Page 3 of Unexpected Second Chance For Love

Competition. Of course Payton wasn’t the only one interested in the only affordable rent in town. “Yes, I’ll be there. What’s the address?”

Rather than providing a street address, as she expected, he rattled off directions to a place she was all too familiar with—the Rolling R Ranch. Everyone in Wildwood Falls knew that ranch and the Rainger family who ran it.

Payton wracked her brain to place the voice. There were five siblings—Payton had gone to school with the twins Breanna and Brooke and their sister Kayla. She knew Liam as he was friends with Owen. So this wasn’t him. The only other brother was Austin—her teenage crush who she hadn’t seen since she was eleven years old. It couldn’t be—Austin hadn’t been home in well over a decade.

“Are you still there?” the voice asked and Payton jumped. She’d been so lost in her own thoughts she’d forgotten that he was awaiting her response.

“I’m here. I have the address—see you this afternoon.”

They disconnected the call and Payton stood in stunned silence. Who was this man renting a room on the Rolling R? For a wild moment she thought maybe it was a trap of some kind. Or a joke. The Rainger family didn’t need extra income so why would they be renting a room? She quickly texted Breanna to ask as it was better safe than sorry. A response pinged a moment later. Breanna confirmed her brother had what she called a harebrained scheme and was looking for seed money—hence the rental.

At least Payton knew she wouldn’t walk into a dangerous situation this afternoon. What she still didn’t know was—which brother?

CHAPTER 2

The voice on the other end of the phone niggled at Austin’s brain. He knew that voice, except he couldn’t place how. Wildwood Falls was a small town, so it would have been more surprising if he didn’t know someone. Except he’d been gone for ten years and more had changed in that time than he could ever have imagined.

His siblings had grown into competent adults who could manage the ranching business without assistance from him. After all, they’d been doing it for their whole lives. Austin had taken a different path. Not by choice, exactly, more by circumstance. He couldn’t waste time regretting it because it brought him to where he was now. Plus regret didn’t change the past—he’d learned that lesson all too well.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come back home now. He could have started this business venture anywhere he’d lived the past decade. Something called him back, though. No matter how long you’ve been gone, the siren song of home doesn’t stop.

So when Austin was ready to launch his equine therapy business, there was only one place he considered—the Rolling R Ranch. His siblings were happy to welcome him back, although they thought his idea farfetched. Why would people pay good money to stand around talking to a horse when they could ride one?

Equine therapy wasn’t quite that simple, though it was true that riding wasn’t always included. It required specially trained horses with exactly the right temperament. The typical ranch horse wasn’t necessarily a good fit. Austin needed to scout, purchase, and train horses specifically for this task, in addition to finding a trained equine therapist. He’d saved up enough for a year of living expenses, but needed capital for the business.

Which was why he was renting out a room in the main house. His siblings had all moved into the small cabins dotting the ranch and the main house had been empty since his parents retired to Nevada and turned the ranch over to their children. There was a small in-law suite, which made a perfect rental. His siblings rolled their eyes at the idea, but hadn’t protested, so Austin hoped to find a tenant as soon as possible. He’d had several applicants already, but none of them had been a good fit.

He was feeling hopeless about finding a quiet, reliable tenant when he received the phone call this morning. Based on her youthful voice, he wasn’t sure the woman was mature enough to be a good candidate, but he was getting desperate. He needed to make some purchases and needed the capital to do it. And something about her drew his interest. She wasn’t timid, despite her apparent age. She went toe to toe with him without a second thought. Some might call her rude, challenging him on his assumption she needed her father’s money, but Austin preferred to think of it as spunk.

Austin liked spunk.

The woman was brave. And independent. And much too young for him. At thirty, with his past, he wasn’t an eligible match for anyone, let alone such a young woman. Which is how he preferred it.

As it neared two o’clock, he realized he hadn’t even asked her name. He had no idea who he expected in ten minutes. His earlier appointment hadn’t passed the background check, so he was hoping this one worked out. He was beginning to think there wasn’t one eligible renter in all of Wildwood Falls.

He busied himself in the barn to avoid inevitable worry. He stood in the center of the ranch’s original barn and catalogued repairs needed. It was a sturdy building, thanks to his grandparents hard work, but the roof leaked and needed repair, as did some of the stalls. It had been used as storage in recent years and that had been a huge undertaking to clear it out.

Whenever he stopped to reflect on those who came before him, his own role in his family legacy pricked at him. He wasn’t taking over the ranch as he’d once assumed when he was a kid. That honor fell to his younger brother. Liam did an amazing job so Austin had no regrets there. It was more that he hadn’t felt part of his family for so many years. His own youthful rebellion and foolishness disconnected him and he’d spent the better part of the last decade trying to figure out how to piece the connection back together.

Footsteps crunched on gravel outside the open door and Austin turned in time to see the most gorgeous woman he’d ever met silhouetted in the afternoon sun. She peered in the doorway, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim light. Her blond hair glowed around her like a halo and her eyes were a piercing blue that seemed to see right down into his soul.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m here to look at the room for rent.” She took a hesitant step inside the door, all the while cataloguing him from the tip of his worn cowboy boots to his unruly sandy blond hair. Her pretty mouth was pursed as if she was deep in thought. A flush came over her cheeks as he returned her appraising stare.

That familiar feeling niggled again. He knew this woman, though he had no earthly clue how to place her.

“I’m Austin,” he said as he moved closer and offered his hand to shake.

“I know,” the woman replied. She accepted his handshake and wrapped warm fingers surely around his. They held the handshake moments longer than they should, but Austin couldn’t bring himself to pull away. He’d rather tug her to him and see how well she fit against his hard frame.

“I’m afraid I can’t say the same,” he said and hoped she’d fill him in without him having to come right out and admit he didn’t recognize her.

She tilted her head and a sly grin crossed her expression. “I’m Payton. To be fair, the last time you saw me, you were tugging my pigtails.”

Austin’s gut dropped at the information. This was Payton Walker? Little Payton with the freckles and incessant questions? It was true he’d tugged her pigtails in that playful way big brothers do—because at the time she was practically another sister to him. He had been best friends with her brother, Griffin and spend as much time with her family as he did his own.

Until everything changed.

And he’d just been ogling her and thinking very un-brotherly thoughts.

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