Page 5 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

Noelle shook her head, frowning. “From what I understand, he and Adeline never officially broke up.” After he’d fallen in love with her, she’d simply left town. No explanation. Nothing. Or so he’d assumed until he’d found some letter she’d written him years earlier — the one telling him she loved him, too, and that she’d return to Pinetop as soon as she’d finished college. Discovering the letter had changed everything between them.

Nash’s jaw tightened. “How about we not split hairs here? The fact is, you went to work for Brady before he and Adeline got things ironed out between them. And I can think of only one reason why a woman as smart as you would think there was something more going on between you and your boss.”

She blinked in surprise at the unexpected compliment. “Are you trying to say he led me on?”

His gaze narrowed contemplatively on hers. “I think he might’ve explored the possibility of getting something started with you, at least inside his head, which would explain the vibes you thought you were getting from him.” He shrugged. “That’s my theory, anyway.”

Noelle stared at him in utter amazement. Then she burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” He looked mildly offended. “I’m trying to help here.”

“You did help,” she assured between giggles that all too quickly hitched with emotion again. “Thank you for helping me work through that.”

“You’re welcome.” A wrinkle of concern remained in the center of his forehead.

She wondered if it was because he was thinking the same thing she was. “Did Adeline give you similar vibes?”

“Nope.” His voice was grim. “The only vibes she ever gave off were that of a wounded puppy. Brady’s failure to respond to the love letter she wrote him before leaving town nearly broke her. I spent the whole time she was employed at my ranch trying to help her pick up the pieces and put herself back together.”

“And you fell for her along the way,” Noelle mused in a low voice.

“Something like that.” He glanced away from her, giving her the impression he was done talking about it. There was no way she was letting him off the hook that easily, though.

Before she could start peeling back the layers of his side of the story, her cell phone rang, shattering the temporary lull in their conversation.

She jolted in surprise. “Oops! Sorry.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket. “Looks like I forgot to turn off the ringer.” She quickly did so. As she scanned the caller ID, her heart sank. It was her mother. She’d been avoiding their calls all week. It continued to vibrate in her hand even though the ringer was turned off.

“Who is it?”

“My mother.” Nash’s presence in the room bolstered her courage. It wasn’t as if she could avoid her parents forever.

“Ah.”

There was a world of understanding in his voice that helped her finish making up her mind. Dragging in a quick, fortifying breath, she answered the call before she lost her nerve. “Hi, Mom.” She immediately mashed the speakerphone button. Maybe it meant she was a coward, unable to face her mother’s next tongue lashing alone. Triss Ward could open her own travel agency from the number of guilt trips she’d tried to send her daughter on.

“Noelle Angelica Ward!” There was no mistaking the reprimand in her mother’s tone. “You’ve been gone nearly a week. On crutches, no less! And totally blew off your last doctor’s appointment.”

Noelle wasn’t sure how her mother had found that out. Weren’t there privacy laws about stuff like that? “Listen, um… It might be awhile before I return to Pinetop.” In for a penny. She dragged in another bracing breath. “I’ve accepted a new job in Dallas.”

“Dallas!” Her mother’s gasp filled the hospital room. “That’s a long way from Pinetop, and since you’re the only reason we moved here…” She left the accusation dangling unfinished between them.

A move I never asked you to make. Noelle bit her lower lip to silence her retort. Triss Ward was still furious over Noelle’s refusal to continue dating her husband’s junior partner, and Noelle wasn’t sure how they were supposed to move on from that. Her mother’s sudden interest in helicopter parenting certainly wasn’t the solution.

“What could you possibly find in Dallas that you couldn’t find at Bear Mountain Ranch?” Her mother’s voice grew shrill. “I thought you said it was your dream job!”

It was. Past tense. Try to keep up, Mom.

She caught a blur of movement from the corner of her eye as Nash moved in her direction.

He bent his tall frame closer to the cell phone in her hand. “Hey, Mrs. Ward. This is Nash Carson, Noelle’s new employer. I don’t believe we had the pleasure of meeting during my short stay in Pinetop.”

Shocked silence met his words. When Triss Ward started speaking again, her voice was hushed with awe. “Nash Carson, as in the world champion bronc rider?” There was a girlish quality to her voice that made Noelle’s face heat with embarrassment. Apparently, her mother had entirely missed the report about his near-tragic accident.

“I’m retired now, ma’am.” Though Nash’s voice remained polite, his expression grew so miserable that something inside of Noelle snapped.

“He’s on a hiatus from the competitive circuit at the moment,” she interjected in a tight voice. “He was in a serious accident, the kind you don’t snap back from overnight. It’s going to take some serious physical therapy to get him back in the saddle.”

She could picture her mother taking a sharp breath. Then her voice filled the room again. “I’m sorry to hear about your accident, Mr. Carson. But my daughter is right. You’re a little young to retire.”

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