Cowboy Logic - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,16
Lauren was teaching Darcy good things. Or had been. Or whatever.
He checked in on his phone, but he kept one eye on the kids, who were all at the swings now. Darcy was a little general, keeping the other two corralled.
Jack’s death had changed things for her, had changed things for all of them, but Bailey most of all, becoming a single mom to four.
Maybe the cowboy was right. Maybe he was a shit brother for not coming home when Jack died. Or Momma. But Bailey hadn’t wanted him there, and honestly? He hadn’t been able to help emotionally. He’d been on a book tour when Momma passed, and he’d been out of the country for Jack’s entire, quick illness. He’d hadn’t come, but he’d sent money, he’d called, he’d even dealt with the funeral from Monterey.
That had to count for something.
The timer he’d set on his phone dinged. “Okay, heathens. Pizza pickup and delivery to momma is about to commence.”
“But Uncle!” Dougie started.
“Nope. That’s not how this works. We’ll come out again, I promise.”
“I know. I was swinging high, though!”
“I saw.” He only lied a little. “Pizza Hut, remember?”
“Pizza!” He suddenly had three kiddos dancing around him, and he started leading them to the van.
“I’m a human maypole,” he said drily, knowing the kids wouldn’t get the Mary Poppins ref.
“You can leave them in the car with me when you go in, Uncle. I’ll watch.” Was Darcy old enough for that? Surely she was. Bailey had been babysitting him full-time by the time she was Darcy’s age.
“Okay, but the doors stay locked and no one gets out. Got it?” He hit them all with his robot master death glare.
“No one will, Uncle. I promise.” Darcy looked so sure.
“I’ll be two minutes.” He had to trust her. Bailey had always believed in him, and he’d risen to it. He owed Darcy the same respect because she was Bailey’s kid. It wasn’t like he couldn’t see them from the store, and it wasn’t hot enough to run the air conditioning. They’d be fine. He ran inside, order confirmation ready.
Please God. Let him get the kids and pizza home safe.
Chapter 6
Jericho let it go for a few days.
That whole scene with Bailey and her brother got under his skin. The way he and Anderson had snarled at each other bothered him, especially after Bailey had been through such a tough situation. She didn’t need that noise.
His own selfishness had been disastrous before; the least he could do was go apologize. Right? He wasn’t in high school anymore. He’d learned some damn life lessons since then.
He thrust the Hungry Man dinners back into the fridge. “Hey, you heathens! I want to get some Soulman’s and take it to Miss Bailey. Y’all want to see Darcy and them?”
“Yes!” Ellie jumped up. Darcy was her hero. “Please, Daddy!”
“Okay. Let’s make sure everything is cleaned up and the dogs are fed.”
“Do I have to go, Dad? I can stay here.”
And play video games.
“I want you to meet someone.” Travis would freak out over “Logic.”
“Who?” The tease had Travis standing, moving.
“You’ll be stoked.” He was pretty sure Anderson wouldn’t be a dick to a kid. Even his kid.
“Okay. Okay, sure. Cool.” Travis moved around, pouring out kibbles.
It felt so good, Travis trusting him, trusting that he wouldn’t fuck around. Half the time having a tween meant never seeing his kid, so when it was like the old days…
He snorted. Like a year ago. Woe was him.
Ellie came to him, hugged him. “You good, Mr. Daddy?”
His sensitive little girl was always reading his mood.
“I am, baby girl. I feel bad because I was mean to Miss Bailey’s brother the other day, and I want to apologize.” He figured it was a teachable moment.
“Uh-oh. That’s hard, to say sorry.” She looked up at him. “Are you sorry?”
“I am, yeah. I wasn’t nice to him in school either. I mean, I didn’t bully him, but I didn’t help him.” At sixteen a kid didn’t feel like that was his job. As an adult, he would hope his kids would help someone like Anderson.
“Ah. Bullying is wrong, and you have to tell a grown-up. Did your teachers not tell you that?”
“No. My teachers really didn’t talk about bullying, and your gramps said if someone started a fight, I was supposed to finish it. I’m so glad your teachers have learned a lot.” His baby girl was a staunch defender of kittens and puppies and kids even smaller than her, he thought.
“Me