Ray
The morning after Wade’s nightmare and emotional purge was tense. Neither of us knew what to say in the light of day, but we both knew that something needed to be done to help him heal the broken parts of himself he was so desperate to hide.
Days passed, and we didn’t talk much, outside of the occasional text or funny meme sent back and forth. It was as if the events of that night hadn’t happened.
Wade was busy getting the ranch ready for the next influx of riders and their horses, while I threw myself into designs for an upscale office building in Atlanta, a small-town hair salon across the pond in Ember Ridge, and a couple of party plans for various functions.
Over the course of the last year, business had doubled, and I was looking into finally hiring some part-time help.
Even though the majority of my job was virtual, going out to the different thrift stores during the day took me away from more important work that needed to be done in the office, and vice versa.
I wanted to get back to the root of the things that I enjoyed about my business, and if that meant handing off the boring stuff like paperwork to someone else, I was finally in a place where I could afford to do it.
I was enjoying my day off, spending it with the cutest kid on the planet. Stella’s daughter, Charlie, came over at least once a week to spend time with me while her mama went to work down at the boutique on Main Street.
There was nothing I loved more than getting to spend time with that sweet little chunk.
The plan was to head over to the ranch for a little bit. One of the heifers had just given birth to her first calf, and it was getting the VIP treatment and staying in one of the barns due to it being small and mama not taking to nursing well.
While it would have made logistical sense for me to just head over to the ranch and watch Charlie over at the big house all day, Stella had brought her by early because inventory was arriving, and I knew that we would be in the way of daily ranch operations if we got over there at the ass crack of dawn.
Especially since Charlie had endless energy that wasn’t bound within the constraints of what most people deemed an acceptable wake-up time.
I looked down at my watch, checking the time, and then darted my eyes over to the baby monitor on the coffee table.
Charlie had gone down for an early morning nap, and I could see her squirming around in the portable crib in my room, waking up.
After she’d been kidnapped right under our noses at her first birthday party, it had taken all of us a long time to get comfortable with her being out of our sight, even if just to take a nap.
She’d been taken from her crib while we were busy setting up her party, and I don’t think any of us will ever get over the fear and anxiety that moment created.
Stella’s screams when she realized Charlie’s crib was empty would haunt me for the rest of my life. Much in the same way Wade’s screams of terror from his flashback would.
“Wayyyy!” Charlie screamed from my room, demanding I come get her out of the prison conditions she was so clearly trapped in. Silently rolling my eyes, I set my laptop on the sofa and padded back to my room.
Opening the door, I was greeted with the happiest smile and excited giggles. There was nothing better than the unfiltered joy of a child. Their world was so small compared to an adult’s, and even the tiniest of things could make them the happiest humans on the planet.
“Hiya, cupcake,” I cooed, extricating her from baby jail and placing her on the ground.
At almost two, the girl was growing like a weed and refused to be carried by anyone other than Max, or Mass Da, as she liked to call him.
As a wedding present to Max, Stella had consulted with an attorney and had adoption papers drawn up, asking him to officially be Charlie’s dad.
Her biological father had been killed during a drug dispute, which was ultimately what had Stella running to Firefly Cove and into Max’s arms and all of our hearts.
Without so much as acknowledging my existence, Charlie ran to the living room as fast as her chubby little legs would take her. I sighed in mock annoyance as I dutifully followed.
It was Charlie’s world, and the rest of us were just living in it.
“Way!” she hollered from the kitchen, pushing a dining room chair across the floor and over to the counter to reach something on top of it. I clocked the plate of chocolate chip cookies before she could grab hold of one and snatched her off the chair, spinning her around.
“I don’t think so, little lady,” I chided playfully. She squirmed in my grasp and let out a long string of giggles as I feathered my fingers gently over her ribs.
“Down! Down!” she hollered through each fit of giggles. I smacked a loud and wet kiss on her cheek as I set her gently on the ground.
She brushed off her dress as if I’d messed up her pristine outfit and stood with her tiny hands on her hips and a deep furrow in her brow. I knew that look well, and it was the spitting image of the broody cowboy she so affectionately called “dad.”
Rolling my lips inward to fight a chuckle, I reached my hand out in offering. She placed her tiny hand in mine, and I gave it three quick squeezes to which she returned, even if they were like tiny little squishes against my palm.
“Where goin’?” she asked as we walked into the living room and I picked her up, depositing her on the sofa.
Snagging her boots from where she’d haphazardly taken them off next to the door, I fitted them on her feet and helped her stand.
“We’ve got a date with some cowboys, horses, and a cute baby cow,” I told her. Her smile could have lit up the room at the idea of getting to see a baby cow, and I chuckled as she scrambled happily toward the door, grabbing her tiny cowboy hat along the way.
It had been so long since we’d had little ones in the house, and it was nice to have some extra energy to siphon from when life seemed all too heavy.
Charlie was the balm to anyone’s weary soul, especially mine. Secretly, I hoped that should an emotionally closed-off cowboy she called an uncle make an appearance, she could turn on that cuteness charm and act as my wingman.
Instead of loading Charlie up and driving all the way around to the ranch, I figured it was a nice enough day that we could take a little walk through the woods.
True to her wild cowgirl nature, Charlie was untamable as we made our way down the well-worn path between my house and the Daniels’ property.
She hopped from one spot to the next, marveling at how many different kinds of bugs she could see, how high the trees were, asking about all the chirping and cooing sounds, and so much more. Her curiosity about the world around her was a fire I hoped she’d never lose.
As we crested the clearing of the woods and the big red barn came into view, Charlie took off at a dead sprint.
There was no way I could catch up with her, even if I weren’t pushing thirty and feeling every bit of it. That girl was faster than the wind and knew exactly where she was going to get what she wanted.
Just as she neared the barn doors, I saw a large man step out, his straw cowboy hat shielding him from the sun. Charlie ran straight into his arms, not bothering to slow down as she launched herself upward, expecting him to catch her.
True to Max’s nature, he caught her with ease, twirling her around and propping her on his hip. I finally made my way close enough to the two of them, and the sight had me tearing up.
Even though Charlie was growing up and asserting her independence, there seemed to be a special bond between her and Max.
Charlie had only ever known Max as the father figure in her life.
Stella had arrived in Firefly Cove when the little girl was only ten months old.
Max had swooped in and easily taken on the fatherly role.
But I think the fact that Max was the one who rescued her when she’d been kidnapped solidified their bond the most.
Amid all the chaos, the only familiar face she saw was his. That day forever changed all of us, but observing from the outside, I could see the subtle changes in the way Max and Charlie interacted.
She looked at him as if he hung the moon, and he looked at her as if he’d rope every star in the galaxy just to see her smile.
She lay her head gently on his shoulder as she filled him in on all the things we had done during the day, even my refusal to give in and give her a chocolate chip cookie.
“I’m sure Ray would have given you a cookie had you asked nicely, little one.” Max’s words were soft as he brushed the wayward curls from Charlie’s forehead and placed a tender kiss above her brow.
Charlie nodded, then wiggled in his hold to be put down again. Like I said, she wasn’t able to be contained for long.
“Mass Da, can I see cow?” she asked, tilting to the side to look around his large frame into the barn, as if the cow was going to appear out of thin air.
“Ah, I see. You don’t come down here to see your ol’ dad. You came down here to see the baby cow.” He teased her, picking up her hat and ruffling her mess of curls before setting it back down crooked.
She huffed, righting herself and standing with her hands on her hips in annoyance. That face? All Stella.
“I lub yew, Dad, but I wanna see cow.”
I couldn’t hold back the laughter as Max tipped his head back and sighed up at the sky, as if some higher power was going to grant him the patience to deal with his tiny tornado he called a daughter.
I walked up beside him, clapping him on the shoulder as a sign of solidarity. “Yeah, good luck with that one in her teenage years.”
“Fu—”
“Mass Da, bad word!” Charlie scolded, shaking her little finger in his direction. He reluctantly pulled out his wallet and handed her a dollar.
A couple of months ago, we started putting money in a swear jar to go toward Charlie’s college fund. She’d caught on and had started scolding anyone and everyone who uttered a curse when she was around.
We knew she didn’t understand the importance of money yet, but she knew that it kept us all in line, and that girl loved nothing more than bossing us around.
Let’s just say the kid was going to have enough in the jar to afford the Ivy League school of her dreams, should she want to.
“And on that note,” I chuckled, walking backward toward the stables, “I’ve gotta see a man about a horse. You got this?”
Max picked Charlie up, tossing her over his shoulder as she held on tightly to her hat so it wouldn’t fall. “Yep, go on. He’s just finishing cleaning up the tack room. I’ve got the little hellion.”
“Mass Da! BAD WORD,” she shrieked as he tickled her ribs.
“Come on, cowgirl. Let’s go see the baby cow.”
And with that one sentence, her shrieks became excited giggles as she kicked against Max’s hold, and they took off into the barn.
I took a deep, fortifying breath and pushed my shoulders back, readying myself for battle as I made my way toward the stables.
Pushing open the large wooden door, I was greeted with the sound of stomping hooves and the smell of damp hay swirling through the space.
One by one, each of the horses leaned their heads out of their stalls, trying to get a look at who was coming in and if there was a possibility of treats being doled out.
Stopping in front of Oakley, Izzy’s horse, I ran my hand down her soft nose as she nodded her head in greeting. Her whiskery lips nuzzled my hand, looking for a treat.
“I’m sorry, old girl, I’m fresh out of mints,” I said softly, scratching behind her long ears.
“Rookie mistake ‘round these parts,” a gruff voice echoed behind me, and I felt the tingles of awareness prickle my skin as I turned and regarded him with a raised eyebrow.
Wade stood across the alleyway, his arms crossed over his broad chest. His Wranglers cupped his muscular thighs in all the right places, and his boots stomped with heavy thuds as he prowled closer.
With the brim of his Stetson pulled low, I could only make out the lazy grin that spread across his face at his notice of my blatant perusal.
I turned back to Oakley, pretending to be unaffected, but he was sex, sin, and a Southern girl’s wet dream all wrapped up and tied with a cowboy-shaped bow.