Page 8 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“I’ll add everything to the list to show Evie.” She took her sketchbook back. “I wish—” She shook her head.

“You wish what?” His voice was soft, kind.

“I wish my boss heard me the way you do,” she said. “I do my best to deliverexactlywhat my clients ask for, but Reagan doesn’t always get my vision.”

“Why do you stay there if you and your boss don’t get along?”

Nancy shrugged. “I want to be a creative director, but short of starting my own business, the only way to do that is to climb the ranks. I’d have to start all over from the bottom if I left to join a different company, so I’m stuck.”

Colin stared at her, hard, for the longest time; it almost made Nancy squirm in her seat, that steady, searching gaze. “The Nancy I knew was a fighter,” he finally said. “She would’ve stood up for herself, let her boss know that she wouldn’t be walked over.” He spread his hands out in front of him, showing her his empty hands. “But having done my fair share of compromising myself, I can’t judge you.”

Nancy dropped her head for a moment, and he reached across the table; she felt his fingers briefly brush her arm, a gesture of comfort. Her eyes fluttered shut; that was one of the things that she missed the most about being in a relationship. The casual, comforting intimacy. But almost as soon as he’d started, he snatched his hand back, as if remembering himself. Nancy sighed but decided that, for tonight, it would be best to let it go. “I should head back,” she said. “Long day tomorrow.”

Colin nodded, and they stood up from the table. He walked her to the door but before she could disappear into the night, he told her, “I’m glad you’re here, Nance. Nick and Evie deserve the wedding of their dreams, and I think you’re going to exceed all of their expectations.”

Nancy felt his words like a hug. “I’ll certainly try.”

They said goodnight, and Nancy made her way back to the guest house. After a quick shower, she crawled into bed and tried to sleep, but she found herself just staring at the ceiling. She was glad she was here, too, for Nick and Evie’s sake—but it was harder than she’d expected, being back in the life that was so familiar but that wasn’t hers anymore. Just like Colin was so, so familiar…but not hers. Not anymore.

FIVE

Colin was in his element. His tools were laid out just the way he liked them, he had his design drawn out, and a warbly country song was pouring from his Bluetooth speaker. His plan was to start work on refitting the old milking barn today and begin turning it into a true venue space. He was measuring out dance floor space when the barn door swung open, and he heard the soft thud of heels on the wooden floor.

“What on God’s green Earth are you doing?”

He looked up at Nancy, who was staring at his design with a frown. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

She pointed at the piece of paper. “You’re putting the dance floor by the doors.” She looked at him with an expression that told him that he should already know the problem, but he didn’t have a clue what the issue was. He was very sure she was about to tell him, though. “You’re putting it right next to the doors, which open to the west, Colin. The plan is to keep the doors open so that people can go in and out as they want, remember? Given the time the wedding reception will start, the glare is going to blind the people on the dance floor.” She looked back at the paper and sighed. “This is just all wrong.”

Colin scoffed and walked over to her. “All of it? Really?”

She pointed again. “You’ve got the buffet tables against the far wall. The caterers will have to cross a crowded space in order to restock the buffet.” She spun and pointed at the wall beside the door. “They should go here so that the caterers can pop in and out as they need to.”

Her concerns and suggestions were all valid, but the more she talked, the more irritated Colin became. He’d put so much thought and effort into planning this venture. After all, he was staking not just his whole future on it but Bex’s as well. Everything had to be just right. He’d thought itwasjust right—that he’d gotten everything perfectly arranged. But now here Nancy was, telling him he was doing it all wrong. He didn’t deal well with people contradicting him under any circumstances, but for Nancy to swan in, after ten years away, and boss him around like this…well… He dug his hands into his pockets, grounding himself. His phone cut through Nancy’s lecturing. “Hello?”

Nancy began wandering around the space, poking around, and he very nearly missed what the person on the other end of the line was saying. “Hey, Colin. It’s John, from the hardware store. Bad news: Mick, our delivery guy, called out sick, so we won’t be able to deliver the lumber you ordered until tomorrow.”

Crap.“Is it in-store? I’ll come get it.” John confirmed that his order of lumber was sitting on the loading dock; he would be happy to help Colin load it into a truck. “Sure thing,” Colin said. “I’ll be up shortly.”

Nancy was back to riding him the second he hung up. “This barn doesn’t meet fire code,” she said, pointing at the exposed wiring as if he didn’t know about it already. “You can probably get away with it for Evie’s wedding, but if you’re going to hold more events here, you’ll need to update your electric and the air conditioning.”

She’s trying to help.The reminder didn’t do much to cool his temper. Colin took a deep breath and let it out in a soft hiss. “Look, I have to go pick up the lumber I need to refit the barn, but my plans for the renovations are in a blue binder in the kitchen if you’re that worried about it.” Before she could respond—though not fast enough that he didn’t see the bloom of hurt on her face—he stormed out of the barn.

His hands gripped the steering wheel as he drove into town until his knuckles went white with the strain. Why did she have to butt in? Why couldn’t she just plan the wedding? That was her job. Worrying about the ranch and the renovations was his job. His responsibility. The more he thought about it, the more aggravated he got, and when he saw Nick’s gas station coming up on the right, he turned the wheel to pull in. He needed to vent.

His best friend was stocking the shelves behind the counter; he smiled when Colin came through the door. “Nancy’s driving you nuts, huh?”

Colin stopped short. “How did you—?”

Nick laughed. “It’s all over your face. You used to scowl the same way in high school.”

Colin wasn’t sure if he liked that or not; he always thought he kept things closer to the chest than that. “She wants to make all these changes to my plans for the event space,” he explained how she breezed into the barn and started pointing out what she saw as flaws.

Nick’s face twisted in sympathy even as he said, almost apologetically, “I mean, I don’t want the sun in my eyes the first time I dance with my wife.”

“Well, no, but—”

“And,” Nick added, cutting Colin off, “it doesn’t sound like a good idea for the caterers to be tripping over the guests.”

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