Single Dad Cowboy

“Don’t stop on my account.” He picked up the twelve-string acoustic and put it back in her hands.

“I think we’re done.” Harmony leaned the guitar carefully against the table next to her. “Are you hungry?”

“You babysit and cook breakfast?” He plopped down on the overstuffed sofa and watched with a smile as her cheeks turned pink.

“I’m multitalented.” She reached for the cane next to her. “And I can get you that cup of coffee now that you’re awake.”

“I definitely need it. One hour of sleep is going to make for a long day.”

He started to get up but Cash drove the truck over to his feet and made a siren sound. Or something that resembled a siren. Dylan moved from the couch to the floor and the little boy scooted next to him. He had a great smile, and his mom’s eyes. His blond hair would probably turn brown as he got older. For now he sucked his thumb and sometimes made it to the bathroom instead of wetting in his pants.

Katrina had insisted they start potty training early. Because she’d known she would be gone. She’d known it would all fall on Dylan, but that he’d have family to help. She’d counted on that, on the Coopers being involved in the lives of her two children.

She’d come from a crazy, mixed-up family herself and she had wanted something more for her kids. So she’d made him their guardian early on, before anyone could say she wasn’t in her right mind. No one as young as Kat should lose a battle with breast cancer, Dylan thought. If he could have fought the battle for her, he would have.

Callie had found a toy truck with a horse trailer that included horses. She pushed it to his side and grinned up at him, but something was missing in that smile. She was a smart girl, his Callie. She always seemed to know when he was lost in memories. She got lost, too, sometimes. She had nightmares and sometimes cried and hit for no reason. Dylan’s mom, Angie Cooper, had recommended a psychologist who could help a child process grief.

“Breakfast,” Harmony called from the kitchen. Dylan smiled down at the children. Callie pushed her truck away from him and brought back the television remote.

“Do you want to watch cartoons?”

The four-year-old nodded. Her blond hair matched her brother’s but Katrina had insisted it would stay blond. Dylan kind of doubted it. He channel surfed until Callie nodded her head at a show with ponies. After giving them each a hug, he walked through the dining room to the big country kitchen.

Harmony’s back was to him. Her shoulders were stiff and she was leaning on the counter. He walked up behind her and put a hand on her back. Her shoulders flinched. He rubbed her shoulders until she started to relax.

“Can you take anything for the pain?” he asked.

“Non-narcotic pain reliever. Over the counter, mostly. I drink lots of herbal tea.” She moved away from his touch and turned to look at him. “It just happened, you know.”

She meant her addiction. He waited, knowing she would talk about it when she was ready. Instead she shook her head. “It’s getting better.”

“Yeah, that’s how it is with pain.”

She took a biscuit out of the microwave and handed it to him. It was piled with cheese, bacon and fried eggs. He leaned against the counter and took a bite while she poured them each a cup of coffee.

“Callie and Cash seem to be adjusting.”

He nodded, following her to the dining room. “It hasn’t been easy for them, moving here, where everything’s different and there’s no one they know from their old life.”

“I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for you, either. You left here a single guy on your way to a bull ride and came back, what, a year later a dad to two kids.”

“Something like that. Katrina was a good mom.” He pulled out a chair from the old oak table in the middle of the big room. “The kids don’t—well, Cash doesn’t understand. Callie gets it but she still worries that her mom will come back to the house in Texas and we won’t be there.”

“I’m sorry.” She absently stirred her coffee.

“Yeah, well, life isn’t always easy, is it, Harmony? We were pretty full of ourselves ten years ago.”

She smiled at that. “You were full of yourself.”

“And you were the princess.”

“Life has a way of making us look at things a little differently.” She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “One day you’re the princess and the next day your best friend is gone, your body is broken, you find yourself hooked on painkillers and...”

He put the biscuit back on the plate and took a long look at the woman sitting next to him. She didn’t look broken. She still looked like a princess. He guessed he still looked like the player he’d been all of his life.

From the outside someone might see two people, whole and enjoying themselves.

If they looked a little closer, they would see the pain in Harmony’s eyes, in her expression. They would see that he was about as exhausted as a man could get. Maybe they were the best allies that ever joined forces.

“If we’re going to do this, we need boundaries.” She stirred her coffee some more.

“Boundaries?”

She looked up. “Dylan, I came here because I was looking for space. Not a relationship.”

“Me, too. That’s why we’re perfect for each other. I know where you stand, you know where I stand. As long as we’re helping each other, we have a good reason to tell the rest of Dawson to leave us be.”

“You really think this is going to stop people from offering to help?”

“It won’t stop them, but it will slow ’em down a little. Especially the matchmakers who think I need a wife.”

She smiled at that. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse than bad. I think they had a list of prospects written up before I came home.” He finished eating the last bite of biscuit and had to admit, she wasn’t a bad cook. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What are your plans for the future? How long are you staying in Dawson?”

She shrugged, slim shoulders under a pale blue T-shirt. She played with the handle of the coffee cup and didn’t look at him.

“I don’t know. I thought if I came here, I’d find the person I used to be, before life got crazy. I need time and space to put my life back together. And then maybe I’ll go back and finish college. I always thought I’d be a teacher.”

“Not a singer?”

She shook her head and smiled up at him. “I’m not the musician in the family. I leave that up to Clay and Lila.” Her older brother and little sister. He knew that both had somewhat decent careers.

“You’re good. I heard you playing.”

“I’m okay, but not good. I play for myself. I hadn’t played in years but since I had the accident I’ve picked it back up.”

A screech from the living room ended the conversation, reminding him that with Cash and Callie in his life, he had no room for relationships. All of his energy went to raising the two kids in the living room.

He headed that way with Harmony following. What he found in the living room were two kids wrestling over one toy. He scooped them up in his arms and gave Harmony an apologetic smile.

“I think it’s time for me to get these two home for a nap. And maybe I’ll see you at church tomorrow.”

“I’m not sure,” she responded as she gathered up the diaper bag and followed him to the door.