A Cowgirl's Secret(26)
“Hey,” Wren said, waving Robin’s chubby hand at Luke.
Luke playfully snatched the baby’s hand, pretending to chew.
Robin shrieked with laughter.
Watching him interact with the infant hurt Daisy to her core. Worse yet was the look on her son’s face as he saw his father interact more easily with a child who wasn’t even his.
“You’re looking mighty spiffy,” Luke finally said to their son. “I like those cowboy duds.”
“Thanks,” Kolt said almost pensively. “I didn’t know if other kids wore this stuff, but since they do, I like it.”
“What events have you seen so far?” Luke asked as they stepped up in line.
“Barrel racing. It’s pretty cool. But I’m mostly excited for bull riding. That’s what my uncle Cash does.”
As a professional bull rider, Cash was ineligible to compete, so he typically hung around back, helping with the chutes.
Wren shook her head. “To my eternal dismay. As if it’s not bad enough I have to worry about him smashing his head in wrestling with a bull, he’s got so many groupies he could form his own girls’ school.”
Laughing, Luke said, “And knowing the size of your husband’s ego, he loves every minute of it.”
Kolt said, “Uncle Cash told me he loves Aunt Wren best, ’cause she kisses like—”
“Whoa there, bud.” Cash sauntered up to them, blasting them with his thousand-watt smile. “Don’t be spilling all my secrets. You can’t let the ladies know how much you like ’em, otherwise that gives ’em leverage to break your heart.”
“Oh, stop,” Wren said, pummeling her husband with her free hand.
Daisy glanced Luke’s way and their gazes locked. For a heady second, hot summer sun melting the sense from her head, everything was back the way it had once been. She was with Luke. Then she remembered he could hardly stand the sight of her. He’d only kissed her to prove all that had once simmered between them was now dead. Only, for her, it should be, but sadly, wasn’t.
Moving up in line, Daisy was relieved to have finally placed their funnel-cake order. Maybe once they’d eaten, Luke would trail off to find his family, and stop distracting her.
“What do you think?” Daisy asked Kolt after he’d taken his first bite of the funnel cake.
All smiles, with his nose and chin white, he said, “This is amazing!”
“Told you so,” Betsy sassed. “You’re dumb for never eating this stuff.”
“Yeah, well, you’re dumb and ugly for being a girl.”
“Hey!” Daisy warned. “Knock it off.”
“It’s okay,” Bonnie said. “’Cause he’s dumb and ugly for being a boy.”
While nodding in agreement, Betsy stuck out her white, sugar-coated tongue.
While the rest of the party laughed over the kid antics, for Daisy, the moment had lost its sparkle. Standing not ten feet from her was Henry. Sneaking up behind the girls, he made a mock pounce for them, then tugged their matching ponytails.
“All of you ladies are looking as pretty as the flowers in Georgina’s garden.” Henry rested his hands on the twins’ backs, smiling a clear challenge in Daisy’s direction.
Nausea struck clear and hard—stunning in its unexpected blow. She was no longer a strong, confident woman, but a little girl being fondled by a dirty old man.
Lurching to action, Daisy snagged the twins by their arms with enough force to jostle their plates to the packed-dirt ground.
“Get away from him!” Daisy shouted on instinct.
Betsy started to cry.
Bonnie snapped, “Are you crazy? Betsy loves funnel cake!”
“I’m sure it was an accident, right, Daisy?” Henry had his filthy hands back on the twins, chuckling as if they were all one, big happy family. “Funny thing about accidents…” With the twins firmly against him, he clamped his hand over Kolt’s head. “Never can tell when or where they might strike.”
Daisy wanted to hit out in rage, but couldn’t. Henry’s smile, his voice, paralyzed her with fear. Please don’t touch me.
“You all right?” Wren asked Daisy. “You’ve turned white as a sheet.”
“Kolt, girls,” Daisy said, “it’s time to go home.”
“What?” Kolt complained. “We just got here.”