Page 7 of A Mustang River Christmas

He had prepared some things and put them in the freezer in the past when she’d come to visit, so she knew to expect he had treats. And he did.

Including lava blondies that just needed to be put in the oven for a bit, in a bain-marie. He cooked them up, put butterscotch sauce and ice cream over the top, and the two of them sat there in contented silence eating what was a damn fine dessert.

For years, cooking had been his love language. Baking even more so. Forgetting how to speak it, intentionally not allowing himself to do it in the way that he once had, had been cutting himself off from love.

When he started doing it at home again, he started to feel a little more like himself. It wasn’t an entire return to who he’d been, but it was better than not having it at all. “You have plans for the rest of the evening?” he asked.

“I’m going to call Noah.”

He nodded. He didn’t feel like he had a right to weigh in on his daughter’s love life, considering that he had been absent for a time. But he couldn’t say that he liked her current boyfriend all that much. More of a feeling than an actual reason.

Maybe that wasn’t fair. But... he wasn’t always going to be fair. At least not in his own head.

“Okay. I’m going to head out for a little bit.”

“Dad,” she said. “Do you have a date?”

He frowned. “No. I do not have a date. It’s a work thing. I told you, I’m helping Laney out.”

“Oh. You just looked... I don’t know. You looked at your phone and...”

He shifted uncomfortably. Yeah, he had definitely had a reaction, because Laney made him react. “She’s a co-worker,” he said.

“Well, that notoriously stops all kitchen hook-ups,” she said, her tone dry.

“What do you know about kitchen hook-ups?” he asked. “You’ve got a boyfriend.”

“I haven’t always,” she muttered.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t wait up.”

“I won’t,” she said, waving at him.

He got back in his truck and drove the ten minutes to the ranch. He lived in a little house just outside of Mustang River proper, and... Yeah, Chloe was right. He could afford more. He didn’t have to take work as a ranch hand. But he’d been wrapped up in stuff before. In having the biggest and best house. In being number one in his field. All of it had led to destruction. He didn’t want to go there. Not again.

So he deliberately kept himself busy with modest work, living in a modest house. Plus, then Melinda had a great house to live in and Chloe had her education paid for.

A few of the restaurants he still held part ownership in were doing great, and... he reaped ongoing benefits from that.

This was enough of a life for him. Especially now that he and Chloe were spending time together. It was enough.

He told himself that even as he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.

He got out of his truck and slammed the door shut, walking toward the sliding entrance doors and straight through the lobby, toward the dining room. It was nine at night. There was an employee behind the desk, but... the restaurant was empty. On a weekend, that wouldn’t be the case. There would be people lingering in the dining room, and especially at the bar.

But on a Tuesday, not so much.

Laney poked her head out of the kitchen, and damned if his heart didn’t almost flutter.

Lord. It had been too many years since he’d gotten laid. He had passed into his forties and hadn’t had... sex one time in this new decade. That sucked.

A heavy realization, and one that he didn’t especially need to have... right now.

He had his reasons for it.

Again, he had cut himself off from passion in general.

He’d added bits of it back, but he felt like there was absolutely no call to go adding... sexual relationships into a mix where he hadn’t healed things with his child, or with his ex-wife. Those relationships didn’t deserve any attention as long as the most important relationships... weren’t getting what they needed.