taking care of a seven-year-old for three weeks is a huge responsibility.”
Disappointment skittered across Seth’s face and Lauren stifled a groan. Instead of reassuring him, her words had caused him to jump to the wrong conclusion. “I’m not saying that I won’t—”
“You don’t have to beat around the bush. If you don’t want to help us, just say so.” He rocked back on his heels and blew out a harsh breath. “I know she can be a handful, even when she’s well, but with a broken leg and arm—”
“This isn’t about Dani.” For a woman who prided herself on her communication skills, she was doing an abysmal job with this conversation.
“I don’t understand.” Seth’s intense blue eyes pinned her. “Is it me? Have I offended you in some way?”
“Not at all.”
The lines furrowing his brow eased and a look of relief crossed his face. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I want to be certain my work won’t interfere with my being able to care for Dani.” Not only did Lauren need to finalize her dissertation research, her counseling practice had grown consistently since she’d begun seeing clients several months earlier. She had to figure out how she’d be able to fit those sessions into her schedule and meet Dani’s needs, too. “Could I give you my answer in a few days, say right after Christmas?”
Anna had told her Seth had already made arrangements for one of the ranch hands to do his chores until January 1, so he could care for his daughter over the holidays. With Christmas being the day after tomorrow, if she said no, that would give him a week to find someone else. But Lauren hoped she’d be able to help him out. Dani was a precious little girl and Seth was a decent, hardworking man in a tough spot.
“After the holiday will work,” Seth said, surprisingly agreeable.
“I’m really not trying to put you off,” Lauren said.
“I know you’re not. You have valid concerns. My daughter isn’t going to be an easy one to watch.” Seth’s lips quirked upward. “She’s going to find those activity limitations hard to bear.”
“Keeping her occupied and stimulated will be a challenge.” Still, Lauren appreciated the child’s headstrong nature. In many ways Dani reminded Lauren of herself at that age. Perhaps that’s why she felt a special affinity for the little girl. She remembered the shock she’d felt when Anna had called and told her about the accident.
“Dani was incredibly lucky,” Lauren continued. “To end up with just a couple broken bones is nothing short of a miracle.”
“I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d lost her.” Seth’s voice thickened and his fingers tightened on the brim of the cowboy hat he clutched in one hand. “I should have made sure John Redmond knew I didn’t want her on an ATV.”
Seth didn’t need to elaborate. Everyone in town had heard the story. How Dani was playing at her friend Emily’s house. How Emily’s brother, Kyle, had decided to give the girls rides on his ATV. How none of the three had been wearing helmets.
Though hitting a rock in a pasture could happen to anyone, it was rumored Kyle had been going too fast. While the boy had been uninjured when the ATV had flipped, Dani had been thrown a full fifty feet. When the volunteer rescue squad had arrived, she’d been unconscious. The paramedics feared she’d injured her spine. Thankfully she’d only sustained a broken arm and leg and a mild concussion.
“Kids play. They get hurt.” Lauren’s childhood hadn’t been that way, but from the stories her friends told, it was amazing some of them had lived to adulthood. “The accident wasn’t your fault.”
“It was my fault.” Seth’s eyes flashed. “I’m her father. I promised Jan I’d keep our daughter safe.”
Lauren tried to hide her surprise. Seth rarely talked about the hometown girl he’d married in college who’d died from cancer three years ago.
“I understand you feel guilty,” Lauren said in a soothing tone. “But some things are out of your control.”
He lifted his chin in a stubborn tilt. “If I’d made it clear Dani wasn’t to ride the three-wheeler, she’d never have gotten hurt.”
It was becoming increasingly apparent to Lauren that nothing would be gained from pursuing this topic further. Seth was responding from emotion instead of logic. She heard the guilt in his voice and saw the pain in his eyes. Though she doubted he’d ever admit it, the rugged Montana cowboy looked like a man in desperate need of a hug.
Impulsively Lauren stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, just as she always did with her friends Anna and Stacie when they needed comforting. Surprisingly, he let her pull him close. “You’re a good dad, Seth,” she whispered against the smooth fabric of the coat he hadn’t bothered to take off. “Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
For a brief moment in time, they stood wrapped in each other’s arms. Having this handsome cowboy in her arms was very different than hugging a girlfriend. They fit together perfectly, just like in her dreams. As she breathed in the clean, fresh scent of him, she experienced an overwhelming urge to nuzzle his neck. But Lauren kept her lips to herself. Something told her this wasn’t a man who’d be satisfied with a brief fling.
Stepping back, Lauren let her hands drop to her sides. “Can I get you a cup of coffee? I just brewed a pot. I’ve also got sour-cream cake doughnuts Stacie brought by last night. She’s trying some new recipes and wanted me to check them out. I also have a couple of blueberry ones and some—”
She stopped midsentence and clamped her mouth shut. She was babbling—an unattractive quality under any circumstances.
“I’m not hungry but coffee sounds good.” Seth’s smile was easy, but there was awareness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before the embrace.
“Cream and sugar?”
“Black works for me.”
Lauren grabbed a mug from the cupboard. She was pleased, but perplexed. When Seth first arrived, he’d mentioned that Connie Swenson, his foreman’s wife, was watching Dani this afternoon so he could run errands. Lauren had thought he’d be eager to get home. After all, he’d barely left Dani’s side since the accident. Yet now he shrugged out of his heavy coat and draped it over one of the kitchen chairs as if he had all day.
Lauren couldn’t pull her gaze from him. The colors in his flannel shirt made his eyes look like sapphires. For a second she thought about telling him so. She smiled, imagining his reaction.
“What?” Seth settled into the closest chair and placed his work-hardened hands on the table.
“I like that shirt,” Lauren said. “It’s a good color for you.”
“Thanks.” He glanced down as if he’d forgotten what he wore. “Anna gave it to me for my birthday.”
“Figures. Your sister has excellent taste.” Lauren poured coffee into a mug, placed it before him then took a seat across the table. “I can’t believe she and Stacie are both married.”
Stacie had wed rancher Josh Collins in October, and Anna had married Mitch Donavan, a boyfriend from her high school days, just last week, only two days before Dani’s accident.
“Leaving you to fend for yourself.” Seth glanced around the spacious kitchen, which still retained much of its turn-of-the-century charm. “Do you ever get lonely?”
The old Victorian where Lauren resided had originally belonged to Seth and Anna’s grandmother. His sister had inherited it when Grandma Borghild had passed on several years earlier. Now Anna lived with Mitch in the log home he’d built at the foothills of the Crazy Mountains, and Lauren had this big house all to herself. Once she moved out, Anna planned to put the home on the market.
“Not really. I’ve never minded being by myself.”