Cowboy Lullaby (The Boones of Texas 6)

Click took the smooth oval stone from her hand, ran his thumb across its surface—still warm from her touch.

“Rock?” he said to Pearl. “Rock.”

Pearl grinned at him. “Da-gee?”

Banshee’s tail thumped.

“I get the impression he understands?” Click asked.

“Rock,” Tandy repeated, taking the stone from Click and pressing it into Pearl’s hand. “Rock.”

“Ra,” Pearl said. “Ra.”

Tandy clapped her hands. “Yes. Rock. Good job, Pearl.” She stroked her cheek. “Rock.”

Pearl clapped her hand, dropping the rock in the process.

Click bent forward for it, the same time Tandy did, and they ended up knocking heads hard. “Damn, Tandy, I’m sor

ry,” he said, rubbing his head.

Tandy sat back, her hand pressed to her head. “Accident.”

Pearl burst into tears. Banshee was up, climbing over Tandy to get to the baby. His tail slapped Tandy in the face—over and over. Tandy’s laugh rang out as she leaned out of Banshee’s tail radius. Pearl stopped crying, pushing herself into Tandy’s lap and smiling up at her. She reached up with one tiny hand, stroking her cheek just as Tandy had done to her.

Click’s heart throbbed, the tenderness on his baby’s face the sweetest offering a person could receive.

Tandy’s forehead furrowed as she clasped Pearl’s hand in hers. Click heard her ragged breath, the slight hiccup in her laugh, and ached for her. Somehow, she managed to smile and press a kiss to each of Pearl’s fingertips. And that smile, Tandy’s smile, lit up the evening sky.

Chapter Five

The moment Pearl touched her cheek, Tandy was done for. Why that smiling baby girl picked her, Tandy couldn’t fathom. There was no prompting or ulterior motive. Pearl wanted her. For the first time in so long, something cold and sad shifted to let the sunshine in. Maybe it was the way Pearl toddled after her on unsteady legs, reached for her with tiny fingers splayed, or hugged her calf whenever Tandy stood still. Whatever the cause, Tandy couldn’t fight it. She didn’t want to.

Even if it was taking her twice as long to unpack.

“I didn’t mean to stay. Just wanted you to know where Banshee was,” Click said from his place on the floor, wrench in hand. “Least the sink’s not dripping.”

“And you’ve kept Banshee occupied,” she said, nodding at Banshee. Her dog lay at Click’s side, his golden gaze tracking every move Pearl made.

“He was always herding little ones in Stonewall Crossing,” Renata said, wiping out the kitchen cabinet.

“I guess I didn’t think about that.” Tandy glanced at her dog. “Hope he doesn’t get too lonely out here.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem if he gets to visit Pearl every now and then,” Scarlett said.

Tandy shook out the sheet, smoothing the fabric before stretching the elastic over the mattress corner. Banshee would like that. So would she. But if Pearl was staying, so was Click. “How long are you staying?” she asked, unable to stop the words from slipping out.

Click sighed. “As long as we can.”

She risked a look his way. He was watching his daughter, a mix of pleasure and unease lining his forehead. She didn’t know anything about his circumstances. Was he married? Where was Pearl’s mother? The woman he’d slept with days after leaving her in the hospital. That jagged lump was back, lodged firmly in her throat.

“Between jobs?” Renata asked.

“You could say that.” He shook his head.

“Ra, ra, ra,” Pearl announced, toddling toward her father, dragging a plastic spatula behind her. “Ra?” she asked, holding up the cooking utensil.

Click ruffled Pearl’s hair. “She’s a little young to learn spatula, isn’t she?”