Page 183 of Cowboy Daddies

Fuck.

“Wyatt, you need to do what I say,” Jeb told him.

“Why?” Wyatt asked. “Because you’re my dad?”

“Yes, because I’m your dad. And that means you have to listen to me. Don’t think I’m going to ignore the fact that you ran off and came here on your own.” Ever since Elise’s death a year ago their relationship had been . . . fraught. Things had always been good before then. Wyatt had been his shadow. Always wanting to do everything he did.

Now he’s got attitude.

Jeb understood that Elise’s death had affected Wyatt. That it had been very hard on him to lose his mother. Especially at such a young age. It didn’t help that he had to work such long hours and that Wyatt hadn’t taken to any of the people he’d hired to look after him.

Jeb just didn’t know what to do with Wyatt anymore. He didn’t do what he was told. In fact, most of the time he did the opposite. Which is how they’d ended up here.

With the crazy lady.

Well, if Wyatt wasn’t going to leave, he’d just have to call the cops and make this woman leave.

He drew his phone out of his back pocket.

“Whoa, small man-child, you ran away from your dad? That was . . . brave.” She looked Jeb up and down.

“Why did you think he was here alone? Did you think that I just let him wander around?” Jeb asked incredulously.

She shrugged. “I didn’t know. I’ve only known you five minutes.”

“Most seven-year-olds aren’t allowed to just wander around alone,” Jeb told her.

“Why’d you run off?” she asked Wyatt.

Fuck. Jeb suddenly realized that he hadn’t asked Wyatt why he’d left. That was something Elise would have done.

“Wyatt? Why did you run off? Was it because you wanted to play on your swing?” Jeb asked, knowing that had to be the reason.

Wyatt was just determined to disobey him and cause issues at the moment.

Wyatt drew his lollipop from his mouth and glared up at Jeb. “I ran off because you were talking about hiring another nanny for me. I don’t want a new nanny.”

“Wyatt.” Jeb sighed. Shit. He almost wished that Wyatt had just run off to play. That would have been a whole lot easier. He let out a deep breath. “Wyatt, you know that you need a new nanny. I can’t be home all the time. I have a ranch to look after.”

“No, I don’t!” his son said. “I can look after myself!”

“You’re too young to stay on your own,” Jeb said, feeling defeated. “If there is a better solution, I’d be willing to hear it. But you need to be supervised in the mornings and afternoons. And I can’t do it.”

“Then Granny can.”

Jeb took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Granny can’t do it.”

“You have a Granny, small man-child?” the girl asked as she swung back and forth.

Shit.

How had he forgotten about the weird girl who was still on his son’s favorite swing? He ran his gaze over her, noting the messy hair pulled back in a braid, the crinkled red T-shirt and short skirt that she wore over a pair of black tights with holes in them. Her boots were cherry-red with black laces. They were all scuffed up.

She crunched on her lollipop, then winced.

Didn’t she know how bad that was for her teeth?

Not your problem.