Cowboy Daddy. Angel Smits

back into the bar, promising drinks for them all. Lane expected the tab Sam had asked about to have a few extra drinks on it. Lane sighed.

      “Let’s go home, Dad.” He extended a hand to his father, who surprised him by taking it, letting Lane pull him to his feet. Hank stumbled but meekly followed Lane to the parking lot. Lane just hoped his dad would fall asleep in the truck, not yammer or cry as they drove to the house.

      “Where the hell you been?” Hank asked, leaning his head back on the seat.

      “Work.” Lane had learned eons ago that simple, short answers were best. While Hank hadn’t hit Lane in years, there was always the possibility. And while sober Hank knew that his son had become a man, drunk Hank conveniently forgot.

      “You got chores to do at home.”

      “Yes, Dad. I’ll get to it.”

      “I don’t want to hear none of your excuses, boy.”

      “I know.” Lane wove through the hills, hoping they’d reach the house before Hank’s temper grew worse. Sometimes, Lane wondered if it might just be better to leave him to fight it off.

      But Hank never won. He just ended up in the emergency room. He was too old and worn out.

      “Here we are.” Lane pulled into the dirt-covered yard as close to the front steps as he could get the truck. He glanced over at the older man. Hank was out cold.

      Great. Lane climbed out, opening the passenger door carefully so he wouldn’t have to catch Hank, who was leaning against it. “You gonna wake up, old man?”

      Hank’s response was a resounding snore. Lane sighed and knelt down. Lifting his father over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, he headed to the front steps. What the hell was Hank going to do when Lane got too old to carry him?

      “Hey, did you know you’re a grandfather?” Lane asked the silent house. Hank snored again. “Yeah? Why, thanks, Dad. The congrats are much appreciated.”

      Lane had set his father’s room up on the main floor years ago, so the trip to the nearest bed was short. He put the old man down and, except for yanking off his boots, left him.

      At the doorway, he stopped and looked back. How many people did he have to put to bed in a day before he earned his own rest?

      With Hank asleep like this, minus the injuries and bloodstains, Lane could almost see the man his father used to be. “Damn it, Dad.” He thought of Mandy. Thought of his son. “His name is Lucas,” Lane said softly. “And he’ll never know you. He can’t.” Lane kept walking. “I can’t.”

       CHAPTER FIVE

      AMAZING WHAT A good night’s sleep could do for a person. Amanda awoke to bright morning sunshine pouring in through the window and energy thrumming through her body.

      The height of the sun told her it was late. In the distance the edge of the barn’s roof gleamed bright red against the vivid blue Texas sky. It felt so good to be home. Rolling over, she stretched, making sure not to pull her stitches and minding all the sore places from IVs and other intrusive...things.

      She glanced over at the crib—the empty crib. Panic shot through her. She threw back the covers. Her bare feet hit the cool wood floor as her heart pounded against her ribs.

      She was the world’s worst mother. How could she forget for even a second that she had Lucas to worry about and care for? How could she have slept so long when he most certainly had not slept through a—she glanced at the alarm clock that had not woken her—ten-hour night? Not at less than two weeks old.

      “Ah, you’re awake.” Tara’s voice came from the doorway. Lucas was safely snuggled on her shoulder, his tiny head nestled against her neck.

      All the adrenaline rushed out of Amanda’s body and gravity pulled her back down to the edge of the bed. “I am such a horrid mother,” she whispered. “And you’re a terrible sister for scaring me half to death.”

      Tara laughed, used to Amanda’s morning persona. “Like I’d wake you up to tell you I was taking Lucas so you can sleep?” She rolled her eyes. “Take a shower and get dressed. Lucas and I are gonna play.”

      “Play?” How did you play with an eight-day-old baby? Tara left and after several deep breaths, Amanda grabbed her clothes and headed, slowly, carefully down the narrow hall to the bathroom. She might be rested, but her body was still recovering. She didn’t look in the kitchen, didn’t glance in the living room. She didn’t want to know who saw her in this old, ratty nightgown.

      Half an hour later, dressed in her normal clothes—with makeup for the first time in a while—she followed the trail of voices down the hall.

      Wyatt’s household revolved around the big, airy country kitchen at the center of the house. Stepping into the familiar room, Amanda let the sense of home enfold her. Juanita stood at the giant gas stove stirring a pot that looked big enough to crawl into. Lovely, tantalizing smells wafted from it, filling the room.

      Tara sat on the bench that ran the length of the big, wooden table, a cup of coffee steaming in her hands. “My play buddy conked out.” She smiled and tilted her head toward the baby swing in the corner where Lucas snoozed.

      “He does that.” Amanda headed to the coffeepot and fixed her own cup.

      “You. Sit down.” Juanita pointed at the bench across from Tara. “I’ll make you a good breakfast.”

      “You don’t have to—”

      “Don’t argue with her.” Tara laughed. “You know you won’t win.”

      “Listen to your sister.” Juanita laughed, too. “She’s right.”

      After a good night’s sleep, a warm shower and with one of Juanita’s amazing breakfast burritos under her belt, Amanda almost felt normal. It might have been an illusion, but it wasn’t the first time she’d let herself believe in delusions.

      The quiet of the room surprised Amanda. “Where is everyone?”

      “Everyone who?” Juanita was back at the stove putting biscuits in the oven. “If you wait another half hour, all the men will be back here for lunch.”

      All the men? Amanda’s heart hitched. Lane?

      “So, when are you going to share your secrets about you and Lane?” Tara’s eyebrows lifted as she sipped her coffee.

      “There’s nothing to share.”

      “Really?” She glanced over at Lucas. “He just appeared out of thin air?”

      “Yep.” Amanda didn’t want to share anything with anyone. She’d grown up with next to no privacy. Tara might have turned into a beautiful, talented young woman, but she was still Amanda’s pesky little sister.

      “Mom did explain the birds and bees to me, you know,” Tara teased.

      “Good to know. Bet it was the same lecture I got.” She missed their mother and, looking at Lucas, her grief intensified. Not only had Lucas been conceived when Lane had comforted her as she’d grieved her mother’s death, but Lucas would never know any of his grandparents.

      Lane’s mom had died when he was a kid, as had her dad. She’d always speculated that that shared loss was part of what made Lane and DJ such good friends growing up. Now, Mom was gone, too. She didn’t know about Lane’s father, and she wasn’t about to ask anyone and open that door. Admitting she didn’t know his family would not be a smart move.

      “Where’s Addie?” she asked, hoping to stop the downward spiral of her thoughts and derail Tara’s curiosity.

      Tara looked down with a frown. “She went back to Austin last night, after we got you home.”

      That seemed strange.