Page 13 of Spilling the Tea

“That time will be fine.”

A look of happiness covered her face, and he wished he wasn’t affected by the flashing of those dimples. “Thanks again, Chancellor.”

“Chance. The only people who call me Chancellor are my great-grandmother and Ms. Cate. To everyone else, I’m Chance.” He chuckled and added, “Unless I’m in trouble about something.”

“Okay, then. I will call you Chance.”

He stood back from the car before he was tempted to reach out and remove that clip from her hair to see it blowing in the wind again. “Take care, Zoey, and I hope more of your memory returns.”

Her smile widened even more. “I believe that it will. Goodbye.”

He tipped his hat in farewell, then stood there until her car was no longer in sight. At that moment, Chance wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

***

Zoey had driven several miles before finally reaching a gas station. She began crying, feeling overwhelmed by everything she’d experienced over the past few hours, and needed to talk to Lucky, but not until she got herself together. The last thing she needed was for her best friend to worry about her more than shealready did. Pulling into a parking space, she stopped in front of the convenience store. After wiping her eyes and drawing a deep breath with trembling fingers, she tapped the call button on Lucky’s contact. Her best friend picked up on the first ring.

“There better be a good reason you’re just checking in, Zoe.”

For a moment, she couldn’t say anything. As if Lucky detected something was wrong, she continued, “Zoe, what’s going on? What happened?”

Zoey honestly didn’t know where to start. “You won’t believe who owns that ranch, Lucky.”

“The ranch that would have been yours had your aunt not sold it?”

Lucky’s words and tone indicated she was still salty about that. “Yes, that ranch.”

“Who owns it?”

“Chancellor.”

“Who’s Chancellor?”

Now, this was the part that was still hard to believe. She had to convince herself that every aspect of today had happened, especially the part of her memory that had returned.

“Zoe, who’s Chancellor?”

Again, tears threatened, but she fought them back. “He’s the cowboy I told you about yesterday.”

“Tall, hot, and handsome?” Lucky asked in a disbelieving voice.

That made her smile. “Yes, tall, hot, and handsome.” She began telling Lucky everything. Of course, her best friend often interrupted with questions, which delayed the telling.

“That’s wonderful, Zoe—for you to recapture part of your memory while on that ranch is awesome. I am so happy for you. Now, tell me all about your cowboy.”

Her cowboy? Boy, she wished. “Like I told you, at first, he wasn’t all that friendly. Because he thought I was a reporter.”

“Why would he be worried about a reporter showing up at his place?”

“I have no idea. Once we cleared that up, he invited me inside.” Zoey paused a minute and then said, “He’s different.”

“Different in what way?”

“I think he doesn’t like people intruding into his space.”

“Yet he invited you back.”

“Yes. Probably because I poured out everything to him. I needed him to understand the depth of my situation. No doubt he now considers me pathetic.”

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