Redheaded Stranger: A Cowboy Love Story (Bluebonnet, Texas) by Amie Stuart

Dad?"
    "I...I’m getting there."
    "If nothing else, you owe them an apology for ruining Thanksgiving. I think it’s the least you can do, even if you can't accept Delaney, which frankly I don’t understand. She’s a good kid. She’s good to Rene, too."
    Now it was his turn to retreat. He nodded again, thoughtfully, as he slid his cup away and stood. "I think I’ll finish my walk."
    Outside, he changed directions and walked toward his aunt’s house. He had no intention of stopping to chat, but he wanted to walk. After last night, she’d be sleeping in. She was a night owl after so many years of running the bar. He hunkered down in his jacket, wishing again for something warmer as he tucked his chin in his coat and eyed the bleak scenery. The fields were brown, the trees dark and bare. Paint it gray, splash a little blood on it, and it could have passed for a horror movie set.
    The weather and the scenery suited his mood as he turned back toward his parents’ house. He’d never felt more like an outsider than he had last night at the bar. That’s why Townsend’s job offer had caught him so off guard.
    The sight of Delaney coming from Ty’s house slowed him. She picked up her pace and he picked up his, finally catching her as she tried to slide between his mom’s Suburban and his Tahoe. "Delaney, wait!"
    He stood near the bumpers while she stood on the other side of the mirrors, effectively blocking him if he tried to grab her. Not that he would have. He wouldn’t hurt her.
    Head down, lips pursed, she stared at him for the longest time. "Well?" she huffed.
    "Merry Christmas." He made it a point to look her in the eye, but his tongue refused to work beyond that.
    She gave him a visual once over and backed away, her freckled face all scrunched-up with anger, fear, hated and he didn't know what else as she turned toward the porch.
    "I’m sorry," he practically shouted at her back, breathing heavily from exertion, from emotion. He'd taken one look at Delaney and it had all just sort of hit him.
    She nodded, turned and headed for the house where his dad now stood on the porch.
    Zander followed, determined to get it all out, once and for all.
    "I think that’s enough," his dad said as Delaney tried to slip past him.
    "I know today must be really hard for you and I’m sorry. I'm sorry for your loss."
    She nodded and leaned against his dad.
    "I’m sorry you didn’t have brothers growing up." He cleared his throat and continued, "I’m sorry you didn’t have brothers to harass you and...and threaten your boyfriends. I’m sorry you didn’t have Aunt Susie around to spoil you. Cause she spoiled all of us."
    "Zander," his dad chided.
    "I didn’t mean it like that," he said, meeting his father’s eyes. "It wasn't a dig. I’m sorry she didn’t have all of that but...it’s not my fault she missed out. It’s yours, Dad. I’m sorry for Thanksgiving, but I’m not the only one who needs to apologize. And I know this isn’t the best apology in the world, Delaney, but I hope you’ll take it as a start. And I hope you know I’m sincere.
    "You broke our family, Dad. I love you, but you did."
    There was no yelling, no raised voices, no white-hot fury. Only sadness. His mother appeared behind Delaney, who had tears running down her cheeks.
    "What’s going on here?" Maggie softly asked.
    "I don’t know if I belong here." And in that moment, Zander felt pure sadness and regret. For so long, he'd felt like the outsider Delaney was, and now here she was, having her first Christmas without her mother. A sobering thought that made his head pound and his heart hurt all over again.
    "You will always belong here, son," Jerrod said.
    His mother sighed and shoved her way past Delaney to hug him, her expression as sad as he felt. "Your father lost seventeen years with Delaney. For that matter, so did I. And we lost ten years with you, plus nine months with Darrach and three years with your wife. That’s a lot of lost time. We