Cowboy Up (Coming Home #3)

Every stretch of the road on the Davis property is lined with a stark white fence. Clayton explained that when his father had been running things, they had cattle roaming their lands. The Davises raised some of the best, but it was a business Clayton never saw for the future of the ranch. Since they no longer use the majority of their land for cattle, they farm out unused parts of those pastures for hay so that they can gain that resource for the horses.

Clayton tells me he owns pastures that have some of the best views in all of Texas, but since you have to travel by horse to get there, I haven’t seen those yet. He’s been working so hard to get me comfortable around the big beasts, but there’s just something about those huge black eyes watching your every move that makes me uneasy.

I honk at Drew, the ranch foreman, when I see him working on one of the fence rails near the turnoff from Maverick and Leigh’s road to ours. He pulls his hat off and waves it in the air before wiping his brow and bending back over to continue his work. Not far after that, I see two other hands do the same, and I give them a honk of my horn as well.

Right before the turn into the ranch house, I see a few cows in the distance, smack-dab in the middle of the road. The rancher who owns the land on the other side of the road has so many head of cattle, they’re always dotting the landscape, but this is the first time I’ve seen wayward cattle making a break for it.

I continue down our drive, reaching for my phone in my purse. I pull up Clayton’s number and give him a call, climbing out of the car while it rings.

“Linney,” he answers in that deep way of his that’s almost breathy but too manly to be called such. The sound goes straight through me, bathing my whole body in warmth.

“Hey, honey.” I smile into the bright sun, walking up the porch steps and into the house. “I know you’re busy, but I wanted to let you know some of the Larkins’ cows are makin’ a break for it. I saw them when I was turnin’ in farther down the road.”

“I’ll give Todd a call.”

“I figured you would. Are you goin’ to be home for supper tonight?”

I can only imagine how tired he is, seeing that he left before sunup this morning to deliver some horses to a buyer out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He made it sound like no big deal, but I can’t imagine making a five-plus-hour drive one way and not being wiped by the time I got home.

“I should be at the ranch in about an hour, darlin’. Why don’t we head into town for something?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to just have a relaxin’ night at home? You’ve been on the road all day.”

He laughs. “No, I want to take my girlfriend out. Might not be as fancy as what we’d get if we drive into Dallas, but I don’t take you out enough as it is.”

“Clayton,” I say with a smile, “you know I don’t need all that.” And I don’t. I know he’s busy with things at the ranch and his hours are long and taxing. I don’t want him working his tail off all day only to get home and think I need him to take me out in order to show me a good time. All I want is to be near him. There’re no distractions when you’re getting undivided one-on-one time.

“I know, darlin’, but I’m still feelin’ the itch to show you off.”

I roll my eyes, walking through the house toward the stairs so I can go get ready now that it looks like we’re not going to be staying in.

“I was just visitin’ over at Maverick and Leighton’s. I know Quinn is on bed rest, but why don’t you give Tate a call and see if he’ll okay a trip to town for dinner? I’ll ring Leigh and see if she and Maverick want to join. They don’t have much time left before the babies are here. As much as I love our time with just the two of us, I think we should have a family dinner before the little ones come.”

A noise comes over the line that makes me pause in pulling off my leggings. “I like hearin’ you refer to them as family.”

“Well, they are your family, Clayton. What else would I call them?” I laugh awkwardly.

“And seein’ as we’re buildin’ our future, they’re yours too, Linney.”

“Clayton,” I gulp.

“Don’t go sayin’ my name like that when I’m too far away to do somethin’ about it. One day soon, we’re gonna sit down and talk so you know exactly what I see for us down the road and I can make sure you don’t have any doubts as to where I’m standin’. Get ready, baby, I’ll be home soon.”

He hangs up before I can say anything else, but since he’s rendered me speechless, that’s just fine with me. I’m not stupid: I know he wouldn’t have moved me into his home if he didn’t see a future for us, but knowing how his last relationship ended, I worry he might not want the same things for his life as I do for mine—a family. There isn’t much in this world that would make me willingly give up what I have with Clayton Davis, but the fact that he doesn’t want kids might just be one of them. Which is the very reason I’ve been dreading the moment he wanted to have this talk.

What will I do if he only changes how he feels about marriage but not children? Can I stay with a man who can only give me his love but not his babies? I’m honestly not sure.





15


CAROLINE


“Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton

- -

“Would you stop?” Quinn snaps, yanking her husband’s plate back toward her so she can continue to pick off it, having already polished off her food. “Do you want to be the reason your child starves, Starch?”

He smirks, his handsome face more boyish than those of the other men at our table. If I wasn’t already tumbling head over heels for a certain dark cowboy, I might find Tate Montgomery attractive. He shrugs and I hear Leighton snicker from across the round table. My gaze moves to her and she winks before mouthing something about waiting for it. I frown in confusion before she points to the two Montgomerys.

“Grease, there’s no way my baby is starvin’ in there,” he jokes, pointing to her very big stomach. I know he meant it harmlessly, but judging by the expression on Quinn’s beautiful face, she doesn’t feel the same way. “Now, don’t go lookin’ at me like that, Quinn. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh really?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest, which is no easy feat, seeing as she’s top-heavy and belly-heavy.

“You know I love your body,” Tate tells her sincerely, but she doesn’t stop leveling him with a glare.

“You mean the body that keeps growin’ as big as a house, keepin’ your baby from starvin’ because I’m storin’ food in there for him, or somethin’?”

Tate looks up at the ceiling and I hear Leighton chuckle a little louder.

“Give it a break, Hell-raiser,” Maverick mumbles around a forkful of barbecue. “You know damn well he didn’t mean what you’re implyin’. Just because you’re in a shit mood, don’t take it out on your man.”

“He’s the one who put me in jail!”

This time, Leighton doesn’t keep her hilarity down. She starts laughing so hard, I can’t stop watching her belly with worry that she’s shaking her baby up in there. Surely it’s not good for it to move that much. “He didn’t put you in jail, Q! Don’t be such a drama queen.”