Song for a Cowboy (Kings of Country 2)

But like his dad always told him, he wasn’t the quitting type.

Chapter 19

Daddy hugged Emmy close, the gentle sway of the bus driving down the interstate almost rocking her against her father’s chest. “I’m so sorry, baby girl. For all of this.”

“It’s not your fault, Daddy.” There was nothing as comforting as one of her daddy’s hugs.

“I can’t believe that anymore. Not with the way things keep shaking out.” He let her go. “If that were the case, then none of this would have happened. None of it.” He faced Krystal then. “I hope you know, I won’t let you down again. Any of you.” He didn’t shy away from the hard look on Travis’s face. “I give you my word.”

“Where is Momma?” Travis asked.

Emmy curled up on the leather couch, Watson jumping up to wedge himself in the bend of her knees. “I didn’t see her tonight.”

“She’s taking some time. After the last few days…” He shook his head, his voice low and gruff. “It’s what’s best for now.”

Emmy Lou glanced at her siblings, their shocked expressions mirroring her own.

Emmy Lou captured his hand in hers. “It’ll be okay, Daddy.”

“There’s no point pretending things that aren’t true.” He sat forward. “Seems to me, we’ve been doing an awful lot of that. Some I didn’t even know about.”

“Fuck.” Travis’s one word said oh so much.

“Pretty much.” Daddy nodded. “I brought something.” On the table were two large pizza boxes, a shoebox tied with red string, and…

“Is that Momma’s book?” Emmy asked.

“Pass?” Travis said, standing up to grab the box of pizza. “On the book. Pretty sure I lived it. But I’ll never say no to pizza. Sawyer?”

Sawyer shook his head and stayed in his usual spot, close enough to listen but far enough apart to go unnoticed.

Krystal leaned into Jace, resting her head on his shoulder. “I doubt she’d want us to read that, Daddy.”

“You think I’d offer it behind her back?” Daddy took a deep breath, beyond hurt. “We talked about this. Your momma’s life wasn’t easy. I know you only know your grandpa as a man with a joke to tell and a big laugh. Truth was, he and your momma never got on. I didn’t help with that.” He shook his head and leaned back against the couch. “All I’m trying to say is, her life hasn’t been as easy as it appears. Not that it’s an excuse, mind you.”

“We all love her, Daddy,” Emmy Lou said.

“Even if it’s not always easy,” Travis replied.

Krystal sat silent—not because she didn’t love their mother, but because she didn’t want to.

“Are we burning the book or what?” Travis asked.

“I’m going to leave it here.” Daddy stared at the box. “In case you want to read it. A lot of things I wish I’d known. And some truths that need to be told and made right.” He leaned forward, picked up the shoebox, and gave it to Emmy Lou. “These are yours.”

Emmy took the box, sat it beside her on the couch, and opened it. “But…” Just when she thought she’d gotten a handle on her feelings, she had her legs knocked out from under her. There, in the shoebox, were all the letters she’d written to Brock. “I don’t understand.” And she didn’t.

Krystal peered over her shoulder. “What is that?”

“I can?

??t see,” Travis pointed out.

Emmy Lou sat the box on the table. “Letters I wrote to Brock.” She shook her head. Letters he never got.

Travis frowned. “That takes the whole breach-of-privacy thing to a new level of what the hell, doesn’t it?”

Krystal sighed, resting her elbow on the table and propping her chin up. “I don’t understand, Daddy. How you can live with someone who could hurt her children?”