“Psst!”

Laredo swiped his hand in front of his nose. In his waking dream, he wondered why there were so many flies bugging him. Had he accidentally fallen asleep in the barn or something? Why were there flies in his bedroom?

“Daddy!”

Laredo opened his eyes and almost jumped out of his skin. What was it with kids that they had the ability to get less than an inch away from your face and just stare? It was eerie as hell! Laredo pushed his head back and realized that he was lying on a couch. Yes. Of course. He was on the couch and Aria was with him. The two of them had slept all night right here on the sofa, and it had been the single most restful night of sleep he’d ever experienced in his life.

“Bella,” Laredo whispered. “What are you doing?”

“I’m really hungry.” Bella looked mournful. “It’s seven thirty in the morning, Dad. Mrs. Naranjo always comes and makes breakfast at seven.”

Aria yawned, but her beautiful dark eyes did not open. “They’re feeding horses in the barn, Miss Bella. You are more than welcome to go get some grain and hay.”

Bella’s mouth fell open. “What?” Any pretense of whispering was gone now. “I can’t eat grain! Believe me. I’ve tried. And it’s gross!”

Aria started laughing. And before Laredo could say anything else, Aria grabbed Bella and pulled her down onto the couch. She wrapped her arms around the little girl and started tickling her until Bella was squealing with delight.

Laredo laughed, but inside he was reeling with surprise and pleasure and something else warm and fuzzy and foreign all rolled into one. This was what he had wanted when he married and had a family. Not a home fit for a real estate showcase. Not a picture-perfect mother, father, and child that looked as though they were ready for a photo shoot. Laredo wanted this, the crazy, the silly, the absolutely wild moments when the family had fun together and could just enjoy this one moment in time.

“Tell you what,” Aria finally said to a still gasping Bella. “If you go back to your bedroom and get dressed, I will pull out my supply of frozen waffles. They are not Mrs. Naranjo quality. Believe me, I know what Mrs. Naranjo can do with waffles. But they are better than eating grain and hay.”

“Yum!” Bella said eagerly. She rolled to her feet. “Do you have syrup?”

Aria made a face. “I think I have some of that sticky stuff in my cabinet.”

Bella bounced back out of the living room, and Aria gave a throaty chuckle. The sexy sound made Laredo want to scoop her off the couch and carry her directly back to the bedroom.

“I suppose I should get up and find my pants,” Aria told Laredo. “I didn’t want poor Bella to wonder why I’m out here in my underwear.”

Laredo put his hands on her hips and growled. “I happen to like you in your underwear.”

There was something about kissing this woman that set him on fire. Add in the sleepiness of a night spent in each other’s arms, and suddenly Laredo wanted forever. He pressed his lips to hers and made love to her with his mouth. He wrapped her in his arms and felt every delicious inch of her pressed against every inch of him.

The tiny noises she made in the back of her throat drove him wild with need. He loved the way she tangled her fingers in his hair. Her nails scored his scalp, and he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until she parted them for him. Sweeping his tongue into her mouth, he rubbed it alongside hers until she was straining to get even closer to him. It wasn’t possible. She was already inside his soul.

“Daddy, what are you and Aria doing?”

In that one second, the moment was shattered. But it wasn’t ruined. Laredo felt Aria’s body shaking beneath his as she laughed. Then he started laughing. And soon enough, Bella was howling that she didn’t get the joke and using the back of the sofa as a platform to push her hands down and jump higher and higher.

Laredo kissed Aria’s ear. “I’ll head for the kitchen. You can run to the bedroom.”

“It’s a deal.” Aria hugged him hard and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“You’re kissing!” Bella howled. She was pointing at Laredo, but at least she didn’t sound angry about it.

Laredo stood up and straightened out his clothing. Then he wrapped his arm around Bella and steered her out of the living room in order to give Aria enough privacy to get up and make a dash for her bedroom.

“Daddy,” Bella began almost as soon as they moved from the living room to the big, airy kitchen. “Are you going to marry Miss Aria?”

“Marry?” Laredo struggled not to react. He deliberately focused on opening the freezer and locating waffles. He found the box and pulled it out. “I suppose when you are nine going on ten years old, it seems like that’s pretty much what people do. Right?”

“Uncle Darren and Maggie are going to get married,” Bella reminded him. She climbed up on a stool and put her elbows on the counter. Then she plopped her chin in her hands and sighed. “I like Aria. She would make a good mom.”

“Do you think so?” It was strange as hell having this conversation with his daughter. Maybe it shouldn’t have been. Maybe this was a good thing. Weren’t parents and kids supposed to talk about this stuff?

Laredo gestured to the microwave and then the toaster. Bella pointed to the toaster. “Definitely toasted.”

“You’re the boss.” Laredo put the waffles in the toaster and shoved the little lever down to start the cycle.

“I’m not the boss.” Bella gave a pout. “If I was the boss, then I would be out here at Clouds End riding Smokey all day long instead of going to school.”

School. Shit. Wait. Laredo actually had to think about the fact that this was Saturday. “Well, today is Saturday.” There. He sounded like he knew what he was doing. “So, you don’t have to go to school. We happen to be at Clouds End Farm. I happen to have multiple horses to ride today. So, why can’t you just bum around with Smokey for at least a few hours?”

From the corner of his eye, Laredo watched Bella’s little chin literally drop open. She looked stunned. “You’re not mad about that?”

“Riding Smokey?” There was a ding as the toaster finished. Laredo found a plate after two tries at cabinet rummaging. He set the waffles in front of Bella. “I’m not mad that you’re riding her. I’m a little miffed that everyone lied to me. I don’t like there to be lies between you and me. Do you understand?”

“Yeah.” Bella seemed to be mulling something over. Finally, she poked at her waffle and sighed. “So, then, I guess I should tell you that I’m not going to be in the spring dance production. I didn’t show up to get a costume fitted, and I never learned the routine.”

“Oh the humanity!” Laredo gasped in a classic example of overdramatic nonsense.

Bella giggled. “Daddy, you’re weird. And can you please find the syrup?”

“Hmm. I’m guessing pantry.” Laredo headed for the corner pantry and opened the door. “I think Aria is preparing for the apocalypse.”

“What?” Bella probably didn’t know what the apocalypse even was. “I don’t care about the ‘pocalypse. I just want syrup on my waffles.”

“Found it!” Laredo said triumphantly. “And Aria has the good stuff!”

“I take my syrup seriously.”

Laredo poked his head out of the pantry and spotted Aria immediately. She was grinning at him from the walkthrough between the kitchen, the foyer, and the hallway that led to the bedrooms. She was dressed in another pair of killer jeans that made her butt and her thighs look incredible. The denim was butter soft in the inseams and the seat thanks to hours spent in a saddle. She had put her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. The ends were bleached by the sun, and they trailed over her shoulder in a very becoming way.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Laredo murmured. He moved closer and leaned in for a kiss. “Thank you for letting us raid your fridge and pantry for breakfast.”

“No problem.” Aria wrinkled her nose. “I’ll send you a bill. I promise.”

Laredo snorted. The sparkle in her eyes told him it was a joke. And for once, he really trusted in the notion that a woman was not looking to get something from him. So far, Aria’s association with Laredo and his family had brought her nothing but grief. There was nothing to be gained and no monetary incentive. Aria did not need him, and for some reason, that knowledge was incredibly liberating.

Aria suddenly groaned. “Oh, ack! It’s Saturday. I have to get out there. My first class starts at nine, and I have almost five hours of group lessons plus three private lessons to give.”

“That is a busy day,” Laredo murmured. “Do you want something to eat?”

She was already grabbing a power bar from the pantry. “I’ve got it.” Then she swung around to smile at them both. “You guys make yourselves at home though. Enjoy your day.” Aria pointed at Bella. “I expect you to show your daddy that barrel pattern you’ve been working on.”

“I will!” Bella’s eagerness was so intense that Laredo expected her barstool to flip over with the force of her wiggling.

Before Laredo could even process what was happening, Aria stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and then headed for the front door with a cheerful whistle. Laredo watched her go and sighed. There was no other woman in the world like Aria Callahan.

“I like Aria,” Bella informed Laredo. She was pouring copious amounts of syrup on her waffles so that every square had a tiny bit of sugary sweet in it. “Can we just stay here?”

Laredo tried not to be surprised. He set about making coffee instead. Aria’s coffee maker was pretty old-school, but he wasn’t a total moron. He figured it out. He just missed his own one cup wonder machine.

The entire time he was fiddling with the coffee maker, he thought about what Bella had said about staying. Laredo finally gestured to the house. “You like this better than our house? Our house is bigger and newer and has a lot more stuff in it.”

“I know.” Bella chewed for a few minutes in silence. “But our house doesn’t feel like a home. I like the way it feels in here.”

It was odd that Bella should say that. It wasn’t like Laredo hadn’t felt the same thing about their home more than once. “Our house does need a makeover. Don’t you think?”

“No.” Bella shoved the last bite of her first waffle into her mouth and got started on her second one. “Changing the inside of our house wouldn’t do anything, Daddy. It would still make you sad.”

“What?”

“Our house makes you sad,” Bella repeated. She wasn’t even looking at him as she spoke. She was utterly focused on her food. “Is there juice, Daddy?”

Laredo had to rouse himself from his stupor to find a glass and pour Bella some orange juice. “Why do you say I’m sad?”

“Because you always say that’s my mama’s house.”

“I do?” Laredo did not remember saying this to Bella specifically. He remembered saying that plenty of times. Just not to Bella. “When?”

“When you’re drunk.”

The three words hit him so hard that Laredo had to grab the edge of the counter to keep from falling over. When he was drunk. Had his life truly come to this? Was he now going to find out that he had been getting drunk and subjecting his daughter to his maudlin mood swings and the idiotic consequences of his decisions?

“Daddy, are you okay?”

“Yes, baby.” He rubbed a hand down his face and realized that it was shaking. “I was just realizing that I haven’t been a very good dad some of the time. I should have never told you that about your mother and the house.”

“Is it true?”

Was it true? Laredo sighed. There were moments in time when he felt as though he were trapped inside a bad decision. It was as if he were forced to relive something over and over again. This was one of those times. He needed to explain some things to Bella, especially since she had overheard that conversation between him, Darren, and his father the night before. In fact, they hadn’t even begun to touch on the reasons that Bella had run away in the first place.

“Yesterday, when I said that you could end up just like your mother,” Laredo began hesitantly, “I wasn’t trying to be mean to you. I’m just afraid of losing you.”

“Like you lost my mama?” Bella didn’t really sound curious. She sounded oddly flat. “I’m not like her, Daddy. I’m tired of you thinking that I am.”

“Do you remember her?”

Bella frowned. She had polished off her second waffle and was now using the fork to make designs in the remaining syrup. “Not really. I remember watching her get ready in her bathroom. She was very pretty.”

“Yes. I suppose she is very pretty.” Laredo wasn’t really used to saying lots of pleasant or complimentary things about Helena anymore, but this was her daughter. It wasn’t Bella’s fault that her mother wasn’t a very nice person. “She was always known for being very pretty. It was kind of a point of pride with her.” He realized from Bella’s blank expression that she didn’t understand. He tried to rephrase. “Your mother thought it was very important to look good. That included having the right clothes, living in the right house in the right neighborhood, and hanging out with the right people.”

“She and Aria didn’t get along,” Bella informed him. “Aria told me.”

“Aria is correct.” Laredo thought back and realized that he had ignored every single red flag that should have told him this was a bad match. Yet something beautiful had happened because of his association with Helena. “But you know what? I don’t mind all of that stuff about your mom. Marrying your mom is why I have you, Bella. You are a beautiful, talented, and very special little girl. I love you very much, and I am thankful every day that I got to keep you and watch you grow up.”

Bella’s blue eyes were shining. Her little cheeks were tight as she beamed at him. “Really?”

“Yes.” Laredo realized that he had not said that nearly often enough. “It’s absolutely true. So, why don’t you go show me how you and Smokey can run barrels like a championship team?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Bella was already off her barstool and bolting for the front door.

“Uh, Bella?” Laredo called after her. “Pretty sure you know you’re supposed to put your plate in the sink.”

Bella’s colossal-sized groan was almost comical. “But, Daddy! There are horses!”

“But first there are dishes!”

She drew back, looking surprised. Then she bit her lower lip and cocked her head at him as though she were seeing him for the first time. “Aria makes you really happy, Daddy. You should stay here more often.”

From the mouths of babes. Wasn’t that what people were always saying?