Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Rough Riders 7)

“Hey.” He brought his knuckles to her cheek and wiped her tears. “Sorry about yelling at you. Just don’t scare me like that. After what I’ve seen tonight I can’t stand the thought of you—” His voice broke.

Cam had lost a family member tonight and he was trying to keep it together for her. He deserved her sympathy, not her anger. “Cam. I’m sorry. I’m scared. For him. For me…” For us went unsaid.

“We’ll get through this. I promise.” He stroked her jawline. “Let’s take it a day at a time, okay? Tomorrow morning you’ll tell Anton about his mom. Get through that first.”

“But shouldn’t I tell him tonight?”

“No reason to wake the boy to bad news when tonight is probably one of the last nights of sleep he’ll have for a long time.”

Domini’s head spun. She just wanted to curl into Cam and let his solid presence surround her and reassure her.

“Come here.” He hauled her onto his lap and buried his face in her hair. “I don’t want to fight with you after the day I’ve had and the shitty days in front of me.”

“Me either.”

Silence stretched as they held each other.

She whispered, “I wish you could stay with me tonight.”

“Me too. I promised Brandt I’d wait awhile before I told our family about Luke. It’s been a few hours so I’ve got some calls to make—”

“You told me not to wake Anton up to bad news, but you’re going to call your brothers and other family members and do the same thing?”

He sighed. “No. I guess you’re right. It’ll keep.” Cam’s hold locked them together, even as they were mired in their own separate, anguished thoughts.

He cocked his head back to look at her.

And Domini was lost in a million conflicting emotions when his mouth pressed to hers, helpless to keep the tears from falling when he kissed her so sweetly, like she was the most precious thing on the planet. The kiss lingered, almost as if they knew it’d be a while before they’d get the chance again.

Cam rested his forehead to hers. “I want to make all the hurt you’ve ever suffered go away. I want to make sure you never hurt again. I want to pull the covers over our heads and wake up to find this was all a bad f**king dream.”

“I wish we could.”

“The next few days are gonna be pure hell for both of us. Will you keep in touch with me? Promise you won’t do anything rash or crazy like grab Anton and leave in the middle of the night?”

“I promise.”

“Good. Because I will hunt your ass down and drag it back here if you try it.”

Chapter Fifteen

Telling Anton about Nadia’s death was every bit as horrible as Domini imagined. He repeated words “fault” and “blame” and because his sobbing was incoherent, Domini wasn’t sure if Anton was blaming Rex or Nadia or himself.

The poor boy wept until he passed out from exhaustion. He refused to let go of her hand. What would she do when Social Services came calling and tried to take him away?

Grateful as Domini was for the outpouring of support from the crew at Dewey’s, she had no idea what to do next. Did she handle memorial service arrangements for Nadia? Was there a will? Did she pack up Nadia’s house and bring Anton’s stuff here? Did she need to hire a lawyer? Would they give her custody—even temporary—if she wasn’t a blood relative?

And while all the scenarios raced in her head, she grieved. Nadia had been her friend, her roommate, the closest thing Domini had ever had to a sister. Now she was gone. Every single time she thought of that, she cried.

Soft knocking on the apartment door forced Domini to wipe her tears and get off the couch. She shot a look to her bedroom and listened, but the noise hadn’t disturbed Anton.

Domini opened the door to Skylar McKay. Nadia’s boss. Her eyes were swollen, her face was puffy. The second their gazes connected, more tears spilled from Skylar’s eyes.

“Come in,” Domini said. “Anton is sleeping in my bedroom.”

“How is he?” Skylar squeezed her eyes shut. “Stupid question. That poor sweet boy. We’re all just heartsick. I closed the plant for a couple days.”

Nadia had loved working at Sky Blue. She’d gotten close to the other employees after she’d divorced Rex. And because Sky Blue maintained onsite daycare, everyone knew Anton.

Skylar clasped Domini’s hands as she sat across from her. “What can I do?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea what to do first.”

“We should plan Nadia’s memorial service. The girls volunteered to clear out Nadia’s house and bring Anton’s stuff to you, including any paperwork. I doubt Nadia had a will and that brings me to my next question.” Skylar leaned forward. “What happens to him?”

“I don’t know. Nadia had no other family. I have no idea how the American system works, if Anton becomes a ward of the state or what.” Domini looked away, sickness churning in her belly as awful memories from that turbulent time in her life resurfaced. “Right after my parents died in the Ukraine, I was turned over to an orphanage.”

“Oh Domini. I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“It’s not something I’m comfortable talking about. But you can understand why I don’t want him to end up in foster care. Ever. I’ll do whatever it takes to get custody of him, Skylar. I love him. I lived with him for two years. There is no one alive who knows that boy better than me. He needs me.”

“And I think you need him,” Skylar murmured. “That should work in your favor. But I do think you need to hire a lawyer.” She unearthed a stack of post-its from her purse and scrawled a number. “Call Ginger Paulson. You met her at Keely’s party. She’s done corporate legal work for me. Since she’s a single mom, my guess is she’d be a bulldog on this case.”

Domini tucked the note into her pocket. “Thank you. I think Ginger was Nadia’s divorce attorney.”

“Then she’d already have legal paperwork about Rex. It might speed things up.” Skylar glanced at her watch. “I have to run. I’m meeting Indy, AJ, Channing and Libby. We’re going over to see Jessie. Which is just another horrible situation.”

“How awful for her to lose her husband. Cam was really shaken up last night after having to tell her and Luke’s brother. Then he had to come here to tell me about Nadia… Sometimes I think he has the worst job in the world.”