“She seems to be enjoying herself,” Josh said, smiling when Emmie braced both hands on the saddle horn and grinned over her shoulder at him.
Kiley nodded. “She’s always loved animals, but horses and ponies are her favorites. Even before she could sit up on her own, she had a stuffed pony that she wouldn’t let out of her sight.”
“Does her dad like horses?” he asked. “Maybe that’s where she gets it from.”
“No, he hasn’t been in the picture since right after she was born,” Kiley said, shrugging.
“I’m sorry,” Josh said, sounding sincere.
“Don’t be.” She stared off into the distance. “Emmie and I are better off without him.”
“He doesn’t have any contact at all with you and Emmie?” He sounded disapproving.
Shaking her head, she smiled. “No. Mark signed over all legal rights to her so he wouldn’t have to pay child support.”
Josh stopped the bay gelding to turn and look at her. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Actually, I’m just as glad I don’t have to deal with him,” she said honestly, reining in the mare. “But it breaks my heart for Emmie. When she gets a little older she’ll start wondering why her dad didn’t want anything to do with her.”
“It’s his loss,” Josh stated flatly. “He’s the one missing out and it sounds to me like the bast—” he stopped, looked down at Emmie, then, grinning, finished “—the jerk doesn’t have the sense to know it.”
She didn’t know why she had opened up to Josh, but it was no secret in Royal that Mark Roberts cared little or nothing for anyone but himself. Of course, he wasn’t a part of the same social set as Josh and his friends, so she doubted Josh had ever heard of Mark or his reputation for being his own number one fan.
“I know it’s none of my business, but why did you marry him?” Josh asked, frowning.
“You’re holding her.” Kiley smiled fondly at her pride and joy. “I became pregnant and his grandfather insisted that he had to do the ‘right thing’ and marry me.”
“You didn’t have to go along with it,” he pointed out.
“It appears that my sister isn’t the only one in the Miller family who makes poor choices when it comes to the men she gets involved with,” Kiley said without thinking.
“Ouch.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, realizing that Josh thought she meant him. It was true that he had broken Lori’s heart, but he was just one of a long list of men Lori had fallen for over the years. “I didn’t mean you in particular,” she hurried to add. “I just meant Lori seems to always fall for men who are all wrong for her.”
He shrugged. “Lori’s a great girl. But her attention span isn’t all that long.”
When he didn’t say more, Kiley wondered what he meant by that comment. Lori wasn’t known for seeing anyone for very long, but he made it sound as if she was the one who’d dumped him instead of the other way around. But Lori had said…
“That’s why you said the day care center was your dream job,” he said, drawing Kiley back to the present. “As long as you have to work to support yourself and Emmie, it’s better to have her with you.”
“By having her with me, I don’t have to worry about missing any of her childhood milestones or wonder if someone else is taking good care of her,” Kiley said, nodding.
He looked thoughtful, as if mulling over what she had told him before glancing down at Emmie. “Uh-oh. It looks like this little cowgirl is going to miss part of the ride.”
When she looked over at her daughter leaning back against Josh, she smiled. Emmie was fast asleep.
“I think it was probably the rhythmic movement of the gelding’s slow walk and the fact that she has been extremely excited about seeing the horses. When the adrenaline level starts to drop off, the little ones are usually asleep in no time.” She stopped the mare. “Do you want me to take her?”
Smiling, he shook his head. “No, she’s fine. Besides, I’d hate to wake her.”
They fell silent as they rode along a creek on the far side of the pasture before turning back. Maybe Josh wasn’t such a bad guy after all, Kiley decided.
As they rode across the wide pasture, Kiley found herself glancing at Josh holding her daughter securely to his wide chest and a warm feeling began to fill her. Was there ever a more endearing sight than a man tenderly holding a child?
When she remembered how surrounded she’d felt with his chest pressed to hers and the latent strength of his arms holding her close as he made love to her that night, a streak of longing coursed through her at the speed of light. Her heart skipped a beat and she had to remind herself to breathe. Where had that come from? And what on earth was wrong with her?