A Cowboy to Call Daddy (The Boones of Texas 4)

Archer sighed, running a hand over his face.

“She’s a very cute baby,” Renata said.

“She is that,” Clara agreed, smiling at him. “So is her momma.”

Archer grinned.

“She here?” his father asked.

Archer nodded.

“She was worried about him.” Fisher nodded in Archer’s direction. “I’m sure she was worried about you, too, Dad.”

The others laughed.

“I’m fine with her worrying about him. He needs someone to worry over him.” His father smiled.

“Okay, that’s a wrap.” Dr. McBride came in. “It’s late. You need rest. And there’s far too many children up past their bedtime in my waiting room.”

“Come on now, Rupert,” their father argued. “You can’t tell a man his grandkids are here and not let him see them. Bad for a man’s heart.”

Rupert McBride shook his head. “You can see them tomorrow. If you behave tonight.”

His father frowned. “Now hold on—”

“Dad,” Archer interrupted. “Getting worked up isn’t going to change his mind.”

His father frowned at him, then Dr. McBride. “Fine.”

The five of them hugged and kissed their father before leaving the room.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Archer heard his father arguing with Dr. McBride.

He smiled, returning to the waiting room. Eden sat, rocking Lily, talking with his brother’s wives. It was a cozy picture, one that struck him as right. He wanted her to fit with his family, to find friendship and love here. And his brother’s wives were good women—as far as women went.

She saw him and smiled. “How is he?”

He nodded. “Good. Don’t think you’ll be getting Clara back tonight.”

She laughed.

“We have to come back tomorrow,” Hunter said. “He wants all of his grandkids under one roof.”

“We need to work on that.” Renata shook her head. “We live in the same town, a small town at that. How hard would it be to get together once a month?”

The idea of regular family gatherings didn’t appeal to Archer. But if it would make his father happy, he’d do it. Nothing had prepared him for the terror he’d felt driving through the rain. He couldn’t find him. And every minute was one more minute his father was missing, hurt, bleeding... Seeing him in the mud, still and pale... He shivered at the memory. He’d slammed the truck into Park and dropped to his knees in the mud, frantic until he’d found a pulse.

Hunter had already called Caleb Brewer, a friend with a helicopter. It might normally be used for counting and tracking the white-tailed deer and exotics that lived on the ranch, but it had doubled as an ambulance. Archer had used plywood, a saddle pad and tie-downs to secure his father’s neck before they moved him into the helicopter. Seeing his father gray and lifeless... He shook his head. “I can do once a month.”

His brothers nodded.

“When he gets released,” Renata said. “At the Lodge?”

Archer glanced at Eden. He wanted her to be there, a part of this—his family. Maybe she wouldn’t go if he told her how he felt. Hell, telling her to stay and offering her a job wasn’t the same thing as asking her to stay—with him.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

“I’ve got my van,” she said, standing.