Serious Cowboy (Cowboys of Duncan Ranch #2)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Now that Aaron and Joy had figured out their footing, she felt so content. For the first time in a long, long while, she had this sense of stability that had been missing from her day-to-day experience. She’d basically forgotten what it felt like to be supported. But with Aaron at her side and her parents now at her back, she felt like she had a whole new lease on life.

She felt thrilled to observe just how well Kara and Aaron had been getting along. Not only had he been highly complimentary to her level of skill in drawing, he’d actually sat down to color with her, a paragon of kindness and patience.

“You get to play with cows, right?” she asked him, and Joy hid her grin as he nodded. Kara probably imagined him playing with cows all day rather than working to keep them safe and well fed.

“I do. Some horses, too. All out along this vast stretch of fields and pastureland.”

This had led her daughter to sketch out this detailed picture of both types of animals standing behind a fence. Each creature looked remarkably realistic considering how young Kara was. In the back was a swath of open country with a handful of trees here and there. There were even mountains along the horizon.

“I made that for you to color in,” Kara explained to Aaron, and pride burst inside of Joy at this inclusion. Particularly when the two of them spent the next half-hour coloring in mutually relaxed silence together.

She’d once hoped that Wayne would’ve shared such a relationship with his daughter, that he would’ve prioritized Kara over everything else, but those dreams had long since died. Seeing such a thing transpiring with Aaron instead gave Joy hope.

It looked like returning to Rocky Ridge, something she’d dreaded before she’d done it, would turn out to be the best decision, after all.

She felt overjoyed when Aaron volunteered to be there for her daughter’s Career Day at school, too. Kara had asked her himself, something that astounded Joy, but she was so glad that her daughter felt comfortable enough around the man she was dating to do so.

Joy took off from the salon to watch as her childhood best friend cheerfully discussed his life as a rancher. The whiteboard surrounding the room and the colorful posters provided a bright environment and interesting backdrop for him to present in.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” he informed the kids, his cowboy hat in hand. Aaron seemed so sweet and bashful in front of that third-grade class that Joy was sorely tempted to take a photo of him to save the moment for posterity. “The animals depend on us to take care of them, and if we don’t, they won’t be able to provide milk or baby calves for the next generations. We maintain fences to keep them safe, and in the barn, we have to be their own personal clean-up squad.”

“Why?” asked a boy in the front row, his pants busted out at each knee. A memory of Aaron at the same age swam back to her with his jeans in a similar predicament. She wondered how much a future son of his might resemble this tow-headed young boy.

Then, she shook her head. It was far too early to go there. At least with herself in the role of the mother.

“Well,” Aaron scratched at the back of his head. “Because their stall is also their bathroom.”

“Ewww,” several of the kids intoned, and Joy snorted, deciding to cover the accidental noise with a fake cough. Aaron didn’t miss this and caught her eye with that constant grin of his, this one edged with gleeful humor.

“But I don’t mind even that duty. I love taking care of animals and being out in the open air like that… It’s just the best feeling ever.”

Joy could see it in his face. He meant every word, and she felt so glad he gained so much satisfaction from his work. She did, too. Having a fulfilling career really did help to make life easier. It’d been the one part she’d been able to cling to while in California no matter what might be going on with her husband.

After Aaron’s turn was over, Kara proudly seized his hand as if claiming him, and Joy watched from the sidelines, elation filling her heart. He gave her daughter a fleeting embrace, told her to have a good day, and together, Joy and Aaron walked out.

“You did great up there, you know.”

Replacing his hat on his head, he grinned at her. “I was so dang nervous. Who knew presenting in front of a bunch of children would be so nerve-wracking?”

“You might notice that I didn’t present,” she pointed out.

“What? You declined Kara’s invitation?”

“No.” Her daughter hadn’t even asked her, not that Joy minded. “But I would’ve been a mess up there. I thought you did an excellent job.”

He brushed his lips across her temple in thanks, and she felt so gratified that he did this so automatically. Where the connection between her and Wayne had been fire, her connection with Aaron was like water. Flowing endlessly and effortlessly. Easy. Gentle. Yet with powerful currents that could shift the earth itself.

She liked the concept of floating along with that water very much.

Even better, once back in her car, she received a call from her landlord.

“Leak is fixed. We replaced the linoleum. You should be good to go now.”

Easing past her door, Joy’s breath caught in her chest. She’d once gone into an office building with carpeting that had been flooding and the reek of mildew had been intense. Her place didn’t have any carpeting, but still. She tried to prepare herself for the worst. Yet, as she strolled in, everything smelled normal. There was no horrible odor of any kind.

And the landlord hadn’t fibbed about the linoleum. In fact, he’d replaced the old pea green pattern with a much more subtle hardwood look that classed the place up significantly. It was like an entirely new residence. She couldn’t wait for Kara to get home just so she could show her.

Even better, the leak was fixed. If she hadn’t known about it, she never would’ve guessed such an event had even happened. With a spring in her gait, Joy yanked out her phone. Aaron picked up on the first ring.

“Come over for dinner tonight. I’m making homemade enchiladas.”

“You know how to make enchiladas?” He didn’t say this with sarcasm, though she wouldn’t blame him if he did. She didn’t tend to cook anything fancy. But she had learned this from-scratch recipe and on occasion—like a celebration of good news, for instance—she trotted it out.

“Yes. I was taught by the best, a lady from Mexico City who lived next door to us. It was her abuela’s—grandmother’s—recipe. Best and most authentic I’ve ever tasted. Thought I might share it with you.”

“I’ll be there. And Joy?” his voice lowered as if about to divulge a secret to her.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t wait.”

The interesting thing about their dinner that night, other than that they all ate on her pan of enchiladas until it was totally gone, was how natural everything felt. Their conversation had been laid-back and casual. Incredibly relaxed. Kara spoke to him as if he had been in her life forever. If Joy hadn’t known better, she would’ve believed that they’d held such a dinner a million times already. The overall dynamic felt as if Aaron had always been a part of their family.

Joy just hoped that same dynamic would continue. She loved the idea of all three of them coming together like this.

Despite this covertly held wish of hers, Joy did her best to keep the romance between them as low key as possible. She knew she’d made a mistake by letting things get a little too intense before, and she didn’t want to go down that trail again.

Not this early, anyway.

Besides, Kara was still getting to know Aaron. She didn’t want to rush such an important relationship, not the one between herself and Aaron or the one between Aaron and her daughter. If things were going to proceed forward, she needed for it to be in as healthy and as gradual a manner as possible.

This specifically meant not kissing him like there was no tomorrow, difficult as it was to resist the temptation. Every time she glanced in his direction, she remembered that first kiss, as well as all the delectable ones that came shortly thereafter. But she couldn’t risk a repeat. She had no desire to have an ember burn hot just to fizzle into nothing.

She needed something long-lasting. Something permanent. Something that unlike her marriage to Wayne, would be forever. Both for herself and for Kara.

The chemistry remained, though. Just beneath the surface. Yet rather than focus on how much she missed kissing him, Joy allowed the anticipation of that eventual moment to float in her consciousness like some nebulous cloud providing much-needed rain. In many ways, looking forward to pressing her lips to his again made that future all the more inviting.

But rather than just managing her behavior, she talked to Aaron about what was going on. The conversation was brief, but they were on the same page. She was thankful he understood and supported her wishes.

“You’re worth the wait,” he’d said. And she believed he really felt that way.

Two more weeks went by in this almost bliss-filled state. She asked Aaron over for dinner most nights with him happily obliging. A couple of times, he even brought groceries and cooked for them. Joy so appreciated his efforts on this. She loved that he was willing to be an equal partner in whatever they might be building.

The next evolution of their dynamic happened almost by accident. He’d stayed later than usual while watching a movie with the two of them. Joy knew it was past time she let him go home when Kara specifically asked him to read her a bedtime story.

Stunned, Joy blinked at her daughter. Kara had never let anyone but her or Wayne read her a story, not that her MIA husband had done such a thing in years.

It was too bad, too, since he would act out all the scenes. But any chance of that was over now.

Maybe that was why Kara’s next question to Aaron sprang out as an entreaty. “Will you do the voices?”

Joy herself did the voices but didn’t go as far as acting the scenes out. She’d discovered long ago that pinging around the room during a time that was meant to calm her young daughter down was unhelpful. In fact, after Wayne left her room, she’d often had to rock her little girl to get her to settle back down. That’s how long it’d been since Wayne had “read” her stories.

But remembering that was neither here nor there.

Aaron seemed to be game. “I’ll try. No promises, though. And no making fun of me.”

“Never,” Kara told him solemnly, so after clearing his throat for longer than it should’ve taken him, he began.

“Once upon a time…” Aaron did a decent job of reading the narrative part, but when the character’s dialogue started, he made this massive effort. He made his register go all high-pitched for the girl character, and for the boy, all low and raspy.

It was hilarious, and to keep from laughing out loud, Joy had to conceal her mouth behind her palm. She didn’t want to dissuade him, but his completely serious approach had her in stitches, especially as the expressions on his face remained strait-laced.

He was approaching telling the story as if about to perform some life-giving surgery.

It helped that during his first time changing his voice Kara clapped her hands in support, a giant smile on her little face as she begged for Aaron to continue. So, he did. This also helped Joy to get a hold of the wild explosion of humor that was trying so desperately to escape.

After a while, Joy’s mirth dwindled as it hit her just how compatible this man was with her daughter. He was downright wonderful with her and already becoming her friend. Things were so good between them that it made Joy’s chest ache with longing.

It meant so much to her. More than she could even express. Still, she had to tread carefully here. She didn’t want Kara going through what she already had with her father. The repeated disappointments. And now the absence of him. The loss.

Even though Joy craved being a family so much. She could imagine that future time so easily. Too easily. Joy knew she was falling hard for this man. Had already fallen.

And based on those open smiles Aaron kept providing her, he was falling right back.