Page 4 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“That’ll be the vet,” he said, his tone apologetic. “I asked him to come take a look at the horses, make sure they’re in good health.”

Emma nodded, a sudden wave of guilt washing over her. She’d put the animals’ well-being to the back of her mind, too caught up in her own emotions and memories.

“I should have done that,” she said, her voice small. “I should have come sooner. I’m sorry, Cody. I feel like I’ve been neglecting everything.”

Cody reached out, his hand resting on her shoulder. “You’re doing the best you can, Emma. No one expects you to have all the answers right away.”

Emma looked up at him, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “I just feel so overwhelmed,” she admitted. “There’s so much to do, and I don’t even know where to start.”

Cody squeezed her shoulder, his touch reassuring. “You don’t have to do it alone,” he said softly. “I’m here, and so is everyone else in town. We’ll help you figure it out.”

Emma felt a rush of gratitude, a warmth spreading through her chest. She had forgotten what it was like to have people to lean on, to have a community that cared.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice catching on the words.

Cody smiled, his hand dropping back to his side. “Anytime,” he said, his eyes holding hers for a long moment.

Then he turned, heading towards the door to greet the vet. Emma watched him go, a strange mix of emotions swirling in her gut. She knew she had a long road ahead of her, a daunting task that would test her in ways she had never been tested before.

But for the first time since she’d arrived at the ranch, she felt a flicker of hope. Maybe, just maybe, she could find a way to honor her father’s legacy as she said her final goodbyes.

And maybe, with Cody by her side, she wouldn’t have to do it alone.

Chapter Three

The sun wasjust beginning to dip below the horizon when Emma finally made her way back to the house. Dr. Hanson, the local vet, had given Daisy and Ghost a clean bill of health, but the visit had taken longer than she’d expected. By the time she’d finished discussing the horses’ care with him, and the on-going worming and vaccination regimes for the cattle, the day had slipped away from her.

She climbed the porch steps, her mind still buzzing with the day’s events. The reunion with Cody had stirred up emotions she thought she’d long since buried, and the realization of just how much work the ranch needed weighed heavily on her. And that was without even thinking about the cattle. She still needed to try to find a buyer for them, on top of everything else.

As she reached for the door handle, a flap of paper. A small, envelope lay tucked under the welcome mat. Emma bent to pick it up, her brow furrowing as she unfolded the note.

“Emma,” it read in a neat, precise script. “I hope this finds you well. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to greet you in person, but I had a prior engagement. I’m looking forward to working with you on the sale of the ranch. I’ll be by tomorrow at 10 AM to discuss the details with you. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. My number is below. Best regards, Jenna Lawson.”

Emma stared at the note, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d spoken to Jenna on the phone a few days ago, and knew the realtor had an excellent reputation for handling the sales of large estates like her father’s. But seeing the printed words made it all feel more real.

She sighed, tucking the note into her pocket and unlocking the door. The house was just as she’d left it thatmorning, but somehow it felt different now. The silence that had felt so oppressive before now seemed almost peaceful, like a respite from the chaos of the day.

Emma made her way to the kitchen, her stomach growling as she realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She rummaged through the cupboards, finding a can of soup and a box of crackers that looked like they might still be edible.

As she waited for the soup to heat up on the stove, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Cody. She’d been surprised at how easy it had been to fall back into their old rhythm, to joke and tease each other like no time had passed at all.

But there had been moments, too, when she’d caught him looking at her with an intensity that made her heart race. It was like he was trying to see beneath the surface, to the parts of her she kept hidden away.

The thought both thrilled and terrified her. She’d spent so long building walls around her heart, convincing herself that she was better off alone. The few relationships she’d had in the city had failed almost before she’d started, and it had been easy to tell herself that love was for other people – people who didn’t have careers and ambitions to keep them busy. But being back here, surrounded by the memories of her childhood and the people who had once meant everything to her, those walls were starting to crack.

The sound of the soup bubbling jolted her out of her thoughts. She ladled it into a bowl and carried it to the table, her mind still spinning with questions and doubts.

She ate mechanically, hardly tasting the food. Her eyes kept drifting to the window, to the darkening sky outside. She wondered what Cody was doing now, if he was thinking about her the way she was thinking about him.

The thought made her shake her head, a rueful smile tugging at her lips. She was being ridiculous. Cody was just being kind, helping her out the way any good neighbor would. There was no reason to read anything more into it.

But even as she told herself that, a small, traitorous part of her heart whispered that maybe, just maybe, there was something more there. Some part of the past that wasn’t as buried as it had seemed, for them both.

Emma pushed the thought away, finishing her soup and carrying the bowl to the sink. She had more important things to worry about than her love life. Like the meeting with the real estate agent tomorrow, and the daunting task of getting the ranch ready to sell.

She glanced at the clock, surprised to see how late it had gotten. She needed to get some sleep if she was going to be ready for whatever tomorrow might bring.

As she climbed the stairs to her childhood bedroom, Emma couldn’t shake the feeling that she was standing on the edge of something big. Like the decisions she made in the coming days would shape the rest of her life.

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