Page 80 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

“Don’t sweat it, Sabrina,” Fort said. “She’s all about the fellas right now. Something about how babies like our features. She’s giving Cori a tough time, too, and that’s her food supply.”

What he said seemed to be true, but I wondered if Cal had told him to say something to make me feel better.

“Is Mrs. Claudia around?” he asked, his daughter tucked contently in the crook of his arm. There was something seriously hot about a man in a uniform, a gun strapped to his side, feeding a tiny baby. And as insecure as I was about babies, it still made my ovaries perk up.

“She was in the kitchen a minute ago,” Cricket said.

Fort rubbed a hand down his face, looking weary. My trouble radar spiked. Cal’s must have as well.

He stepped toward Fort. “What is it? Is it about Rod?”

Fort nodded. “His dad was killed in a car crash this morning. A guy he was with, the only survivor of four, says they were headed back here. Apparently, Jamison told them he had to get home, but if they wanted to come with him, he knew they could get jobs working the ranches.”

A wave of shock and grief swept over me. Maybe, eventually, knowing his dad had been headed home would bring Rod comfort. “What happens to Rod?” I asked.

“Because there is no legal guardian or relative, he has to go into the system.”

Of all the things I’d heard that day, that piece of news was the one that broke my heart.

ChapterThirty-One

CAL

We were all sitting out on the back deck. Someone—probably Jace—had started a fire in the firepit. A bottle of whiskey was going around, and when it got to me, I poured a finger into my glass.

Rod had fallen asleep, crying in Sabrina’s arms, and Mrs. Claudia had carried him off to bed. So much had been lost, but watching that kid’s heartbreak was the worst. Fort was working on getting Mrs. Claudia set up as a system caretaker to keep Rod here and with as little disruption as possible. What was hard was not being able to answer his questions about what would happen or make any promises. The system was the system, and it wasn’t a good one.

I handed the bottle to Jace. Sabrina was sitting next to me, her foot elevated, a blanket over her lap, her hand entwined with mine. “I might be in the system. I’ve had a background check and all that. Maybe I could take him. Maybe I would be a faster alternative.”

“In Texas you are. Not here.”

She blew out a weary breath, and I kissed her temple. She squeezed my hand and scooted in even closer. My girl.

Paul cleared his throat and rubbed at his scruffy chin. “Not to be indelicate, but I have to…” He looked at me. “I need to know if you’re going to cancel your attendance at the gala. Not only are they assholes for canceling the award, but they’re cowards, too, because they’re scared you might show up and create a scene.”

Jace barked out a laugh. “That means you should go.”

“I should.” I took a drink. It would serve them right. Part of me wanted them to have to look at me, knowing they had caved. A little discomfort went a long way.

“And you know what else?” Jace leaned forward, the glow from the fire showing his devilish grin. “You all should get married. That would really piss off the old man. Make his head explode.”

“What?” Sabrina and I said in unison.

She sat up. “Are you seriously suggesting a revenge marriage? If I had something to throw at you, I would.”

Jace put up his hand before I could speak. “I’ve known you two forever, right? And I have to say, if you are sitting here, pretending that you’re just taking it slow and figuring things out”—he spoke mockingly—“then you’re both stupid. For a decade, you two have been pining away for each other. And now you’re back together, and really, it’s just a matter of time before you tie the knot anyway. Besides, what more can that piece-of-shit father do to you?”

I shook my head. “I feel like every time someone says that, it jinxes us.”

“It would really piss him off,” Brynna said.

“But you don’t get married to spite someone.”

Jace snorted. “You get married because this is a forever thing, nitwits.” He wagged a finger between me and Sabrina. “The spite is the extra bonus. Like a wedding gift to yourselves. He has tried to rule you, ruin you, and keep you apart, and he has failed. Fuck him.”

“Fuck him,” Brynna said with a chuckle, then took a drink of her whiskey.

“Every day you aren’t together is another day he wins,” Paul said.

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