Page 119 of No Place for Single Cowboys
Mrs. Saxon was wrong, but Cordy couldn’t say that. Instead, she grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table, wiped her eyes, and made herself be strong.
“I’ll let you know when we’re moving.” Cordy was proud of how steady her voice was. “It will probably be this week.”
“Oh good.” Janet bounced Madeleine up and down. “Give us a date and time, and we’ll help.”
The thought filled Cordy with dread. “Perfect.”
Janet handed Madeleine back. “Oh, I wish I could take her with me. I’ve got to be going. Let us know about the move! So excited you’ll be in Reed’s house finally!”
When Mrs. Saxon was gone, Cordy made herself walk through the house, taking stock of everything that needed to be packed. Iggy followed, looking worried.
“There’s too much stuff,” she told the dog. “How did I get all this?”
Her parents had always said that if you owned too many things, the things ended up owning you.
But these things didn’t own her—they were the bricks that made this place feel like home. Madeleine's baby swing that Sam had gotten her, the one she sat in while they made dinner. The stack of board games Ruby and Quint had brought by the other night with the promise of a future game night. The yellow curtains Chance had hung in the nursery.
Cordy couldn’t imagine moving them. They belongedhere.
“But we have to leave,” she said aloud. “It has to be done.”
Iggy gave one short, sharp bark as if to say, “You’re dead wrong.” Madeleine started wailing, unhappily surprised by the loud noise.
It took a good fifteen minutes to calm Madeleine down. By the end, Cordy was so desperate that she promised the baby they wouldn’t be leaving after all, and would she please stop crying so hard?
Funny enough, that was what did it. Madeleine stopped, hiccupped, then blinked her tear-filled eyes.
“Oh boy.” Cordy realized she’d lied to her baby for the first time—she was barely a month old. “I don’t want to leave either, but…”
Madeleine kept staring at her. Good Lord, when did she start focusing so hard?
Cordy’s phone rang, startling the both of them. Luckily, Madeleine didn’t start crying.
When Cordy saw it was Chance, she couldn’t help smiling. Lord, but she was missing him.
“Hey!” Cordy was so pleased to hear from him, her voice practically shimmered. “What’s up? Are you coming home for lunch after all? Madeleine would love that.”
There was only a long silence. She could hear things happening in the background. Cows calling. Someone yelling.
“Chance? Is everything okay?” Her heart kicked with a sick jolt. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah.” His voice sounded battered. “I’m here.”
A siren started up in the background.
Cordy scrambled up off the couch just to do something. “What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”
“Dad’s… he’s had a heart attack. We think.”
“Wait, what?” Her lips felt like they were tripping over each other. That wasn’t possible. Cordy had seen Holden yesterday across the fields. He’d waved, and she’d waved back. He couldn’t be having a heart attack.
“What’s going on?”
“We were working on bringing some cattle in. Dad was on the quad.” Chance chipped off the words as if they were stuck in his throat. “He fell over out of nowhere. We couldn’t wake him up. He’s got a pulse, but…”
“Wait, are you still out in the field with him? Oh my God, I have to?—”
“No.” His tone was the coldest she’d ever heard. Cold and steely, slamming shut. Shutting her out. “Stay with the baby. This isn’t your mess.”
