Page 80 of One Lucky Cowboy

Oof. There was that stabbing pain in his chest again.

“I’m sorry she didn’t. But I’m gonna hold you to a higher standard. Even if you think you’re protecting me, you’ve gotta tell the truth, okay?”

Ren nodded, and his chin fell to his chest.

Jax tipped it up. “No shame in what you did. You didn’t know my expectations. But now you do. And we’re gonna do better together. ’Cause I’ve got to work on myself, too.”

“I can do that. Thanks, uh … thanks for caring. My mom was nice and all, but she never, I dunno, took an interest.”

Pressure flooded behind Jax’s eyes. “I’m sorry to hear that because you’re a pretty darn cool kid. And I’m lucky you’re here.”

“I feel the same way.”

Jax sniffed. “Well, we’ve got a lot to look forward to, don’t we? I’m checking out the job in Austin today, and you’ll be set up at the high school there, so we’ll find a place to live close by.”

“I wish we could stay here at the ranch,” Ren declared.

Jax just stared at him like he’d just heard a universal truth he hadn’t been aware of until that moment. Gander sidled up beside them, and in a departure from his normal MO, ignored Jax entirely. He rubbed his chin along Ren’s jeans, igniting a laugh and play session between the two. Ren was like that with all the animals at the ranch—horses loved him, the cows trusted him, and even the barn kittens had claimed him as one of them.

“Oh yeah? What about your friends and school and all that?”

“I don’t have many of those. Have you ever met any high school kids? They’re pretty immature,” Ren said, petting Gander behind the ears. The boy’s whole demeanor had shifted from one of cautious curiosity to open confidence. “Besides, if I leave, who’s gonna help Gander raise his puppies?”

Jax let that permeate the invisible membrane he’d sheathed himself in, the one keeping Deer Creek from latching its hooks in him like it did everyone else. Including Ren, apparently.

“Whataya like about the ranch, though? Because there aren’t many kids your age out here, except in town at Deer Creek High, and at some point, those puppies are gonna grow up and move on,” Jax said.

“I know.” The way Ren’s smile tilted up in the corner warmed Jax’s heart. “That’s just part of it. I like working with you, for one. It’s so cool watching you work on horses and chase cows and stuff. I dunno. I always wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up, but I didn’t know I really could, you know?”

Jax shoved his hands deep in his pockets so Ren wouldn’t see the way they shook like the sycamore leaves in the spring wind.

“I do know,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

At one point, it was all he’d wanted, too. But then his dad had squandered the ranch, drove their brother away, and Jax found solace in the rodeo. It was a different way of chasing the cowboy life, one that honored the wild side of him that never wanted to put a kid through what his dad had done to them.

But everything—absolutely everything—was different now.

Like Jill’s internship program. Maybe Ren could—

No. He’d made a commitment.

“Well, no matter what our future looks like, I know two things with absolute certainty.”

Ren’s eyebrows shot up.

“First, we’ll always have a home at the ranch if you wanna come play cowboy, and second, I’m glad we’re doing it together.”

Gander barked like he agreed, then trotted off with a rawhide he’d snatched from somewhere, most likely on the way to go see Lily. Jax had to give it to the mutt. For a dog who lived outdoors because he chose to let his wandering soul guide him around the valley, he’d shacked up and settled down pretty darn easily. Happily, too, it seemed, if the tail wagging away was any indication.

“How’d you do it, boy? Get a slick woman like that to fall for you?” he muttered to Gander.

Because, with Jax, it wasn’t by being himself. That was only a liability—especially with a woman like Jill who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t stop until she got it. What could Jax offer her?

Stop thinking about her for ten minutes, would you? He raked his hands down the stubble on his chin.

Jax turned back around to see Ren, his smile had fallen. “Hey, what’s up, bud?” Jax ruffled Ren’s hair, laughing at how it stood on end.

Ren opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again to the same result.

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