It didn’t make any sense in the grand scheme of things considering she constantly tried to get me alone and in bed. It wasn’t as if I was going to move away from my ranch anytime soon.
“She was right there. It was just poor circumstances the little girl fell the wrong way.”
“Well, that sounds like poor parenting. She should have been right by her little girl the whole time. Someone should do something about that.”
“You’re going to want to back away from that, Trish,” I warned, and hadn’t realized my voice had gone dangerously low until her eyes widened slightly.
Jackson cleared his throat as he wrapped his arm around Kandi’s waist. “It was just an accident. But this hero here made sure the little girl was safe and is going home safely with her single mother.”
My gaze shot to Jackson. “What?”
Jackson gave me a wink. “I was asking the right questions, and it seems that Ms. Livvy is currently single.”
I cleared my throat. “She seems to be raising that little girl right. Even with having to do it all by herself.” I hoped I sounded nonchalant, but with the way that Jackson and Kandi were both grinning at me, while Trish and the others glared, I had a feeling that I wasn’t doing very good about that.
“Maybeshecan be your date to the wedding,” Trish said, her voice sickly sweet.
I froze, my shoulders tightening. Because I had forgotten I had lied to them and said I had a date. It wasn’t that I couldn’t get one, I just hadn’t had time. And Trish had been angling for that position.
Jackson gave me a look, and I just swallowed hard, trying to look like I wasn’t lying. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there with bells on, and you don’t have to worry about my date. She’ll be there too.”
A complete lie, but that just meant I was going to have to fix that soon. Because Trish and Kandi and the others weren’t going to take no for an answer. Meaning I would have to find a date within the week to drive up with me to Wyoming for a wedding. Totally easy. Not insurmountable.
And it would be better off for everyone if I pushed the thought of Livvy and that beautiful smile of hers out of my mind.
Because I was never going to see Livvy Montgomery again.
three
LIVVY
Amelia ranacross the park with Aria on her heels. I held back my wince and my mothering urge to call out to them and tell them to be careful. I didn’t think I was going to be able to calm down and act rationally when it came to my daughter anytime soon. That first night after the near accident, I’d ended up sleeping on the floor in her room, aware I was on the verge of hovering too much. But I’d woken up every hour to watch the rise and fall of her chest—just to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming of the worst.
I could still see her little scared face as she fell back into the road.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if Ewan hadn’t been there to catch her.
No, I wasn’t going to think about that again.
I also tried not to think about Ewan at all. Considering the night after, it had taken all my strength to not dream about him. I had woken up in a sweat more than once. Of course, most of it had been because of Amelia. I had kept imagining what could’ve happened if the cyclist hadn’t been there, if I had been closer.
Or if Ewan had not.
I held back a shudder. I was not going to continue to think of worst-case scenarios. The more I did, the more I knew I would not be able to sleep anytime soon.
Only, it wasn’t that worst-case scenario that had kept me up the past two nights.
No, it was also about that damn sexy cowboy. I wasn’t in the mood for the space to think about a man like that.
My friends and family had been trying to get me out of the house more often lately. Everybody was so kind when it came to me being a single mother. However, I felt as if they wanted me to continue to reach out and want more. But I didn’t want any more. I liked where I was.
I loved my daughter. I loved my job. And I didn’t want to ruin anything by wanting more.
As it was, I couldn’t think about the future when the past still had its claws deep inside, trying to dig its way through my soul and promises.
Because I could not find Brick.
I had been so young and stupid when I thought I had fallen for him. I had thought he could give me the world and he had done a good job faking it.
