Page 67 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

Wishful thinking?

Possibly.

But Henry had pointed out the very things she had been avoiding thinking about. She had been chasing Cole since she was a kid, and what they were doing right now was just for show. Cole wasn’t someone she could count on over the long haul, and she shouldn’t expect to.

Yes, he would fix her bumper and show up when she needed a smile. But he wasn’t going to solve the big problems in her life, and it would be ridiculous to expect that of him when they weren’t an actual couple, despite how deep the two of them had dived into the charade. She was leaving town, and when he’d heard the news it was like he'd shut down emotionally and released her, as though their relationship wasn’t something worth fighting for. As though what they had wasn’t worth preserving. As if he still felt they were playacting, when they weren’t.

Was what they had really that much different from what he and April had battled for years? He’d left town when things got sticky instead of raising his fists and fighting. Jackie understood why he’d gone, and it had likely been the right thing to do. But it also felt as though staying away for so long may have been the easy way out rather than coming back home and facing everyone again.

She sighed, her earlier elation sliding into something that resembled her old friend Mr. Glum.

She just wished she had more time to figure things out with Cole.

“Are you okay?”

Jackie snapped her head up at the sound of Lucy’s voice. “Yeah, why?”

She gestured to Jackie’s former slumped position, then said, “Usually you come downstairs to chat if you need something.” She gave her a folder of receipts.

“Thanks.”

“You sure everything’s okay?” Lucy paused. “I heard you and Cole are dating?”

“We are. He’s magnificent.” Jackie allowed a trace of her true feelings to sound in her voice, to add credence to her words.

“I saw you walking this morning. You two are really cute together.” Lucy’s expression grew wistful. “I haven’t smiled like you two in a very long time.”

And that was the problem. Jackie was smiling like she hadn’t in a very long time, too. Or maybe ever.

But it was all going to end in the most heartbreaking way, and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

Cole saw Jackie coming across the yard, the damp March air putting a rosy color in her cheeks as the dogs chased her, wagging their tails. He felt the beginnings of a grin and considered playing it cool, since they were technically still in a fake relationship despite things being fairly hot and heavy for the past month.

Jackie had spent the last day and a half in the city, doing some research and looking into a new care facility for her father, and Cole had missed her like crazy. His days were boring without her, and he’d taken to carrying his phone with him on the off chance she’d shoot him a text or call him.

She had a few times, and he’d been so eager to hear from her he’d nearly fumbled his beeping phone right into a horse trough full of water. He felt like a teenager, gluing his nose to the screen, tapping out messages, hearing phantom rings. Swearing he felt a vibration for a message that hadn’t been sent.

Now she was here in person. And she was smiling, her pace quickening as she drew near, and his own smile won out over his pride.

He set down the brushes he’d been using to clean a saddle out in the March sunshine, and headed toward her with long-legged strides. “Hey, pretty lady. Looking for a cowboy?”

“Just one,” she said, beaming at him.

Man, this felt real.

Itwasreal.

He held out his arms and quickened his last steps, and Jackie leaped on him, wrapping her legs around him as if she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her.

He met her lips with a hungry kiss that went on so long his arms started to ache from holding her so tightly.

“Welcome home.”

She nuzzled into the spot where his neck and chest met, and gave a sigh of contentment, then leaned back, still in his arms.

Home.

---