A Baby for the Cowboy (Triple C Cowboys Book 2) by Linda Goodnight

Author:Linda Goodnight [Goodnight, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LJG Publishing LLC
Published: 2017-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

The woman bewildered him. But then, women always bewildered him. He wasn’t a complete dunce, but she’d said she liked him. He’d thought maybe they were becoming close again.

No such luck.

With a sigh, he carried the slurping, smacking infant to the living room but chose the chair across from Emily instead of sitting next to her again.

She might like him a little, but she didn’t want him to get too close.

“You wanted to know about Daisy.” Emily was all business now, hands in her lap and back straight as a two-by-four. He’d upset her, but he didn’t know how or why, nor did he know how to ask.

“She seems like a nice kid.”

“She’s a terrific little girl, and Jessica adored her, mentored her, and tried to be the mother figure Daisy doesn’t have. Her mom died when Daisy was born.”

The revelation hit him right in the sternum. His mom hadn’t died. She’d left when he was four and Scott was two, but he understood growing up without a mother. “Poor kid.”

“Yes, and to make matters worse, her dad is no candidate for father of the year.”

Emily bent forward and plucked a grape from the plate but studied it instead of eating. “I’m limited on what I can say because of my job, but some things are common knowledge.”

“I know a little.” He told her about meeting Daisy in the rain. “She was scared her dad would see me. She said he didn’t like strangers on his land.”

“That’s her father’s right, of course, to limit visitors.” She raised a palm. “I know. And I agree with you, but Arlo Beech is not the neighborly kind.”

“Is he abusive?” Levi’s shoulders tensed. “Does he hit her?”

If he did, Levi would cross the pasture and engage in a little man-to-man.

“No evidence of abuse at this point. She does miss a lot of school, which is where I come in.” She rolled the grape between her thumb and index finger. “From my single encounter at their home, and by all accounts from her teachers and what Jessica told me, he’s a difficult, demanding man. But there’s no law against being a jerk, as you can attest.”

He huffed, his jaw tightening. Could he ever. The old man hadn’t been a beater, but he’d been every other kind of hard case. “Sad deal.”

“I suspect the relationship is anything but warm and fuzzy. Daisy’s a ray of sunshine, a born optimist, but she’s needy too. She latched on to Jessica like a wood tick. According to Jessica, her dad doesn’t like for her to leave the property, but she’d sneak across the field any time she could to be here.”

“Where someone cared about her.”

“That was Jessica’s take, and mine too. She absolutely blossomed when Jessica began taking her to church.”

Now her generous, caring mother figure was gone. “Does she have anyone else? Siblings maybe?”

“She’s an only child.”

Harsh, demanding father. No mother. He could definitely relate. At least, he and Scott had had each other.

He was getting a real bad attitude toward his neighbor across the back fence.

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