Free A Cowgirl's Secret by Laura Marie Altom

ready to go?”
    â€œGeez, Mom.” He crammed the last of his ice cream into his mouth. “You need to chill.”
    Luke grinned. “Kolt, I think the two of us finally found something we can agree on.”
    Â 
    B Y THE TIME D AISY REACHED the main road, she was a trembling mess. She’d been stupid to even have gone to Luke’s. Especially with Kolt. More than anything, she wanted Luke to know what had happened with Henry. Judging by her irrational behavior, she suspected she was more to blame than Kolt for his inability to get to know his father.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with you?” her son asked as they pulled up the ranch’s main drive.
    â€œI’m tired,” she said.
    â€œYeah, well, you’re acting weird. Like, I thought we went over to Luke’s house for us to all, like, sit around and talk and stuff, but then we just left.” He licked chocolate from his right pinkie. “I wasn’t really wanting to do all that, but Uncle Cash said Luke has a cool horse, so that might’ve been fun to see.”
    And as usual, Daisy had botched things up betweenKolt and his father. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say you wanted to stick around? You could’ve done something besides play your game.”
    â€œWhat was I supposed to say? You act like I should instantly like all of these people because they’re family, but I’ve never had family besides you, so I’m never sure what to do.”
    Putting the car in Park, Daisy killed the engine and pulled her son into a hug. “Sweetie, I love you. Please know you can talk to me about anything you’re feeling.”
    For too short a time, he returned her hug, but then quickly squirmed free. “Stop. Uncle Wyatt’s here, and I don’t want him to see me all hugging and stuff.”
    Kolt bounded out of the car, and Daisy was on her own to take her purse and the few legal briefs she’d brought home for scintillating late-night reading from the backseat.
    â€œHey,” Wyatt said, crossing the lot to her. “This kid of yours tells me he’s never seen an oil well. Mind if we grab the twins and head out to the ridge?”
    â€œCan I, Mom? Please?” For all of Kolt’s complaints about how tough it was getting to know family, when it came to his uncles and cousins, he was fitting right in.
    â€œGo on,” she said.
    â€œI’ll bring him back in one piece,” Wyatt promised.
    â€œNever doubted you wouldn’t,” Daisy truthfully replied.
    Inside, instead of finding her mother and a nice, long conversation, as she’d hoped, she found Josie, who conveyed that chef’s salad waited for her in the fridge, thatGeorgina was at a church meeting, and that, with their newfound freedom, she and Dallas were off to a neighboring town to see the latest action-adventure flick.
    Restless, antsy, Daisy figured what better way to work off nervous energy than by returning to her office for more unpacking? Before setting out, she called Wyatt’s cell. He and the kids were in his open-air Jeep and judging by the laughing shrieks, no one was in a hurry to get home.
    At quarter past seven, traffic in town was nearly nonexistent and her building’s lot was empty. After hours, office suites were accessible through the back entrance and had been wired to a separate security system than the bank. Upon entering a simple code, she was in.
    Movers had stashed kitchen, dining room, bathroom and bedroom items in the spare office, meaning all Daisy had to contend with were living room and den furniture and boxes.
    She’d hoped the work of arranging and sorting and repacking would keep her mind from straying to Luke. Unfortunately the man wouldn’t leave her in peace.
    Luke hadn’t just been her boyfriend, but her world. In retrospect, leaving him, knowing she was carrying his child, had been beyond stupid. It had been selfish.
    But why couldn’t she