Page 29 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“Let’s go put Bex down, and then I’ll take him out to the stables. I’ve got an empty stall he can hang out in until we can figure something out for him.”

Once they got Bex settled into her bed, Colin kissed Nancy before going to deal with the pig. “Stay with me tonight?” he asked, and Nancy’s beaming smile was answer enough.

EIGHTEEN

Nancy was cleaning the kitchen, wearing another of Colin’s tee shirts. He and Bex were out visiting Pulled Pork, and she had volunteered to do dishes after the lumberjack-style breakfast that Colin had made for them. She was loading the dishwasher when her phone rang: it was Evie. She grabbed for it. “Hey, Evie, what’s up?”

“What can I bring later?” She and the other bridesmaids were coming by to see the barn and finalize the music list for the DJ.

“Nothing,” Nancy assured her. “I’ve got lunch handled. Y’all just bring yourselves.”

“Good, good,” Evie said, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to end the call.Just ask, Nancy thought. Evie was probably dying to know what was going on with her and Colin. “So what’s going on?” Evie finally blurted out. “How’s Colin?”

Nancy nearly laughed at the attempt to be casual. “Is that why you really called?

“Maybe. I got the gossip from some people who saw you together at the fair,” she said. “Is this a thing between you now? A real thing?”

I have no clue. They hadn’t talked about anything specifically; they hadn’t made each other any promises. But Nancy seriously liked waking up in his bed. She liked being ingrained to his and Bex’s lives here. “I’m falling for him all over again,” Nancy admitted. “I’m falling for that little girl, too, and I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you want to do?” Evie asked.

Nancy didn’t know. “I’m not sure what I would do out here,” she said. “I mean, I could work part-time in Boulder, maybe go in one or two days a week, but that wouldn’t make sense in my current position.” She sighed. “If things took off here, I suppose I could always run events for the ranch. I’ve been helping him set up some social media, and he’s gotten a fair few bookings already, but I can’t just assume that Colin wants me to be a part of that.”

Evie was quiet for a moment. Then, she said, “You’ve given this a lot of thought, Nance. You need to see if he’s feeling the same way.”

Nancy knew she was right, but she wasn’t there yet. If they talked about it, real decisions would have to be made, and that would mean their lives would change, one way or the other. “Maybe,” she said. “Look, I need to go. I’ll see you this afternoon, okay?” Evie bid her a quick goodbye, and then she hung up.

Nancy was adding a soap pod to the dishwasher when her phone rang again. Figuring Evie must have forgotten something, Nancy answered with a laugh, “What now?”

There was a scoff at the other end of the line. “It’s nice to talk to you too, Nancy.” It was Reagan, calling on her personal line instead of her work phone.

“I’m sorry,” Nancy said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you on this number.”

There was that scoff again, and Nancy felt her jaw clench involuntarily. “I would have called your business line, but you turned it off.”

“You kept calling while I’m on vacation,” Nancy said flatly.

“Well,” Reagan said in a singsong way, “once you hear what I have to say, I think you’ll be glad I called.” Nancy didn’t say anything, waiting for her to continue, and Reagan cleared her throat. “Yes, well, to show my appreciation for how you handled Mr. Ross—” Nancy did all she could to bite her tongue. “—and for all you’ve done for the firm in your years with us, I would like to extend to you the opportunity to buy in as a partner in the firm.”

Reagan might as well have hit Nancy with a 2x4 for how shocked that she was. “Partner?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes,” Reagan said, sounding a touch impatient now, “you would buy in with twenty thousand dollars, and in exchange, you would be a partial owner with a lot more autonomy. Your earning potential will skyrocket.”

Twenty grand was a lot of money, but it wasn’t completely impossible for her to come up with, and this partnership was everything that she had been working toward for years. The “yes” was on the tip of her tongue, but her eyes caught movement out the window in front of her: Colin and Bex were coming back toward the house. Her heart did a somersault. “It’s an incredible offer,” she told Reagan, “but can I have some time to think it over?”

“Of course,” Reagan said, though she sounded annoyed that Nancy hadn’t fallen all over herself to immediately accept. “I’ll email you the contract, and you can look it through.” Before they hung up, however, she said, “Don’t wait too long now. Offers like this don’t come along every day.”

It was a threat, and they both knew it. “Sure thing,” Nancy said. “Thanks, Reagan.”

Nancy went on with the rest of her day and tried to put what Reagan said out of her mind. She had been enjoying not thinking about her job and her life in Boulder, and she didn’t want all of that ruined now. She spent the morning outside with Colin and Bex, and when Evie and the other bridesmaids showed up around lunchtime, Bex begged to come along with them. “I don’t mind,” Nancy told Colin as they all ate lunch at the picnic tables. Nancy (with Jessie’s help) had prepared chicken salad sandwiches, home fries, and fresh fruit; it made for a pretty picnic, though the ranch hands had politely begged off and went in search of heartier stuff.

“All right. But Bex, just make sure you—”

“Mind Nancy,” Bex finished for him as she tore her sandwich into little pieces. “I know, Daddy.”

The women laughed. “We’ve got her, Colin,” Evie assured, and they all chorused her in agreement.

Colin finished his lunch, dropping a kiss on Nancy’s lips in thanks, and told her to call him if they needed anything. “I’ve got to mend a few fences in the back pasture, and I’ll work on the barn when y’all are done with your tour.” He ruffled Bex’s hair before he walked in the direction of his truck.

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