Chapter Twenty-five
West
“You ready?” I ask Daisy as she comes out of the bathroom, running a comb through her hair. She’s showered and fully dressed, and right now I wish she wasn’t. I rock the baby in my arms and hand her a fresh cup of coffee.
“Ready for what?”
“For breakfast at the main house.”
“Um ... I thought I’d just grab something here before heading over to the B&B.”
“Like hell you will. You’re on maternity leave.”
“I can work, West. I ... don’t you think it’s a little weird that I’m just here and not doing my part to help out? I mean, I’m living in your house rent free and ...” she swallows hard, as if this is just occurring to her. “You’re my employer.”
“Whoa. I’m not your employer, the ranch is.”
“You run the ranch. It’s your family’s ranch.”
“You’re my best friend.”
“Right. A best friend whose baby you delivered in the front seat of your truck. A best friend who works for you. A best friend whom you’ve kissed.” She winces. “More than once. I guess I’m just ... confused about what I’m doing here.”
“Dais, I want you,” I say, and when her brows shoot into her hairline—like a pussy—I chicken out and add, “Here. I want you and Waylon safe. Right now, the safest place for the two of you is on the ranch.”
“It’s not that I’m not grateful, I am.” Her brow furrows and she blinks back tears. “For everything, but I’m just ... lost.”
“Listen, whatever you want from me, Dais, it’s yours.”
“What if I don’t know yet?”
“Then you don’t know yet. There’s no pressure from me. You wanna kiss a little on the porch at night, relieve a little tension, I’m okay with that.”
She frowns and I don’t know what the hell that means, so I hurry to add, “If you want nothing more than friendship from me, that’s what you’ll have.”
“And what do you want?” And isn’t that just the million-dollar question on everyone’s lips? I want her. I want all of her for the rest of our lives, but I won’t put that on her right now.
“I want breakfast. I want you and Waylon at my family table, because that’s what you are—family.”
“I don’t wanna int—”
“Daisy, how long you known my mama?”
She frowns and shoots me a side eye. “I ... my whole life.”
“Exactly. So you’ll know there are two things that woman was put on this earth to do—raise a whole bunch of wild Winchester babies, and fix a plate.”
“Maybe she’s tired of fixing plates and taking in strays.”
“You’re family, Daisy-Mae. Family eats at the main house.”
“Okay.” She nods and rinses her mug in the sink. “You want me to take him?”
“Nah, we got this. I’ll get him strapped into the truck while you put on your boots.
” I hold up a hand to stop her objections.
“Before you ask, I already fitted the car seat and double checked the anchor points. You can take my truck wherever you want after you eat. But, you need to stay on the ranch and close by me, the boys, or my sister and mama. I’m not taking any chances with your safety.
Besides, you know Lemon is gonna hunt this little guy all over the ranch for a cuddle, right? ”
“Well, I guess you’ve thought of everything.”
“I have.”
Everything but tell you that you’re already mine.
I grab her diaper bag and head outside. On the porch, I rock the baby in my arms and smile down at him. “You smell that, buddy? That’s home.”
He coos up at me and wriggles in my arms, turning his tiny head, probably looking for another meal.
“Yeah, I ain’t told her yet, but I’m not letting you and your mama leave.”
I hear the front door close behind me and cringe. Shit. I pray like hell she didn’t hear that as I stalk down the steps and settle Waylon into his baby seat.
The ride to the main house is quiet as hell.
Too quiet, but I’m feeling awkward about possibly being caught out, and I don’t know what the hell to say about it.
I don’t wanna scare her off, and I don’t want her thinking she owes me anything.
She should never feel obligated to be with me.
I want her to need me so much she can’t stand not touching me, but it has to be her choice.
Even so, it’s taking all the composure I possess not to kiss her right now, but I don’t, because I need her to know that I’m here for her. I’m all in.
With his usual bad timing, Wade pulls up to the main house. I turn from Daisy and remove Waylon’s carrier out of my truck. “Brother, Daisy-Mae. Don’t you two look like the start of the perfect nuclear family.”
Wyatt’s coming over from the barn, and he clearly caught the tail end of what Wade said. Like the asshole he is, he’s decided to elaborate on it. “Seems you went from ‘just friends’ to ‘moving in’ pretty fast.”
“Shut it,” I warn. “Both of you.”
Daisy smiles anxiously. “We’re just—”
“Friends,” Wade and Wyatt say at once and then laugh while they shove each other like the five-year-olds they are.
“Yeah.” Wade chuckles. “We’ve heard that one a few times now.”
“So many, many times,” Wyatt deadpans. They roughhouse again and race to the back door.
“I’m sorry about my idiot brothers.”
“Honestly, I don’t mind.” Daisy shrugs. “This is all pretty crazy. If we don’t laugh, right?”
I frown and stop in my tracks. “Is this you telling me you don’t like ranch life?”
“No. God, no. It’s beautiful out here.” She looks over the barn, the training ring, and the ranch beyond and sighs. A quiet smile lifts the corners of her mouth. “And your family—you ... are amazing. I just ... I guess I’m a little confused after last night.”
“What happened last night?” Lemon asks, scaring the shit out of both of us from her lazy lean against the doorjamb.
“Lemon, hey,” Daisy says, glancing nervously at my sister. “You scared me.”
“Hey yourself. What happened last night?”
“None of your damn business,” I say, giving her the ‘don’t fuck with me over this’ expression. As usual, my sister ignores my threats.
“They boned,” Wade says, appearing over Lemon’s shoulder.
“They totally boned,” Wyatt adds from deeper in the mudroom.
Daisy’s cheeks flame the most beautiful pink, and I’m instantly transported to earlier when I watched her sleep against my pillows and mentally traced the outline of her lips like a fucking creeper.
I shake my head and glare at my siblings. “Not another fucking word. You hear me?”
“Don’t you idiots know anything?” Lemon continues like I didn’t just threaten my siblings’ lives if they kept this shit up.
“They can’t bone until she’s six weeks postpartum.
Can they?” She shrieks. “Oh my god, you did other stuff, didn’t you?
Actually, don’t answer that. Thinking of West doing .
.. anything is ...” She scowls and screws up her button nose.
“What’s that, Lemonade? You don’t like a taste of your own medicine?” I ask with a smug smile. “Now imagine what it’s like to be me walking into a barn that you and Colt are occupying.”
My sister pokes out her tongue and snatches the baby carrier from me, promptly walking inside. I grab Daisy’s hand and pull her to me. “I’m sorry about them.”
“It’s fine. They probably already suspected something was going on between us anyway, right? I mean, how many new mothers move in with their ... friend.”
I try to hide my grin over her fumbling that last word. “Maybe. One thing about my family though, they’re never going to let us hear the end of it.”
“Well, isn’t this nice?” Mama says, smiling at Daisy and I. Lemon’s hogging all the baby cuddles from Waylon instead of eating, and Colt is making stupid faces at the kid like Bozo the Clown. “My kitchen full of my babies and their lo—”
“Mama,” I warn, and scoop a heap of eggs and bacon on mine and Daisy’s plates. She opens her mouth as if to say something and quickly closes it again.
“It’s just temporary,” Daisy says. “Just until this all blows over. I promise I’ll be out of y’all’s hair right quick.”
“Nonsense, you’re family Daisy, you and Waylon both. You’ll stay as long as you want, forever if I have a say in it,” Mama says, and I turn away to hide my mortification.
“Mama.”
“What? It’s true. God knows you could use a good woman to keep you in line.”
“It ain’t even like that,” I snap, smoothing my sweaty palms along my thighs. I focus on stabbing the food on my plate. “Can everyone just drop it, please?”
Lemon looks up from the babe in her arms to smirk at me. “You know, it wasn’t that long ago I sat in this very chair and asked you all to do the same about teasing me and Colt.”
“Then you should know how it feels.”
“Oh, I know it well. And you’re welcome.”
“Come on, West. You had to know bringing a wife and baby to breakfast was gonna cause a stir,” Colt says with a smirk, and really, my sister is a terrible influence on him. Always has been.
“Wife?” Daisy screeches.
“Shut it.” I say through my teeth to the rest of them.
“We’re just teasing, baby.” Mama slides her hand across the table and pats mine.
“If you think about it,” Wyatt adds, “Daisy-Mae’s really the one making sacrifices here. I don’t know how you put up with his grumpy ass first thing in the morning.”
“Well, I figure if he’s gracious enough to take in a divorcee and her newborn baby, I can put up with his grumpy butt at six am.”
“Bet that’s not the only thing up at six am.” Wade chuckles and Cash and Colt both high five him.
“Alright, we’re done with the ribbing.” My chair scuffs the hardwood floor as I push to my feet. I stalk across the room and scrape my mostly uneaten food off into the trash, and then I rinse my plate and turn to Daisy. “You gonna be okay here today?”
“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” Daisy smiles sadly. Tears well in her eyes but she wipes them away before they can fall, and addresses the room, “Thank all of you. I ... I don’t know where I’d be without your beautiful family. I’m sorry for putting everyone out.”
“You’re family, Daisy. You’re not putting anyone out,” Lemon says, then she turns back to the baby in her arms and babbles, “And we couldn’t have this little guy unsafe and all alone at stinky West’s house, could we?”
If Mama’s wondering what the hell happened that would make Daisy move her newborn to the ranch overnight, she doesn’t ask.
Then again, her family has been on this land for generations.
While she might not know everything, she’s no fool.
“Come on now, Daisy. It’s us who’re lucky to have you.
Like Lemon said, you’re family. Now, what would you like to do today?
We already have a portable crib set up in a guestroom.
If you need to take a nap or just a little breather, you’re welcome to. ”
“Actually, ma’am, would it be okay if I used your kitchen? I kind of need to bake to take my mind off things.”
Mama smiles, warm and genuine, and I don’t think my heart could get any fuller. “My kitchen is yours, darling girl.”
Lemon narrows her eyes with a bit of a pout. “Hey, how come you’ve never said that to the rest of us?”
Mama laughs, “Because none of you can cook worth a damn. From what I tasted at the Buttermilk Café, Daisy can.”
“I could really go some more of that caramel apple cobbler you made a few weeks back,” Wade says with a sly smile.
His gaze grows misty-eyed when she nods, and I can see him falling a little bit in love with her because he’s as big of a fan of sweet treats as I am.
I level a dark glare on him but the bastard just chuckles.
“She’s not here to serve you, asshole.”
“West William Winchester. You bite your tongue in front of a lady,” Mama scolds.
“Yeah, West, you kiss your mama with that mouth?” Wade says.
“Maybe he’s too busy kissing Daisy,” Wyatt adds.
Daisy turns beet red, and I feel like shit for dragging her into another crazy Winchester family meal.
“Alright, you lot. We got shi—stuff to do.” For a beat, I contemplate staying because I’ve really thrown her straight into the lion’s den inviting her to breakfast, but I guess this is payback for all the shit I’ve given Lemon and Colt over the years.
“I’ll see you later then,” I say.
“Have a good day.” Daisy smiles self-consciously. I grab my canteen from the counter and head out.
“What, no kiss?” Wade hollers after me as I exit the house. Asshole. Everyone laughs, including Daisy-Mae, and I just shake my head. I think we’ll be eating dinner at my house tonight.