Cowboy Daddy by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online

returned to stare out the window. At the sound of her voice, he turned and looked at them. She’d lived in her condo long enough to know that noise and conversations traveled fairly easily from the kitchen to the living room and that he’d probably heard everything they’d said. Not by a flicker of his thick lashes did he give that away. He stood, waiting. Laurel hovered by the door.
    Anne gave her another nudge. The girl stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” Then she flew across the room and into her father’s embrace.
    Jake pulled his daughter close and held her tightly against him. “I know, sweetie.”
    From her place in the doorway to the kitchen, Anne looked at the two of them. Jake knew he should be grateful that she’d been so generous with his child, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. She stared at him, at the way he held Laurel, with all the intensity of a starving person staring at bread. He read the hunger in her eyes, and the loneliness.
    Laurel stepped away and gave him a brilliant smile. He forced himself to return it. When he looked up, Anne had returned to the kitchen.
    Damn. He didn’t want to like her. He sure as hell didn’t want to feel sorry for her. And he certainly didn’t want to remember what had happened that moment when he’d pulled her away from the stove.
    “It’s late,” he said. “We should probably be going.”
    Laurel looked like she was about to protest, then seemed to think better of it. “Okay. When can I see Annie again?”
    He should have been prepared. All the signs had been there. But he’d pretended that it would only happen this one time. Refusing another meeting was the best solution for all of them, but he couldn’t. Not only because Laurel would fight him, but because he couldn’t tell her why she couldn’t see Anne Baker. He didn’t trust the woman, but more than that, he didn’t want to risk losing his daughter. Not when he’d just found her again. Neither of those reasons would make sense to Laurel. He had to decide what to do based on what was right for her, not what was easiest for him.
    “We’re leaving for the beach early in the morning,” he said.
    Laurel nodded. “I know Annie can’t come with us to the beach, but I have to see her again, Dad. She’s my birth mother.”
    That fact had haunted him ever since Laurel had first said the words. As long as he lived, he’d never forget the slash of pain when she’d told him she wanted to contact her “real” mother. He was grateful Ellen hadn’t ever heard Laurel say those things.
    “Can’t we stop before we go back to Colorado? Just for a couple of days.” Hazel eyes pleaded.
    “One day. We’ll stay overnight, then head back home.”
    “Thanks, Daddy.” She reached up and kissed his cheek, then scurried toward the kitchen. “Annie, Annie.”
    Anne came out of the kitchen. She looked from the teenager to him and back. He tried not to notice how the pale peach silk shirt she wore brought out the color in her cheeks and darkened her hair to a more auburn shade of red. He looked away from the hopeful expression in her pale blue eyes, and the way her hands balled into fists at her side. If he’d been able to hear her conversation with his daughter when they’d been in the kitchen, it stood to reason she’d heard what Laurel had said. But she still looked nervous, as if she was afraid he would take it all away.
    “We’re coming back to Houston after our week at the beach,” Laurel said, bouncing from foot to foot. “I can see you again.” She became very still. “If you want to.”
    Anne smiled. “Of course I do, Laurel. I’d like very much to see you again.”
    “Great.”
    “We need to get going,” he said. “It’s late and we have to get up early tomorrow.”
    “Okay.” Laurel hesitated, then ducked toward Anne.
    Jake forced himself to watch the two women embrace. He saw Anne’s eyes close as emotions chased across her face. He saw the tender smile, the