Montana Cowboy Daddy (Wyatt Brothers of Montana #3) - Jane Porter Page 0,10
car, and she can’t go hiking around town with a baby without any snow gear.” Summer’s brow creased as she looked at Erika, even as she continued rocking the car seat. “Did you bring snow gear?”
Erika shook her head. “It’s, uh, almost April.”
“It can snow here until May,” Tommy said, from his position leaning against the stove. “The day can start out hot and sunny and still end in wind and snow.”
“Let’s not discuss weather. Let’s get our guest settled,” Summer said. “Tommy, Billy, please?”
Billy nodded, not about to argue with his mom, but he didn’t know why his mom was so insistent on Erika and the baby staying when she’d always been firmly against any pretty single woman staying over.
Nevertheless, he waited while she retrieved her car keys for Tommy before lifting the car seat from the kitchen table and carrying it with him as he led the way upstairs to a room halfway down the hall. Billy pushed open Sam’s door and flipped on the light. The room was distinctly chilly. He placed the baby and car seat on the floor and walked to the closed ceiling vent, opening it, but there was no encouraging gust of heat. It’d take considerable time for the room to warm up. As if reading his mind, Erika stopped him before he’d gone to the closet.
“I can plug the heater in,” she said. “You don’t need to trouble yourself further. Just tell me where I’d find a couple of towels and a bathroom and I’ll be fine.”
“The bathroom is next door. Sam and Joe used to share it but since neither are here anymore, it’s all yours. There should be clean towels under the sink.” He hesitated. “What about the baby? Does he need anything?”
“The travel crib in the car trunk. It’s stored in a large black backpack.”
“I’ll go get it. Anything else while I’m going that way?”
“I have a large water bottle by the driver’s seat. It’s red with bright orange and pink flowers.”
He returned a few minutes later with the backpack and water bottle. He could see that Tommy had already brought up the rest of her things. She’d also plugged the heater in and turned it on. It hadn’t warmed the room yet but the night was cold and it’d take a while. “I’m going to grab you an extra quilt,” he said. “And then I’ll set up the crib if you’d like.”
“I can do it.”
“I don’t mind lending a hand.”
She gave him a strained smile. “I’m fine, thank you.” She crossed to her purse and diaper bag and pulled a little photo album from one of the bags. “But I shouldn’t have this. For all I know, it was meant for you.”
He didn’t want the photo book, and he tried to hand it back but she wouldn’t take it and it’d be rude to just leave it on the bed.
He left her room and went to his, a room he’d shared with Tommy since they were both in cribs, and setting the photo book down on his dresser he headed into his bathroom, stripping off his clothes and stepping into the shower. The water came out cold, little ice needles raining down, but Billy forced himself to stand there, finding a strange solace in the brutally cold shower. Anything was better than looking at that small square book Erika had thrust into his hand as she said good night to him.
He didn’t need a book to remember April, and he didn’t need photos to picture her. She’d been fun and she’d had a wild streak, enjoying cutting loose with him—drinking, dancing, not vanilla lovemaking. But there had never been feelings between them, much less serious feelings, nor were they ever in a relationship.
From the beginning, she was seeing different guys—there had even been a sugar daddy from New Jersey that visited her in Vegas—and he’d been clear he was seeing other women, too. They’d agreed that they weren’t into commitments, and even if they were, long-distance relationships didn’t work. Far better to just meet up when convenient, than have hard and fast rules. He’d put April on the rodeo pass list more than once, happy to see her when she showed up at one of his events, and then they’d always hang out after, but she wasn’t the only one he did that for. While he didn’t have a woman in every town, there was a handful he enjoyed seeing when he was in their town.