Her Homecoming Cowboy (15 page)

Luke chuckled and accepted the cookie Leo passed him. Not done, Leo looked at him as he handed another cookie over. “I told Aunt Annie I wished you were my daddy, Colt.”

As if heaping coals on already flaring fire, Montana’s truck turned onto the drive and headed toward the house. Colt had spotted Annie’s car sitting on the other side of Gabi’s truck, hidden from his view when he’d first driven up.

Annie climbed from the truck with Gabi and Montana. She was all smiles as she headed toward them. Colt had dodged a bullet where Leo was concerned. Though he saw what had upset Annie so much. But once Leo got past the initial verbalization of his wish, it should be all right. There wouldn’t be any more need to dodge the issue.

Feeling guilty had become something he was living with, and this was adding one more to the pile. He was a little wary as Annie approached. His mind switched like a radio station to the kiss, and his head filled with static as he fought the memory off. This was no time to be thinking about how it had turned his world upside down.

“Hi, guys,” she said, resting her hand on Leo’s shoulder. “What in the world have you been up to?” She laughed when he grinned through his milk mustache.

“I got us fellas a snack.”

“I can see that. I’m sure Colt and Luke appreciated that very much.”

She was acting as if nothing had happened between them. He got the feeling Montana and Gabi knew some of what had transpired, and that it was part of the reason Annie had gone off with them. He was pretty sure they thought he was messing up, just as Luke and Annie did.

But Colt had to do what he had to do.

There just wasn’t any way around that. Unless God reached down and lifted the burdens weighing on him, this was the way it was going to be.

“Okay, so it’s all set,” Gabi said, scooting close to Colt and rubbing elbows with him. “You’re picking Annie and Leo up for the wedding. They can come early with you, because I’d like them in the pictures.”

Colt rubbed the back of his neck, feeling pricks of apprehension. “Sure. If Annie’s good with that, then that’s what I’ll do.”

Annie smiled, her eyes twinkling so bright it had him wondering what had happened to the red-hot fury of a few hours ago.

“It sounds great to me. We’re in, aren’t we, Leo?”

Leo held up his hand to Colt for a high-five slap. “Great!”

Colt slapped his hand and couldn’t help but wonder if he was missing something...something important.

Chapter Sixteen

S
aturday arrived quicker than Annie realized. She’d been telling herself since Thursday that everything was going to work out. Ha! She had the notorious matchmaking posse of Mule Hollow plotting and praying behind her back. She had a little boy dreaming and wishing his hero was his daddy—who actually
was
his daddy. She had his aunts and uncles praying, too.

At this point, with all the tangled and twisted emotions rousting about inside her, Annie wasn’t sure what she needed—or wanted—to pray for. Did she want to be a match made in Mule Hollow? Could she trust her heart to someone when the fear of rejection clung so closely to her? When she’d driven into town just a few short weeks ago, the answer to that question would have been a resounding no.

Especially someone like Colt, who had such severe emotional scars himself.

Now... Now she wasn’t so sure. The time she’d spent being included in the family drew her even more than the attraction and love she felt for Colt.

For days she’d asked herself what it was about Colt that would make her fall for the man. The answer had been easy. Despite his not wanting to tell Leo he was his daddy, she knew he loved him. She also loved his kindness. She loved his drive, his dedication. She loved the energy she felt when he looked at her and the kindness in his manner.

And deep down, when all was said and done, she knew that what was driving his desire not to tell Leo he was his daddy was the deep-rooted channel of hurt that ran through him. His kindness, his goodness and the way the tragedy of the wreck had affected him on such a deep level touched her. He needed to find a way to move forward and continue his life. But his ability to take responsibility the way he did struck a chord within Annie. In all her life, that decent willingness to take responsibility had been missing.

If he could, in time, surpass all of that and claim his son...she might be able to risk her heart. If not, the matchmakers were in for a disappointing ending to their new plan.

“You are looking mighty handsome.” She straightened Leo’s long-sleeved white dress shirt. He’d done his best to get the tails tucked in, but they were crooked all the way around. Annie made quick work of the task and used it as an excuse to fuss over him. She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Do you know how much I love you?”

He opened his arms wide. “More than this, you said last time. But I’ve grown since then.”

“And I still love you more than that. Your arms can never grow longer than my love.”

“And your arms can never grow longer than my love.” He pecked her on the cheek, and she very nearly started blubbering all over his white shirt.

“You know your momma would have been so proud of you, don’t you?”

He looked thoughtful. “I bet she would like that Colt is teaching me how to be a cowboy. My momma sure did love bull riding. And Colt, too. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.”

Annie wasn’t so sure Jennifer would have been happy about her having brought Leo and Colt together. But she wasn’t going to tell Leo that. Instead, she smiled. “She would have loved that you were having a good time.”

The sound of a truck coming to a halt in the drive alerted them both that Colt had arrived. Annie straightened her dress. She’d dug through her clothes and found a pale mint-green dress that someone had given her after the fire. It was a slim design and fit her very well, the hem resting just at her knees. Annie paired it with two-inch sandals that she found in the box of shoes she’d been given.

One day she’d go to the store and actually buy some of her own clothing, but there was no hurry. She felt such a sense of gratitude for the generosity of all those who’d rushed to her aid and that of the other residents who’d been burned out of their homes. She smoothed a hand over the front of her dress and checked her makeup in the hall mirror...it was good to make sure she looked her best for the wedding. The fact that Colt happened to be seeing her first—well, she couldn’t help that.

“You sound ridiculous,” she muttered as she took a deep breath. She was going to behave herself, and she certainly wasn’t going to provoke a kiss. There was no denying that he felt the chemistry that surged between them. But whether his emotions were engaged like hers was still a mystery to her.

Leo had the door open before Colt got to the steps. Racing outside, Leo threw himself off the edge of the porch and into Colt’s arms. Thankfully, Colt caught the better part of Leo’s weight with his good arm, and luckily his bad arm was almost fully healed. That had been apparent when she’d found him unloading hay on Thursday evening.

“Good catch,” Leo bragged, holding his feet out so Colt could see his boots. “What do you think? Aunt Annie cleaned my boots all up and shined—and everything.”

“Hey, those look almost brand-new. Matter of fact, I thought they were new.”

“Nope, these were a gift from another little boy my age who gave them to me after the fire burned our house down. He wore ’em a little bit but when he heard about all us people’s stuff burning up, he sent them to the donation place and I got them. Ain’t that special? Annie Aunt—I mean,
Aunt Annie
—she told me how special that is ’cause that little kid was thinking about helping others and not just about how much he liked these cool boots.”

Colt was still holding Leo on his hip, and though Leo was six years old, it was easy to see that Leo’s size didn’t make it a hardship on him. Leo was too big when it came to Annie trying to hold him anymore. She had to be content to sit in a big fluffy chair and cuddle while they read a book. Her days of toting him around were long gone.

After a quick exchange they loaded up into Colt’s truck and snapped their seat belts into place.

“I’ve never been to a wedding before, Colt. Have you?”

“A few. I was usually on the road heading to a rodeo, though, since most of them happen on weekends.”

Annie leaned back, content to listen to them talk. She slid a glance at Colt as he focused on the road. He wore black dress jeans paired with a buff-colored Western shirt that looked great with his sandstone-colored hair and his warm brown eyes. His Stetson was a similar color. The man looked good, no question about it.

“So I guess we just get there early and they start taking pictures?” She knew he was making small talk to fill in the silence hanging between them. He’d been instructed very clearly about what the schedule was upon their arrival.

“That’s it,” she said, going along with him. The best thing would be for Leo to start chattering away again, and then they wouldn’t have to have any conversation at all.

But Leo was busy looking out the window, his brow etched in deep thought. She was surprised that he hadn’t told Colt that he wished he was his daddy. Annie wasn’t sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. But she’d decided she’d stay out of it and let whatever Leo decided to say to his daddy be completely natural. With no interference from her end.

“Aunt Annie and Colt. I been thinking,” he said unexpectedly. “I think we feel like a family.”

Annie was startled beyond belief. By the way Colt jerked the wheel, he got a kick in the gut from it, too.

Not done, Leo kept right on talking. “At day care yesterday I told Bobbie I wanted Colt to be my daddy, and he started laughing at me. I told him that families come in all shapes now days—I heard that on the television. You could be the momma, Aunt Annie, and Colt could be the daddy. But that would make y’all married and Bobbie said that might be a problem. He said his momma and daddy didn’t like each other and that’s why his momma and him moved to Mule Hollow without his daddy. I told him y’all like each other. Well, y’all do,” he clarified when he saw Annie’s eyes grow wider. “So we could be a family.”

Colt was the one who reacted first...a good thing, since Annie had no words at all. “Leo,” he said. “It doesn’t work exactly like that. But you hang in there, because one of these day your Aunt Annie’s going to find someone to love and then you’ll have your family.”

Annie had never been so happy to see a little white church in all her life. Some men! Sometimes they just didn’t have the sense God gave an ant. She shook her head in disgust at Colt and climbed out of the truck as fast as her two legs would carry her. Any other part of that conversation Colt wanted to have with his son, he could have it without her. It was either that or she was going to grab the man by the ear and twist until he told Leo what he wanted to hear—that he was his daddy, not that they were getting married!

Dear Lord, keep me from violence,
Annie silently chanted all the way to the front door of the church to the rhythm of her stomps. Distance—that was what she needed and she needed it now.

* * *

Annie had calmed down by the time the wedding took place. It was a beautiful ceremony and Leo didn’t ask her during the exchange of vows about her and Colt getting married again. He waited until the newlyweds were kissing. Tugging on her shirtsleeve, he looked up at her. “I bet you’d have fun doin’ that with Colt. I think if he can ride a bull good like he does, then he can make himself be good at anything. Even bein’ a good kisser.”

The sound of chuckles rippling around her told Annie that there were plenty of ears who’d heard Leo’s observation. Leo didn’t know just how good of a kisser Colt was.

The night was still young and Leo was on a roll. Annie was a little terrified as she watched a glowing Gabi and Jess walk down the aisle and out the door. Annie wasn’t sure if she was going to make it through many more of Leo’s outbursts.

But what could she say? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Where Colt was concerned her lips were sealed.

* * *

“Colt, you looked sourer than ol’ Applegate standin’ up thar next to yor brothers,” Sam said, coming over to where Colt was standing alone, drinking pink punch in a dainty glass cup. He almost didn’t pick up the drink because he didn’t want to be caught holding such a thing, but he needed to drink something, even if it was pink punch in a punch cup.

“Sam. And good evening to you, too.” The music was playing and Colt had been watching couples dance past him, two-stepping to some good country music. He was guzzling punch because his throat kept getting dry every time he looked across the dance floor and saw Annie help serve the cake.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Leo had said in the truck on the way to the wedding. And then there was that last kiss they’d had...he hadn’t meant to grab her up and kiss her like that. It had been out of his control from the moment he’d reached for her. Annie Ridgeway ignited emotions in him that shook him up. And then there was his son. Dreaming of a family.

It had taken everything in him not to blurt out the truth.

But he’d remained firm and held out revealing the truth...the
truth.
He understood what Annie meant by being compromised. It felt as though he’d been lying to Leo, but he’d actually managed to word his answer so that he hadn’t lied. But was that fair to Annie or to Leo?

Esther Mae came from out of nowhere and was standing beside him. “You do know you can ask a girl to dance.”

“Why, Esther Mae,” he said, forcing his bad mood into the shadows. The woman’s erratically colored dress was enough to shock the doldrums out of the worst-case scenarios. “I’m flattered that you want to dance with me, but what’s Hank going to say?”

Esther Mae pushed on his arm and turned a tinge of pink. “He’s gonna be just fine with it.” A mischievous twinkle lit her eyes. “It’ll be good for him.”

Not really wanting to dance, but not willing to tell Esther Mae no, Colt took Esther’s hand and led her onto the dance floor. Allan Jackson had just begun singing a perfect two-step song. When Colt spun Esther so they moved across the dance floor in one direction, she spun them right back—so she was pretty much leading.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m not one on dancing backwards.”

They were battling it out over who was leading and who wasn’t when Hank and Annie danced by. Colt hadn’t seen her dance all night. Just like him, she’d stayed off the dance floor, but here she was, one hand on Hank’s shoulder and the other hand slipped into his.

“Well, there goes my Hank,” Esther Mae huffed. “That man hasn’t asked me to dance all night long and here he is with Annie.”

Colt knew a setup when he saw it. He wasn’t one to mess up their fun, and he couldn’t help himself; he wanted to dance with Annie. He spun Esther Mae in the direction of Hank. He was going to help this set-up along.

Annie had been surprised when Hank had asked her to dance. There had been no way she was going to tell the nice man no. He’d always been kind to Leo and she appreciated that very much.

“Well, look, there is my Esther Mae.” He stopped suddenly beside Colt and Esther Mae. “Do you mind?” he said, then grinned at Colt. “May I cut in?”

Esther Mae grinned. “Oh, honey, that is so sweet. Do you mind?” she asked Colt as she was already reaching for her husband’s hand. Colt and Annie were standing in the middle of the dance floor, leaving Annie feeling a little silly when Colt didn’t ask her to continue the dance with him. She turned to walk off and he snagged her hand and whirled her around into his arms.

Annie gasped as one arm came around her, tugging her close, and the other held her hand near his heart as he began leading her to the music.

“I didn’t mean to keep you standing there. It just stunned me for a minute.”

Her heart was pounding so furiously that she was certain he could feel it in the small space between them. “I—” she started, trying to catch her breath. “I wasn’t sure you cared to dance with me.”

“I care.”

His words were so short and so straightforward they caught her off guard and she stepped on his toe. “Sorry.”

“Any time.” His lips curved into a slow smile and his eyes were steady—full of unreadable emotions.

Oh, how she wished she could read what was going through his mind.

They danced to the music and Annie tried not to let it mean anything. It was just a dance. A dance they’d been conned into dancing together. It did not mean anything.