“Rescheduled because of the hailstorm,” Laramie said. “You were probably out of town when the decision was made.”
“You might as well let us in, because we’re not taking no for an answer,” Skye added.
“Besides, you can’t kick me out of my own house.” Laramie smiled playfully, her hands splayed across her rounded abdomen. “Or deprive me of seeing my niece.”
These two were something else. “When you put it like that, how can I possibly say no?” Kelsey smiled then stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
“Go get ready.” Skye gently clasped Kelsey’s shoulders and turned her toward the hallway. “We’ve got Adeline.”
Clearly, arguing was a waste of time. She headed for her bedroom, mentally reviewing her clean clothes. Since she’d been an emotional wreck when she’d left Hawaii, her suitcase held an odd mix of shorts, T-shirts, a sweatshirt, one nicer outfit for church, a black dress, her favorite denim skirt and two pairs of jeans. Not exactly impressive. She hadn’t been to a fall festival or a county fair or whatever tonight’s event was all about in years. Did she have anything suitable?
She sorted through her limited options and chose her favorite jeans, a cream-colored tunic with a bold floral print and cowboy boots. The muffled sounds of Adeline squealing with happiness while Skye and Laramie played with her made Kelsey feel less nervous about leaving her baby. That left plenty of room for her insides to twist in knots about spending the evening with Landon. Sure, she’d missed him, but she didn’t trust herself to be alone with him, either.
By the time she finished putting on her makeup and curling her hair, she heard his truck pulling up in front of the house. She applied some lipstick, gave her appearance one last glance in the mirror, then grabbed her purse and walked into the living room.
The front door clicked shut as Skye closed it behind Landon. When he saw Kelsey, his eyes widened, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“You look amazing.”
Kelsey tightened the grip on her purse strap as butterflies took flight in her abdomen. “Thank you.”
Skye and Laramie traded knowing glances. Before Kelsey could question their silent exchange, Adeline crawled toward Landon, her exuberant babble filling the room.
Landon chuckled, leaned down and picked her up, then thrust her in the air.
Adeline’s bubbly giggle drew everyone’s attention. With all eyes on her baby girl’s wide-eyed smile, Kelsey seized the opportunity to let her eyes roam over Landon.
He wore a blue T-shirt the color of the Colorado sky, dark-wash jeans and brown cowboy boots. His blond hair was still damp and curled at the nape of his neck. The strong, tan arms supporting Adeline made Kelsey’s limbs tremble. Now that he was here, now that they were about to be alone together, she mentally scrounged for reasons to back out. She’d gotten what she wanted—Landon here without delay—but was that really what she needed? Was he really what she needed?
Laramie held her phone, poised to take notes, and faced Kelsey. “Any specific instructions?”
The question pulled Kelsey from her thoughts.
“She drinks almost a full bottle of formula before bed. If it’s not warm, she’ll refuse it and then she wakes up in the middle of the night—”
“Warm bottle of formula.” Laramie’s fingers flew over her screen. “Got it. What else?”
“She hates those sleep sacks, so I’ve been putting her to bed in her white pajamas with the yellow ducks. They’re clean and hanging on the side of her crib.” Kelsey paused. She didn’t have too many nights left with her baby girl. Letting someone else put her to bed carved a hollow ache in her chest. “I try to read her one or two short books, and don’t forget she still takes a pacifier. Oh, and the white noise—”
“Adeline will be all right.” Landon shot her an empathetic glance. “They have kids, too, you know. They’ll figure this out.”
Heat climbed her neck. Why did he have to be so good at reading her emotions? “She asked for instructions.”
Landon handed Adeline to Skye then turned and opened the door. “C’mon, let’s go before all the funnel cakes are gone.”
“Funnel cakes?” Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Really?”
“Obviously you’ve never eaten a funnel cake.” Laramie ushered her toward Landon. “They don’t last long around here.”
“Good night, pumpkin.” Kelsey hesitated as Adeline fussed. “I’ll be back soon.”
“She’ll stop crying once we leave.” Landon pressed his hand to the small of her back and gently guided her out the door.
“Call me if she doesn’t,” Kelsey called over her shoulder as she stepped out into the warm late-summer evening. This had better be the best festival with the most scrumptious funnel cakes of all time—otherwise she’d regret giving up a precious evening with Adeline.
A twinge of guilt pinched her insides. Okay, so maybe that was an excuse. If she was honest, her anxiety about being alone with Landon was the bigger issue. Somewhere between Wyoming and here, her feelings toward him had morphed from I-can-barely-stand-you to something that resembled I-can’t-possibly-leave-you.
And this new reality frightened her. She couldn’t afford to want him. Not now. Because wanting him meant talking about and planning for a future together. A future that had only ever revolved around her baby girl. She was terrified of allowing Landon into their lives permanently. If he messed up and let her down, she’d survive, but she couldn’t imagine exposing Adeline to that kind of heartache.
* * *
He owed Skye and Laramie big-time.
A shovel-their-driveways-every-snowstorm and babysit-their-kids-six-weekends-in-a-row kind of debt. How they’d convinced Kelsey to let them watch Adeline for the night, he’d never know. But he was grateful.
Landon stifled a smile as he parked his truck in a crowded lot a block from Main Street in downtown Merritt’s Crossing.
“Here we are.” He cut the engine and hopped out. His heart wedged somewhere in the vicinity of his throat as he circled the truck and opened the door for Kelsey.
She climbed out, smoothed her hand over the front of her blouse and slid her purse strap over her shoulder. Her dark eyes surveyed the scene. “What’s a Founder’s Day festival, anyway?”
He gently closed the door behind her. His fingers itched to reach for her hand, but he resisted the temptation and led the way across the gravel parking lot toward the sidewalk. “You said you were from Oklahoma, right? Didn’t your hometown have an annual celebration?”
She fell in step beside him and fired an oh-please-you-can’t-be-serious look his way. “I grew up in the city, cowboy, and I can’t remember the last time I went to a county fair.”
He grinned. Funny thing, her cowboy jab didn’t get under his skin like last time. “You’ve been missing out.”
“This is all just an excuse to eat funnel cakes, isn’t it?”
“You got it.” He waved to his neighbors standing in line to buy sodas. “It’s also a great opportunity to dunk Mr. Weston in the dunk tank if you’re so inclined.”
“What did Mr. Weston ever do to you?”
Landon paused as a blonde teenage girl wound up and hurled a baseball toward the target. Mr. Weston yelled as his seat dropped out and he plunged into the metal feed trough full of water. Applause rang out while the girl thrust both hands in the air then high-fived her friends.
“He’s the high school principal now, but when I was a student, he was a new teacher and a coach. He did not like me missing school on Fridays to travel to my bull riding events, so he threatened to fail me. There was also that one incident with the spray paint on the county water tower, but we don’t need to go there.”
“Sounds like there’s more to that story.”
“C’mon.” He gestured toward the opposite end of the street. “Food’s this way.”
“You’re not going to try to win me a stuffed teddy bear at the ring toss?” She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pointed to the table nearby. The gleam in her eye and her teasing smile gave him hope. Hope that she’d have fun tonight. Hope that she’d appreciate this slice of small-town life and want their daughter to grow up here.
“The ring toss and your teddy bear will have to wait.” Landon kept working his way through the crowd. “I’m telling you, those funnel cakes won’t last.”
A few minutes later, they carried paper plates loaded with deep-fried golden cakes sprinkled with generous amounts of powdered sugar to an empty picnic table.
Landon settled on the wooden bench across from Kelsey and set a stack of napkins and two bottles of water between them.
Kelsey tore a small piece from her funnel cake then hesitantly took her first bite. He waited, watching for her reaction. When she stopped chewing, closed her eyes and released an appreciative groan, he thrust his fist in the air. “My work here is done.”
She smiled, finished chewing, then quickly tore off a larger piece.
Landon chuckled and did the same. “Oh man. That’s even better than I remembered.”
“So good.” Kelsey dusted the sugar from her fingertips and reached for her water.
“Tell me again why you’ve never tried this?”
Her expression grew serious. “My dad was an addict. He and my mom divorced when I was in junior high, and they fought a lot because he wasn’t very dependable. I was supposed to spend every other weekend with him and part of the summer, but he rarely showed up.” She twisted the paper plate on the picnic table in a slow circle. When she raised her eyes to meet his, the pain lingering there made his heart hurt.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She looked away. “My mom didn’t have time for fairs or festivals or much of anything fun. After my dad overdosed, we left the small town we’d been in and stayed with her cousin until she found a job. Sometimes she couldn’t make rent, so we’d move in with a friend or her boyfriend. She tried to stick around the larger cities, because that’s where she could find work.”
Now it all made sense. The reason she’d kept their daughter a secret, why every time they took a step closer, she’d slam the door shut. She was afraid he’d repeat her father’s mistakes. He reached across the table and took her hand. “And that’s why you’ve worried about Adeline living with me.”
She nodded slowly. Her eyes lifted to meet his. “I never want her to have to worry about whether her dad is going to be there for her. Whether he’d spend every cent he had to get his next fix. Whether her father will overdose.”
“Kelsey.” He breathed her name. “You don’t have to worry. With God’s help, I’m sober now.”
Doubt flashed across her features. Ouch.
He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. “I promise.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Even though I’ve given you plenty of reasons to worry, that’s all in the past. I’ve learned from my mistakes, and I will be the most loyal and attentive father I can possibly be.”
And the loving, dependable man you can trust with your heart. The words stuck in his throat. Too risky. Too vulnerable. Now that she’d revealed her doubts, the danger of scaring her off was far too great. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing the two people he cared about most in the world.
The band set up on the makeshift stage nearby strummed the opening bars of a classic country song.
Landon stood and tugged Kelsey to her feet. “Let’s dance.”
“Oh, no, thank you.” She shook her head. “The last time I danced with you, my entire life changed.”
He couldn’t stop a smile. His, too. But in a good way. Although he hadn’t planned to start a family the way he did, that little girl meant the world to him. “One song. That’s it.”
Kelsey’s beautiful eyes sparkled, but she stayed firmly rooted in place. “That’s what you said the last time.”
“You have my word this time. One song. Unless dancing with me is so amazing that you want to keep going, in which case I’m happy to oblige.”
She heaved a dramatic sigh and let him pull her toward the other dancing couples. “You’re impossible, you know that?”
“Impossible to resist.”
Her melodic laughter fueled his confidence. Ignited another spark of hope. Now more than ever, he was determined to prove he was worthy of her love, because he couldn’t imagine a future that didn’t include her and Adeline.
Chapter Eleven
He’d done it again.
Landon had sweet-talked her into dancing. Just one song. Yeah, right. It was almost like he knew she couldn’t resist him when he held her in his arms and guided her around the grocery store parking lot turned dance floor.
Someone had strung vintage bulbs between the trees planted in the center of the parking lot. Strands of clear lights decorated the temporary stage and arced over the band, casting a soft glow onto the musicians. At least a dozen other couples orbited around them. Kelsey recognized Skye’s brother Drew smiling at a beautiful woman, the same one he’d been with at Pizza Etc.
She glanced up at Landon. His gaze locked on hers. The flecks of gold in his hazel eyes pulled her in, and she couldn’t look away. The upbeat song perfect for two-stepping faded into a romantic ballad with a much slower tempo. Landon hesitated then stopped. He’d kept his word. They’d only danced one song. Her pulse sped. He held her hand in his while the other stayed respectfully on the small of her back.
She didn’t want to stop dancing. One song wasn’t enough. His eyes darkened, silently questioning her as she moved closer, savoring the warmth of his embrace. His gaze dropped to her lips. Her breath caught.
If she kissed him, they’d no longer be two people responsible for raising Adeline. If she was honest, she wanted him to be more than a guy she shared a child with. So much more. But letting him into her heart meant she’d have to abandon her claims and excuses that he was all wrong for her and admit that she’d made a mistake. Because if she kissed him now, she was deliberately choosing to step forward into the frightening unknown of a committed relationship.
Her thoughts went to battle with her emotions. This wasn’t an innocent kiss at a fun small-town festival. The longing in his eyes hinted that she meant more to him than that. And if she didn’t want him to kiss her, she needed to step away, because it wasn’t right to string him along.
Landon’s eyes ping-ponged between hers, then he moved closer. Their mouths were only a fraction of an inch apart now.
“Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice low and rough.
She barely nodded before his lips brushed against hers.
He tasted sweet, remnants of the sugar from the funnel cake still lingering. The tenderness in his touch and the way his palms moved to caress her face made her feel cherished. Wanted. When he slid his hands into her hair and deepened the kiss, the scent of his aftershave enveloping them almost made her forget what had happened the last time he’d kissed her like this. Almost made her forget the heartache of waking up alone.
She gave the doubts creeping in a desperate shove, then twined her fingers behind his neck and kissed him back. All her worries about his addiction and irresponsible behavior had faded away. He’d proved her wrong. Adeline adored him. He was the answer to her prayers and a solution to her family care plan problem. With Landon back
in her life, she could return to Hawaii and do her job knowing Adeline was in his capable hands.
Until he messes up and lets you down.
The ugly truth barged in, wrecking their perfect moment.
She pressed her hands against his chest and firmly pushed him away. They stared at each other, heat smoldering in his eyes and her own chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
The band played on, and couples kept circling.
“Stop. We have to stop.”
“Why?”
“You know why.” She took a giant step back and planted her hands on her hips. “When you kiss me like that, it only gets us in trouble.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes.
She turned and fled, stopping at the picnic table long enough to grab her purse, then hurried down the street.
“Kelsey, no. Don’t leave!”
Landon called after her, but she refused to turn around, even though the desperation in his voice made her steps falter.
Fear pricked. She cut long strides down the sidewalk, sidestepping adults and children soaking up every single minute of the festival. She had to get out of here. That kiss had changed everything. Knocked her headlong into a scenario she’d hoped to avoid ever since she’d arrived. It had clouded her judgment and made her believe in a future that wasn’t possible.
“Where are you going?” Landon’s voice grew louder as he jogged up behind her. “We need to talk.”
No, no more talking. He’d only try to convince her—again—that he was solid dad material. Relationship material. And even though she’d run out of sidewalk soon and end up back at his truck, just like last time, the adrenaline humming in her veins propelled her forward. Away from that dance floor and his kiss and the warmth of his touch.
The curious stares of onlookers heated her skin. She ducked her head and walked faster. Everyone in the county would probably be gossiping about them before the night was over.
The Bull Rider's Fresh Start Page 14