From Maverick to Daddy

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“I’ll go, too, Caleb. I can show you what Aunt Mallory likes best.”

“Good idea.” He held out his hand and Lily took it.

“All right, then. Thanks.”

Mallory watched the two of them walk over to the food, Caleb’s big hand holding the little one. He took three plates and handed one to the little girl. At Lily’s direction, he spooned scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and finally pancakes with syrup onto each of the two plates, then supervised Lily. When she had everything, her niece carefully carried her plate back to the table while he brought the other two.

“Here you go.” He set it in front of her. “I’ll go grab silverware and napkins.”

While she waited, Lily took a bite of her bacon strip. “This is good.”

The food maybe, not so much the situation. It seemed as if every time she turned around Caleb was there and he was nice. Nice made her nervous because it could lead to feelings she didn’t want. Nice could be dangerous, but at least Lily was between them.

“Here you go, ladies.” He handed out forks and knives, then sat down.

“I’m kind of surprised to see you here,” she said to him.

“What? You thought I was a heathen?”

“No. But you said on a ranch there are always chores to do, even on Sunday.” Mallory took a bite of the eggs. “And sometimes you can’t attend.”

“There are things that have to be done every day, but others can be put off to give us free time for the important things. This fund-raiser is important enough for a cowboy to take a break.”

Lily looked up at him. “Why do they call you a cowboy when you’re a man?”

“Good question.” He thought for a moment. “It’s a name that’s been around over a hundred years for men who herd cows.”

“What else do you do?” Lily cut off a piece of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Take care of horses.” He finished chewing. “We get up early to do that.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re hungry. And then we muck out the stalls,” he explained.

“What’s a stall? And how do you muck it?” the little girl asked.

“Well,” he said thoughtfully, “every horse has a space in the barn separated by a sort of fence and it’s covered with hay to make it soft and cozy. The hay gets dirty and we have to shovel it out, to clean up after them.”

“How does it get dirty?”

Mallory grinned at him. “I can’t wait to hear the answer to that, too.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much.” But his blue eyes twinkled with amusement. He said to Lily, “Do you know what horse droppings are?”

She thought for a second, then said, “Poop.”

“That’s right.”

The little girl wrinkled her nose. “In the Fourth of July parade one of the horses did it. Amelia’s mom told us what it was and that it was all natural, but we just went ‘ew.’ Doesn’t it gross you out?”

He laughed. “No. I’m used to it.”

“I bet it stinks,” she persisted.

“Maybe if you’re a city slicker.” He scooped up the last of his eggs, then chewed and swallowed.

“What’s a city slicker?” Lily wanted to know.

Mallory met his gaze. “Surely you were ready for that one.”

“Yeah.” He looked at the little girl. “It’s someone who’s never been around cows and horses before.”

“Like me,” she said.

“Yeah.”

While finishing her breakfast, Mallory listened to them talk. Lily asked questions that ran the gamut from What do horses eat? to Does your butt get sore when you ride a horse? To Caleb’s credit, he answered every single one and his level of patience was impressive. Not once did he look the least bit annoyed. It was enough to make even the most guarded heart go all soft and gooey—and Mallory’s heart was pretty guarded. Or at least, it had been up until then...

“You should bring her out to the ranch,” he said.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I want to ride a horse, Auntie Mal.” Lily’s little face was full of eager and earnest anticipation.

Mallory’s attention apparently slipped when her heart went all mushy for a minute. “We’ll see.”

“That’s what you always say when you don’t want me to do something. You think I’ll forget, but I promise I won’t. Since we moved here I’ve been wanting to see the horses but you’re always too busy.”

“That’s to be expected,” Caleb said quietly. “Your aunt works and takes care of you, Lily. That doesn’t leave a lot of time left over.”

“I know. It’s just—” She looked up. “Sorry, Aunt Mallory.”

“It’s okay, ladybug.” Mallory gave her a quick hug. “Obviously this means a lot to you, so we’ll just have to find the time to make it happen.”