Page 10

E lla was fast learning that just like parenting, ranch work was a seven-day occupation.

Be it Thursday or Sunday, animals still needed to be tended, and repairs often had to be carried out immediately, with no consideration for day or time.

Only the weather, and even then it had be significant, seemed to have much bearing on chores being delayed.

Leo worked long hours, but had insisted Ella take time for herself—and his family members were continually just as insistent, often calling to offer babysitting for both children.

Ella, however, saw it differently. To say she loved her time at the Lazy H as a whole; and even more specifically here with Leo and Mia, was a gross understatement. Indecent longings and fantasies aside, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt more fulfilled and at peace.

She knew there would be times when she’d appreciate a break, but for now she rationalized that a day off work wouldn’t look very different to every other day.

She’d still be caring for her son, doing much the same things except that she and Benny wouldn’t have Mia with them.

And nor would they see Leo. She wouldn’t see Leo.

The thought left her with a strange empty feeling, but she’d worry about it tomorrow, not today.

The weather darkened as the day wore on, and Leo had called it quits shortly after lunch. He’d sauntered in, his wide stance filling the space and holding her attention. As it had since the day they’d met.

Her life had been littered with polished, sophisticated men whose every move, every word, was considered and refined.

Men in pristine tuxedos, looking like they’d be born wearing such attire, men with their manicured hands, men who knew the effect they had on women and wielded their charm with the skill of a practiced swordsman.

And knew exactly where to strike for the desired outcome, whether that be to tease, provoke, or move in for the kill.

Men who could charge the atmosphere in a room just by entering.

Leo Halligan was nothing like them, exhibited none of those cocktail party skills, even though she guessed he probably could if he put his mind to it.

But he was a cowboy, a rodeo champion, a rancher—his hands were broad and rough.

A man whose face, perfect and jaw-dropping as it was, would one day bear the lines that told of too many hours in the wild elements.

A man whose daily uniform of flannel shirt and jeans that hugged powerful thighs and rode low over sinfully sexy hips was perfectly suited to. And that hat…

A man a world apart from all those other men—and yet, she’d never before met anyone who commanded a space like he did with no more than that his sauntering stride.

He found them on the deeply carpeted floor of the otherwise empty living room, and stood staring down at them, maybe waiting for Mia to notice his arrival.

He didn’t have a long wait, and he squatted to meet his crawling little torpedo as she made a beeline straight to him.

Mirroring his friend, Benny followed suit, and dropped to speed-crawled across to Leo.

Ella’s heart squeezed when the man made just as much fuss of her son as he had of his daughter scooping them both up in powerful arms as he crossed to her.

Ella nodded her greeting, swallowing to try to moisten her suddenly dry mouth and forced her attention back to the block tower she’d been building with the children before he’d hijacked their attention.

“Too wet?”

Sliding the children down, he watched as Benny ran to get his soft-filled soccer ball to bring it back for Leo’s inspection, jabbering his excitement all the way, while Mia returned to the blocks, preferring to throw them rather than build.

“Yeah, frozen ground under and mud and slush on top. We were getting nowhere. At the moment I’m using Nash and JD’s guys. They’ve gone back to their own patches, and I figured I’d snag some time up here.”

Benny handed over the ball and backed away, and on a chuckle, Leo gently kicked it to Benny who swung his leg for the big return kick—the way Leo had shown him—only to meet with air.

Naturally the missed kick set him straight onto his backside.

Ella saw his bottom lip quiver, but she simply smiled at him.

“Oopsie! It’s okay. Pop up and we’ll have another go.

” Crawling across to him she steadied him while he tried again, both she and Leo cheering when his dismay of a second earlier was forgotten in the excitement of connecting with the ball, that Leo sent back his way.

Ella warned Leo that he might tire of the game way faster than Benny, but his own enthusiasm hadn’t waned at all by the time Benny got distracted by a singing dancing crab that sprang to life when one of Mia’s block missiles made contact.

Shaking his head, Leo flopped onto the floor beside her, his long legs stretched out. Legs she was determined to ignore.

“I reckon that kid’s got talent.”

“You expected less from my child?”

Laughing Leo held up his hand in surrender. “I wouldn’t dare, not with that expression on your face? Even if I doubted it, there would be no way I’d be foolish enough to admit it.” His laughter drifting away he added, “Seriously? He’s such a great little guy. He’s not two yet, right?”

“April eighth.” She shook her head, so proud of her sturdy little boy, but always sad that life traveled by so quickly; wished she could slow it down a bit. “Just a few weeks away.”

“Yeah? Eighth? Mia’s birthday is the thirteenth, maybe we should give them a combined party.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Here? With no furniture?”

Feigning surprise, he looked around the room in mock wonder. “We have no furniture?”

Her eye roll merely amused him, so she slid back to the main point of his comment.

“The girls mentioned Mia’s birthday when they were here the other day.

But while I’m grateful for your kind offer to share with Benny, we couldn’t do that—couldn’t crash Mia’s special day.

It’s her very first birthday; a day she should celebrate with her family. ”

“You’re suggesting a birthday party without her little wingman and her favorite person in the world? And yes, it pains me to admit that you might be more popular with my daughter than me.”

Ella laughed, leaned back on her elbows watching the little ones each absorbed in their own separate activities. She was pleased that though they loved to play together and were often raucous, they were also happy to entertain themselves. It was a good balance to develop and nurture.

“Not by a country mile. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled with the way Mia and I have bonded, she’s a tiny cuddly ball of sunshine and love, but she’s definitely Daddy’s girl.

She looks for you throughout the day, you know?

And as the day nears its end, she’s looking even harder.

” She eyed him sideways. “However, I don’t believe for one moment that you doubt her complete devotion to you.

You see how excited she gets when you walk in the door, squealing for her Dada . ”

His smile spread wide. “It’s pretty cute, right.

Kinda humbling and empowering all at the same time.

” He sobered, let himself fall right back onto the carpet, looped his arms behind his head.

“It’s different, isn’t it?” he said softly, his eyes never leaving his daughter.

“I love my folks, my brothers, my sister—and all their partners. Loved my grand-folks. But this—this love that I have for her? It’s crazy different. More powerful—”

“Wondrous? I agree completely. It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced either.

It’s a fierce protective energy, and a love that’s somehow bigger than everything else.

I read that expression once in relation to a mother’s love and it resonated at the time, but I figure it’s a description that fits both mothers and fathers. Mostly,” she added quietly.

He rolled onto his side to face her. “Mostly? Not your experience? Your dad or Benny’s?”

It was a very personal question; she could have sidestepped it but for some she didn’t want to.

“There are fathers and then there are fathers, Leo. I guess it’s the same for mothers.

Emile barely had time to learn how to be a father.

I know he would have been loving, even if somewhat misguided, much like my father.

Or maybe easily distracted is a better way to describe them. ”

“You mean not attentive? As in ignoring the kids?” He pushed up to lean on one elbow.

She sighed as memories came flooding back, mimicking his relaxed position by stretching out, noting how Leo’s eyes traced the line of her body before flicking back to her face.

Noting that her own body reacted, she hurried on with her explanation.

“In Emile’s defense, he’d had a poor parenting role model.

As did I, for that matter.” The admission slid out as unexpected as it was unbidden.

“Emile’s father married six times, and I guess when he wasn’t trying to appease his latest wife, he was searching for the next—and often the two activities overlapped.

Emile grew up in boarding schools, and to his credit he really wanted to break that mold, be the father he’d never had.

But it’s fair to say he was still a work in progress when the accident took his life. ”

She could see Leo trying to process her response, struggling to find the right words of sympathy but she didn’t need them. “It’s okay, Leo. It was what it was , as the saying goes. The only thing that matters to me is Benny’s well-being and happiness.”