is your room, Cody. I thought you might like it here. It was your father’s room when he was a boy.”

  Megan noticed Cody didn’t seem too pleased by that bit of news. He sauntered inside and looked around the room, which was about four times the size of his room back in New York.

  “Is there another one?” he asked of Beth.

  She looked taken aback. “Well, no. Except the nursery, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to sleep there.”

  Megan was beginning to feel a sense of foreboding. If there weren’t any other bedrooms, where was she expected to sleep? Surely not with Luke? Hadn’t he assured them there was plenty of room for everyone?

  Cody threw his bag onto the bed and flopped down on it. Taking that as a yes, Beth started back downstairs to a hallway leading from the living room and then to another wing of the house. She opened a door. “And these are your quarters, Megan. I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

  Megan went into the room, the three girls following on her heels. “This is the sitting room,” Beth explained, “and here’s the bedroom.”

  Megan walked through the pleasantly decorated sitting room, the walls covered with framed photos of dark-haired boys and young men, presumably the O’Malley boys at various stages of gro
wth. She resisted the urge to look closer, to find the similarities between Cody and his father and uncles. She stepped gingerly through the bedroom doorway, surprised to find how plainly furnished the room was. It was neat, but there was no sign that anyone else lived there. No clothes across the end of the bed or flung over the chair, no book opened facedown on the nightstand.

  Luke came up behind her and Megan felt a chill down her spine. She was supposed to share this bed with Luke?

  “This is my folks’ quarters,” he said. “They usually live here at the ranch but they’re on an Alaskan cruise at the moment. Beth thought you might be more comfortable in here…for now.”

  For now? Did he expect her to eventually move into his room? The thought had her heart racing and her face heating.

  Beth opened another door off the bedroom. “The bathroom’s through here and a closet, too. There’s a kitchenette off the sitting room, so you can make your own tea or coffee if you like.”

  “We built this extension for my folks when I took over managing the ranch.” Luke dropped Megan’s bag on the bed. “But they’ve hardly used it. They’re too busy seeing the world.” As if sensing her discomfort, he said, “There’s an apartment over the barn if you’d prefer. But it’s not really habitable at the moment, since the plumbing’s not connected.”

  “Oh,” was all Megan could manage, immensely relieved that she didn’t have to share the bed with Luke. For now. But what if his parents returned home unexpectedly?

  “Do you want to freshen up or have supper?” Beth asked.

  Megan observed the way Matt was looking down at his wife. Oh, to have the love of a man like that! she thought.

  “I’ll just wash my hands if that’s okay. I’m sure the girls need to get to bed.”

  Celeste said, “We’ve had dinner, ’cause I have to be in bed at seven-thirty. But Aunt Beth said we can stay up a bit later, ’cause tonight’s special.”

  Megan smiled at the little girl who was now her step-daughter. She was adorable. The fact that this child had never really known a mother’s love broke her heart.

  Luke had explained during the drive that Tory had deserted the girls before Celeste’s first birthday. She’d taken off with a rodeo star, leaving the girls with him. Having met them, Megan was even more bewildered as to why Tory would throw all this away for the itinerant life of a rodeo star’s lover.

  Megan vowed then and there that she’d more than make it up to Celeste, and Daisy and Sasha, too, if they’d let her.

  “Come on, girls,” Beth said. “I think I can hear my little Sarah waking up.”

  Forgetting completely about Megan, Celeste dashed out of the room and down the hallway, followed by her sisters.

  SUPPER CONSISTED OF A BEEF casserole with mashed potatoes and peas. The girls, who’d already eaten dinner, had a dessert of ice cream and fresh fruit salad.

  “I’m sorry it wasn’t something a little more spectacular for your first night,” Beth apologized. “But this is the girls’ favorite meal and they felt you’d like it, too.”

  Megan smiled at them. “It’s the most delicious beef casserole I’ve ever tasted. What’s the secret?”

  Daisy piped up. “Black Angus, the best beef in the world.”

  Megan was surprised by the pride in the girl’s voice and by her knowledge. “You seem to know a lot about the cattle,” she said, and ate another mouthful.

  “Daisy’s going to take over the ranch from Daddy one day,” Sasha told her. It was the first time she’d addressed Megan directly since they’d sat down. And Megan got the distinct impression she was warning Megan about who exactly was going to inherit the ranch!

  “Oh, you don’t have any interest in it?” Megan asked her.

  “Hell, no!”

  “Sasha! Penalty box,” Luke snapped.

  The girl’s face fell. “Oh, come on! I haven’t had any allowance for weeks because of that penalty box. Darn it.”

  “And you won’t have any for the next few weeks if you keep that up, young lady,” Luke said from the head of the table.

  Sasha ignored her father and spoke to Megan. “I don’t like dumb old cattle. I’m going to marry a man with a stud farm in Kentucky.”

  “In your dreams!” Daisy taunted from across the table.

  Sasha narrowed her eyes. “Better than hearing silly old cows mooing all night and stepping in their poop all the time!”

  “Sasha, penalty box!”

  “Yeah, like horses don’t poop,” Daisy reminded her, completely ignoring the fact that her sister had just been fined for cussing. “What’re you going to do? Get your husband to put diapers on them?”

  Celeste giggled at that, then so did Cody. Soon the whole table was in uproar as Matt lifted a napkin in the air and pretended he was diapering a horse.

  The rest of the meal passed companionably, but when Megan yawned, Beth took that as their cue to leave. “I’m sure you’ve all had a long day, so we’ll get going,” she said, standing. “Girls, could you help me clear the table and load the dishwasher, please?”

  “Let me.” Megan got up, but Matt laid a restraining hand on her arm as he stood to help his wife. “You’ll be busy enough tomorrow with four children to look after instead of one. I imagine that’s going to be quite a shock to your system. And a husband, too.” He glanced at Luke, and Megan saw the look that passed between the two brothers.

  Megan swallowed hard at that reminder of her new responsibilities. A husband, too. And four children. In one day, the size of her family had tripled, which would take some getting used to. Well, starting tomorrow she’d do just that—get used to it. For the moment, all she wanted to do was sleep.

  “Will you read me a bedtime story?” Celeste stood beside Megan’s chair and slipped her little hand into Megan’s.

  “Yes, of course.” Megan stifled another yawn, not sure if she’d last to the end of the story. “But first, I’d better see everyone off.”

  “Don’t worry about us,” Matt said. “We’ll be back tomorrow. The rest of the family’s coming over for a barbecue and can’t wait to meet you both.” He walked to Cody’s seat and held out his hand. “Nice to have you in the family, Cody.”

  Cody shook Matt’s hand, surprising Megan. She mused that Matt sure had a way with kids. Normally, Cody would’ve ignored such a polite gesture and turned away.

  Beth came from the kitchen. “All cleared up. Ready, darling?” she asked, and Matt went to collect their baby daughter from the nursery.

  “I’ll have to wait for my chance to hold her until tomorrow,” Megan said wistfully as she gazed at the sleeping baby.

  Beth laughed. “You’ll have to stand in line. She’s everyone’s favorite toy around here.”

  “She has been for six months, darling.” Matt gazed down at his wife and daughter with loving eyes.

  Celeste tugged at Megan’s hand and drew her toward the stairs, reminding her of the bedtime story. “Bye, everyone,” Megan called. “It was so nice to meet you, Beth, Matt. See you tomo—” Her last words were cut off as she was dragged down the hallway by Celeste, impatient to get to her room.

  Megan tried not to yawn too much while Celeste brushed her teeth. Then she sat on the side of the small bed and opened the book the child handed her. Celeste leaned over and gave Megan a big hug and kiss. “Just’n case I fall asleep before you finish,” she said, then laid down and closed her eyes.

  Megan began to read, making an effort not to yawn too often. She watched Celeste’s chest rise and fall rhythmically and continued reading, yawning after every few words, not taking in one little bit of the familiar story.

  Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid had been one of her favorites as a little girl. Night after night, she’d pester her nanny to read it to her.

  But all she could comprehend right now was that it was a fish out of water story—in more ways than one. Exactly how Megan was feeling.

  Chapter Three

  “D’you think she’s dead?”
<
br />   “No, dummy. See? Her chest’s goin’ up ‘n’ down.”

  “She looks kinda dead.” Megan opened an eye to find Celeste leaning over her. “Oh! You’re alive. That’s good. D’you wanna come and play with my dolls?”

  Megan opened both eyes. Celeste and Daisy were right beside her bed. Sasha stood behind them, her arms crossed, wearing a stern expression. “Do you want coffee?” she demanded in a voice that said what she thought of people who slept half the day away.

  Megan nodded. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the bedside clock. Ten-thirty! Good heavens. Today was the first day of being a mom to four kids and she hadn’t even been up in time to get their breakfast. The aroma of strong coffee filled the room. Sasha stood at the end of the bed, now with a tray in her hands. She placed it on Megan’s nightstand.

  “Daddy made you coffee early, but you weren’t awake so he made you some more. You still weren’t awake. I made this one,” she said, and Megan could hear the exasperation in her voice.

  Well, that’s telling me, Megan thought. Luke had been in twice with coffee expecting her to be up and then Sasha had felt she needed to make some. Hoo, boy. What a way to start married life. She sat up and took a sip and tried not to sputter. It was strong enough to strip paint.

  “I did it the way Daddy likes it,” Sasha explained. “You like it black with no sugar, don’t you?”

  Actually, Megan liked it with cream and one sugar, but she wasn’t going to upset Sasha any more than she apparently already had. She forced down another sip and shook her head when the caffeine kicked in, clearing the fog in her brain instantaneously. “Mmm, this is good,” she managed to say around the cotton-wool feeling in her mouth, and looked down at herself. She was dressed only in her camisole and panties. She quickly pulled the covers up, wondering, How did I end up here, undressed and without my bra? She tried to remember how she gotten from Celeste’s room to hers last night, but drew a blank.