Overprotective Cowboy: A Mulbury Boys Novel (Hope Eternal Ranch Romance Book 2) Page 9

  “I found myself in the city,” she said, and Ted noted that she didn’t specify which one. “And I was at this bath and body shop, and I saw it. I thought of you, and I picked it up.” She shook it slightly. “Take it.”

  He did, trying to figure out what exactly was at war inside him, and which emotion would win. “Thank you,” he said, ducking his head to study the vial. It had a bunch of essential oils blended together, and he removed the cap to smell it. “Oh, I like that.”

  “It’s pine and eucalyptus,” she said. “I love eucalyptus. I have this spray I use in the shower. Mm.” She smiled at him, and Ted couldn’t help returning it.

  “Thank you,” he said again, wanting to say so much more. But he also just wanted to enjoy this moment with Emma, when she’d done something kind for him. She’d thought of him while she was shopping.

  He reached out with the hand not holding the beard oil and took hers. She let him too, and Ted decided he could ask her about Laredo later. He could ask her about everything later.

  Chapter Ten

  Emma had spoken true when she’d told Ted that she had nowhere to go. She’d called Fran while sitting in her car on the side of the freeway. Missy had been at school. There hadn’t been any problems. No one hanging around the house. No mysterious phone calls. Nothing unusual at all.

  They’d decided to take a trip to see her parents anyway, just to get out of Texas for a few days. Emma had apologized at least a dozen times, and Fran kept telling her it wasn’t necessary. They’d known what they were getting into a decade ago.

  Emma had not gone to their house. She had not seen her daughter. She’d texted as usual to make plans for this weekend, and Missy had responded with the news that she was on an airplane bound for Florida.

  Fun! Emma had texted. And then she’d had nowhere to go. Since she didn’t have a lot of money, she’d decided to simply go back to the ranch. She’d have to face this music sooner or later, and she decided that if she could hold Ted’s hand while she did, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

  They strolled in the dusky twilight, hand in hand, away from the homestead when they should be returning to it. He said nothing, and Emma knew he was waiting for her to explain. She didn’t know how. She’d spent so long keeping everything to herself. That was her natural inclination now, and she wondered if he’d let her stay silent.

  At the same time, Emma didn’t want him to let her. Things had changed within her, and she’d almost decided that all of this was happening for a reason.

  “Sorry I ran out on you yesterday,” she said.

  “I’ve been worried about you.”

  “I know,” Emma said. Ginger had grabbed onto her an hour ago and hugged her tightly for a very long time. The other women in the West Wing had too, and Emma had never felt so loved. “I’m sorry.”

  “You have things you don’t want anyone to know,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “I get that.” His boots crunched over the gravel, and Emma looked out over the marshlands that marked this side of the ranch. “I guess the good news is I got your phone number.”

  Emma looked up at him, sure she’d heard him wrong. He started to chuckle, the sound growing into a full-blown laugh. “Oh, come on,” he said. “That was funny.”

  Emma finally cracked a smile. “You wanted my phone number?”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Why?”

  He looked at her, something hooded in his eyes. “You want to know why I wanted your phone number?”

  Emma shook her head, some of her senses returning. She really needed to get back on top of her game if she was going to keep her secret. The problem was, she wasn’t sure if she was going to do that. She went back and forth every other minute, and right now, everything was up in the air.

  “No,” she said. “I know why you wanted it.”

  “Yeah, so I could get you alone and hold your hand,” he said with a grin. He squeezed her fingers lightly.

  “You want to know the things I don’t want to tell you,” she said.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “I get that,” she said, reconstructing the conversation they’d just had. “I’m—I don’t know how much I’ll be able to tell you.”

  He took a deep breath and exhaled. “One thing I learned from everything that happened to me is this: No matter what, everything comes out in the end.”

  Emma’s internal organs trembled, and she adjusted her hand in his. She cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to tell you.”

  Ted let more silence go by as he continued to walk. “You will when you’re ready,” he said. “I learned that too. Everything comes out when it’s the right time. When it’s ready.”

  She nodded, her throat so tight. “Thank you, Ted.”

  He squeezed her hand in response, and said, “I’ve got to get back. These old bones are still trying to adjust to all this work.” He sighed as he reached back with his free hand and pressed against his back. “And here’s a confession for you. I haven’t ridden a horse in many long years. And it lasted six seconds.”

  Emma tried to hold back her laugh, but it came out anyway, a sort of pop of her breath. She laughed fully then, and Ted joined her.

  “I can teach you to ride,” she said.

  “Would you?” he asked. “I think Jess liked me until she saw me on my back in the dirt.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, still giggling. “And I’m sure Jess still likes you.”

  “Maybe,” he grumbled. “I’m not a natural cowboy.”

  “Sure you are,” Emma said. “I mean, you look the part, and you walk the part, and you definitely have that Texan twang.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.” He reached up and put his hand on his cowboy hat. He turned around, and she went with him, and they started back toward the homestead.

  “That’s the truth,” Emma murmured, and she enjoyed the leisurely stroll back to the homestead.

  Ted released her hand in the garage, tipped his hat, and said, “See you tomorrow, Emma,” before continuing to the Annex.

  She waited until he’d gone inside and closed the door. Then she said, “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

  She had no idea what tomorrow held, and that normally upset her. Made her stomach nervous and her skin crawl. But she had to accept it. She had to face each day with a new kind of bravery and handle one thing at a time.

  Inside, she found Ginger sitting at the dining room table, looking at a spread of papers in front of her. She abandoned them the moment she looked up and saw Emma. “There you are.” She crossed the kitchen to her and hugged her again. “Where did you go?”

  “To check on my babies,” she said, holding her friend tight.

  “How are they?” Ginger fell back and looked at Emma, her dark green eyes never missing much.

  “Good,” Emma said, her voice a touch on the high side. “Ted was out there.”

  Ginger said nothing, but a frown appeared between her eyebrows.

  “I gave him the beard oil and thanked him for taking care of my horses. He…he wants me to…Ginger, I need to tell you something.”

  Emma swallowed, her throat sticky and rough at the same time.

  “Anything,” Ginger said, glancing toward the hall that led to the bedrooms. When she looked back at Emma, there was no time left.

  No way to find the right words. They didn’t exist. Emma could only pray that her best friend wouldn’t feel too betrayed. So she did that and then opened her mouth and said, “I have a daughter.”

  Ginger absorbed the words, and Emma couldn’t believe how four words could change so much. “You do?” she asked, but her voice carried no surprise.

  “Yes,” Emma said, nodding. “She’s ten—she’ll be eleven by the end of the year—and she lives with a couple in San Antonio. I send almost everything I make to them, and I hid her because her father is a bad man.”

  Emma took a deep breath, trying to get everything to settle again. She’d never imagined this day, beca
use she’d never intended to tell anyone about Missy. Ever. Her hands shook, and she couldn’t quite meet Ginger’s eye.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  Ginger was so strong, and so capable. She ran this ranch with a lot of help, but nothing was done without her knowledge. To Emma, she held the world in her hand, and she couldn’t expect a woman like Ginger to understand her reasoning.

  “It’s okay,” Ginger whispered. She gathered Emma into another hug and held her tight. “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this by yourself for so long. You could’ve told me.”

  Emma clutched her best friend, as she hadn’t felt this level of true comfort in a long time. In that moment, she missed her mother powerfully, and the bond between her and Ginger became even stronger.

  “I wanted to,” Emma said, her voice tinny and childlike. “But I didn’t dare. The guy I was involved with is dangerous. He has a dangerous family, and I was so scared. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—put my baby in any danger.”

  Ginger released her, and Emma wiped her eyes and kept her head down. “You think he may have found you.”

  “I’m not sure,” Emma said, and that summed up just about everything in her life at the moment. “Ted looked up the license plate, and it was someone who worked for my old boyfriend.”

  She employed her bravery and lifted her eyes to Ginger’s. “Do you think badly of me?” She didn’t want Ginger to see her in a different light, but Emma knew she would. That was what secrets did. They shed new light on situations and people.

  “Of course not,” Ginger said.

  “I wasn’t married,” Emma said. “He was the father of one of my students.”

  “It was a long time ago,” Ginger said. “Everyone has things they’ve done that they regret.” She took Emma by the shoulders, her eyes intense and blazing. “You’re a good woman, Emma. You work hard, and you’re kind. You don’t have to carry your mistakes forever.”

  Emma nodded, because she wanted to believe that. Deep down, she did. She’d been to church as a little girl and a teenager, and she’d learned that God forgave even the vilest of sinners. She’d tried to do the right thing. She’d operated within a sphere she knew and understood.

  “She has a good life,” Emma said. “That’s all I ever wanted for her, and now everything might be compromised, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to turn.” Fat tears slid down her face, and she made no move to wipe them away.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Ginger said, and it sounded like a promise. “Together, okay?” Ginger reached up and wiped her tears for her, the kindest, most compassionate look in her eyes. “We’ll figure it out together.”

  Emma nodded, utterly spent. She’d been so tired for so long. She kept everything laced so tight, and it was extremely hard to carry so much, day in and day out. She needed a reprieve. She needed help. She needed someone to take the burden for just a few minutes.

  “Okay,” Ginger said, some of the hardness returning to her face and her voice. “Let’s get you to bed, because you look like you could use a good night’s sleep.”

  Emma let Ginger walk with her into her bedroom and stay while she quickly changed into a pair of pajamas. She let Ginger stroke her hair off her forehead as if Ginger were her mother, and she looked up at her the way she’d been admiring her for so long now.

  “Anything else I need to know?” Ginger asked.

  “Not right now,” Emma said. Her friend got up, switched off the light, and left the bedroom. As the door shut behind her, Emma closed her eyes and thought of Ted Burrows.

  Tall, strong, sexy Ted Burrows, with his warm skin and his musky cologne and those deep, caring eyes. Yes, she could keep him and their budding relationship a secret for a little bit longer.

  Tomorrow, she’d face whatever she had to, and she whispered, “Please bless me and Missy and Fran and Matt that this will all work out. Please, Lord, I need to keep my daughter safe.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ted spent the next few days feeding the foals with Emma in the morning and evening. If there was no one around, they strolled to the stables hand-in-hand, and took an evening walk together too. He sure did like holding her hand, and talking with her, and getting to know her.

  She never brought up anything sensitive, and he learned she had two sisters—both married with children—and he told her about his younger brother and older sister.

  “Ah the middle child,” she teased him, and Ted nodded.

  “That’s right,” he said. “You’re the youngest. I think we both have issues.” They laughed together, and Ted wondered—not for the first time—if he could kiss her before he dropped her off at the West Wing.

  She’d taken him down a dirt road lined with trees, and he was pretty sure this was where Nate had kissed Ginger for the first time. His best friend didn’t do a lot of kissing and telling, but Ted had asked a few questions, and Nate had been open and honest with him.

  Just be careful with her, Teddy. Nate’s advice was good, and Ted once again pushed on the brakes of their relationship.

  “My mother is coming tomorrow,” Ted said into the glorious night sky. He never spoke too loud at night out here. It felt like the sky would amplify the sound and broadcast it to the whole world.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Emma said. She looked up at him, and though the darkness had gathered quickly, the weight of her eyes still landed on him. “Are you nervous?”

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  “Why’s that?”

  “My mother hasn’t seen me in a while,” he said. “The trip to River Bay became…difficult for her as she aged, and Britta’s girls got older. Everyone got busier.” And he’d missed it all. In fact, he’d only held his nine-year-old niece a couple of times when she was an infant before getting shipped off to the low-security facility.

  Britta had brought their mother to visit, and Ted’s brother, Shane, had come often too. At least in the beginning. Neither of them had ever brought their children, for which Ted was grateful.

  “How long?” Emma asked, squeezing his hand.

  Ted got the feeling she’d asked once before, but he’d been too deep inside his own mind. “Oh, uh, at least three years. Britta’s come in the last year or so. Shane too. But not Mom.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He stopped coming before she did.” Ted looked out into the deep purple sky, watching it turn navy in the blink of an eye. That part of the Earth was covered with water, and Ted wanted to walk right up to the edge of it and feel it lap against his ankles. “My dad and I have a rocky relationship,” he admitted. “It wasn’t great before I went to prison, and it actually improved while I was behind bars. But then he stopped coming when he got pneumonia a while back….” Ted shrugged and tipped his head back.

  “I can see so many stars here,” he said. “It’s incredible.”

  “You’ve said that every night for the past three nights.” Emma giggled and tugged on his hand to get him to keep moving. “Come on, the mosquitoes are eating me alive.”

  An extreme measure of gratitude moved through Ted that he was alive enough to be eaten by bugs. A smile slipped through his soul, and as he and Emma increased their stroll to a walk, he asked, “Do you go to church, Miss Emma?”

  “Occasionally,” she said.

  “Would you take me on Sunday?” he asked. “There was a preacher that would come to River Bay sometimes, and I liked listening to him.”

  “Sure,” she said. “I’ll take you.”

  “Great.” He released her hand and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Are you going to come out of the office to meet my family?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Yes,” he said simply. “I can’t leave the ranch alone, and Ginger told me today I can’t leave with only them either. I have to be with her or Nate…or you.” He looked down at her, but it was hard to see her features very clearly. “She specifically said I could leave the ranch with my family if you came w
ith me.”

  “Hmm,” Emma said.

  “Have you been tellin’ her things about us?” Ted asked quietly.

  “A little,” Emma said. “Nothing big. You should know that Ginger knows every single thing that happens on this ranch. So she knew I was coming in later than normal from feeding the babies, and she knew I was leaving earlier.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “She knew you were too.” A smile seemed to light her face from within, and Ted basked in the glow of it.

  He chuckled too. “Yeah, I got that feeling about her,” he said. “I don’t mind if you tell her, I was just wondering.”

  “Are you talking to your brother?” she said. “Because Nate and Ginger are thick as thieves.”

  “I should hope so,” Ted said. “Since they’re getting married and all.” Nate hadn’t said much about the wedding, only that it would take place in the late fall, so they had plenty of time to plan it. Ginger seemed to have too much on her plate already, and Nate wasn’t much into bows and frilly things. “And no, I don’t tell him much. He knows too, though.”

  “It’s a small place, this ranch,” Emma said. “I’m sure everyone knows.”

  “Not your secrets, though.” As soon as Ted spoke, he regretted it. Thinking quickly, he added, “How does one keep secrets around here? You seem to have done it.”

  Emma took a couple more steps in silence, and then said, “Well, it’s not easy, that’s for sure. The trick is to put yourself together and pretend you’re okay.”

  The lights from the homestead shone out into the night, throwing some rays onto her face. Ted paused and studied her. “Put yourself together?”

  “Yeah, you know, I always have my makeup done up right. My hair is super cute, wouldn’t you say? Every day. I get dressed every day, though I barely leave the house and I hardly ever leave the ranch. I’m not getting dolled up for the foals or my computer screen.”

  Ted simply looked at her, wishing he could scrub everything off her face, and let her hair down, and unwrap the paper she’d hidden herself in one layer at a time until he could see it all. “So I’ve got to keep my beard neat and trim, cut my hair, brush my teeth, and get dressed every day.”