Forever's Affection (Forever In Luck Series Book 3) Read online

  He paused, then smiled widely. “Oh, yeah,” he said, with a nod. “I liked that.”

  “That’s how I feel about certain men who wear cowboy hats. They’re sexy.”

  He sat up a little taller. “Am I one of those certain men?”

  She was finding him kind of fun to be around. “Possibly, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen you with a hat on.”

  “Will I get a reward if I wear a cowboy hat?”

  She snickered, then shook her head. “Maybe.”

  “I need a cowboy hat,” he said firmly, having made up his mind.

  She laughed at his abrupt change of heart.

  His teeth clapping together as he bounced along, he asked in a shaky voice “What kind of horse is this?”

  “A Quarter horse.”

  “And yours?”

  “A Quarter horse.”

  They made it safely across the highway, and he was still in the saddle. “Wait, they don’t look the same.”

  “They’re the same, just different versions or colors per se.”

  “Explain, please.”

  Trotting into the yard, she answered him. “Topaz is a Palomino, and Ricochet is a Blue Roan.”

  “I made it!” he exclaimed as he hopped off, safely planting his feet on the ground. “Did you train them yourself?”

  “I did,” she responded, finding his lack of horse knowledge and subsequent interest charming.

  “Then you’re good at this kind of thing,” he said confidently. “How about Coco and Goldie, you train them?”

  “I did,” she answered, looking at him with a glimmer in her eye. His sincere appreciation was racking up points in her book. Most of the men she knew didn’t give her that much credit because they were too busy trying to be better than her. She quickly and efficiently took off the saddles. Watching what she was doing with a critical eye, she imagined he was trying to learn the process so he could step in and take over.

  “Then you’re really, really good at training animals. There’s hope for the Friesian.”

  Turning the horses out to pasture, she nodded. “There’s hope for all of us.”

  Taking her hand, he said with a smile, “Come on, I want to show you your surprise.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Back of the house, down by the stream.”

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Surprises make me nervous.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “I know. Just remember that each new and positive experience has the potential to change that.”

  Rounding the corner of the house, they stopped and he pointed across the yard towards the trees by the stream. “There it is, there’s your surprise.

  Her eyes popped open and she smiled from ear to ear, clearly pleased with this little delight. “A swing…for me? Kris, I love it! I’ve never had a swing!” She took off running towards it and stopped short when she came to it. Pushing it, she laughed when it rocked back and forth. Looking at him with watery eyes when he met up with her, she said warmly, “I really do love it.”

  “Then sit down and try it out. It’s a big ole bench swing. I figured you could sit here and enjoy the stream, drop a line in, and relax.”

  Sitting and wiggling around, getting comfortable, she looked at him and licked her dry lips. “There’s room for two on here,” she said smiling, her eyes bright.

  “Yes,” he said seductively, “there is.”

  Feeling shy, she looked down smiling. “Would you like to sit on here with me?”

  “Is this one of my rewards?”

  “Maybe,” she answered grinning. “Why don’t you sit down and find out.”

  Sitting down next to her, he pushed the swing with his long legs and they glided back and forth. He watched her as she continued staring downward smiling, finding amusement in her pleasure of this simple gift. He was always staring. “You’re staring again.”

  “Mmhmm. You have a nice smile.”

  Reaching over, she took his hand and lifted it high, bringing it behind her head, and around her shoulders. He pushed the swing again, and they quietly rocked back and forth.

  “Not long ago, my dad said some of the best times he and my mother had were spent just sitting quietly together. This is nice.” He gave them another push.

  After sometime, she moved a little closer and tilted her head, resting her temple on the edge of his shoulder. She felt him relax. “I really am sorry about this afternoon,” she said quietly. “Sometimes things just happen and it sets me off…and well, it’s kind of like Ricochet taking you off the trail. I know it’s happening, and I know it’s not what I should be doing, I just can’t seem to stop whatever it is.”

  Giving her a little squeeze about the shoulders, he answered her. “You know, I buy that. I absolutely believe that. Nate and Linnie, they have a code word they can say to one another when things are happening and morphing into something other than what they should be. Either one of them can say it at any time, and it means they stop and basically take a time out. Then they come back later and talk it through, once they’ve each had time to reflect on things. Maybe we need a code word too.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, something that will make us stop, and will break up the tension without making anyone angrier than they already are.”

  Sounded like a good idea. She knew her counselor would have supported this plan. “What do Linnie and Nate say?”

  “Pickles.”

  She tried holding back her laugh. “Pickles?”

  “Yep,” he said in all seriousness. “Pickles. I want us to have our own code word though, something different.”

  “Like what?” she asked, finding this humorous.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Something like…cuckoo-doodle-doo.”

  She snuggled a little closer. “You mean cock-a-doodle-doo?”

  “No, cuckoo-doodle-doo, like the clock.”

  “So your cuckoo clock has a rooster in it?” she asked with a laugh.

  He gave them another push. “Our cuckoo clock has a rooster and a hen in it. They both make noise.”

  Rocking back and forth, she sighed as she settled into his hold some more. “I like our cuckoo clock.”

  Tightening his arm about her shoulders again, he pulled her closer and said softly, “So do I.”

  Rocking back and forth, she searched and found her courage. “The hen would like to tell the rooster thank you for today, for the swing, the grill, for riding the horse, for talking, for trying, and for being concerned for the hen’s safety, but most importantly for giving the hen something to peck for.”

  He rubbed her arm and grinned as they swayed back and forth. “The rooster accepts the hen’s gratitude and would like to thank the hen for telling him all she did today, and for letting the rooster hold her right now.”

  She snuggled closer still. “Would it be alright if the hen gave the rooster a peck on the cheek?”

  “The rooster would love a peck on the beak.”

  She could hear the lightheartedness in his voice, but still. “She said cheek.”

  Taking a deep breath, he let it out and nodded. “He heard her, he said beak, but cheek would be alright too.”

  Turning towards him, she looked at him, studied his face, then reached up and cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. After a few moments, she leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, then pulled back quickly, surprised at the sensation.

  “Dani…”

  “Can…can I kiss you again?”

  “Ye—”

  She kissed him again, a little more and a little longer. Then pulled back and looked at him perplexed.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Interesting, very interesting. “Will you…”

  “What?”

  She bit her lip, not sure about what she was thinking. “Will you kiss me back, just a little?”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, looking uncertain. “Because—”
/>   “Kiss me,” she demanded as she leaned in, not giving them a chance for second thought.

  He kissed her with apparent uncertainty and simply took things slow, which was fine by her. After what seemed like an eternity, but was more like ten seconds, she pulled back and looked at him wide eyed.

  “Alright, talk to me, something’s going on.”

  “Your—”

  They were interrupted when her phone started ringing. Digging through her pockets, she pulled out her cell phone and looked at caller ID. Flipping it open, her tone turned ice cold, “There’s only one reason I’ll take your call, if that’s not it, I’m hanging up.” Then she gasped and stuttered, “What, what did you say? You didn’t! How could you do that? How? Don’t you hang up! Don’t you han— MAMA, don’t you dare hang up! Damn it!” Hopping of the swing, she swore, than swore again, then took off for the house at a dead run.

  *****

  Not sure what the hell was going on, Kris got up from the swing and slowly walked to the house. Dani came flying out the door just as he was about to open it. She’d changed clothes and had her phone to her ear, and he was surprised to see a purse hanging off her shoulder. She hadn’t struck him as the purse kind of girl.

  “Mama answer this goddamn phone! Mama… Kris I need directions to the airport.”

  His mind went blank. “Ahhh—”

  “How do I get to the airport?” she snapped, impatiently.

  He didn’t know how to answer her, because he just knew where it was and wasn’t sure of road and street names. “Umm—”

  “Just tell me!” she cried frantically, then growled, “Mama answer this phone!”

  Taking her by the arm, he turned for his truck. “Get in, I’ll drive you.”

  “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” she uttered in pure relief. “Kris I really, really appreciate this.” In the truck, she abruptly disconnected the call to her mother, then frantically whizzed through the contacts list seeming a bit confused, found what she was looking for, hit some buttons and put it to her ear. “Where’s Mama?”…“Because, I need to talk to her!”…“Cut the bullshit, where’s Mama?” She let out a loud sigh. “June.”…“Me.”…“Wade, fine, thanks.”

  Disconnecting the phone, she dialed it again. “Mama, I need to talk to you. Pick up the phone.” She sat waiting, then eventually disconnected the call, then spun through the contacts again. “Where’s Mama?”…“I just talked to Clint, he said to call you, where’s Mama?”… She sighed. “Me, I’ll need money.” She rubbed her forehead. “Can you help me out, line me up with some dates?”...“Not a chance, won’t do it,” she answered emphatically. “Minnesota and Wisconsin only, I refuse to set foot in Wyoming.” She looked at her phone quick and put it to her ear. “Clint’s calling.”…“Please.”

  She disconnected and switched to the other call. “Clint?”…“Colorado!” she cried. “What the hell is she doing in Colorado? For sure?”…“That’s just great!” she responded angrily while gritting her teeth, then listened some more before answering. “The hell if I know, it’s her usual dump and run. I need the number for the Minneapolis Airport.”…“Ahh, hello, I’m on my way there now, last I checked phonebooks weren’t standard issue in glove boxes. I need your help here and you know it, quit being an ass.”…“Oh forget it, I’ll figure it out myself,” she snapped.

  Kris didn’t know what was going on, but apparently they had a crisis going on in the family. Not knowing what to do and helping the only way he knew how, he sent Nik a text asking him to look up the number for the airport and to text it to him. He quickly received a response back indicating Nik was working on it.

  Pulling the phone from her ear, she looked at it and put it back. “I’ve got to go, Wade’s calling.”…“Mmhmm, thanks.”

  Ending one call and on to the other, she answered, “Wade?” She sat listening then sighed. “Barrels, why not team? I want—what?” she asked, her mouth hanging open as she listened. “Wade…turn tricks?” Her voice went edgy. “My involvement is contingent on turning tricks, is that it?” She growled, then snapped, “How much?”…“I’m worth ten times that!”… “What?” she asked clearly annoyed. “Tight, flashy, and sparkly,” she repeated. “You mean cheap and tawdry! That son of a bitch, you tell him if he wants me, he needs to dig deeper, waaaay deeper in the green then that, and if he doesn’t like it, he can shove it up his ass.”

  Having said all that she was going to say on the subject, she went on, “I need to call the airport.” Stopping, she listened. “If he comes up to a respectable dollar amount, yes, otherwise tell him I have a few more calls to make. That should light a fire under his ass.”

  Disconnecting the call, she looked at Kris and asked politely, “Do you know how I can get directory assistance on a cell phone?”

  Handing her his phone, he showed her the text he’d received from Nik with the phone number.

  “Ahhh, this the number for the airport?” she asked uncertain, as she started dialing. “Thank you.”

  “Sure,” he answered, not feeling like he was helping much. “Can you maybe tell me what’s going on?”

  “Yes, I’m expecting a flight from Casper, Wyoming, can you tell me when it’s expected to arrive?”

  Okay, at first he thought she was talking to him, but it turned out she wasn’t.

  “None, really?” she asked, sounding bewildered. “Ummm…ummm, how about Colorado? Denver maybe.” She was transferred, transferred again, talk, talk, talk, with nothing being added to the story but for more confusion, then more transferring, more talking.

  “Pulling to the gate now?” she responded weakly. “Ummm, I’m coming. I’m not there yet, but I’m coming. I’m sorry, I just found out about this, and I’m coming as fast as I can. How long? Ahhh…” She looked at her surroundings, then at him.

  He answered her. “We’re in downtown St. Paul, about fifteen minutes.”

  “Fifteen minutes.”…“Where do I go?”…“Concourse D.”… “Thank you, I’m coming, thank you.”

  Disconnecting and taking a few deep breaths, she started flipping through screens on her phone. “Kris, thank you, I’m—” Her phone started ringing. “Wade?”

  He was starting to get pissed, and he didn’t like what he was hearing one bit.

  “Mmhmm,” she said, sounding smug. “I figured he’d change his tune. I can take my business elsewhere and he knows it.”... “How much?”…“That’s more like it,” she responded sounding satisfied. “When, where?”…“Perfect, was going to be there anyways to get Goldie. That’s a big one, it’ll be a nice crowd, lots of business and decent earnings.”…“He can have the contract sent to my attorney. I’m not signing anything till I know it’s legit.”…“Yeah, let me know. I’ve got to go. I’m getting to the airport now. Wait! I need my stuff.”…“Reid’s got it. Yeah, or Mitch, if not him then Rusty.”

  Who the f**k were Reid, Mitch, and Rusty? Kris was a volcano about to erupt. They were out of the truck and she dashed towards the terminal. He was right behind her.

  “Excuse me,” she said to the first airport worker she saw, “I’m looking for passenger services, concourse D.”

  “Right this way,” the airport worker said, taking her elbow. “I’m headed that direction. Nice day isn’t it?”

  “Ahh, yeah, nice,” she answered, clearly not tracking.

  Turning to him, the worker said with a smile. “How about you sir, how’s your day?”

  “Great, just great,” Kris added flatly, barely containing his irritation.

  Dani turned to him and said with an edge, “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t plan this.”

  “We’re here,” the attendant sang out loudly, clearly uncomfortable. “Hope things get better.”

  “Thank you.” Dani answered quickly, anxious and irritated. Turning to the counter, she said, “Excuse me, hi, I’m Danielle Reed.”

  “Identification please,” the portly desk clerk stated, clearly underwhelmed.

  Pulling out her wal
let, she handed the man her I.D.” They stood waiting as he checked things over, comparing it to what he had. Then he picked up the phone and made a call.

  “I need you to sign some papers.”

  “Okay,” Dani responded nervously, grabbing a pen from a nearby cup. “Where?”

  The man pointed and she began signing. Kris noticed a door open off to the side and a woman coming out with a waif of a child. A little girl that let out a squeal when she saw Dani. Throwing her arms out for her, they both burst into tears.

  CHAPTER 6

  Dani was there in a flash and had the little girl in her arms. Kris watched as Dani soothed her, loving her, as they both cried. Thinking back on what Linnie had said the night of the storm, he should’ve known she’d have a child, and after the way the last hour had gone, he should’ve been able to figure out why. What a mess.

  “I come with a hell of a lot of baggage.”

  She sure the hell did. A high priced call girl with a child. Was the abuse thing even real?

  “You shouldn’t trust a woman based on her past either.”

  Here he thought she was different from other women. He laughed. Well, he guessed she was. How could he have missed this? Did he have blinders on or something? Damn, when it came to women his judgment sucked. He wondered if Jake or Nik picked up on this.

  “That whip makes for an interesting proposition.”

  She was good with a whip, for sure. That talent must come in handy. Now what?

  Walking over to him with a tear streaked face, Dani said, “Kris, I’d like to introduce you to Juniper Reed, or Junie as we call her. Junie, this is Kris, he’s a friend of mine. Can you say hi to him?”

  “Hi Kwith,” she said, giving him a little smile.

  Dani smiled proudly, and was on the verge of tears again when she said, “We have a little trouble with our R’s and S’s.”

  She was a cute little girl, wavy chocolate brown hair with ringlets at the ends, deep blue eyes, and she definitely had Dani’s smile. Other than the blue eyes, she was a little Dani. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, his mother used to say. Smiling back, he said, “Hi, Junie, it’s nice to meet you.”