Page 2 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

“But we’re not like that anymore,” Nick said quickly. Cole nodded in agreement. These days his Friday nights were usually spent home alone.

Cole found his attention drifting to Jackie Moorhouse again. The perky spitfire was still sitting by herself, looking uncharacteristically glum. April had suggested he go talk to her when they’d been dancing earlier. Possibly his curiosity had shown? Or maybe it was related to the numerous well-meaning people who had hinted rather blatantly that Jackie had a crush on him and had been waiting for him to return. If that was true, she should be in the CIA, because she was hiding her feelings very well.

“Hi, Cole,” Daisy-Mae Ray said, fluttering her lashes as she joined their small circle.

“How are you still single, Miss Gorgeous USA?” he asked, turning on the charm.

She laughed. “You’re still not interested?”

She’d been one of the first women to approach him when he’d come home, and therefore the first to be turned down. He gave her an apologetic smile and shook his head. “I’ve got to mend some fences before I can get serious about a woman.”

“I wasn’t suggesting anything serious,” she said, stroking his shoulder, her subtle floral perfume drifting over him.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

“In other words, no women, because he’s leaving soon.” Nick gave him a glance to confirm, ever the wingman.

Cole shook his head. “I’m staying.”

Daisy-Mae rolled her eyes. “Sure you are. Keep me in mind if you get lonely.”

He touched the brim of his cowboy hat, his shirt pulling again in the process, as she turned to melt into the crowd. She was Myles’s ex-girlfriend, and even if Brant didn’t respect the bro-code regarding brothers and their exes, Cole did. Although Brant possibly got a pass on hooking up with April, seeing as he’d had a thing for her since they were preteens, and if Cole had been around he would have given them his blessing.

He swung his attention once more to the woman sitting in the shadows near the door. Why wasn’t Jackie surrounded by her usual gaggle of giggling friends, or hanging out with April? Why was she sporting a serious frown that made her almost unrecognizable?

Where was her joy tonight?

Come to think of it, where was his own? This party was for him, after all. He turned his attention back to Nick, who was asking if his beer needed a refill. He shook his head with a thanks, trying to sort out where he fit into this town that never changed, but seemed to have done so in his absence.

It was time to rewrite his life, and for some weird reason, it felt as though Jackie held the key to how he was supposed to do that.

* * *

Jackie was done. She’d been sitting off to the side, pretending to have a good time, for almost two hours. Sure, she’d floated from table to table occasionally so people wouldn’t think something was up, but she’d mostly stuck to herself, sorting through her moods. All she could think about was the fight she’d had with April on their walk over to The Watering Hole, and how her friend took love for granted.

April had called her a chicken for not throwing herself all over her long-time crush Cole Wylder as soon as he’d stepped foot in Sweetheart Creek again. But anyone could see that his years away had weighed on him, and that he wasn’t the same man who’d left town. It was right there in the haunted glimmer in his eyes, available for all to see.

Jackie sighed and swirled the drink she’d been nursing all night. Like a fool, she’d continued to carry the burden of her childhood crush even when Cole had disappeared for five years. Now she wasn’t sure the man she’d dreamed of for so long still existed.

To make matters worse, she realized that April had been right: milk did last longer than Jackie’s boyfriends. She was just a flirt the local men didn’t consider as marriage material. So what had she done? She’d pinned her hopes and dreams on a man who didn’t do serious or long-term.

Hopeless.

No wonder April had been so cavalier about telling her to throw herself at Cole. And maybe the reason her words had struck so deep was that they’d hit upon some truths Jackie had been hiding from herself for too long.

She checked the clock on the wall, figuring she’d been at Cole’s welcome-back party long enough that she could politely leave. After all, April and Brant had left an hour ago, their expressions dark. They were going to have a blowout fight, neither of them realizing just how good they had it. Stuck in their own drama, they couldn’t see the relationship gold they were sitting on.

It seemed like every time Jackie turned around, her friend had effortlessly ensnared another man. But this time it was true love, and April taking it for granted made Jackie so frustrated she wanted to shake her. Whereas Jackie wasn’t sure she’d ever truly been in love, despite her thirty-two years living in a town full of matchmakers—herself included.

Maybe it was envy?

The fight with April had at least reinforced what she already knew. If she was looking for love—which she was—that meant no more flings. They were nothing but diversions, something to hide behind so she didn’t have to deal with the scary idea that true love might not be waiting out there for her.

Jackie downed the last of her drink, tracking Cole Wylder, the man of the hour, as she did so. He was still hot. Still had that fluid, confident way of moving that made her want to sigh in satisfaction every time she saw him.

She’d been chasing him for as long as she could remember. Him. Just him. Sure, she’d flirted with his brothers, but that had simply been to ensure she didn’t freak Cole out with her steady, pinpointed interest.

She set her empty glass on the small table and stood.

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