A Dark & Stormy Knight: A McKnight Romance (McKnight Romances) (28 page)

Then of course there would be sex. The
kiss-and-grope months before had been awkward the next day, but it had been
nice at the time. Ugh. Nice. There was that word Sol found so objectionable.
That really was the only thing she and Daniel didn’t know about each other,
though—their sexual compatibility.

Then in a few months—six at the most, she
thought—they’d get engaged, and a few months later, married. A small wedding
would be nice. Something in someone’s backyard maybe. Nothing fancy but more
than she and Sol had had.

Then they’d start their married life,
which would be full of . . . This was where her imagination
failed her. Tracy had stayed home with Deanne, but Daniel’s daughter was older
now. He certainly wouldn’t expect Georgia to stay home. She’d be bored out of
her mind in two weeks.

Georgia had never met Daniel’s ex-wife,
but she’d heard some of Daniel’s horror stories about her drinking. He rarely
talked about the good times they must have had. If Tracy stayed sober, she
would be part of Deanne’s life. That meant she would have an impact on Georgia’s
life with Daniel. Sober Tracy had to be a notably better person than drunk
Tracy, didn’t she?

Would they have to accommodate Tracy’s
opinions about child rearing? Georgia was going to have enough on her hands
coping with Daniel’s. He was by nature lax with rules. When she’d met him, he’d
been more interested in being his daughter’s friend than being her parent. He
still leaned toward permissiveness because he felt guilty that Deanne’s mother
wasn’t there. He let Deanne do things that, in Georgia’s opinion, she was too
young for. Like makeup. Georgia had no problem with Eden getting into her
makeup on rare occasions and experimenting since she still treated it like
another, older version of dress-up. But wearing it in public? No. Eden was too
young. She wasn’t ready for the attention she would get if she looked fifteen
and neither was Georgia.

Everything would work out, though. She
and Daniel might have things to resolve, but at least none of them involved
rodeos.

###

It seemed to take forever for them to
sort everything out when they arrived at the rodeo grounds, but at long last,
the trailer was parked in a row with similar vehicles. Georgia and Sol hung
back, letting Daisy call the shots. This was her show. Hers and Eden’s.

The gate on the back of the trailer
converted to a ramp when dropped. It was heavy enough that Georgia’s muscles
kept tensing, wanting to help Daisy and Eden lower it to the ground. “Get your
horse,” Daisy said with a smile that bestowed ownership responsibilities on
Eden.

Eden wiped her palms on the thighs of her
jeans. Could anyone else see her nervousness, or was that part of the mama-superpower
package? It didn’t take a wizard to see that Eden wanted to do everything
flawlessly, to be worthy of the trust Daisy gave her.

Moments later, Eden had Spitfire’s lead
in hand as she led the mare out of the trailer onto the loading ramp. She had
just reached the bottom when, behind Georgia, a long, shrill squeal started.

“Eeeeeeeden!”

Deanne had arrived.

Eden’s head came up, a wide grin already
stretching across her face.

In that moment, did she flinch? Maybe
jerk Spitfire’s lead? Take a step to the side to catch sight of her friend?
Georgia couldn’t be sure. Everything happened so fast. Spitfire was too close
to the edge of the ramp. The mare’s right front hoof stepped off the edge,
dropping several unexpected inches to the ground.

Eden’s attention snapped back as Spitfire
stumbled. Daisy leaped forward, her hand closing over Eden’s on the lead. She
guided the mare back onto the ramp, but even Georgia could see the horse was
favoring her leg.

Once Daisy had all four of Spitfire’s
feet on solid ground, she bent and ran her hand down the leg until she reached
the hot-pink fetlock wrap.

Georgia felt removed from the activity
around her, almost as though their small group had been lifted out of the time
and place they’d occupied only moments before. She could still hear the people
around them, talking, laughing, calling greetings, and the jingle of harnesses,
the clomp of horses’ feet, the occasional whinny, but it was all distant. She
didn’t have to look to know Sol and Eden were as focused as she was on Daisy
and Spitfire, that they waited with caught breath, as she did, for a clue about
how bad the damage was.

A warm body arrived beside her. It took a
physical effort for her to pull her gaze away from Daisy to glance at Daniel
and his subdued daughter leaning against his other side, his arm over her
shoulder.

The moment seemed wrong to even utter a
short greeting, so Georgia looked back in time to see Spitfire shift, lifting
her leg, moving it forward, away from Daisy’s hand.

Daisy grimaced. “Sol, hold her steady
please.” In spite of the polite phrasing, her voice was stern.

Sol stepped forward and took the lead
from Eden. He scratched Spitfire’s forehead for a moment, speaking softly to
the horse, as Daisy started unwinding the wrap.

Eden stood a few feet back in the gap
between Sol and Daisy, her arms crossed over her chest, fingers hooked over
shoulder, and chin buried between her wrists.

Daisy set the wrap aside and ran both
hands down the horse’s leg. A grunt issued from her throat, and her hands
zeroed in on the back of Spitfire’s leg. “Son of a bitch.” The words were
spoken softly but with a vehemence that didn’t bode well. “She’s bowed a
tendon.”

The world came crashing back, but Georgia
continued to ignore it, focusing instead on her daughter as Eden’s shoulders
tightened. Georgia almost called to her, but Sol reached out first and pulled
her to his side.

“How bad?” Sol asked.

Daisy bent her head back to shoot him an
annoyed look.

“Never mind. Dumb question.”

Daniel leaned into Georgia and spoke so
low, it was almost a whisper. “Why was that a dumb question?”

Georgia answered softly, “Because it’s
hard to tell by feel how bad it is. There are two tendons there. They might
both be bowed—a little or a lot—but it’ll take an ultrasound to know for sure
and months to heal regardless.”

“But it will heal, right?” Daniel asked.

Georgia caught sight of Deanne, peering
from Daniel’s other side. “Sure, she will,” Georgia said, not wanting to add
weight to the guilt she already saw in Deanne’s eyes. Even with a minor bowed
tendon, Spitfire’s leg would never have the strength it had before. And that
was the best-case scenario. Worst case? A career-ending injury for the mare.

Daisy’s voice was grim. “I need some
witch hazel or—”

“We’ve got Absorbine, if you want it.”
They’d drawn a small crowd. The man who’d offered the astringent was from the
trailer parked beside them. He stepped forward and handed Daisy a white plastic
bottle.

“Thanks.” Daisy said, barely looking up
before squeezing a generous amount of the liniment into her palm.

“What’s that for?” Daniel asked.

“It’ll help tighten things up,” Georgia
said.

After she’d finished applying the
liniment, Daisy rewrapped Spitfire’s leg. The mare had been astonishingly
patient throughout the procedure. When she was done, Daisy stood and wiped her
hands on her jeans. “Well, that’s that,” she said. “She’s not running anytime
soon. Dammit. All that time and effort shot to—”

A short chirrup sound came from Eden a
half a second before Sol barked his sister’s name. Daisy looked up at Sol then
at her niece. She looked surprised to find the world outside her and the horse
still existed. Then she flushed. “Sorry, hon.” Her gaze went back to Sol. They
exchanged a look, some unspoken communication passing between them before Daisy
looked back to Eden. “Do you want to help me load her back up?”

Georgia nearly objected, her gut reacting
as though Daisy’s offer were meant to increase Eden’s sense of guilt. She bit
her tongue as her head took over. Daisy wasn’t being mean; she was trying to
tell Eden she still trusted her with Spitfire.

Eden stood with her arms wrapped around
Sol’s waist and shook her head.

The man who’d offered the liniment spoke.
“I know a barrel racer who’s not riding tonight because she’s in the middle of
a gall bladder attack. She’s loaned out her horse before. He’s a good, little
gelding. Took first at Sweetwater last month. She’d want half the purse if you
win, but if you’re interested, I can see if she’ll loan him to you.”

It was a generous offer and exactly the
sort of thing rodeo people often did for each other, but when Daisy looked at
Eden with questioning eyebrows, Eden dropped her eyes to the ground and shook
her head again.

“Are you sure?” Daisy asked.

From her protected position at Sol’s
side, Eden nodded.

Oh, God. Her lip.

Eden’s bottom lip stuck out as if she
were a sulky child, except for Eden, that lip was an impending-tear barometer.

Georgia’s heart broke.

Daisy took the lead from Sol and turned
the horse toward the trailer. Eden buried her head against her father. Sol went
down on one knee in front of his daughter. Georgia couldn’t hear what he said,
but when he stood, Eden took his hand.

“I’m going to take Eden for a snow cone.
We’d like Deanne to come along.”

Georgia felt her chin crinkle the way it
did when she wanted to cry but was trying hard not to. Maybe she’d
underestimated Sol’s parenting skills because he was certainly rising to the
occasion. There wasn’t even a hint of the evil eye she’d expected him to lay on
Daniel.

Daniel reached for his wallet, but Sol
shook his head. “It’s on me.”

“Thanks.”

As Sol and the girls walked away, Georgia
wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. Her hand came away damp from the
unshed tears.

Daniel sighed and ran his fingers through
his sandy brown hair. “Well, that wasn’t how I’d hoped this would go.”

Georgia loosed a shaky laugh.

He stuffed his hands in the front pockets
of his jeans. “I’m sorry, Georgia. Our timing really sucked. If Deanne hadn’t—”

“No, don’t apologize. It wasn’t anyone’s
fault. You know that. Stuff happens and it’s not always good.”

“I don’t think either one of the girls
would agree with that.”

“I know. We’re going to have a job
convincing them.”

He nodded. “So I guess the rodeo’s over
for us. You’ll be heading back to Hero Creek.”

“Yeah, but we’ve got a little time. Come
on.” She tugged at his elbow. “I saw a taco truck when we pulled onto the
grounds. You know I hate dealing with parenting traumas on an empty stomach.”

They walked across the grounds until they
came to the truck she had seen near the entrants’ gate. They both ordered a
couple of tacos then sat at one of the nearby picnic tables.

She devoured the first taco before
saying, “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you came.”

“Even though it turned out so badly?”

“The one has nothing to do with the
other.”

“If you say so.”

She shot him a warning look.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay.
I got it. No guilt but you know I’m not good at that.”

“Then fake it ‘til you make it.” Like she
did.

Georgia folded the wrapper back from her
second taco and wondered if Spitfire’s accident had derailed the things Daniel
had come all this way to say. She felt a little guilty for still caring, but
she needed something good to counter the downer the day had become. Still, it
could wait until they finished their tacos. “I should warn you: Sol feels
threatened by you.”

“By me?” Daniel chuckled. “What on earth
did you tell him?”

“Nothing but the truth.” She left out
what she’d accidentally implied. Daniel didn’t need to know that. “Sol’s
imagination tends to fill in the rest.”

“I always thought it would be fun to
tweak Sol’s nose after some of the stuff he’s pulled on you. Any other day but
today, I’d think this was my chance.”

“You hold on to that thought.” She
pointed a warning finger at him. “I made Sol promise he’d behave himself, so
you have to, too. Eden doesn’t need any extra drama today and, frankly, neither
do I.”

“Darn.” Daniel snapped his fingers. “I
missed my chance.”

Bantering with him felt good, like a breath
of fresh, untainted air entering her lungs. It helped her let go of the stress
that had culminated with Spitfire’s injury, though she did have to wonder what
was wrong with all the men she knew. First Tommy, now Daniel. Both aching to
confront her ex-husband. Throwing Sol together with either one was like staging
a cockfight. The thought brought an unintended but extremely vivid image to
mind that almost made Georgia laugh out loud.

She tamped down the urge to giggle and
focused on neatly folding the empty taco wrappers. “So what is it that’s so
important you drove all the way from Dallas to talk about?”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ve been
thinking a lot about what I want to say, and I’ve got this whole spiel jumbled
up in my head, so I hope you’ll be patient and let me get through it all.”

Her heart kicked up a beat, and she got
tingly. Goose bumps danced down her arms, but somehow, it didn’t feel quite the
way she’d thought it would. In the next few minutes, her life was going to
change. She could feel it looming over her as if she could reach out and touch
it. Whatever she’d expected to feel, it wasn’t this sudden fear that, if she
wasn’t careful, she’d make a mistake she’d regret forever. She had the urge to
reach out and grab him, tell him to stop. That she didn’t want things to
change. Didn’t want to risk losing his friendship for something that might not
work.

He didn’t seem to notice her nerves
acting up. “Three years ago, when y’all invited Deanne to Eden’s birthday
party, I had no idea my life was about to change. I never had a woman as a
buddy before. You’ve taught me a lot. I wouldn’t have been half the parent I
should have been without you beating me over the head and reminding me that
Deanne’s a girl and how girls need different things than boys do. You’re so
good with people. You listen and don’t judge when they make mistakes—when
I
make mistakes. I hope I’ve learned something about how to do that from you.”

She felt a blush creeping into her
cheeks. He was giving her more credit than she deserved. Nice as it was to
hear, she wasn’t the paragon he was describing.

“One of the things I value most about
you,” he continued, “is how you’ve always been honest with me and told me when
I was screwing up even when I didn’t want to hear it. I’m hoping you’ll do that
now.” One corner of his mouth lifted, giving him a wry expression. “Of course,
I’m hoping, too, that you won’t need to.”

Flattering as it was, his words didn’t
sound much like a we’ve-got-something-special-here-I-think-we-should-explore
speech, but she didn’t have time to analyze it because he reached into his
pocket and drew something out. She couldn’t see what until he flipped it open
and held it out. On the velvet bed of the ring box, a whopper of a diamond
sparkled in its white-gold setting. Her breath deserted her.

She knew he could be impulsive, but this
was the last thing she’d expected. It was too soon. Too fast. They should spend
more time going out to movies and to dinner or staying in with the girls,
watching TV on the couch. They should have more between them than that one
night of kiss-and-grope.

“What do you think?” Daniel asked. “Too
plain? Too gaudy? Is the diamond too small?”

Too small? She’d need the McKnights’
engine puller to lift her hand. Georgia tore her eyes away from the ring. He
was looking at her with nervous expectation, but she’d been struck dumb.

“It’s a nicer ring than the one I gave
Tracy before. That one you practically had to use a magnifying glass to see the
diamond.” He looked down, tipping the box, so the facets caught the light. “This
one’s bigger and a lot better quality.” He looked back up to meet her gaze.

Why was he talking about Tracy’s
engagement ring? She feared she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Georgia?”

“Um. I, uh. I don’t know what to say.”
This was so not going the way she’d anticipated.

“I caught you off guard, didn’t I? I’m
probably taking this way too fast. Tracy’s going to be as stunned as you are.”

“Tracy? Why would Tracy . . . ?”

Oh my God.

Daniel wasn’t asking her to marry him. He
was going to ask Tracy.

How had she not known? Hell, she hadn’t
even suspected.