Lost Love (Cowboys & Angels 1)

Swallowing hard, I fought to take a breath. This was my karma. The pain I had to suffer for the action I took ten years ago. I shook my head and pulled her in for a hug. “No, baby. Mommy is no longer a part of our lives, and I promise she will never hurt you. Never.”

Chloe patted my back, as if she was trying to console me at the same time. When she pulled away, her grin was back, along with the light in her eyes.

“Maybe we can find me a new mommy!”

My eyes widened. My daughter had longed for a mother to love her and I had tried my best to make up for the lack of love from Kim. It was beginning to hit me how much Chloe had longed for the connection I wasn’t able to give her. “Um… well… let’s not worry about that right now.”

She grinned and nodded. “Okay. We’ll wait a week.”

I was about to reply when two loud screams came from the front porch. Chloe turned and let out a little scream of her own.

Yep. My daughter is a Parker woman. They like to scream.

“Grammy! Aunt Meli!” She took off running and I was spared the new mommy ordeal—at least for a week.

My sister Amelia dropped to her knees and caught Chloe as she barreled into her.

My mother made a beeline straight to me. Her brown hair was pulled up, leaving me a clear view of her gray eyes, which danced with happiness. The bits of red that ran through her hair seemed to glow in the sun. “Steed, darling I’m so happy to have you home.”

Holding out my arms, I held my mother tightly. “It’s good to be home, Mom.”

“Your things came two days ago. I hope you don’t mind, but Amelia and I took to placing everything in the house. If you don’t like it, you and your brothers can change it up.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

She pinched her brows together. “Steed, I know the house is fully furnished and that’s why you didn’t have any furniture, but there’s no bedroom set for Chloe. Of course you’re more than welcome to keep the furniture that’s in the house, but I thought you might want something a little more kid friendly.”

I shook my head. “I want to start fresh. The fewer memories of Kim…the better. We stopped at Haverty’s Furniture on the way here and Chloe picked out a brand-new bedroom set. It will be delivered on Saturday.”

My mother smiled. “Oh, she’ll love that! I’m sorry you couldn’t bring your things.”

With a weak smile, I replied, “It’s not a big deal.”

Kim had never physically abused Chloe, but mentally she had done a number on both of us. Her constant screaming had grown worse as the years ticked by. But she also stayed away more, giving both Chloe and me a much-needed break. I was having a private detective follow Kim in the hopes of catching her in an affair.

When she showed up to my job one day with divorce papers and legal paperwork signing all parental rights over to me, I wanted to jump for joy. Once she figured she wasn’t getting a dime of money from my family, she realized she had better things to do with her life. Chloe and I weren’t part of the plan and that was fine by me. I’d wasted over six years of my life on a relationship that had started out as a desperate attempt to fuck Paxton out of my mind. Look where that shit got me.

My mother shook her head as we walked toward the front door where Amelia and Chloe had disappeared. “I still don’t understand how a mother could walk away from her child.”

“It was easy. She never wanted a daughter. Chloe was a bargaining tool to Kim, not a child.”

We entered the large foyer, my heart about to burst because my father was holding up Chloe as she laughed. My whole family had flown out to Oregon right after Chloe was born, unfortunately giving Kim ideas about my family’s money. My parents had come to visit twice a year the first few years of Chloe’s life and never questioned why I couldn’t bring Chloe to Texas. Then when Kim went full force bat-shit crazy, I had to get creative with my parents’ trips. We had gone on a few weekend camping trips where my folks had met up with us. Chloe had been old enough to know it had to be kept a secret from Kim. I hated making Chloe keep such a secret, but it was necessary if I wanted to keep her in my parents’ life and get us away from Kim. Other than the few visits, only Skype calls kept Chloe involved in their world. She had loved calling my brothers and sisters and was so excited to finally meet them all.