Read Online Tracie Peterson - [Land of the Lone Star 03] by Taming the Wind - Free Book Online

she’s missing out.”
    Tyler frowned and shook his head. “Why is that?”
    “She’s never had a regular life. The only father figures she’s known have been my father and Brandon.” Carissa bit her lip. Why had she said such a personal thing to him? Now he’d think she’d opened the door to a deeper friendship.
    But maybe that’s exactly what I want.
    Tyler didn’t disappoint. “God has a way of filling in the empty places, but I reckon not havin’ a pa could be a hard thing for a little one. Hard for you, too.”
    Carissa didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t entirely sure if Tyler was implying that raising a child alone was difficult, or that being a woman without a man was the problem. She supposed that either way, he was right.
    Carissa glanced at her now-sleeping daughter. “When Brandon comes in from working, Daniel is always so excited to see him. Now that he can walk—even run—he runs to his papa, and Brandon lifts him in the air and plays with him.” Her voice sounded wistful, but Carissa couldn’t help it. “I know Gloria doesn’t understand, although Brandon does his best to include her. I’ve just started trying to keep busy somewhere else when I know he’s due to come in. That way I can keep Gloria occupied, and she doesn’t have to feel so alone.”
    “Are you sure she’s the one who feels alone?” Tyler asked, his voice barely audible.
    Carissa felt her brows knit together as she thought hard for a moment. “I know she is. She asks where her papa is all the time.”
    “And what do you tell her?”
    “The truth, as best I can. I tell her he’s gone away and isn’t coming back. I tell her that he was a very bad man and we are better off without him—that he would only hurt us.”
    “Do you think that’s wise?”
    She glared at him. “To tell the truth? Of course I think that’s wise. I don’t want her to be a fool like I was.” She wished she hadn’t offered that last remark, but it was too late.
    “You weren’t a fool, Carissa,” Tyler said, reaching out to take the sleeping Gloria. “Malcolm Lowe was the fool. You were just a girl in love.”
    “Well, I’m not that girl anymore.” She looked up at him. “I was going to put her down somewhere quiet.”
    “I know just the place,” he said, cradling the little girl.
    The sight of them together caught Carissa off guard, and she thought it one of the most precious and painful moments she’d ever witnessed. Words stuck in her throat as Tyler stepped away and headed toward the house. She wanted to cry, but knew it would do little good. Gloria did need a father, but unfortunately Carissa didn’t need a husband. That complicated the matter rather considerably when it came to resolving her situation.

6
    D ays later, Laura and Carissa worked to pack up for the move to the Barnett ranch. Gloria seemed almost anxious, but Carissa assured her over and over that they were going to have fun.
    “You will get to play with Marty and Robert and Daniel every day. Won’t that be fun?”
    Gloria clapped her hands, then pushed back a mass of blond curls. “I wanna play with Marty. She fixes my hair.”
    Carissa eyed her daughter with a raised brow. A hint of a smile touched her lips. “Well, I don’t know how she manages to get you to sit still long enough to do more than fix a few tangles, but she does seem to have the touch.”
    Laura laughed. “I was quite impressed with the way she handled the children. Could be that with her helping out, we can get caught up on all of our chores for once.”
    “Yes, but so much of what we hoped to accomplish needed to be done here,” Carissa countered. “Papering and painting can’t be done from a distance.”
    “True, but perhaps we could slip away from time to time and come over here during the day.”
    Carissa shook her head. “I doubt that. Tyler said the whole idea of our staying at the Barnett place was to keep us safer. I can’t imagine any of them would agree to the idea