Page 152 of Cowboy Daddies

“Hey, I heard about the accident,” a man I didn’t remember said. “Welcome back.”

Realizing Lincoln was still carrying me, I released my hold around his neck though all it took was a single squirm for Lincoln to give me a look. Wow, he didn’t even need pencils to communicate what that look meant.

The man smiled and waved away any concern I had that he was seeing me in the arms of Lincoln. “No need for that, I know you must feel like you’ve been in a blender,” the man continued as he came forward and offered me his hand to shake. “I’m just glad to see you’re being well taken care of. Oh, and, Lincoln, I see your folks have made it all the way to Boston.”

Lincoln chuckled. “Yeah, they are taking this whole retirement thing seriously. They have a bucket list about a mile long and are determined to cross off every historical site and national park they can drive to in their RV.”

“Well, more power to them. That photo of them dumping tea in the harbor is a keeper!”

With a final wave, the man went to the counter to place his order while Lincoln started toward the door again. Pausing before reaching it, he said, “Just so you’re aware, that’s two. Dr. Eastman’s instructions back me up so getting down is off the agenda. If you’d like to test me, feel free to do so. Just know that I can pop your butt and still keep your feet off the ground.”

Forget testing. I was pretty sure that even if both my legs were as sturdy as oak trees, my knees would still buckle at the tone of absolute authority coming from this man.

But this isn’t any man, it’s Linc.

And that was what had my throat closing until I was afraid even an attempt to croak would be impossible, but that didn’t keep me from smiling or from giving him a literal thumbs up.

“That’s my girl,” he said with another panty-dampening grin as he pulled the door open and stepped through.

Chapter Eleven

Lincoln

By the time I’d walked not fifteen feet toward the truck, another three people had stopped us to welcome Livvy home and offer their condolences on both her accident and her grandmother’s passing. At this rate it might be hours before we got out of town. When Frank strolled up with a huge grin on his face and said, “Well, if it isn’t little Livvy Boothe! I’m happy I ran into you,” I just sighed.

“Livvy, do you remember Frank? He owns the Farm ’N Feed,” I said.

Livvy gave a bob of her head and did a pretty clear rendition of, “’icken ’eed,” while trying to hold her jaw completely still.

Frank laughed. “That’s right, you and Miss Olivia would come in for chicken feed and you’d plop yourself down and cuddle all the baby chicks. It’s so good to see you again, sweetie.” Livvy smiled and Frank turned his gaze to me. “I knew you had your hands full, so I had the boys package up all your supplies. They’re at the store if you wanna stop by and grab them. Save you another trip into town.”

I hadn’t planned on stopping as Livvy took precedent but when Frank added the fact that there might be some baby chicks, I knew we were definitely going to the Farm 'N Feed. “We’ll be over as soon as I can get Livvy settled in the truck…”

“No need for that, son. There’s a nice rockin’ chair right outside the store. She can hold court and cuddle a chick while we get you loaded. What do you say, Miss Livvy?”

“’es, ’ese” Livvy answered eagerly, giving a little bounce in my arms.

Changing direction, I walked down the block to Frank’s. It was pretty evident Frank had orchestrated “running into us” because instead of being at the back of the store, the crate that housed the baby chicks just happened to have been moved to sit next to the rocking chair, and a stool with a pillow I was pretty sure came from the boutique next door was waiting to support her wrapped ankle.

“I’d apologize for this, but something tells me I’m the one that’s going to have to tear you away.” I carefully set her into the chair.

She giggled but her eyes were already focused on the crate.

I chuckled. “Don’t get too attached. I won’t be long,” I said and then reached into the crate and carefully transferred two yellow puffballs of fluff to her lap. From the look of joy on her face, I was pretty positive she’d be just fine.

After getting the truck, I drove it around to the back of the store and helped load the supplies that had indeed been readied for me. Remembering the extra fencing I’d need for the breaks from the cow and the recent accident, I added two bales of wire to the bed of the truck before heading inside to pay the bill.

I’d just returned my wallet to my back pocket when my phone rang. Pulling it free, a glance at the screen told me it was Luther.

“What? Run out of emojis?”

“I didn’t want to risk you misinterpreting this one. Just wanted to give you a heads-up. The hens are loose.”

Like Livvy’s speech, his last few words might be difficult to comprehend to some, but I instantly deciphered what he meant.

Like any small town, if it wasn’t Friday night during football season, the citizens found the majority of their entertainment in gossiping. It might be the twenty-first century where everyone had a phone tucked into a pocket or purse, but we might as well all be linked to the old-fashioned party-lines of our great-grandparents’ era.

“We’ve been sitting in the ice-cream parlor for a couple of hours. The hospital before that, and Liv is now holding court outside of Frank’s so that’s not exactly breaking news,” I said.