Page 35 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“Aurora?” Nancy asked. “I thought y’all were going to go on a cruise.” She was sure that Evie had mentioned a cruise out of New Orleans to Jamaica at some point.

“That was the original plan,” Nick said, and he glanced at Evie, who grinned and buried her face against his shoulder. “We decided that instead of a big trip, we’d rather put the money away.”

It wouldn’t have sounded so important if Evie didn’t have the strangest look on her face. “Are you pregnant?” Nancy blurted out.

Evie shook her head. “No,” she said, “but we decided that we were going to start trying after the wedding.”

It was the strangest thing: Nancy was happy for her friends, but a burning pit ignited in her belly.Acid reflux, her mind tried to convince her,from the soup. But she knew what jealousy felt like. She told herself not to do it, but she looked at Colin, who was resolutely not looking at her. “That’s fantastic,” she said, making her mouth form the words. “You’re going to be incredible parents.”

“So what about you?” Nick asked her. “This wedding has pretty much kept you hostage here. What’s the big plan for after it’s all over?”

Nancy’s mouth dried out. While she was going to tell Colin about Reagan’s offer earlier, she couldn’t now. Not like this. “Um—”

“I’ve got to get Bex to bed,” Colin announced, cutting her off. His voice was shaky, like he was struggling to hold himself together. Nancy tried to reach out to him, but he stepped out of reach as he shouted for Bex to turn the television off. He disappeared before anyone at the table could say a word, leaving Nancy to walk Nick and Evie out.

“That was weird,” Nick said at the door.

Evie patted at Nancy’s arm and mouthedcall me laterat her. “He’s your friend, my love,” she said aloud to her fiancé. “You know exactly how weird he can be.”

Nancy didn’t jump to Colin’s defense. She was irritated by his abrupt about-face.No, you’re irritated that he wouldn’t let you touch him. “Thank you for the thank-you,” she said. “Bex will polish off the rest of the cookies in the morning, I’m sure of it.”

That got the couple laughing, and she was able to bid them a goodnight and shut the door. She turned on her heel, ready to track Colin down and give him a piece of her mind, but when she got upstairs, he was reading to Bex, and some of the wind let out of her sails. Leaving him to it, she headed into his room and readied herself for bed. Some ten minutes later, he came in after her, and she watched him tug off his clothes and pull on his pajama pants. He eased in beside her as if he were afraid that she would explode.

Nancy knew they should talk, but it felt like a fight would break out if either said anything, so she chose to avoid it. Without a word, she curled into his side until he lifted an arm and allowed her to fit herself against him. His arm came down around her, and the heat of his skin on hers grounded her, despite the tension pressing in on them from all sides. “Good night, Colin,” she mumbled.

He tightened his grip on her for a moment. “Night, Nance.”

TWENTY-TWO

They were all going to melt. That, if nothing else, was something Colin was sure of. The day had broken hot and only gotten hotter, and as they gathered for Nick and Evie’s ceremony rehearsal, the air conditioning system in the chapel started smoking. Literally smoking. They’d had to shut it off out of fire concerns. One of the ranch hands was looking at it now, but from the texts Colin was getting, he didn’t have much hope that the old thing was easily fixable.

“Lord, son,” an older woman said from her seat in the first pew.Ruth, he thought,Evie’s Aunt Ruth from a few towns over. She was singing during the ceremony before the vows. “It’s hotter than a blister bug in a pepper patch. When’s this thing start, anyhow?” She mopped at her forehead with her handkerchief, smearing her thick concealer.

Colin offered the woman a fan with the ranch’s name, social media handles, and email printed on one side, and a stylized “Evie and Nick” on the other. “Soon, ma’am,” he said and tried for a smile. “The minister hasn’t arrived just yet.” Sheharrumphed and fanned herself hard. Sweat dotted her upper lip like a watery mustache. “Can I bring you some lemon water? We have some at the back of the chapel for guests.” She waved him away with the fan, but she looked at least a little mollified by the offer, and Colin scooted away, grateful. He wanted this dude ranch to work more than anything, but customer service was new to him, and he worried that he didn’t really have an instinct for it yet.

He spotted Nancy on the other side of the small chapel, handing out fans with a beaming smile despite the heat. She had such a way with people.She could make this a premiere spot, he thought.We’d be quite a team. The thought made him sigh, and he ended up grimacing at the next person he handed a fan to. The woman took it hesitantly and turned to murmur to the man sitting beside her. He was tempted to slip into the miniscule bathroom that he added to the back of the chapel so that he could practice his smile until it looked softer and more easygoing, but he didn’t want to look like he was trying to hide from the guests.

Colin had woken up with a goal in mind: talk to Nancy about what the hell was going on between them. They’d spent the last few days under a tense cloud that’d put them all on edge, Bex included, and while that should make him want to run, Colin was surer than ever that it meant he was on the edge of something important. Life changing, maybe. But every time he’d tried to get Nancy alone, something had gone wrong.

With any luck the rehearsal would be quick—then they could move to the barn for dinner. He’d checked that air conditioning, and it was working just fine.Small favors, he thought. He had just given out his last fan when the minister arrived, and they could officially get the rehearsal started. He went to get Bex lined up to practice her walk down the aisle: his little girl looked miserable. “You okay, darlin’?”

She looked at him, and her bottom lip wobbled. “It’shot, Daddy.”

“I know,” he said sympathetically and poured her a cup of the lemon water. “You hang onto this, okay? Take sips.” He hoped making her drink slow would allow her to keep focused on something other than the heat, and if they were blessed at all, they could make it out of this without Bex having a meltdown. The bridesmaids and groomsmen lined up according to Nancy’s roster that she had taped to the last pew. Nancy stood beside him, the maid of honor to his best man, and he offered her the crook of his elbow. “Ma’am,” he said and tipped his Stetson (professionally cleaned for just this occasion) her way.

Nancy smiled, soft and pleased. “Howdy, cowboy,” she flirted right back.

Ask her now. “Nancy—”

There was small scream and a thud. Colin whipped his head around to see Aunt Ruth laid out on the wooden floor of the chapel. He sprang into action, barking at the guests to remain seated while Nancy got the woman some water. The minister helped Colin to get her seated; her head lolled onto the minister’s shirt, but she was coming around. “So embarrassing,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.

“It’s going to be okay,” Colin said, taking the cup from Nancy, who stood in an awkward hover over them. “We’re going to get you some help.”

“Should I call an ambulance?” Nancy asked.

The woman shook her head. “No, no ambulance,” she said, words slurring just a little.

The group in the pews were all whispering now, and Colin couldn’t help but think that this was an unmitigated disaster. “Can you do the rehearsal without me?” he asked the minister, who nodded. “I’ll take her to the urgent care if she doesn’t want to go to the emergency room.”

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