A Cowgirl's Secret - By Laura Marie Altom Page 0,21

botched things up between Kolt and his father. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say you wanted to stick around? You could’ve done something besides play your game.”

“What was I supposed to say? You act like I should instantly like all of these people because they’re family, but I’ve never had family besides you, so I’m never sure what to do.”

Putting the car in Park, Daisy killed the engine and pulled her son into a hug. “Sweetie, I love you. Please know you can talk to me about anything you’re feeling.”

For too short a time, he returned her hug, but then quickly squirmed free. “Stop. Uncle Wyatt’s here, and I don’t want him to see me all hugging and stuff.”

Kolt bounded out of the car, and Daisy was on her own to take her purse and the few legal briefs she’d brought home for scintillating late-night reading from the backseat.

“Hey,” Wyatt said, crossing the lot to her. “This kid of yours tells me he’s never seen an oil well. Mind if we grab the twins and head out to the ridge?”

“Can I, Mom? Please?” For all of Kolt’s complaints about how tough it was getting to know family, when it came to his uncles and cousins, he was fitting right in.

“Go on,” she said.

“I’ll bring him back in one piece,” Wyatt promised.

“Never doubted you wouldn’t,” Daisy truthfully replied.

Inside, instead of finding her mother and a nice, long conversation, as she’d hoped, she found Josie, who conveyed that chef’s salad waited for her in the fridge, that Georgina was at a church meeting, and that, with their newfound freedom, she and Dallas were off to a neighboring town to see the latest action-adventure flick.

Restless, antsy, Daisy figured what better way to work off nervous energy than by returning to her office for more unpacking? Before setting out, she called Wyatt’s cell. He and the kids were in his open-air Jeep and judging by the laughing shrieks, no one was in a hurry to get home.

At quarter past seven, traffic in town was nearly nonexistent and her building’s lot was empty. After hours, office suites were accessible through the back entrance and had been wired to a separate security system than the bank. Upon entering a simple code, she was in.

Movers had stashed kitchen, dining room, bathroom and bedroom items in the spare office, meaning all Daisy had to contend with were living room and den furniture and boxes.

She’d hoped the work of arranging and sorting and repacking would keep her mind from straying to Luke. Unfortunately the man wouldn’t leave her in peace.

Luke hadn’t just been her boyfriend, but her world. In retrospect, leaving him, knowing she was carrying his child, had been beyond stupid. It had been selfish.

But why couldn’t she just spill the whole truth and get on with her life?

How come every time she locked gazes with Luke’s powerful blue stare, her insides turned to mush and memories of better times consumed her? Even an act as seemingly benign as sharing ice cream sandwiches recalled a lazy summer afternoon when they’d lounged on his bed, feeding them to each other.

Luke’s mother, Peggy, had been out of town at a church conference and for a change of scenery, his dad had gone along. Her parents had believed she’d spent the weekend with a Tulsa friend.

Home alone, Daisy and Luke had played house. Cooking together, cleaning together, making love and bathing together… Best of all had been waking up together. Being held safe in his strong arms.

That weekend had been but a teasing glimpse into the life they might have shared if it hadn’t been for the fear Henry had made a permanent fixture in her. She was pretty sure Kolt had been conceived that long weekend. Just as she was sure that if she’d told Luke of her pregnancy, she would never have left. Daisy had been so afraid of carrying a girl that all she could focus on at that time had been her escape.

Her office door creaked open and in walked the source of her current dilemma. Luke, in all of his handsome glory. “Henry said I might find you here.”

“He’s back? He knows I leased office space?”

“Yeah. You know Dallas gossips like an old woman. Besides me, Henry’s one of his best friends.”

Panic swelled in Daisy’s chest, making it hard to breathe. She’d long since told herself she wasn’t that scared girl anymore. But the mere knowledge that her nightmare was back on the ranch left her