A Daddy for Dillon (7 page)

Her remark jerked his wandering thoughts back to reality. She was here to cook for him, not to seduce him. She wasn’t here to make him dream about things that were out of his reach. She wasn’t here to turn him into some sort of lovesick fool.

“Yeah,” he said, “Reena used to cook for the whole Cantrell family. Nowadays it’s mostly just me here since Frankie is staying with her sons in Texas.”

“And they keep Reena on the payroll just to cook for you?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Reena has been here for so long that she’s part of the family. And she still wants to contribute to the ranch. This is her home, too, so cooking for me gives her a reason to keep working.” He didn’t add that he’d told Quint outright that he could prepare his own meals or eat with the men in the bunkhouse. More than anything he wanted Leyla to think she was needed. Besides, the more he thought about it, the more he’d decided that Quint had hired Leyla more as a way to help her than to provide Laramie with a cook.

“I see. The Cantrells must be very loyal to their employees.”

“After you’ve been here a while you’ll understand just how loyal they are,” he told her, while thinking there was no reason for him to keep lingering. He should tell her a quick good-night and be on his way. But everything inside of him was screaming to stay put and drink in the lovely sight of her just a bit longer.

She nervously clasped her hands in front of her. “Well, about last night—I’m sorry I behaved so badly. And I wanted you to know that I was more angry at myself than you.”

He was surprised that she’d brought the incident up. He’d expected her to be cold and quiet about the whole matter.

“Hmm. You could have fooled me. But I’m the one to blame, Leyla. I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He couldn’t stop himself from moving closer and as he looked down at her, his fingers ached to touch the smooth brown skin exposed by the robe, to press his lips against the throbbing pulse at the base of her neck. “But I’m not sorry I did.”

She swallowed, and he could see that his remark troubled her. As his gaze traveled over her face, he realized how very much he wanted to pull her into his arms, to assure her that he wasn’t like the man who’d gotten her pregnant and then walked out. That he wasn’t a man she needed to fear.

“I’m not—it’s nothing personal, Laramie, but I—” She turned slightly away from him and stared into the darkness of the hallway. “Well, I have plans for Dillon and me. And I’m just not sure I’m ready to let another man into my life just yet.”

In spite of her words, he reached out and snared a shiny strand of her hair between his fingers. “I haven’t been picturing a woman in my future, either,” he said huskily. “I doubt that I’m the family type, Leyla. My friends all have wives and children and I see how fortunate they are to have each other. But I wasn’t raised in a family environment. And I figure a husband or father isn’t something that should be done on a trial basis. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want or need to be loved. And I have a feeling that you want and need that just as much as I do.”

Swallowing again, she turned her gaze back to his. “You accused me of being unfeeling. But that’s not true. I’m just like any other woman—I want to be loved. But I want it to be right and true. I don’t want to make another mistake.”

He wrapped his hands over her shoulders and the warmth of her flesh spread through the fabric to his fingers. “I understand that, Leyla. And you need to understand that you don’t have to worry about me hurting you.”

An anguished look came over her face and then she shook her head. “You’re wrong, Laramie. I’m already worried. Because I’m beginning to like you...very much.”

Her words pierced his chest and landed right in the center of his heart. “Oh, Leyla,” he said in a hoarse whisper, “I’m beginning to like you very much, too.”

Before he could say or do something he might totally regret in the morning, he bent and placed a tiny kiss on her cheek.

“Good night,” he murmured.

Dropping his hold on her shoulders, he turned and quickly strode to the stairs. As he climbed them two at a time, he heard Leyla’s door close firmly behind her.

Chapter Four

B
ecause Leyla had started to work in the middle of the week, the next day was Saturday. Reena had warned her that, more often than not, Laramie worked seven days a week. But on Sundays he would fend for himself, so a cook wouldn’t need to be on duty.

This morning Leyla was already in the kitchen mixing biscuits when he entered the kitchen dressed in work gear with his black hat pulled low over his forehead and spurs jingling with each long stride he took. Expecting him to go straight to the coffee machine, it surprised her to see him heading for the door instead.

“Sorry, Leyla. I don’t have time for breakfast this morning. I just got word of an emergency. You might as well take the day off, ’cause I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Thank you,” she said, but she doubted he heard her words as he was already hurrying out the door.

It wasn’t until later in the day that Sassy managed to find out from one of the ranch hands what the emergency was all about. Early this morning before daylight, a horse wrangler had discovered two of the ranch’s prize cutting horses missing. Now practically every cowboy on the place was out looking for them.

“If you ask me, there’s a traitor among us,” Sassy said as she sipped from a tall glass of iced tea.

“What do you mean? You think someone on the ranch took the horses?” Leyla asked the other woman.

The redhead grimaced. “Listen, if you’ve ever been down to the horse barn, you’d see it would be pretty nigh impossible for two horses to work their way past several gates. Some of them are Houdinis at slipping latches but not that many latches.”

The two women were seated at the kitchen table and Leyla could hardly keep her gaze away from the distant view of the ranch yard. Shortly after daylight there had been a flurry of activity around the barns. Now practically nothing was going on and both women presumed all the ranch hands were gone on the search for the valuable horses.

“That would be awful to think that someone on the ranch would steal or cause mischief. Do the barns have guards?”

“Sure do. That’s why I think it’s an inside job.” Wrinkling her nose, she rose to her feet. “You can bet Laramie is fit to be tied. The horses on this place are his babies.”

Seeing the troubled look on Laramie’s face this morning as he’d hurried out the door had knocked Leyla off-kilter. Up until today, she’d not really thought of him as a man who had worries. He was such a strong, able-bodied man that it seemed like he should be able to ward off any sort of problem before it ever got near him. The incident today had shown Leyla he was human just like everyone else. The notion softened her heart and had her wishing that she could make everything right for him.

“His babies. Why do you say that? Does he own them?” she asked Sassy.

The maid carried her tea glass over to the sink and dumped the dregs of her drink. “Before Laramie was promoted to foreman, he managed the ranch’s horse stock. As far as that goes, he still does. As for him owning them, I think he has a few of his own personal horses in the bunch. I’m not sure about the ones that went missing today.”

With one last glance toward the ranch yard, Leyla rose to her feet and walked over to where Sassy was washing her glass.

“If someone did take the horses or even let them escape, that might mean the person had a grudge against Laramie or someone here on the ranch. That’s a scary notion.”

Sassy dried the glass and placed it in the cabinet. “Yeah, well, this kind of stuff can’t keep going on forever.” Turning toward Leyla she smiled impishly. “Let’s forget all that worrisome stuff. I’m finished for the day and you don’t have a thing to do, either. Let’s go to town and do some shopping.”

Leyla had never been one to do the girlfriend thing. Mostly because she’d come to Lincoln County not knowing anyone except her aunt Oneida. And it took money to go on any sort of outings, especially those that involved shopping. “Shopping? It’s very friendly of you to invite me, Sassy, but I don’t think so. I’m trying to save my money.”

Sassy frowned with disapproval. “That’s well and good. But a girl has to have a little break from work once in a while. And you don’t have to spend any money. I’ll drive and you can just window-shop if you want. What do you say? It’ll be fun.”

Fun? Leyla couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had fun. From the moment she’d discovered she was pregnant with Heath’s child, entertainment and carefree pleasures had gone out of her life. Now, she didn’t look for those things. Her days were all about being practical and surviving on her own.

“I’d have to take Dillon. And you don’t want your afternoon saddled with the two of us,” Leyla reasoned.

With a hand on Leyla’s shoulder, Sassy urged her out of the kitchen. “Go get ready. I’ll meet you and Dillon on the front porch in ten minutes. And if you don’t show up, I’ll come after you,” the maid warned.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the two women were traveling in Sassy’s truck with Dillon safely belted between them in a booster seat. The unexpected trip had brought a bright shine to her son’s eyes and Sassy kept him giggling with silly stories about animals that could talk to a little boy who looked amazingly like him.

Leyla was glad that her son was enjoying himself. But her thoughts continued to dwell on Laramie. “I feel guilty about leaving the ranch,” she told Sassy. “Especially with the trouble that’s happened.”

Sassy batted a dismissive hand through the air. “Don’t be silly, Leyla. You can’t do anything about the missing horses. Besides, you said Laramie gave you the day off.”

Leyla sighed. “He did. But, well, going out like this makes me seem indifferent.”

“Listen, Leyla, you can’t fix Laramie’s problems. And...” Her words came to an abrupt end as she glanced across the truck seat at Leyla. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

Pink heat rushed up Leyla’s neck and onto her cheeks. “A little,” she admitted. “So far he’s been very kind to me and Dillon. And I want things to go well for him.”

“Oh. I see,” Sassy said shrewdly.

“What do you see?”

The maid suddenly shrugged one shoulder in a casual way. “Nothing. Except that you’re very kindhearted, Leyla.” By now the two women had reached the highway and Sassy glanced at her before she pulled onto the two-lane asphalt. “I know I said I wouldn’t mention—uh—” For Dillon’s sake, she chose her next words carefully. “Your old boyfriend. But I’m just curious. Was he a nice guy—I mean, in the beginning?”

Sighing, Leyla turned her gaze toward the window. “In the beginning Heath treated me like a princess.” Looking over at Sassy, she smiled cynically. “That should have been a red flag. Like you said—when a girl starts thinking she’s a princess and her man is a prince, she’s already in trouble. Why do you ask?”

Sassy’s smile was thoughtful. “When it comes to men, a girl needs all the pointers she can get.”

“Do you have a boyfriend right now?” Leyla asked curiously.

The smile on her lips pressed into a flat line. “Not one I’d want to have a baby with. But there is one who— Well, I’d give him the world if I could. Trouble is, he looks right past me.”

When the two women reached the town of Ruidoso they both agreed a hamburger at the Blue Mesa, where Leyla used to work, would be a treat, and Dillon especially liked sitting at an outside table to eat their lunch. After the meal, the two women strolled along the busy shops that lined the main thoroughfare through the resort town.

Leyla kept her purchases to a single card of hairpins for herself and a small stuffed animal in the shape of a horse for Dillon. Before they left town, Sassy was kind enough to stop by the nursing home to let Leyla visit her aunt.

Oneida was in her late seventies. The stroke she’d suffered nearly three years ago had affected her right side but thankfully not her ability to speak. Therapy was helping her learn to walk again and she was making far more progress than Leyla would have thought possible for a person her age.

When Leyla entered the stark room, her aunt was sitting in a cushioned chair watching a game show on a small television set. As soon as she spotted Leyla, her face split into a happy smile.

“My sweet girl. I didn’t expect to see you this soon.”

Leyla pressed a kiss on her aunt’s wrinkled forehead, then took a seat on the side of the small bed. “My friend brought me to town and I wanted to see you before we drove home.”

The woman muted the sound on the television. “That’s good. And where is Dillon?”

“He’s outside with her. Playing on the lawn.”

“So how is your new job? One of the nurses tells me that the ranch is owned by very rich people. That they even own a gold mine.”

“That’s true. But that has nothing to do with me. I only cook for one man. The manager of the ranch.”

“Maybe this job will turn into something permanent,” Oneida said hopefully. “It would make me happy to know that you have a roof over your head that doesn’t leak.”

Leyla closed her hand around Oneida’s bony one. “Oh, Auntie, I want to get a place of my own where you can live with us, too. It will take time, but I will get it.”

Smiling wanly, the woman patted the top of Leyla’s hand. “You are a good girl. But you could never take care of me. Not like I am now.”

“Every day you’re getting better. And Dillon and I need you. Much more than you know. If it hadn’t been for you...” Biting her lip, she looked away so that her aunt couldn’t see the moisture in her eyes. After all this time she didn’t know why she still got emotional about being separated from her family, but she did. “Well, you gave me a home. You’ve loved me when I didn’t have anyone else. I won’t forget that.”

Oneida patted her hand again. “When my sister married George, she lost her soul. She was so weak that she handed it over to him. You’re not going to be like her, though. I never worry about that. You took after me. Not her.”

To her aunt’s credit, she’d married a respectable man who’d worked hard to give his wife a decent life. Unfortunately they were never able to have children and then he was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver. Left alone, Oneida had worked as long as her health had allowed. And afterward she’d done the best she could on a meager fixed income. The woman had little in the way of material things, but she had her pride and faith, and she was basically happy. That was more than Leyla’s mother had.