Page 65 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

He started to tell her the entire story, but his mouth refused to work. Maybe because his brain knew there was nothing he could say to take the look of disappointment from her robin-egg blue eyes.

As he stood there looking into those eyes, all his insecurities came rushing back. It was like he was a stupid teenager again and trying to throw a football through the hole in the tire swing. After he’d missed at least two dozen times in a row, he’d turned to see his mama sitting on the porch swing. He’d hoped for some parental encouragement. Instead, after taking a long drag of her cigarette and releasing the smoke into the air, she’d stared at him with the same look of disappointment Cadee was giving him now.

“I’d give up and try a different sport if I was you,” his mama had said.

He’d felt like a fool for attempting something he obviously had no skill with. And he felt like a fool now. How had he ever thought he was going to be a good husband and father when he didn’t know the first thing about either? And Cadee and Camden deserved so much better. They deserved someone who had grown up with a father and mother who taught them the right way to love.

Huck wasn’t that someone.

And Cadee knew it too. Which was why she had yet to tell anyone that he was Camden’s daddy. Dawson was right. Huck would never be someone Cadee could be proud of. It would be better for everyone if he just accepted it and moved on.

“I’m sorry, Cadee.”

He turned and walked away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Cadee had been so thrilled when she’d ridden to meet Camden at the bus stop and spotted Huck standing right outside the entrance to the ranch talking with his brother. She’d been riding toward them when Dawson had shoved Huck. Her protective instinct had kicked in and she’d urged the horse into a gallop. But what she heard when she’d neared them had her reining in.

Even now, as she sat there watching Huck drive away, her heart refused to believe it.

She turned to Dawson. “Huck robbed Mickey’s Gas Station?”

Dawson picked up the tool pouch lying on the ground. “You’ll need to talk to Huck about that.”

“As you can see that’s impossible when your brother took off.”

Dawson sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I didn’t mean for you to overhear our conversation, Cadee.” He hesitated. “But maybe it’s good that you did. You and your family are never going to accept Huck—especially now that you know about what happened that night at the gas station. So you need to just let Huck go. I know you love him. But you don’t value him. If you did, you wouldn’t still be hiding him like he’s a dirty secret. And I don’t want my brother with someone who isn’t proud of him. Because despite the stupid things he did as a kid, he’s someone to be proud of. He’s kind and loving and loyal as hell. He has this positive attitude that has always seen the good in people . . . just not himself. And I want someone who can teach him how to see that goodness. Not someone who’s ashamed of him.” He turned to leave but then stopped. “And please don’t let what you overheard make you keep him from his son. That would kill him.”

Cadee was a whirlwind of emotions as she watched Dawson climb into his truck and drive away. Stunned that Huck had done something so impulsive and stupid as robbing Mickey’s. Hurt that he had never told her. And angry that he ran off once again before they could talk things through.

Then there was everything Dawson had said to pick through.

A dirty little secret?

She didn’t think of Huck as her dirty little secret.

Except that’s exactly how she’d been treating him. While he had been building tree houses and attending soccer games and starting his own business, she’d still been keeping their relationship a secret. She hadn’t even had the guts to tell her family how she felt about him.

She’d done the same thing when they were teenagers, lying to her parents and then sneaking over to his house or Honky Tonk Heaven. Calling him her bestie when she couldn’t even acknowledge their relationship to the townsfolk.

She had told Huck that actions speak louder than words.

Her actions had loudly proclaimed that she was ashamed of him.

The release of air brakes pulled her from her thoughts. The school bus had stopped at the entrance of the ranch. With everything that had happened, Cadee had forgotten all about Camden.

As she waited for him to get off the bus, she thought about how much Camden had come to love Huck. He talked about him nonstop and beamed with pride when he talked about his carpentry skills, or how much he knew about dinosaurs, or how many mini donuts he could eat. She knew if Camden ever found out about what Huck had done as a stupid teenager, he wouldn’t hold it against him.

Because that irresponsible, compulsive teen wasn’t the responsible, kind man Camden had come to love.

A man who had more than proved himself.

A man any woman should be proud to call her own.

She came out of her thoughts when she realized the school bus was pulling away . . . and Camden hadn’t gotten off. The only one who had was Miles. He was heading down the road with his backpack dragging in the dirt behind him.

She urged her horse into a gallop. “Miles!”