Love Me Again, Cowboy

Landon shakes his head dismissively. “A lifetime ago Jax tried his player ways on Kitty. It was well before you, of course.”

“And what of the women after me. Is there anything I have to worry about?” I ask in jest.

“What women?” Dillon asks. I look at Jax with a questioning gaze. Surely he has dated since me. There’s no way that he’s gone eight years without dating other women. This is Jaxon Wyle we’re talking about here.

Kitty smiles at me. “From what I hear, there wasn’t much in the way of women after you. At least none that made it to a second date.”

I look to Jax who just shrugs like it’s no big deal. But it is a big deal. Because all this time I’d imagined Jaxon with a new woman every month. My heart heals even more, realizing that he was just as hurt as I was . . . so much so that he hasn’t opened his heart since. If we weren’t surrounded by others, I’d kiss him right now. He squeezes my hand as if to say: It’s okay. We’re together now. I give him a smile and hold on tight to the feeling that’s swelling in my heart.

I gaze around the backyard, searching for Jax’s daughter, but I don’t spot her.

“She’s in the garden gathering more flowers,” Kitty says, knowingly.

Jax and I go down the steps to the small flower garden off to the side of the house. So many memories of my summer here flood my mind. Every time we went on a date, Jax would pick me a bundle of flowers until his mother finally told him to stop or she’d have no flowers left. I remember helping Jaxon’s mom with the dishes, playing card games with his family in the living room, riding horses through the many trails on their land, and Jax’s dad teaching me how to rope a cow. A pang of sadness pulls at my heart at the loss of Jax’s parents.

As we round the corner of the house, the garden appears. My stomach is in knots, and my heart beats like hoofbeats on the desert floor. I can hear a little girl’s singing before I see her. Crouching between some purple and yellow flowers is the most adorable blue-eyed girl I’ve ever seen. Her long wavy brown hair is pulled back from her face with a blue headband that matches the flowers in her dress.

“She’s beautiful,” I breathe. And she is. She has Jax’s eyes, an adorable round face with rosy

cheeks, and perfect little heart shaped lips.

“Meet my daughter,” Jax says. “Audrey.”

I turn to stare at Jaxon. “You named her Audrey?”

“Someone once told me Audrey Hepburn was the most beautiful and classy actress of all time and that her humanitarian work and love for others makes her someone to look up to. It seemed like a great namesake.”

I look back at Audrey picking flowers, feeling my nose burn with the threat of tears. He named her Audrey, after my idol. I was worried that Jax saw his ex every time he looked at his daughter, but he gave her a name that would make him think of me instead—a name that I once told him I planned to name my own daughter one day. My voice is thick with emotion when I speak. “She wears the name perfectly.”

Audrey looks up at us and smiles, showing a dimple on the side of her cheek just like her father’s. Then her gaze falls on me. Her smile fades and her brows crease. For a moment, I’m worried she’s not happy with whatever she sees in me.

“Do I know you?” she asks, her voice small and lilting yet sure.

I shake my head. “Not yet.”

She stands and comes over to us, still staring at me. “I know you,” she says with conviction. “What’s your name?”

I crouch down so that we’re at eye level. “I’m Malia.”

Then her eyes widen, and she gasps. “You’re Malia Kalama!”

I glance up at Jax. “You really do watch that show a lot, don’t you?”

He cringes a little and shrugs.

Audrey smiles. “I knew I saw you before.” She looks up at Jax. “Daddy, you know Malia Kalama?”

“She’s the special guest I was telling you about who’s joining us for dinner. She’s an old family friend.”

Audrey puts her hand on her hip. “Do we have any other old family friends you haven’t told me about? Like Beyonce?”

I laugh, liking her instantly.

“No, just this one, darlin’.”

She nods and turns back to me, examining me for a second. “You’re very pretty.”

I smile. “So are you.”