He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry too. You’re right. I have been all work and no play. I think we should accept Emma’s invitation.”
Cheyenne released a high-pitched squeal and squeezed him tighter. “I love you, Daddy.”
He heaved a sigh of relief that he hadn’t screwed that up. “I love you too, bunny rabbit. Now let me take care of Miss Applegate’s tire and get this drivetrain finished. Then I’ll take you into Abilene for dinner.” And a long overdue talk about kissing and sex.
Hopefully, he could remember everything he’d said to Miss Applegate.
It had been one damn fine speech.
Chapter Two
.. .the same goes for the first person you make love to. You should choose someone who’s worthy of such a special gift. Someone who will make that moment as wonderful as it should be.
Cal Daily’s words played over and over in Jolene’s head as she pulled the Mercedes her father had insisted she buy into the garage bay and got out. While most people might think the words were the perfect thing to say to a teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood, Jolene did not agree. Her mother had used similar words to get Jolene to guard her virginity and look where it had gotten her. She was thirty-nine years old and still single. She wasn’t a virgin. But she was as close as she could get. She’d had sex with one man. One. And the truly sad part was that she hadn’t even chosen him. Her father had chosen him, just like he’d chosen her car.
“It’s got a leak, alright.” The words pulled her out of her thoughts and she glanced down to see Cal kneeling next to her car. He was a handsome man with his thick brown hair and pretty hazel eyes. Buthandsomewasn’t the word that came tomind when she looked at Cal Daily.Woundedwas. His eyes reminded her of Maisy and Sawyer’s horse, Angel. The horse had been abused by its first owner. And while Maisy and Sawyer had healed the animal’s outward wounds, the inward ones were still reflected in the horse’s eyes.
Cal had a lot of wounds. His wife had run off. Then his mother had gotten sick with cancer and Cal had come home to take care of her. After she passed, the trailer he and Cheyenne were living in had burned to the ground. It was enough to make Jolene tear up every time she looked at him.
She had known Cal since they were in grade school and had always thought he was a kind person who didn’t deserve the hardships he’d had to endure.
“But it’s a slow leak.” He ran his hand over the side of the tire. It was a workingman’s hand. The knuckles were scarred, the skin was tanned, and the nails had a thin line of grease along the cuticles. “Since your tire is relatively new, I’d say you probably ran over a nail. If that’s the case, I can have it plugged and patched for you in about an hour. You can stick around and have a Coke or I can put your spare on and you can take your car and come back for your tire later.”
“I’m fine leaving my car. I need to head back to the bank anyway and it’s not that far away.”
Cal stood. He was tall. Her eye level hit right at the vee opening of his blue plaid western shirt—the exact spot where a tiny whorl of chest hair peeked out. For some reason, she suddenly felt alittle breathless.
“I’d be happy to drive you,” he said. “It’s a little chilly today.”
Realizing she was staring at his chest, she quickly averted her gaze. “No need for that, Mr. Daily. I love cold weather. It makes it feel more like the holidays. I’m one of those eternal Texas optimists who still hopes for a white Christmas.”
He laughed. “Good luck with that.” He pulled his cellphone from his shirt pocket. “If you give me your number, I’ll call you when I’m finished.” She gave him her phone number and he tapped it into his phone. “Like I said, it shouldn’t take long. And if it turns out you need a new tire, I’ll pick one up in Abilene tonight when Cheyenne and I go to dinner.”
Jolene couldn’t help but wonder if, at dinner, he would give Cheyenne the same speech he’d accidentally given her. As much as she knew it wasn’t her business, she couldn’t help voicing her concerns. “Maybe you shouldn’t call it a special gift.”
Cal halted in the process of putting his cellphone back in his pocket and cocked his head. “Excuse me?”
Her face filled with heat, but she forged on. “After overhearing the words you plan to say to Cheyenne, I just don’t think you should make sex out to be . . . the Holy Grail.”
His eyes widened. “The Holy Grail?”
“You know, the treasure the knights of Arthur’s round table went in search of.”
“I know what the Holy Grail is, Miss Applegate.I just don’t understand what a golden goblet has to do with sex.”
She really needed to apologize and end the conversation. She was breaking two of her mother’s most important rules: Never stick your nose into other people’s business. And NEVER talk about sex in public. But Jolene had been breaking a lot of her mother’s—and father’s—rules lately. If her speaking up helped Cheyenne, then Jolene had to do it. She wished someone had been there to reason with her strict, overprotective parents.
She cleared her throat. “What I’m trying to say is that women shouldn’t think of sex as a treasure they can only hand over to some pure knight who can prove his worth. Because I can tell you from experience, Mr. Daily, knights in shining armor are hard to find. If not impossible. Besides, it’s ridiculous to think women should be guarding their virginity when society rewards men for getting rid of theirs. Girls are taught to ignore their desires while boys are handed condoms and told to be careful. Which is why boys have sex with the first girl who is willing and then brag about it to their friends.”
Cal’s brow creased. “Not all boys.”
She sent him a pointed look. “Maybe you didn’t brag, but I would bet that you don’t even remember the name of the first girl you had sex with.” She hesitated. “Or kissed, for that matter. And while I don’t fault you for that, I just don’t think you should preach something different to your daughter. Don’t teach her to hide from love. Teach her to make intelligent choices whileembracing it. Then when she gets to my age, she’ll have no regrets.”
Jolene shouldn’t have added the last part. It was much too revealing. Her face grew even hotter as Cal stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. Lately, she hadn’t felt at all like herself. She felt completely uncomfortable in her own skin like it was made of itchy wool. All she wanted to do was climb out of it and find some other, softer skin to climb into. Which might explain why she had started going against her father’s wishes and doing things she’d never done before. Including butting her nose into other people’s business. By the look on Cal’s face, she wasn’t going to change his mind. He appeared to be as stubborn as her father. Since there was nothing else she could say to save Cheyenne from her own fate, she decided it would be best to leave.
“Thank you for fixing my tire, Mr. Daily. Just let me know when I can come get my car.” She turned and headed out of the open bay door.
Itwasa chilly day. The cold wind whipped strands of her hair loose from her bun and made her eyes sting as she headed toward Main Street. She had just buttoned her suit jacket closed when a hand settled on her arm and whirled her around.
