Free The Cowboy Lawman by Brenda Minton Page A

need to come to terms with this. It helps to talk.”
    “To a shrink. Just say it, Slade. Don’t beat around the bush. You don’t mean talk to you or Granny Myrna.” She glanced at the clock and groaned. “She’s going to be here in five minutes.”
    “You’re babysitting Cay and she’s babysitting you?” He grinned a little and she ignored it. He’d always been pretty convinced of his charm. Maybe he’d been wrong.
    “She’s helping me wash my hair.” She turned a little pink at the admission.
    “Mia, I’ll go with you.”
    “To wash my hair?” She sipped the tea and reached in the cabinet for cookies. “Breakfast?”
    “No, thanks, we ate at Vera’s. That reminds me, there are biscuits and gravy in the car for you. Thirty minutes old but you can heat them up.”
    “I’d love biscuits and gravy.”
    “And a ride to Tulsa. I’m off tomorrow.”
    “I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”
    “In Tulsa? How convenient is that? Call your department and make an appointment to see the shrink.”
    “The only thing really boggling my mind right now that I might need counseling for is you. Why are you suddenly so involved in my life? Why can’t you back off a little and let me have room to breathe?”
    “Because we’re friends.”
    She grimaced as she adjusted the sling around her neck. “I want this thing gone.”
    “And me?”
    “Yes, I want you gone, too. But you make a decent cup of tea, you bring breakfast and you let Caleb play with me. I guess I’ll figure out the rest.”
    “What time do we leave tomorrow?”
    “Eight. Were you going to get those biscuits and gravy for me?”
    “Yeah.”
    When he walked into the living room he stopped cold. Caleb looked up from the box he held on his lap. He had pictures spread out on the sofa and one in his hand.
    “This is my mom, isn’t it?”
    * * *
    Mia walked up behind Slade as Caleb asked the question, his blue eyes darting from the picture to Slade and then to Mia. Mia started to take the box and the pictures, but Caleb held them tight. Maybe this moment had to happen, for the child and for the father.
    Hadn’t he seen pictures of Vicki? Didn’t Slade tell him the stories? She looked at Slade, waiting for him to unfreeze. He let out a long breath and then nodded.
    “Yeah, buddy, that’s your mom.”
    “Mia has lots of pictures and we just have that one on the dresser.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    Mia sat down next to Caleb, sinking into the soft sofa, the pictures next to her moved and she reached for them. She picked one up and smiled.
    “Caleb, this is your mom in high school. She was beautiful, wasn’t she? And you look a lot like her.”
    The boy’s nose wrinkled at that. “I’m not beautiful—I’m a boy.”
    Mia laughed. “You’re right. Boys are handsome. And you are definitely handsome. But you have her hair, her eyes.”
    Caleb scooted close and looked at the picture. “Why was she dressed like that? All fancy and stuff.”
    “Your mom loved pretty clothes. I think this was a picture taken at a school dance. I think your dad was there with her. They were always together.”
    Mia’s heart ached at the memories unfolding. She looked at Slade, saw the heartbreak in his eyes, saw it in the firm line of his usually smiling mouth. She smiled, wishing a smile could make this all better, make it hurt less. Why hadn’t he shown Caleb pictures of Vicki?
    “My grandma Bonnie says my mom was her princess.”
    Mia smiled, remembering Vicki’s mom calling her that. Vicki’s parents had moved to Arizona for Bill’s lungs, but she knew they visited often.
    “Yes, she was a princess. And she was my best friend.”
    “Really?” Caleb looked in awe. He found another picture, of Vicki on a horse.
    The picture brought a rush of forgotten memories. “That was the day I taught her to ride.”
    “I need to call in.” Slade spoke quietly, his voice steady.
    “Why?” Caleb put the pictures down, suddenly nervous. “Dad, I didn’t