Page 219 of Cowboy Daddies

He shrugged his small shoulders. “I used to.”

“Yeah, what changed?”

“Mama died.”

Oh hell. She knew that feeling. “My life changed when my mama died too.”

“What did she die of?” he asked.

“Cancer. What about yours?”

“Car accident.”

“That’s rough.” She guessed she’d been prepared. Well, not really. Everyone had kept telling her that Mama would get better. And she’d been too young to realize that they were all lying.

She wasn’t sure she’d ever forgiven her father and brothers for that. It wasn’t until Granny arrived that she’d been told the truth.

“How old were you?” Wyatt asked.

“Eight.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too, sugar. Me too. Well, what did you like to do before your mama died?”

“I liked visiting the horses.”

Awesome. Of course he had. The one thing she really didn’t want to do.

“Are you all right?” Wyatt asked her.

She breathed out a sigh. “I am, sugar. I just have a small fear of horses.”

“Really? But horses are awesome.”

“Yeah. I guess I just had a bad experience with one. Maybe we can do something else? Your dad wanted us to read a book.”

Wyatt sighed. “Being suspended is way more boring than I thought it would be. I miss my friends.”

“Hey, what am I?” she asked.

“It’s not the same,” he told her.

“Ouch. That hurts.”

“Can we go to the playground?” Wyatt asked.

“I don’t have a car. But I wonder if we could build our own swing.”

His face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Sure! How hard can it be?”

Chapter Fifteen

Turns out that it was far harder than she’d realized.

They’d found bits of wood in a shed, but she didn’t have any gloves with her, so now she had a splinter in her hand.