“Can I ride the horses if I take care of them?” Tessie bargained as she put the bandage on Lawson’s head.
He thought about that for a couple of moments before he nodded. “Yeah, but not that Appaloosa bi...witch that just threw me. Oh, you can name her, too, as long as it’s something mean like...” He sputtered out some syllables, probably because he couldn’t think of anything that didn’t involve cuss words.
“I’ll keep the name PG-rated,” Tessie grumbled. But she did like the idea of naming a horse. Even a mean one.
She put away the first-aid kit and followed Lawson out of the tack room. He was still hobbling a bit, making her wonder if he needed to go to the hospital.
“You rode that mare all the way over here?” he asked.
Tessie nodded.
“How sore are you?” he added.
“Sore.” Though she hated to admit it. It sounded prissy, and she doubted Lawson would want his kid to be prissy. If he ever thought of her as his kid, that is. She wasn’t sure either one of them actually wanted that.
“If you want, I can drive you home, and one of the hands can take the mare back,” Lawson offered.
“It’s okay. I’ll do it.” And then she’d be hobbling as bad as he was. But it felt like the right thing to do, and she needed to do something right. Not for Lawson or her mom but for herself.
“I wasn’t always a screwup,” she said. “I got all As in school and never busted curfew. Not until the blowup with my mom about her lying to me.”
“I figured as much.” When they made it back out of the barn, he stopped and turned to her. “This is one of those life-lesson stories. I don’t tell them very often, so listen up. I was the middle child of five kids and was nothing special. I definitely didn’t stand out in a sea of Grangers who were smarter, nicer and better looking than me, so I tried to be as good as I could be. The perfect kid.” He lifted his shoulder. “That all went down the drain when my folks got divorced. I was angry and blamed both of them for messing up, and that’s why I messed up, too.”
She waited for him to add more to the life lesson, but he just kept staring at her. “So, you understand why I did what I did?”
He made a face. “Hell, no.” Then he made another face. “I mean, heck, no. I didn’t understand why I was doing it then or why you did it now. It’s like we put these big targets on our feet so we can shoot ourselves there, and it doesn’t help squat. It only hurts and pisses people off, and in my case, it hurt someone a lot.”
Tessie didn’t think he was talking about her mom. This was about the friend who’d died. The one her mom still cried about.
“So, you’re telling me not to make the same mistakes you did?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s what life lessons are all about.” He started walking again, and Tessie fell in step beside him. “Don’t expect a lot of them from me though, because I meant what I said about not giving them very often.”
Tessie didn’t get a chance to say anything about that because they suddenly realized they weren’t alone. Tessie went stiff when she saw the dark figure step out from the side of the barn. Lawson reacted, too. He hooked his arm around her, pushing her behind him.
“Who the hell are you?” Lawson growled, and he sounded very mean.
The guy came out, his hands in the air, and when Lawson and she got a better look at him, they both groaned. Because it was one of her mom’s fans dressed like a stupid Swaron warrior.
“I’m Todd,” the guy said. His voice sounded shaky, probably because Lawson was scowling at him as if he might tear his leg off.
“You’re trespassing,” Lawson warned him.
Todd’s nod was shaky, as well. “I just wanted a picture of Stavros and Ulyana’s daughter.”
The twerp had his phone aimed and ready to take a photo that Tessie was pretty sure Lawson wasn’t going to let him take.
“She’s not Stavros’s daughter,” Lawson said. Tessie wasn’t sure how he managed to do it, but he sounded even scarier than he looked. “She’s mine.”
Todd swallowed hard, nodded, but he didn’t look as if he was buying that. Not until Lawson maneuvered her out from behind him. Once Lawson and she were side by side, Todd nodded again. This time, for real.
“Take your damn picture,” Lawson ordered. “Put it on every social network site you can find with the caption ‘Tessie Cooper with her father, Lawson Granger.’”
Todd gave another nod. An eager one, this time.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Tessie whispered to Lawson.
He looked her straight in the eyes. “Yeah. You’re my daughter, and I want everyone to know it.”
That felt a lot better than Tessie had thought it would. “Even with all the trouble I’ve gotten into?” she pressed.
“Even then.” Lawson brushed a kiss on her cheek and put his arm around her for the photo that Todd snapped.
“So, you’re not an ass after all?” she muttered to Lawson.
“Only on occasion. By the way, you’re still grounded.”
*
EVE FIGURED SHE looked like a crazy person. She was crying and smiling at the same time—and both were genuine emotions. That’s what she got for taking Aiden with her to visit Brett’s grave.
Aiden was in a great mood, cooing and smiling, and it was impossible for her not to smile back and make goofy sounds that only another parent would understand. He was her precious little man, and she loved every ounce of him.
What she didn’t love was the grief that bubbled up inside her when she saw Brett’s shiny gray marble tombstone. Of course, she’d known what it would say. His name along with the dates of his birth and death. She hadn’t known about the quote on it though.
In our hearts forever.
Eve was certain his parents had chosen those handful of words, and they were true. Brett would indeed always be in her heart. Too bad she couldn’t keep him out of her nightmares, but she had to hope that one day those nightmares would turn to dreams. Dreams of the good times they’d had with Brett and not just the miserable mistake of that night.
Aiden made an especially loud coo and started kicking and flailing his arms. When Eve followed his gaze, she spotted Lawson making his way toward them. Her son was certainly overjoyed to see him, but Eve was feeling a little less enthusiastic. That’s because she needed to give him the bad news about Tessie.
“I saw your car parked out by the cemetery gate,” he said.
When he got closer, Aiden immediately reached for him, and with all the ease of a veteran parent, Lawson took him. The kiss he brushed on top of Aiden’s head looked plenty natural, too.
“No farting on me today,” Lawson told Aiden, and the boy laughed the way someone would at a fine man-joke that he completely understood.
There was no trace of the joke though when Lawson looked at her. “Are you okay?”
Eve hadn’t forgotten about the fresh tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “It’s my first time here.”
He nodded as if no other explanation was necessary. “It gets easier after a while. The visit, I mean.”