The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

“But she’s been gone all day.”

“Not quite.” Although it felt that long. After thanking him repeatedly, P.J. had said she could shop much faster without Emily. Now he was beginning to wonder.

“What if the car broke?” Emily looked up at him, her green eyes begging for reassurance.

“It’s fine.”

“How do you know? What if she got a flat tire? Or the engine blew up?” She brushed a strand of hair, the same shade of brown as her mother’s, back from her face. “Mommy doesn’t know about that stuff. I heard her say so.”

“If she was stuck, she’d have called.”

“What if we were all outside?”

“There’s a message machine. Did you check it?”

“Nope.” She hopped off the swing. “I’ll go look.”

“Good idea.” When the front door slammed behind her, Cade took a deep breath, bracing himself for the next go-around.

A moment later, she appeared at the screen door. “How do I know if there’s a message?”

“Was the red light blinking?”

“No.”

His stomach tightened. He’d hoped for word from P.J. “Then no one called.”

“Where’s Mommy?” She came outside and stood in front of him, her lower lip quivering.

He rested his elbows on his knees. “Buying groceries. Do you know how much boys eat?”

“I watched Steve last night. He had two hamburgers. Then he finished mine. Why didn’t Mommy make French fries the way she usually does? Those weren’t the best.”

He thought about the fire and how competently she had handled the situation. She’d finally baked the potatoes. He’d thought they were pretty tasty. The ones she normally made must be a world-class ride.

“She couldn’t do them the way she wanted to because there was an accident.”

“Accident?” Her eyes widened. “What if an accident happened to Mommy? What if she’s hurt? What if she couldn’t call? What if she never comes back? What if—”

He tapped her nose. “What if you stop borrowing trouble?”

“What does that mean? Why would anyone borrow trouble? Does that mean you have to give it back?”

“When you’re finished with it.”

She grinned. “That’s silly.”

Her smile made him glad he’d been able to take her mind off things for a minute. But that didn’t ease his own misgivings. PJ. had been gone a long time. But how long was too long when you were shopping for a week’s worth of groceries for six people? He didn’t have a clue. What if she had been in an accident? What if she never came back? He didn’t even know who to call to come get the kid. Did P.J. have folks? Where was Emily’s father?

“It’s not gonna work, Mister Cade.”

“What’s that?”

“Distracting me. Mommy says I’m not easily distracted. Not like when I was little.”

“Oh. You’re big now?” He lifted her slightly, pretending that he could hardly heft her slight weight. She was no bigger than a minute. She giggled, then wrinkled her nose, showing him that she was on to him. He noticed the spattering of freckles across the bridge of her cute little button nose. Like mother, like daughter.

Where the hell was PJ.?

“I’m seven, almost eight. My birthday’s before Mommy and I hafta go back home.”

“Is that right?” He tugged playfully on one of her pigtails, just below where the pink ribbon fastened it. “What do you want for your birthday?”

“That doll with the big boobs.” Then her eyes narrowed and she pointed one small finger accusingly at him. “You’re doing it again.”

“Distracting you?” It took every ounce of his selfcontrol, but he managed to keep a straight face and not react to her description of the doll.

“Uh-huh.” Her bottom lip pushed out. “I wish Mommy would get here.”

“If she doesn’t come back soon, I’ll go look for her. Deal?”

“You promise?”

“Yup.”

Just then, he heard the faint sound of a car. In case he was wrong about it, he didn’t say anything so Emily wouldn’t be disappointed. Finally, he saw a cloud of dust, then PJ.’s compact car roared up the circular drive and stopped in front of them. She hopped out, smiled brightly and waved, then unlocked the hatchback. She had a helluva nerve looking so cheerful after what she’d put her daughter through.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” she said. “I could use some help with this stuff. I got some great—”

“Where have you been?” Cade walked down the steps and stood in front of her.

Emily followed and folded her arms over her chest. “We were worried, Mom.”

“We?” P.J. looked at him and her right eyebrow rose questioningly.

“He was keeping me company,” Emily said. “I borrowed trouble and now I have to give it back because you’re here. What took you so long, Mommy?” she asked, throwing her arms around her mother’s waist.

P.J. put her hand comfortingly on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had a bad time. But it takes a while to buy enough food for growing boys.”

“That’s what Mister Cade said,” Emily told her, tipping her head back to look up.

“Did he?” She glanced in his direction.

Cade could almost hear her asking questions. Like why he could find the time to reassure a little girl when the boys had practically begged him for a crumb of his attention. She wouldn’t buy his explanation that this was different, but it was. Emily was a little kid and she was scared. End of story.

“Did you get enough for Steve to have two helpings?” Emily asked.

“I got enough to feed a good-sized horse. See?” she said, indicating the back of the car, chock-full of bags and assorted things.