Page 40 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

And even though it was fake, and neither of them wanted something lasting, he hoped the idea helped them both. That Jackie’s Mr. Right finally saw what he was missing, and that Levi realized Cole intended to stay, as well as show the town he was ready to settle down and act like a mature adult.

He tightened the saddle, then stroked his horse’s nose. Lots of people in Sweetheart Creek seemed to think Jackie had an undying crush on him. Was there a chance she was in this for real?

Somehow, despite the heat between them, he didn’t think so. She flirted and had fun, but she’d made it clear she didn’t want something permanent. And by no means had she jumped into his arms when he’d suggested she pose as his girlfriend.

They mounted their horses, and he turned down a dusty trail that took them through pastures where cattle grazed, and along to where Sweetheart Creek ran through the property. He’d spent hours riding this and the other trails on the ranch during the past several weeks, becoming reacquainted with his home while unspooling his thoughts.

Despite it being winter in Texas, the afternoon sun was warm. And while he missed the extreme seasons of Colorado, where he’d spent most of the last year and a half, he took comfort in the predictability of milder weather that wasn’t out to murder him should he be caught unprepared.

The creek came into sight, the sound of water babbling over rocks joining the soft thump of horse hooves.

“How about here?” Cole asked, indicating a grassy area near the creek. In the far distance clouds were gathering for the week of rain his mother had mentioned was coming. The temperature would likely drop to near freezing tonight, making this the last perfect picnic day in a while.

“This is pretty romantic, you know,” Jackie replied, swinging one long leg over her saddle and lowering herself to the ground.

He did the same, then took her reins and hitched the horses to an oak growing along the creek’s edge. The frequent spring floods overwatered it, pulling at its roots before abating, leaving the tree still standing like a lone survivor along this stretch of creek.

“I have to up my game. We’re official now.” He shot Jackie a wink that sent a flash of color racing across her cheeks. She had grabbed a straw cowboy hat from her car and looked every bit the Texan she was. She could go from a boot-scootin’ boogie in the saloon to her desk job at the feed store, to riding the trails or getting dusty under her car’s broken bumper. There was something about Texas women that he just hadn’t found in anyone else during his travels.

“Don’t go getting me all hopeful,” she teased. “I might start expecting flowers, chocolates and…” She shrugged as though embarrassed.

“Hanky-panky?” he asked, shaking out the picnic blanket on a flat patch of grass.

“Karen said we’re not allowed.”

“Maybe she could make an exception.”

Jackie flashed him a glare and pursed her lips, but her gaze dropped to his belt buckle.

As Cole set out the picnic, he said, “This is about where Ryan got swept downstream when we were kids. He was seven, I think.” Cole had been about thirteen, in that strange age between dependence and rebellion. He’d still wanted to be close to his parents, under their wing and tightly woven into the fabric of the family. But he’d also craved independence and had possessed a healthy desire to buck their approval.

“I heard the story,” Jackie said.

Cole settled on the blanket, elbows on his knees. He tipped his hat back and scratched his forehead as familiar feelings of not doing the right thing, of letting his brothers and himself down, came over him.

“It was a flash flood, more violent than any I’d ever seen. The creek covered the ground we’re on now, plus another couple feet.” He gestured to the dry land behind them. They had been working at keeping a nearby herd safe from the floodwaters and had taken a break. Levi had stalked off earlier, having gotten fed up with his four younger brothers teasing him for kissing some girl Cole couldn’t even remember. Ryan had kept throwing sticks into the creek for Bonkers, the family dog, and Cole had snapped at him, stressed out at being the responsible brother in what was a dangerous game of fetch.

“Ryan had been trying to cross the creek and suddenly he just slid in and disappeared. Couldn’t even see a flash of his shirt.”

“Myles jumped in after him though, right?” Jackie asked, kneeling beside Cole on the blanket.

He nodded. “Then the dog went in, too. He got dashed on some rocks.” Cole scanned the area, looking for the outcropping they’d thought had killed Bonkers in the flood. “Bonkers showed up the next day. Broken leg.” Cole felt that old twist in his gut, the immeasurable guilt for not searching for the family dog. He’d been washed down the creek to who-knew-where, then had limped the long miles home. They’d all written him off instead of looking for him.

Cole cleared his throat. “Dad wanted to put Bonkers down, and Brant lost it. I don’t think the five of us ever agreed on anything so fast in all our lives as we did that day. We pooled our allowance and Christmas money so we could take Bonkers to the vet.”

He swallowed over a sudden lump in his throat. He was talking about stuff that was so far in the past it no longer mattered, but he didn’t seem able to stop.

“Brant ran to the house to get Mom when Ryan fell in the water, and I just stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do.”

“Where was Levi?”

“He’d gotten tired of us teasing him, and left us to finish the chores. He’d been dating some girl. Well, not dating her, but he’d kissed her, and we’d found out.” Cole sent Jackie a crooked grin, thinking about the good ribbing they’d given Levi. There was nothing quite like teasing a sibling. You could be unrelenting and yet know you’d be forgiven, still loved at the end of the day, still someone they’d go to the end of the earth for.

Unless they were forced to choose between family members—even ones not related by blood. Then all bets were off.

He didn’t begrudge his family’s opinions, or how they’d argued with him over what he should do about April all those years ago. They’d been fighting for the family member who’d needed protecting the most—April. And Cole would have done the same had his position with his family been reversed.

“And Levi’s never had time for women ever since,” Jackie mused. “At least until Laura showed up.”

---