Page 30 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

But that picture told otherwise. All I had to do was be myself to remind him of our time together. And getting paid too? Well, that was like winning the lottery. With Mindy bailing, the loss of income would push my adoption goal back at least six months. And that just made me feel like I was living in a world where all the things I wanted weren’t for me. I was so tired of that feeling. So tired.

I narrowed my eyes and met his. We were in a stare down. My lips twitched with a restrained smile. “You said you had another idea, Paul, besides us playing pretend?”

In my peripheral vision, I could see Paul look between us. Then he said, “Well, sorta. Sabrina, you mentioned that you were headed to Wyoming for a break. Why not take this ‘romance’”—he did bunny ears—“back to your ranch, Cal. Show people the Cal who isn’t always talking about the scary stuff. Show people that they can live life well and do it with peace of mind because they know how to handle themselves.”

“No,” said Cal.

“Yes,” I said at the same time.

I released my restrained smile and let my lips curve. “Wow, you are just the king of Nopeville, aren’t you? It’s your default answer.”

“No, it’s not.”

I laughed. “Are you sure? Kinda sounds like it is.”

Cal wiped a hand down his face in frustration. “There are?—”

“Things you have to do to save your work, and being at the ranch isn’t one of them,” I said, mimicking him.

“You’ve been shot, yeah, you’re all but healed up, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need some decompression time,” Paul added. “When was the last time you and Jace went fishing? You could do that while you’re home. You could also look at the ranch’s security. Now that there’s been a break-in and all.”

Resignation passed over Cal’s face. He knew Paul had him there.

“Paul’s right, Calvin. We take a trip to Wyoming. I get to see my friends, and we can do this.” I pointed to each of us as I made a circle. “I won’t be in your space any more than I have to, and I’ll be making trips to LA since I already have scheduled meetings. We can ask my friends to test the app too. This will help me look at how the app’s algorithm is doing with matching. I actually don’t see this being a big deal or hard at all. My vote is to do it. Knowing it twists a knife in your dad gives me great pleasure.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d just jinxed myself. As soon as I’d agreed, a brush of cold air tickled down my spine as if sending a warning. I’d been cavalier in saying I didn’t see it as a big deal.

Easy-peasy, you said?

Yeah, I was lying. Spending any time with Cal was a big deal to my wounded heart and pride.

ChapterTwelve

CAL

Home. When people asked me “Where’s home?” I would cycle through all the places I’d spent time growing up. I once asked Jace what he called home, and he said he’d always thought of his childhood bedroom on his family ranch, but now that he was married, he thought of the kitchen of that same ranch because that was where he pictured his wife and kids.

Those images weren’t anything I had. Home, during the school season, was the all-boys boarding school I went to, with its dorms and narrow bed in a room with five other boys. For breaks, I went to the big house my parents had outside Denver. I didn’t have a kid’s bedroom like most of my friends. Sure, it was decorated like a boy’s room, but it was never filled with stuff I liked or played with. Just things I couldn’t touch.

When I thought of the one place I was the happiest growing up, it was my maternal grandparents’ place, the Rolling Thunder Ranch. I hadn’t been there in a decade. When I’d walked away from my dad and Sabrina, I left behind everyone and everything. The ranch had been in our family for generations, and the sprawling two-story eight-bedroom home had been my place of refuge. A place to escape my dad. When my mom had left my dad ten years ago, she moved to the ranch for good.

Currently, home was an apartment in Seattle with a view of the sound, when the day wasn’t cloudy and rainy. But I was rarely there. I preferred to be in the office, at the gym, or on an assignment. I’d traveled so much that hotels felt the same as my apartment, only my apartment had more clothes and hotels had more food. And a TV.

I could thank my dad for all that. He’d taught me how to be a minimalist.

Although Sabrina claimed she was willing to be a part of this battle, she hadn’t spoken to me on the plane. She’d kept her laptop open for the entire trip. She’d even sat next to Paul.

And I was fine with that, dammit. I’d only looked in her direction for a large portion of the flight because the side of the plane she was on had the most scenic views. That was what I’d said when she asked.

“Not mid-flight,” had been her response.

I’d had to turn my back to her then. I was in a weird place with Sabrina. I didn’t want to say I liked it because, well… I just didn’t want to say that.

But I didn’t not like it.

A few years after I’d left her in Vegas I set up Google alerts to ping me if she was ever in the news. Those little unexpected notifications that would slide across my screen had the power to cause a brief arrhythmia. Each time, I half expected the notification to be her engagement or wedding announcement. Each time, I was relieved when it wasn’t.

I pushed a hand through my hair and tried to wrap my mind around how quickly my life had done a one eighty. My dad had to be choking on his spite. There was a bit of satisfaction in knowing that. And it was fitting that Sabrina got to play a part in it as well.

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