The Loneliest Cowboy. Pamela Macaluso
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“When did you get here?” Skye asked.
“About an hour ago.” He gave her another heartfelt hug. “They tracked me through the Rodeo Cowboy’s Association, but how did they manage to find you?”
“I have a friend who drives a rig,” she told him. Gracie, the same friend who had given her a lift out of town when she’d left Harmony Ridge. “The truckers were talking about Dad’s heart attack on the CB. I called to get an update and Beau suggested I come home.”
Chuck’s smile faded and his eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “So, how is the old man?”
“He’s doing better. Mom’s been the only one allowed to see him, so far.”
“When the time does come for us to visit, I’ll go with you.”
“I’d like that.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m a little nervous.”
“You and me both.” He hugged her tightly to him and patted her back. “We’ll get through it together.”
“Safety in numbers?”
“Hey, it’s not like he can ground us, dock our allowances or make us peel potatoes.”
“Mommy.” Dawn tugged on Skye’s nightgown. “Why’s Granpa going to ground you and Uncle Chuck? Did you do something bad?”
Skye fought the urge to chuckle, then the urge to cry. Dawn’s questions were so simple, so direct—Skye remembered when she’d looked at life that way, too. Before adult choices and emotions had complicated things.
Chuck reached down and tweaked Dawn’s nose. “Your grandpa wanted me to stay in Harmony Ridge and work for him and I wanted to be in the rodeo.”
“What about you, Mommy?”
Skye felt her heart in the pit of her stomach. She’d always answered Dawn’s questions honestly but limited the details to keep things appropriate to her age. No way could she tell her little girl how the falling-out with her father had been because Skye had refused to divulge the name of her baby’s father. Lou Williamson would have forced Clint to marry her, engaged to someone else or not.
It would have been a classic shotgun wedding. What sort of start was that for a marriage? Especially when she knew the groom was madly in love with another woman. She couldn’t have faced it if each time they made love, he’d called out Teresa’s name. Once had been bad enough.
“Grandpa and I had a disagreement,” she said succinctly.
Dawn looked intently from one to the other of them. “I don’t know if I want to meet Granpa.”
“Remember what we talked about? How you might not get to see Grandpa if he’s too sick? So let’s not worry about it right now, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Who’s ready for breakfast?” Chuck asked.
After breakfast, Dawn asked to watch the video of Sleeping Beauty. Skye expected Chuck would watch it with her, but he followed her into the kitchen. With a glance to the living room, he swung the kitchen door closed. The serious look on his face worried her.
“Is something wrong, Chuck?”
“No, I just don’t want Dawn to overhear our conversation.” He came to stand several steps from her. “Clint Slade is Dawn’s daddy, isn’t he?”
Chuck’s question made Skye’s stomach churn. “What makes you say that?”
“Her hair and eyes.”
Skye laughed, trying to make light of the subject, while the knot in her stomach tightened even more. “Clint’s not the only man in these parts with dark hair and brown eyes. Take into account the number of truck drivers who pass through and the odds decrease that much more.”
“It’s not just the coloring. After you ran away, Heather mentioned something about you having a crush on him.”
If Heather knew about her crush on Clint, and Chuck had noticed the similarities between Dawn and the little girl’s father, did the rest of the family know? Were they all speculating behind her back?
“Chuck, you’re my brother, I love you, but this isn’t any of your business.”
“Is he giving you enough?”
“Enough?”
“Child support.”
“Well...”
Chuck’s eyes narrowed, the muscles along his jaw tightened and his hands clenched into fists. “Does he need some encouragement to pay his fair share? ’Cause I’ll give it to him. Just say the word.”
Skye crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her elbows. “It’s not as cut-and-dried as you make it sound.”
“Why? Did he give you a lump sum up front and expect you to make it last for eighteen years?” Chuck started to get a wild look in his eyes. “Is it Clint, Skye? Tell me or I’ll light into him until he owns up to it.”
“That’s not going to accomplish anything.”
“Don’t go giving me one of your little peacemaker talks!”
“It’s not a peacemaker talk. It won’t accomplish anything because Clint doesn’t know about Dawn.”
Chuck looked stunned, just short of horrified. “Doesn’t know what about Dawn?”
“He doesn’t know she exists.”
Now he did look horrified. “You never told him you were pregnant?”
“By the time I found out, he was engaged to Teresa Donnelly.”
Chuck swore beneath his breath. “So, he was out sowing the last of his wild oats and you ended up paying the price?”
Skye shrugged. Clint hadn’t been deliberately sowing wild oats, but the description fit enough that she let it ride.
“You should have told him.”
She squared her shoulders and raised her chin a notch. “Excuse me?”
“He had a right to know. He’s her father, for crying out loud.”
“I know guys have this whole male-stick-together thing going, but I’m your sister. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
Chuck planted his hands on his hips. “I’m not taking sides. I’m just saying a guy has the right to know when he’s about to become a father.”
“The talk shows are full of guests with cries for father’s rights, but check around. Do a little impromptu poll at the Rocking W Bar tonight. You’ll find a lot of men would rather not be bothered with news of an unplanned pregnancy.”
“I sure as hell would want to know.”
“I said a lot of men wouldn’t want to know. I didn’t say all men.”
“Okay, so what gave you the right to make the choice for Clint?”
The fact that Clint didn’t know he’d made love to her—that he thought he’d been making love to Teresa.
“I didn’t sit down and consciously make the choice for him. I just did what I thought was best for me and my baby.”
He took a deep breath, held it, then let it out with a rush. “What’s done is done. The problem now is deciding when and how to tell him.”
Skye couldn’t believe her ears. “Tell him? I’m not going to tell him.”
“He has the right to know.”
“That’s debatable.”
“What about Dawn’s right to know her father and her paternal