Page 55 of Risking it for the Cowboy

“But even you want to keep him,” Daisy implored with those wide baby blues, playing Charlie’s heartstrings, the little imp. “’R else why would you have bought him all that stuff today at the farm market?”

Charlie glanced to the small roost she’d bought along with the chicken wire hutch. The bag of treated feed. The hutch was small enough to keep hidden for the time being, she’d told herself. But chickens would get messy, and bigger, and would smell. They couldn’t hide Pumpkin forever.

“I risk our lease, baby, if they caught wind of me keeping livestock here. I don’t own this house anymore. I have to follow their rules. I’m so sorry.”

“But he’d miss me.” Daisy pouted. “And I wanna have fresh eggs.”

“Pumpkin’s a he?” Amusement twisted Thaddeus’s mouth, and Charlie backhanded his forearm lightly as he chuckled. “Things have changed ’bout the chicken and the egg since my day raising hens, seems like.”

Daisy perched a hand on her hip and raised her eyes to heaven. “I know it’s a she, but sometimes my words mix up when I just think and talk at different fastnesses.”

Charlie smiled at her made-up word.

“And you raised chickens?” she gushed as if Thaddeus had just confessed he was a prince who knew how to raise unicorns.

“Darn straight. One of my family’s side hustles along with horse ranchin’.”

A smile sprang to Charlie’s face because he’d just said horses, and in three, two, one…

“I love horses!” Daisy gushed.

“Horses?” Thaddeus snorted, then poked the unicorn on her dress, and winked. “Unicorns.”

Daisy giggled. “They’re not real, T. Rex. Even if they’re my favorite animal.”

“Says who?” His mouth curled into that tight-lipped smirk, the one that looked like he was planning mischief and popped the dimple in his right cheek.

“Grown-ups. Scientists.”

“Well now. Your momma here’s a scientist. Y’all discovered every animal that’s ever existed yet?”

Charlie laughed, these laughs getting so easy around him, her heart warming and aching all the same. He was so easy with Daisy, and her little girl was eating it up, eyes wide with hunger for his attention.

She shook her head. “Nope.”

T.R. continued. “See, they hide their horns is all, else everyone would want to steal ’em, but my sissy named one of them Unicorn. Her favorite for barrel racing before she retired him to riding lessons.”

He might as well have plucked down a star from heaven and handed it to Daisy on a gilded platter considering the gobsmacked light in her eyes.

“I’d do anything for riding lessons.” She moaned as if a seasoned teenager and not a girl of nine, with a dramatic sigh to boot. “But my momma says they’re too expensive right now.”

“Daisy,” Charlie cautioned.

“All right, lil missy. You wanna keep Pumpkin? What d’you say we build a coop?”

“Yes!” She pumped the air.

Charlie frowned. “Wait, what—”

“We gotta do it right though so the birds don’t hurt themselves.” Birds? Plural? Thaddeus’s face fell to mock seriousness and Daisy nodded as if a solemn vow. “We gotta protect them from coyotes and foxes and stuff. Keep ’em somewhere safe.”

“Do you know how to do it?”

“Been building things since I was a little boy.”

“Can he, Momma? Please?”

She frowned at him. Trouble indeed.