It Had to Be Him (26 page)

“Understood.”

He moved aside as she set up for her shot. After she pulled the trigger, the flapping of startled birds filled the air, but no glass breaking.

“Darnation!” She handed the gun to Josh.

He glanced at Meg, silently asking what he should do. If he missed, it’d save her grandmother’s pride, she wouldn’t have to go on the date, he’d be safe when he visited the guesthouse in the future, and he’d still get to take Haley to the ranch.

He should probably throw it.

After Meg shrugged, her grandmother called out, “What’s this going on between you and Meggy there, Granger? I’ll have to
accidentally shoot you in the ass too, if you don’t get up there, be a man, and give it your best shot!”

Clearly, this was where Meg got her attitude from. Related by DNA or not.

After Meg smiled and nodded, he stepped up to the bale of hay and lifted the rifle to his shoulder. Slowing his breathing and his heart rate, he blocked out all the sounds around him, lining up the pane of glass glistening in the sunlight. He set his body, closed his eyes, then moved only his trigger finger, waiting for the outcome.

The sound of glass breaking sent a cheer up from everyone except for Meg’s grandmother. “Guess we got ourselves a date, Zeke. But that doesn’t include any monkey business. Just making that clear right now.”

Zeke chuckled. “We’ll see. Might be, you’ll finally see what a charming guy I can be when I put some effort into it. You’d be worth the effort, I reckon.”

Grandma rolled her eyes.

Still smiling at his victory, Josh handed Meg’s grandma the gun. “I respect a woman who drives a hard bargain. I think you should have the honors of blowing up the car.”

“Don’t mind if I do. Nice shootin’, Granger.”

She took aim, pulled the trigger, and then winced as the big boom filled the air. The car’s body blew five feet straight up off the axle, just as he’d planned. By the time it landed, fire engulfed the inside, flames flaring out all the window openings to add drama.

It’d worked perfectly.

“Now that was fun.” Meg’s grandmother smiled. “If you have any trouble with Haley this evening, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks.”

Ryan appeared beside him. “YouTube, huh?”

Josh tilted his head as he watched the fire crew trip over themselves as they tried to put out a fire that’d go out on its own if they didn’t hurry. “The Internet is an amazing thing.” He clapped his hand on Ryan’s shoulder, then went to talk to Meg.

He’d risked exposing his skills because it wouldn’t be much longer before he could tell the truth anyway. Hopefully the Zozobra legend worked on cars as well as tall puppets. Having Meg firmly in his corner before the truth came out would be good.

Meg checked Haley’s backpack one more time to be sure she had everything she’d need if her asthma acted up. Then she added another juice box, more crackers, and a banana in case Haley got hungry.

Josh took the backpack from her hands and tossed it in the backseat of his truck, next to Haley’s car seat. “We’re not going to Siberia, Meg. We’ll stop and get something if she gets hungry.”

“Okay. Haley likes chicken nuggets, grilled cheese—”

“Kid food. Got it.” He leaned down and kissed her. “We’ll be fine. Have fun at your girls’ thing.”

Meg leaned inside and gave Haley a kiss. “Be a good girl, okay, Bug?”

Haley nodded. “’Kay.”

“And if you have trouble breathing, tell Daddy right away.”

“Okay. Bye, Momma.”

Meg’s stomach hurt. Josh didn’t have much experience alone with Haley. Even worse, he had to babysit until her girls’ night was over. She turned to him. “You know what? Maybe I’ll go along with you guys and just be late to Pam’s thing.”

“You don’t trust me to bring her back?”

Seeing the flash of pain in his eyes, she laid a hand on his arm and gave it a quick squeeze. “No. It’s not that. What if Haley has trouble breathing with all that dust in the barn?”

Josh moved Meg aside and closed Haley’s door. “Then I’ll know exactly what to do. Stop worrying.”

Meg huffed out a breath and crossed her arms. “When she has to go to the bathroom—”

Josh laid his fingers over her lips. “I can handle this. But how about we stay at the guesthouse tonight so your grandmother will be close by? Would that make you feel better?”

She nodded, but he didn’t move his fingers.

“Great. Now smile and wave goodbye, so Haley sees how you aren’t worried.”

His new bossiness was getting on her nerves.

When she narrowed her eyes, he quickly removed his fingers and whispered, “I know how you get after these girls’ things. All that talk about men, too much to drink. You’ll be all hot and bothered. Begging me to put you out of your misery.” He got in, rolled down his window, and sent her a sexy grin. “I’ll wait up.”

“How considerate of you.” As Josh and Haley backed out of the drive she plastered on a fake smile and waved. “Text me when you get there. And when you’re back!”

Josh sent her a salute, then headed down the highway.

Lord, this could be a disaster.

J
osh smiled as he headed south toward the ranch. Meg letting him take Haley had been a leap of faith for her. The ultimate show of trust. Big step.

He’d get her to tell him she loved him yet.

Josh glanced in the rearview mirror at Haley again. She’d just awoken from her forty-five-minute nap and was squirming around in her car seat. He reached for the end-of-the-world survival kit of a backpack Meg had sent along. His hand landed on some chunky cardboard books, so he tugged them out. “Want to look at these?”

Haley nodded and took the books. “I have to go potty.”

“Oh. Okay.” They’d just passed through a small town. It only had a busy convenience store that sold gas. The next town was bigger, but twenty minutes away. Better not risk it. Josh slowed the truck and then turned it around.

“Hurry, Daddy!”

Hopefully Meg had sent along a change of clothes just in case. “Almost there.”

After they pulled into the last empty space in front of the store, he jumped out and opened the back door. After tackling the crazy harness system, he finally freed her from the car seat and then jogged toward the glass doors. He yanked one open and headed for the rear. There was a line outside the women’s restroom,
but thankfully not one outside the men’s. Just as he was about to push the door open, he stopped and looked at Haley. Her face was scrunched as she strained to hang on.

He couldn’t take her in there with guys at urinals showing their junk. Unless maybe he covered her eyes and made a dash for the stall? Probably a bad idea.

He checked out the women standing in line. Maybe he could ask one of them to take her. The next one in line was tatted up, and had purple hair and fingernails shaped into deadly points.

Nope.

Haley couldn’t wait for the third woman in line who had a kid of her own.

He turned and raced back to his truck, grabbed the backpack, and then headed behind the store and into the woods. “We’re going to have to go out here, okay?”

Haley’s eyes widened. “Outside?”

“Boys do it all the time. It’s fun.” He moved in front of a tree, suddenly realizing it didn’t work the same with girls. He’d have to get creative if they were going to keep everything dry. Josh shifted her in front of him and placed her tennis shoes against the bark. Then he widened his stance to keep his boots out of the way. “I’ll close my eyes, and then you pull everything way down to your shoes and let it rip.”

Haley giggled. “Okay.”

She wiggled around, and then the telltale splatter hitting the dirt at his feet signaled success.

She said, “Now we have to wipe and wash our hands.”

Dammit. Being a guy was so much easier. He held Haley tight with one arm while his free hand groped around in the backpack. Please let Meg have included something to clean up with. He finally found a pack of baby wipes and handed one to Haley, hoping she could do that part on her own.

“All done.”

Thank God. He put her down and dealt with extracting more wipes from the container. When Haley appeared beside him again all dressed, she reached for a juice box. He caught her hands and used a wipe to clean them. Then he reluctantly handed her the juice. Inevitably she was going to have to use the bathroom again. He hoped they could make it all the way to the ranch so they wouldn’t have to find another tree.

He handed her a bag filled with the orange fish-shaped crackers she’d asked for, and then carried her to the truck with a newfound respect for the well-equipped backpack. He’d had missions less complicated than taking a little girl to the bathroom. He should have let Meg finish whatever she was going to tell him about that.

Back on the road again, he glanced at Haley looking at her books and stuffing crackers into her mouth. An unfamiliar warmth surged through him as he watched her.

He’d feared he wouldn’t know how to be a good parent because of his background, but he hadn’t been prepared for how quickly a kid could take complete control over his heart. Seeing her joy at the simplest things and watching her learn was amazing. He didn’t know he could love anyone other than Meg so much.

He still had a lot to learn about how to care for her, but luckily Haley often told him if he was doing something wrong. So far, so good. Meg had nothing to worry about. He could do this.

After he pulled up beside the barn at the ranch, Josh grabbed his cell and turned to Haley in the backseat. “Wave hello to Mommy.”

He snapped a picture of a smiling Haley, her hands, face, and shirt smeared with orange crumbs and her shorts twisted funny from their pit stop.

Josh sent the picture to Meg with the caption
We’re here. She gets her table manners from you.
Hopefully Haley wouldn’t mention their outdoor bathroom adventure to Meg.

Not a minute passed before Meg replied.
Wipes in the backpack, funny guy. Use them!

Will do. Stop worrying.

Can’t.

Try harder. Love you.

There was a long pause before she typed back.
I’m still working on that. Thx for remembering to text me. Have fun.

He shook his head and then put his phone away. Did the “still working on that” part refer to the worry for Haley, or about saying she loved him back? Probably both. He hoped.

After a quick wipe down, he grabbed Haley from the backseat and plopped her onto the ground. “Let’s go see Charlie.”

They circled around the barn because he worried about the dust and Haley’s asthma too, and walked to the back pasture. Eric and Mr. J were inside the fence working on Charlie’s hoof. Other horses were milling about. Mr. J lifted a hand in greeting, but Eric didn’t seem to notice they were there. Probably had his earbuds in again.

When Haley saw the puppies and their mother, she let out a yelp. With their stubby little tails wagging, they all ran full tilt toward her.

Giggling and trying to pet all four dogs at once, Haley sat down and let them crawl all over her. Pure joy lit her face as she rolled around with them.

Yeah, she needed a puppy. The trick might be getting her to pick just one.

With Haley content, he hopped the fence to see about Charlie.

“Hey, guys.” When he got closer, Eric finally turned around. The kid had a shiner under his left eye, a busted lip, and cuts and bruises all along his arms.

Eric nodded, then quickly looked away.

Hot anger, mixed with memories of his own humiliation at the hands of bullies, made Josh tilt his head, silently asking to speak with Mr. J alone.

His former mentor said, “Eric, why don’t you finish up here while I talk to Josh for a minute?”

Eric nodded and got back to work.

Once inside the barn, Josh asked, “When did that happen?”

Mr. J’s jaw twitched in annoyance. “Last night. And the night before last. He’s miserable here and not making friends. I’ve looked into other options, but no one can take him until August. I called his grandmother this morning to see how she’s doing. She’s in the hospital again so she can’t take his guardianship back.”

Josh was supposed to be staying detached, dammit. Maybe helping at the ranch, with all the memories, hadn’t been the best idea. He might have to rethink that and find another venue to help.