It surely was.
And he knew who was going to be mighty pissed when he found out.
James Taft, that’s who.
He smiled as he left the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hannah wantedto wrap her arms around herself.
The picnic with Ben was imminent, and she was equally nervous and excited. “You sure you’re fine to go into town all on your own?” she asked Neil as she reached for her old brown cowboy hat embroidered with flowers, the one she’d unboxed at the Prentices’.
Neil closed his laptop, rising from the kitchen table where he’d been working. “Dinner at The Lucky Horseshoe sounds perfect tonight after a stroll through downtown. You need anything from me, lass, my phone will be on.”
She and Neil always turned their phones off at dinner, so the fact that he planned to have his on was telling. “Thanks. If you have any issues, Jolene’s your girl.”
He sent her a knowing smile. Like he suspected, she was hoping for a romance between the two—which she kinda was.
“Have fun, Neil.”
Waving, she let herself out of the house. The sun was mellow for the six o’clock hour, but she’d grabbed a light jacket since the temperature was cooling. The days had been high seventies with lows in the sixties. She knew to plan forevery eventuality. Her leather pack carried bear repellent and her special blend to keep skeeters away.
The yard was mostly quiet despite the munching of hay from the horses in the corral. As she was passing Ben’s house, she stopped short.
There was a horseshoe resting against the window on the top floor.
What the?—
She walked over until she was under the window. That horseshoe hadn’t been there before. She would have seen it.
Why was it there now? When Ben’s mother had left, she and Ben had a way of communicating when he was upset and wanted company. He’d put a horseshoe in the window when she came for her riding lesson. Afterward, she’d sneak into the main house and up to his room. Sometimes she’d just sit next to him on the floor. Other times, she’d tried to cheer him up by telling him some funny story she’d heard in town.
Staring up at the window, she thought about the layout of the house. Wasn’t that Cooper’s room? She glanced around the yard and checked her watch. Ben wasn’t here yet. Well, heck, that did it. She’d make sure everything was all right. When she reached the front door, she knocked and opened it slowly, peeking inside.
“Cooper?”
She heard a bark and then a faint wail. Was someone crying? Letting herself inside, she rushed toward the stairs. The sound only grew louder, breaking her heart. This was anguish, the real tear-your-heart-out kind. She didn’t have to knock on Cooper’s door. It was wide open. He was curled up on the bed with Tank beside him, crying into his pillow like he’d lost his best friend.
Hurrying over to him, she put her hand on his back as Tank lifted his head, his big brown eyes filled with sorrow. “Cooper, honey, what’s the matter?”
He only cried more, curling into himself like a little mealybug as Tank gave a mournful sound. She sat on the bed and put her hand on the back of his sweaty head before gently pulling him to her and holding him. He cried into her chest, wrapping his arms around her. Her own eyes filled with tears as she listened to the broken, anguished sound. Tank laid his head on her knee, whining softly.
When Cooper finally lifted his head, his face crumpled as new tears streamed down his little face. “M-my friend said I’m…I’m a mistake.”
Her heart broke clear in two.“Oh, Cooper.”
He sniffed, knuckling his eyes. “P-Paisley said my mama and papa…d-didn’t really mean for me to happen. Paisley heard her m-mom talking. She said…she said Papa was mad at you leaving for Scotland. Th-that’s why he turned to my mama.”
He trembled along with the shock waves going through her heart. How dare someone tell him something like this?
“Papa made a b-big mistake. Me. And everyone in town knows it. Hannah, I don’t want to be amistake.”
As he started crying again, she clutched him to her chest, soothing his back up and down. Oh, people could be so cruel, but right now, this little boy needed comfort. Except sweet heaven help her, what was she supposed to say? “Cooper, your papa told me you are the greatest miracle of his life. He loves you so much.”
He lifted his head, his blue eyes red-rimmed and miserable. “But my m-mama doesn’t love me. Now I know why. I was a mistake! Papa didn’t want to m-marry her. Paisley told me. She said Papa had to because…because he’d made a baby with her and that’s what a m-man has to do.”
She hugged him as he started crying harder, wishing she had lavender to help ease him. Because no words were going to take this pain away, she feared. “Shh—” she soothed softly, rocking him.
