Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

“ H oney, stop bouncing. They’ll be here.” Kyler grinned at Paige, who was wearing a pink T-shirt that read, Be nice to me. My Momma is crazy and not afraid to use i ’, a pair of sparkly butt jeans, and her pink boots.

Dallas and his dad were coming out to meet Paige’s horse before they headed out to the Ute Trailhead to do a bit of hiking. So he had her sneakers in the truck.

Pizza had been a real success, with the kids munching pizza and watching Moana while he and Austin chatted. It had been… nice to talk to another adult. It had made him feel real, which these days, with every damn thing in flux, was a good thing.

“I know, Daddy. I just want to dance.”

Yeah, she’d tried to wear a pink tutu over her jeans…

“Well, come here.” He opened the music app on his phone, and “Take it to the Limit” by the Eagles started playing. “Waltz with me, kiddo.”

“I love to sing with you, Daddy.” She came right to him, her baby feet on top of his. And he danced her around, his heart full.

This whole thing was hard. Building a house. Trying to make things work, starting a ranch, getting his business back off the ground. But it was worth it. He was doing it for her.

“Do you think that Dallas will like Penny? Or do you think he’s going to be scared?”

He imagined, with all of his heart, that Dallas was going to be terrified. But he had to give it to that little boy. He was going to brazen this whole thing out. And if Paige liked horses, he was gonna like horses, damn it.

“I think he’s going to be fine, baby girl. He’s very excited.”

“Me too. I can’t wait for them to meet. And then he could have a horse. He could name his horse Maui. Or Eragon. Or Pebbles. And then we can ride together all the time.” Her blue eyes glittered.

Somehow he doubted Austin was going to be willing to get a horse. But, hey, you never knew. The guy was kind of cool and weirdly fascinating. The condo Austin kept would be…sparse even. Modern and super clean. Except for the fact that obviously the man believed that books were furniture, because they were stacked everywhere. Bookshelves, sofa tables. Coffee tables. Everywhere. It blew his mind.

And it didn’t seem to matter what kind of books. There were westerns, sci-fi, and fantasy. There were nonfiction books. There were the top ten from the New York Times . Manga. Comic books. Kids’ books, chapter books. It was like a library.

And what was weirder was that Austin knew where everything was. Kyler admitted he’d seen a title that he kind of recognized and had asked for it to see if Austin had any idea, and man, not even a hesitation. He’d walked over to a stack, run his finger down it, and gone bloop, and then offered to let Kyler borrow it.

That was the strangest damn thing he’d ever seen. But also it kind of suited Austin, who was kind of like something out of some kind of mystical movie Doug Jones played the main character in. But more sensual than creepy.

He liked the look of Austin.

A lot.

That probably wasn’t something to be thinking about right now, but it was true. And every so often he caught Austin watching him a certain way. The way that maybe indicated interest. Like, in a sexy way.

It boosted his ego a bit. Maybe a lot.

He danced his girl in another circle and ignored the SUV pulling up until Dallas came running over.

“What are we doing?” Dallas half-shouted.

“Dancing, kiddo. I taught Paige to waltz a bit ago.”

“Poppy dances!” The little boy exclaimed, his eyes huge. “He did ball dancing.” Dallas glanced at Paige and wrinkled his nose. “The shoes are so funny, and he wore sparkly shirts.”

Paige tilted her head. “My momma wears sparkly shirts to work. Did your dad do that for work?”

Austin nodded. “Uh-huh. When he was a teenager. Then he got very tall. Ball dancers aren’t very tall. And they have to dance with girls. And my Poppy doesn’t dance with girls. My Poppy dances with boys.”

Paige frowned. Looked confused for a moment. And then before she started asking questions she pointed to the fence. “You wanna go see my horse? Her name’s Penny. She’s very pretty.”

Oh thank God. That was the last thing he wanted to get into right now.

He wasn’t a homophobe at all. In fact, he was sort of more than a little interested in exploring that side of him, but that wasn’t the point. He wasn’t ready to explain this whole thing to his daughter. Whose mother was a barrel racer .

He had a life. He couldn’t deal with that right now. He had enough. Thing was, he couldn’t even like, tell Austin that he didn’t want… What? For Austin to be who he was? That was stupid.

But Dallas wasn’t even being political or shocking. To him, this was just life. And there was nothing wrong with that. But in the circles that Paige lived in, sometimes it was considered bad.

God, he had a headache.

“Hey, man, I brought, um, snacks and backpacks. And water.” He got a smile. “And sunscreen. And hats. Dallas is so excited and a little terrified. But he’s going to do this and…” Austin tilted his head. “Are you okay?”

No, no, he was in the middle of this great big philosophical quandary all of the sudden. He was not okay. “I’m fine. I just have a headache.”

“Oh well, I’ve got Tylenol, Advil, and Motrin in the car. Along with baby aspirin. In the first aid kit in case someone has a heart attack.”

“I don’t think I’m heart-attacky now.” Maybe he’d stroke out, but not a heart attack.

“No, I meant like, we’re walking down the street and someone has a heart attack and the car is close. You know, it’s just that’s part of the thing. You’re supposed to have them in a nicely done first aid kit.”

“Well, you are a good Boy Scout, aren’t you?”

It must have come out meaner than he had anticipated, because Austin’s cheeks turned a dark, embarrassed red. Angry, almost. And he shrugged. “I guess I went by what the recommendations were. That’s all. So this is your land. It’s charming.”

Well shit, now he’d hurt the guy’s feelings, and he really hadn’t meant to. Christ, Austin hadn’t done anything wrong. And Kyler hated the fact that he was uncomfortable when the man hadn’t done a thing to him.

“It is. Like I said, I’ve inherited it, but I’m really trying to make it something. I appreciate you coming out. Paige is so excited for Dallas to meet Penny. Is he excited too?” Will you forgive me for being an ass? Because I didn’t want to, and I did and, fuck…

“Excited. A little nervous. Okay, a lot nervous. But trying very hard to be brave. I told him that. He wasn’t expected to do anything but watch if he didn’t want to. He doesn’t have to interact with the horse if he’s freaked out. I hope that’s all right with you. But I’m not, you know, I’m not going to have him panicking and getting himself or Paige or the horse hurt because he’s scared.”

“That’s totally fair.” They walked toward the barn. It was makeshift, but it worked for now. “Paige is good about that. She helped with a petting zoo on tour this past year.”

That got him a wide-eyed stare. “As in worked it?”

“Sure. I mean, she wasn’t child slave labor or anything, but I pick my battles. I wasn’t about to tell her she couldn’t visit the goats and chickens and Daisy the donkey every day.”

“Daisy the donkey, huh?” Austin asked and glanced at him, grinned. “That’s cool. What other kind of animals do you think you want to raise here?”

“Oh, the girl wants big birds and cows. She saw a miniature once and wanted that too.”

“They make miniature cows? For teeny tiny steaks?”

“I think as pets.” Hell if he knew the whys. He just knew Paige wanted one of everything. “Wait for me, kiddo!”

Paige had taken Dallas into the lean-to, which was fine, but he wanted to be there for the meeting.

“Okay, Daddy!” Her tone was more wicked than obedient, but he’d take it.

They followed more slowly. “So is there anything you want to know about the hike today?” He was reaching, but he didn’t want an awkward silence.

“I googled it. It seems like something doable for the kids and me. I brought snacks and water.”

“Cool. I did too this time.” Hiking he knew, and he and Paige had picked out this activity, so it seemed only fair.

“Dallas loves walking and hunting for rocks and different things.”

“Oh, good.” Whew. “And you said he’s not allergic to peanut butter.”

“Nope.” Austin chuckled. “We sound stilted. Are you wigged-out that I’m gay?”

“No.” He made that very firm and not loud and shocked. “I’m really not. I was just surprised at Dallas. In my circles, no one comes out with it, so it kinda made me go, huh. And then I was rude.”

“Dallas has no idea that he should be worried, so…” Austin shrugged his shoulders. “He’s innocent, I guess…”

“He is, and that’s great.” He tried a smile. “We good?”

“Yes. Totally. You don’t have to worry. We’re allowed to have friends.” That wink was naughty.

“Oh, hey.” He felt his cheeks heat. “So are cowboys.” God, Henley would give him no end of shit about this.

“I’m glad. It’s fascinating getting to know you.”

“Thanks. I feel the same way. You’re not like anyone I know.”

“No? I can say the same.”

“All my friends are cowboys,” Kyler said, and he tried not to sound all wry. “I was on tour so much…”

“All my friends are writers. I know tons of them from all over.”

“Wow. I mean, I guess you meet all sorts on the internet? We cowboys meet at rodeos, but I’m the same way. They’re from all over.” They did have things in common, oddly enough.

“Yeah. I have friends all over the world, even a few in Denver, but…it’s challenging, you?—”

“Daddy, come on!”

“Coming!”

Austin gave him a smile. “Whoops.”

“They get impatient. She wants to show off so badly.”

“I understand. She needs Dallas to like her life too.”

He sure hoped the little boy would.

“She does.” He led the way into the barn. “Okay, Paige. Let me get her halter on.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Paige ushered Dallas away from the stall. “This is Penny. She’s my good horse. My momma bought her for me.”

“She’s real big.”

“She’s nice. I promise. Don’t be scared.”

“Well, honey, he shouldn’t be scared, but he should be cautious. What do I always say?”

“They’re big enough to hurt and smart enough to be trouble.”

“Exactly. Show him how to feed her a carrot.”

“So, you gots to make your hand real flat, okay. And put the carrot in the middle, like this.” Paige showed how to give Penny her treat, no stress.

“Oh. Okay.” Dallas sounded worried, but he did it, and he giggled when Penny’s soft lips brushed over his hand. “Oh, you’re pretty.”

“She likes when you say that.” Paige stroked her forelock, the star on her forehead.

“She knows a good many words,” Kyler told Austin. “She loves the word carrot, huh, Paige?”

At the word, Penny whinnied and tossed her head, nodding yes .

Dallas’s eyes were the size of saucers.

Paige grinned and held out her own piece of carrot. Penny crunched it right up, way less gentle with her girl, who knew all her limits. “Good lady. Such a pretty baby.”

“She’s very brave,” Austin whispered.

“She doesn’t know any better,” he murmured back. “She knows as many animals as she does people.”

Hell, maybe more.

She was the progeny of two horsemen. It was in her genes.

“So, this is Dallas’s first chance. Especially not with anything that’s not a cat or a dog. My mom has a poodle, but she doesn’t—she’s old. The poodle. Not my mom.”

Austin made him chuckle. “Where does she live?”

“She and my dad live in northern New Mexico, right over the border. They bought a big piece of land up there, and they live with one of my sisters.”

Kyler hadn’t imagined that Austin had family, somehow. “Do you have a big family?”

“Two sisters and a brother, so big enough, you know. There are four of us.” Austin’s mouth twisted. “My sisters and brothers are all very…charismatic. So are Mom and Dad. Football. Softball. Soccer. Acting. They’re very outgoing and traditionally attractive. I’m the outlier, of course. My brother Houston has two little girls and a wife—Kayelle. Antonia, who Mom and Dad live with, is married and she has one baby and is working on a second with her husband. Then Wimberley is a stuntwoman in LA.”

“Really? No shit?”

“Really. She’s a hoot. Absolutely fearless.”

Kyler couldn’t hardly imagine it, really. This quiet guy had a stuntwoman sister. Go fucking figure.

“That’s pretty damn cool. I mean, shit, I think you being an author is really neat. Seriously. How many people actually make a living at that?” He was fascinated by the idea .

Especially recently.

“Not a ton. I’m very lucky that I have loyal readers.” Austin shrugged and offered him an oddly nervous smile. “Seriously, it’s a great job.”

“That’s— Whoops.” Kyler stepped forward and moved the mare sideways. He would bet neither kid even noticed, but that kept them from getting squashed as Penny swung her big butt around.

Austin stared, and Kyler was proud of him for not reaching out and snatching Dallas up and running. Kyler could see by the way Austin’s fingers curled in that it was a huge temptation.

Paige laughed when she bumped Penny with her shoulder. “Sometimes she’s clumsy like me.” So Paige had noticed and was correcting Penny. Good girl. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“You’re not. You’re just…so fast.” Dallas beamed at Paige. “Sometimes your feet outrun your brain.”

“All the time!” She giggled harder. “And you’re always careful where you put yours.”

“Uh-huh. Always. Sometimes it’s no fun.”

“I think you’re fun, Dal! I think you’re great.”

Dallas flushed and grinned. “Thanks.”

Kyler rolled his eyes. Lord save him from new besties. “Come on, Paige. Let’s get Penny out in the paddock for the day, and then we can go hike.”

“Does she just go outside? What if it rains? What if she gets scared?”

“She has access to the inside. See that opening over there in that roof that leans? It’s called a lean-to,” Paige explained. “She can get under there.”

“Lean-to.” Dallas giggled. “I like that. Poppy! It’s a le-ee-ee-ean-to.”

“It is! I like that word too.”

“What’s your favorite word, Mr. Kyler?” Dallas asked .

Did people have favorite words? This seemed like a game they played a lot, based on the way Austin and Dallas looked at him, and he didn’t want Austin to think he was a moron, so he cast about. “Latigo.”

“Oh, that’s a good one! Poppy!” Dallas beamed. “What does that mean?”

“It’s the long strap of a western saddle. It’s a Spanish word.”

Okay, that was hotter than advertised. He grinned. “Bingo. What’s yours, Dallas?” He hoped to hell he knew what it was when Dallas said it.

“Labyrinth!” the little boy cheered. “I love that word!”

“Oh that’s a good one. Good movie too.” He winked at Austin, because he heard that soft chuckle.

“Oh, yes. One of our favorite oldies but goodies.”

Kyler wasn’t sure Paige was quite ready for Labyrinth …

“I like Appaloosa,” Paige said. “Such a neat sound.”

“Appaloosa? That’s a…” Dallas scrunched his face up. “A…a…a horse! A horse with a spotty butt!”

“Yes!” Paige grabbed him and squeezed him. “How did you know?”

Dallas and Austin spoke together. “ Appaloosa Zebra .”

Kyler chuckled along. “Nice one. And what about you, Mr. Austin?” He took off Penny’s halter to let her loose in the small pasture. He wouldn’t leave it on and have her get hung up on something trying to scratch it off.

“Almost. I love the word almost.” No hesitation at all.

“Yeah?” He tilted his head. “Why?” That one didn’t make sense.

“Because it’s the best plot device ever. Something almost happens or almost doesn’t happen. It’s a magical word.”

“Okay, I can see that.” And now he did. “That works. Y’all ready to hike? Sunscreen? Water? ”

“Poppy made up a whole backpack!” Dallas was so proud of his dad that it was adorable.

“Did he?”

“Uh-huh. Snacks and water and bug stuff and all.”

Paige grinned. “He’s prepared!”

“Uh-huh. He always is. He reads all the books and on the computer about things.”

Kyler had to wonder if Austin ever did “everything”, or if he only read about it.

Which led him to wonder what Austin read about late at night, and that was probably a bad thing to think about. He made sure the gate was closed behind Penny, then grabbed Paige’s hand.

“You going to follow us to the trailhead?”

“Sure, or we can go together. I’m easy.”

“Well, let’s move the other car seat to the truck, then.” He was good with driving. That way if the kids got filthy it was his truck that got slimed.

“Sounds great to me. That cool with you, Dallas?”

“Super cool, Poppy.” Dallas grinned at Paige. “I get to ride with you!”

“You do!” The kids sang the whole way, and Kyler was thankful he had the Disney singalong playlist on his phone so he could plug it in.

Austin knew all the songs too, singing along in a lovely tenor that made him grin.

That was adorable and made him like the man more.

They all piled out at the trailhead, and he gauged the kids’ energy. “I think we plan on about a quarter to half a mile out.”

“Sounds good to me. The kids can play and have a snack whenever we stop to turn.” Austin chuckled softly, murmured. “I never thought I’d be on a playdate with Dallas.”

“Right?” They had that in common. “Paige would roughhouse with the other rodeo kids, but they saw each other just enough to breed contempt, not friendship, I think.” Paige had been called bossy more than once…

Dallas, though, he was easygoing and sure seemed ready to have someone who was a friend.

“Well, I think she’s wonderful,” Austin said. “And so does Dal.”

“Come get a drink, y’all,” he said. “And get your sunblock on.”

“We got spray-on, and it doesn’t smell bad. Yay!” Dallas did a butt-wiggle dance that amused the hell out of him, and when Paige copied him, Kyler cracked up.

Soon enough, they were walking and the kids were running, skipping, singing, and examining every rock.

“Lord, thank you so much for inviting us. I can’t tell you how much it means.” Austin smiled at him, ambling along like this was the best day ever.

It kind of was, actually. The sun was shining, but there was a nice cool breeze, and spending time with Austin and the kids made him smile.

Austin fascinated him in ways Kyler had a hard time explaining, even to himself.

He breathed in deep, then let it out, tracking Paige as she almost wandered off the trail.

“Stay with us, kiddo. No going off on your own, okay? And the trail is what?”

“There for a reason. It protects the land around us,” she chanted.

“That’s it.” She was learning her land conservation lessons well. It was kind of a passion of his.

“She sounds like you do this a lot,” Austin said.

“She’s hiked all over the southwest. From Texas and New Mexico to Nevada and Northern California. And now we’re learning about Colorado, right, kiddo?” he called.

“Right!” She beamed at him. “I am a mountain girl. I’m going to learn how to snowboard this winter. Do you like skiing, Dal?”

Dallas shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

“Oh. Well we should try it together.”

Austin gave his kid a doubtful glance, but Kyler knew it was the little ones who blew out the world at the rodeo…

“Do you ski, Austin?”

“I have, yes. I haven’t in six years or so. I’ve been crazy busy.”

“Cool. I did Steamboat once during ski week. BP.” At Austin’s raised eyebrow, Kyler chuckled. “Before Paige.”

“Oh, I like it. Maybe we can all learn together, huh?” Austin smiled at Dallas, who shrugged.

“I’m not good at it.”

“How do you know?” Paige asked.

“I don’t know!”

“Well, see?” Paige chuckled. “If you don’t know, you don’t know.”

“But you don’t know I can. What if I hate it?”

“Then you don’t do it no more.”

“Any,” Austin corrected, then winced and shot him an embarrassed side-eye.

Kyler nodded. “Anymore, kiddo.”

“Okay! Dallas, look at the little bird.”

“Oh…so pretty…”

“Sorry, man. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. I’ll try to not.”

“No worries. You beat me to it, is all.” Lord, his ex would beat his ass if he let Paige get away with bad grammar. She was all about presenting herself well.

Austin offered him a grateful smile, which was much better than his unhappy face. In fact, Kyler wanted to see more of that smile. “I love how she is with him.”

“She’s just her, I reckon.” He laughed. “But thank you. I always hope I’m doing all right, and when she’s making other folks smile, I know she’s doing okay.”

“She’s incredibly brave and charming.”

And he thought little Dallas was smart—serious and smart.

Dallas took a tumble then, tripping over his own feet, and everything froze for a moment while Kyler and Paige waited to see how Dallas and Austin handled those kinds of things.

“You okay, buddy?” Austin asked when Dallas sat on his butt, blinking.

“Um.” Dallas glanced at Paige, who was smiling in an encouraging way. “Uh-huh. I’m not bleeding.”

“Good deal.”

“Here.” Paige stuck out a hand. “I do that all the time.”

Dallas took her hand. “Thanks. I saw a pine cone. A big one.”

“Ooh. Cool. Where? We can put peanut butter on it.”

“Peanut butter?” Dallas dangled for a moment when Paige yanked him up, but then they were off.

And Kyler was relieved that Austin had done a nice bit of let’s-see parenting. “He’s pretty brave for a kid who says he can’t ski.”

“He’s scared of anything new, but really, if he tries, he’s pretty athletic. He’s got asthma, but the doctors are pretty sure he’ll outgrow it.”

“I can see that. I know a lot of guys who ride the rodeo who had it when they were young.” He offered that, not sure what Austin would make of it.

“Yeah. I have a friend that’s a competitive diver who did too. It’s more a matter of stress.” Just like it was nothing—no big deal.

Kyler nodded, because he had no idea what to say to that. Paige tended to sock people in the nose when stressed, just like her momma .

“Stress is wild on the body. So I try to keep him easy, but…maybe I do too much.”

“Hey, I don’t judge. People say I let her run wild.” He had to shake his head now instead of nodding. “Maybe we’ll learn from each other.”

“Daddy! I need water.”

“Sure, baby girl.”

He had four bottles of water, and God knew what all Austin had in his pack… Hell, that was half the reason he’d decided to go easy on the trail. That pack had to weigh a ton.

“Oh, me too, Poppy? I’m thirsty.”

“Sure. I have waters, snacks, whatever you need.”

“Can we sit a minute?” Dallas waved at a convenient bench.

“Is that okay with y’all?” Austin asked.

“Sure.” Paige would dance or run or whatever. And maybe have a snack.

They sat, and Austin pulled out hand wipes, a picnic blanket, and a Tupperware box filled with cheese and crackers.

Wow.

That was… wow. It should have seemed so fussy, but it was sweet, somehow. Like Austin would have gone to the trouble anyway, but that he was doing it for him and Paige added something to it.

“Oh, Daddy…” Paige blinked.

“I brought enough for everyone. There are strawberries and grapes too…”

“That’s amazing, huh, baby girl? What do we say?”

“Thank you! Daddy brought peanut butter cheese crackers and Oatmeal Cream Pies.”

His cheeks heated. “They hold up well if it’s hot.”

“Dallas and I love Oatmeal Cream Pies! We buy them for a treat.”

Even if it was a lie, it was sweet to hear .

“We do too. Hiking is a special thing.” He added his stash to the pot.

They had a little feast, Dallas perking up after food and taking Paige to play in the alpine meadow they were sat in.

“Thanks for this,” Kyler said. “It was really nice.”

“Thanks for the invite, man. I appreciate it. He’s so happy.”

“Well, we’ll have to do something again soon, huh?” And hope that Paige and Dallas didn’t break up before they got the chance.

“Sure. Absolutely. Dallas is talking about going to the movies for his birthday in a few weeks, and we always have pizza and trampolining.”

“We do.” He packed the trash away. They would take it home. Trail trash cans invited bad animal habits.

“Good deal.”

“You have to show. Daddy! Look! Dallas can do a cartwheel!”

And he’d be damned if that little boy didn’t just do one, no stress.

Kyler clapped. “That was very cool, kiddo! I like it.”

Dallas bowed. “I’m here all day.”

That made him snort. That kid was wicked smart.

Paige frowned. “Okay. So show me. I want to do it.”

“Sure.” Dallas grinned. “You start by putting your hands on the ground like this.” Dallas bent and put his hands flat on the ground. “And you start with a little jump.” He hopped his feet up and around. “That way you don’t fall down while you learn.”

He bit back the urge to call to her to be careful. He wanted her to stay fearless as long as she could.

“It’s so hard. I leave him at gymnastics class.”

“He takes gymnastics?”

“Since he was two. ”

“Wow. That’s great.” Paige would love that, he would bet, but he was also thinking about swimming for her. There was a great community center where she could go.

“The gym is really reasonable and low-key. I’ll text you the info, if she wants.”

“Thanks. I’d like that. We’ll see which way she leans, right? She wants to do all the things, but I work to get her to pace herself.” He winced when Paige landed on her ass, but she bounced right up.

“Sure. No pressure.”

“Good job!” Dallas cheered. “I’m so proud.”

She beamed, and they all chuckled. “Such an appreciation society.”

“They need it, I guess. Kids are fascinating.”

“They are, and it’s nice to see her with someone who likes her so much.”

“Daddy! Daddy, I did it!”

He applauded. “Way to go, baby! You guys about ready to head back?”

“No, but I know it’s better to go back happy than poopy!”

Dallas cracked up. “Nope. No poop!”

Paige cackled like a giant bird.

Kyler shook his head as they headed back toward the trailhead. Lord have mercy.

He’d always imagined that having a girl wouldn’t be as gross as having a boy.

Dallas and Austin were proving him wrong.