Crazy Heifer (The Valentine Boys 2)

I crossed my arms and tried not to yank my baby out of his arms and tell her she couldn’t compete in the upcoming rodeo if she was going to continue to get hurt.

Turning from me, Callum once again gathered up the reins on the ewe, settled our girl on her back, and then handed her the reins.

“Remember what Uncle Banks told you about holding on with your legs?” Callum asked.

Millie gave a nod of haughtiness that only a two-year-old could master, and gave the signal that she was ready.

Callum let her go as well as the rope, and the ewe was off.

Millie screamed. Will and Callum yelled. I placed my hands over my mouth and prayed that she’d be all right.

She was more than all right.

After holding on as long as she could manage, she fell to the ground, rolled, and then started screaming.

“Yayyyyy!” she cried out, running in excited circles.

Grinning at my girl’s excitement, I turned to her daddy. The man that I loved with all my heart.

I found him only a few yards away, walking toward me in his dusty boots, cowboy hat, and sweat-stained t-shirt.

I licked my lips, causing him to shoot me a grin.

And when he was close enough, I tilted my chin up and waited.

He didn’t disappoint.

Pushing his hat up so it wouldn’t nail me between the eyes, he pressed his lips to mine.

He growled.

“What have you been eating, baby?”

I grinned. “Testing out new cake flavors.”

His grin turned wicked. “You know I’m more than capable of helping you with that.”

My lips twitched.

He ‘helped’ me by tasting each and every icing flavor. By licking it off of my body.

And he’d done this more than once.

Only because I told him how much I enjoyed him taste-testing my new flavors.

“You know how much I like helping you with that,” he teased.

And I did.

However, I’d done it while I was at work, so it wasn’t like I could call him up there to test them out with Candy only a room away.

Candy and my partnership had gone splendidly. Not only did we work together, but we also made one hell of a business.

We were booming and also considering a secondary location in the next city over.

“What the absolute hell is this?”

I looked over to find Ace standing there holding a cat.

I bit my lip.

“Uhh,” I said. “That wasn’t me. That was your wife.”

He frowned. “My wife knows better.”

“Your wife knows a lot of things,” Codie said as she rounded the corner with another cat. “But don’t worry, I got that one a friend.”

Ace groaned and looked at the other cat.

“You damn well know that I’m not cleaning out the litter box for these bastards,” Ace said to his very pregnant wife. “They’re outside cats, right?”

Codie rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

Callum’s hand smoothed over my own distended belly.

This time, Codie and I would be racing to the finish line together.

We were both due any day now, but so far, I was still in the lead based solely on my due date.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked as he pressed in to feel our son kick.

“Cheesy macaroni, steak, asparagus, and chocolate sheet cake.” I grinned. “Well, minus one piece.”

He threw his head back and laughed, then pulled me into his arms and turned me so that we could watch Millie running around the corral chasing after the ewe.

“I’m not sure how the hell I got this lucky,” he said softly. “But I’d go through hell over and over again as long as you were there in the end.”

I pressed my face into my man’s chest, then promptly burst into tears.

I wasn’t going to pretend that I’d fixed Callum.

I didn’t think there was any fixing the Valentine boys.

What I did know was that I was doing my best to make sure that he never saw sorrow like he’d witnessed ever again.

One day at a time.

One good memory. One kiss. One hug. One smile.

All of it, just to see him smile.