Page 112 of Dusty Spur Ranch Cowboys

Tori doesn’t see it. She reaches over and smooths Sadie’s curls before smiling. “I’ve got a meeting I completely forgot about, and if I cancel again they’ll probably stop asking.”

“Oh.” Sadie’s smile slips, but she catches it almost straight away. “That’s okay.”

“I’ll come back soon,” Tori says as she stands. “Maybe next weekend.”

Sadie nods because she always nods. “I’d like that.”

“I’ll call you.”

“I know.”

Tori kisses the top of her head, thanks me for the coffee, and heads out to her SUV while already scrolling through her phone.

I walk her to the porch, watching her climb into the driver’s seat without looking up from the screen until the engine starts.

“I’ll call later,” she says through the open window.

“I’ll tell Sadie.”

She gives me a distracted smile, pulls away from the house, and disappears through the ranch gates.

I stay on the porch until the dust settles.

I push the screen door open and find Sadie back at the kitchen table with Cinnamon spread across another sheet of paper. She colors carefully around the pink halter before swapping crayons, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth with the concentration she gets from me.

I pull out the chair beside her and rest my forearms on the table. “You doing alright, sweetheart?”

She keeps coloring. “Mom had to work.”

“I know.”

“She’s busy.”

She says it so easily you’d think she was talking about the weather.

I reach over and smooth a curl behind her ear. “She loves you.”

“I know.” The green crayon moves across the page. “She just forgets.”

I swallow. “Forget what?”

She shrugs without looking up. “To come.”

The answer sits between us while I search for words that don’t sound like excuses.

The screen door bangs shut before I find any.

“You feeding this poor child or just teaching her advanced starvation?”

Arizona strolls into the kitchen carrying a canvas tote over one shoulder, her hat tipped back and a grin already waiting. Sadie drops the crayon onto the table and launches herself out of the chair.

“Arizona!”

Arizona barely has time to brace herself before Sadie wraps both arms around her waist. She laughs and catches her with one arm.

“Mercy.” She looks over at me. “She’s getting stronger. You been slipping protein powder into the pancakes?”

“Mostly syrup.”