Page 6 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw a display of headpieces: there was a sparkly headband that would be perfect with her dress. She grabbed it and placed it atop Bex’s blonde head. Two seconds too late, she wondered if she was overstepping Colin’s boundaries again. When she looked up, Colin was still smiling. A genuine, melt-worthy smile, not the tense one he wore when he didn’t know how else to respond. He nodded, and Bex beamed. She raced off to look at herself in the mirror. “When this wedding is over, I’m never going to be able to pry her out of that dress.”

“It’ll look cute with cowboy boots,” Nancy said, and Colin snorted.

“Thanks, Nance.”

They shared a look, and the humor seeped out of his eyes a little bit, replaced with something that she couldn’t quite decipher. Heat, maybe, but something else too. Before Nancy could respond, Bex came running back. The allure of a pretty dress and sparking headband could only hold her interest for so long. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Colin nodded. “Go on and change, and we’ll go get some dinner.” Bex went back to the changing rooms. He cleared his throat before he said, “I’m making spaghetti and garlic bread. It’s about the only thing I can actually cook. I could make some extra? If you wanted to eat with us.”

She couldn’t hide her surprise. “I’ve got to finish up here,” she said, then smiled at him tentatively. “Dinner sounds great, though.” She glanced over to the bridesmaids. “I can meet you at the ranch?”

Colin smiled back. “We’ll wait,” he said. “I’m sure I can distract Bex for a few minutes longer.”

Nancy nodded and rejoined the group of bridesmaids. “Mind if I cut in?” she asked Ericka as the seamstress finished up with Lila. “Colin is making dinner, and I don’t want to keep him too long.”

Ericka glanced back at Colin and shook her head, mournfully. “Go on,” she said. “If I had a man like Colin McCabe offering to make me dinner, I would’ve pushed you out of the way.”

They all laughed, but Nancy was quick to tell her that she had it all wrong. “We’re just friends now.” She shrugged. “We’retryingto be friends now. It’s been a long time.”

Evie touched her arm. “Is everything okay, though? Staying on the ranch?”

No, I trod all over boundaries like a clod and nearly killed his niece. “We’re making it work,” she said. “I’m testing out the guest house for him.”

Evie grinned. “Sounds naughty.”

“Oh, grow up.” Evie stuck her tongue out at her, making her laugh. God, but she had missed her; Nancy felt like a kid again. “I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?” Evie nodded, and the others bid her goodbye as well.

She joined Colin and Bex. “Hungry?” Colin asked with a grin.

“Famished.” She held out a hand to Bex, and the little girl took it and squeezed.I could get used to this, she thought and promptly shoved that thought aside. There wasn’t anything to get used to; she was just reconnecting with some old friends. That’s all it was, and all that it could be, right? Because she left Windy Creek, Colorado, for a reason, and those reasons still existed. Her entire life was in Boulder; shebelongedthere.

Except, it had been a long time since anything there made her as happy as she felt right now.

FOUR

Nancy was tired. She’d spent the day coordinating the delivery of the flowers and the catering to the new venue. The previous wedding planner had left things in such chaos that it had been a massive headache to sort through everything. But thankfully, it was now done. The florist and caterer had been accommodating and kind—and relieved to be working with someone who actually knew what she was doing. Mrs. Hirsch, the florist, called the other wedding planner a “nightmare to work with.”

When she came back to the guest house, Nancy sprawled out on the patchwork couch, sighing as she sank into its squishiness. She was still lying there, limbs akimbo, when there was a knock on the front door. Unwilling to move, she just shouted out that it was unlocked. A moment later, the door opened, and Colin stepped inside. “Well,” he said with a laugh he disguised as a cough, “you look…comfortable.”

Nancy sat up. “It’s a nice couch,” she said, almost primly. He was staring at her with that heavy gaze. She could feel it like a touch. “Can I help you with something?”

Colin cleared his throat. “I’m taking Bex to the diner,” he said. “Do you want to join us?”

She grinned, hopped up, and grabbed her purse from where she’d tossed it on the coffee table. “I could definitely go for an Ed’s burger.”

At the diner they ordered their food before tucking themselves into one of the corner booths. A bored teenager dropped off their burgers some ten minutes later, and Colin busied himself getting it ready for Bex, who had immediately started constructing things with her fries. Nancy liked watching this ritual of theirs; it was like she was being let into their world.

A burst of laughter drew her attention to a group of teenagers at a four-top table. They were laughing at some video one of the girls was playing on her phone. The group looked totally joyous, and Nancy was taken back to when she, Evie, Nick, and Colin used to come here after school, oblivious to the world around them and exultant over being together. She knew that if she went into the hallway near the bathroom, the autograph wall would be there, and her and Colin’s initials would be in a carved heart: he’d surprised her with it on their six-month anniversary, back when they thought they’d found their forever person.If only we knew then how it would turn out, she thought.

“You’re not eating.” Bex’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“Huh?” Bex and Colin wore twin expressions of concern; it almost made her laugh.

“You’re not eating,” Bex said again. She glanced at Colin. “Does Daddy need to put ketchup on your food too?”

Nancy laughed and shook her head. Unable to explain the wave of bittersweet nostalgia, she picked up her burger and took a big bite. “Mmmm. So good.”

She met Colin’s eyes over the table, and there was that weighted gaze again. Nancy shivered, and a self-satisfied smile spread across his face. She laughed, a touch nervous, and asked, “What made you switch Mustang Crossing to a dude ranch? I remember y’all having so many cows at one point that I couldn’t count them all coming down the road.”

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