Page 15 of Forbidden Cowboy
She chewed on her lip and looked at her phone for notifications. There were none.
“Where?” She asked, like that would be the deciding factor.
“The ranch. Just so you can see what it’s like now. Maybe get another taste of home.”
I tried to keep my expression relaxed, like I wasn’t excited at the thought of having her back at my home, where she’d always looked comfortable and happy, even while doing manual labor.
That blasted lip of her popped out of her mouth, slightly swollen and a bright pink from being chewed on, and I glanced down. She was going to say ‘no’, and I was going to have to be okay with that.
“Let me call the hospital?” She asked. “Just to… to make sure nothing happened.”
I told her to make her call—I was never going to get in the way of her looking after Beau. Thankfully, I heard the nurse over speakerphone tell Sierra that there had been no change, and that her brother was doing as well as he had been when she left. With a sigh, Sierra hung up and put her phone away, meeting my eyes once more.
“Take me to the ranch,” she said with a small grin.
Once back in the truck, I focused on driving, letting Sierra relax on the way and take in all the scenery she had missed for so long. At least, I hoped she’d missed it. I wanted her to want to come home. I couldn’t express that, however, because there were other, more pressing issues on my mind. My phone dinged and my heart sunk as I took in the notification on my watch.
Eliana Davis
New Message
I flicked open the message, already anticipating what it would say, and replying quickly, using voice-to-text.
Eliana
I can’t take her this weekend.
Me
By ‘her’ you mean our daughter, Anna?
Eliana
Obviously. I’m going out of town.
Me
What’s more important than seeing Anna for your two days?
Eliana
That’s none of your business
Me
You’re going to tell her, then
Eliana
Whatever. You’ve already turned her against me, so it’s not like she’ll care.
The last message infuriated me, so I shut off my watch and retrained my eyes on the road, not realizing I was grinding my teeth. This wasn’t the first time Eliana had ditched Anna for a sudden and unexplained excursion, and it wouldn’t be the last. I just wanted Anna to have that motherly connection in her life—someone who could give her what I couldn’t.
I also knew that Eliana wasn’t going to be the one to tell Anna that her mother was abandoning her again.
“What’s wrong?” Sierra asked, and I looked over to her.
Her vision was no longer focused on the rolling hills and mountain sides we were driving through, but on me, and on the brow I realized I was furrowing. Having her attention fully on me, with such an intense, almost caring expression, was almost too much.