Page 11 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“No,” he said, “you’re right. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Is it hard being here?” she asked. “After what happened?” Nancy had been so careful to not say anything about his parents since coming back to Windy Creek, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he was feeling after their deaths.

“Mom’s accident was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” Colin said after a minute. Nancy knew the story: Colin’s mother had gone on a ride, and when her horse showed up without her, they’d combed the property for her. Colin’s father found her broken body in the bottom of a rocky ravine. As best they could figure, something had spooked her horse, and she’d been thrown. “When Dad’s heart gave out a few weeks later, Sabrina and I were so numb still that it didn’t really shock us. They loved each other so much, you know? He just couldn’t make it without her.” She reached out and touched his shoulder, just briefly, and Colin let out a shuddery breath. “Sabrina hated it here from then on, but I think I’ve held on so tight here because walking away from the ranch would mean walking away from them. Besides, I love this place—and I know that it needs me.” He stretched and stood. “Time to head back to reality, I think,” he said, and Nancy could feel the door between them closing again. Whatever happened in the water, during this talk, it was over now.

They both pulled their clothes back on, and Colin helped her back into the saddle. The ride back to the stables was a quiet affair. Nancy found herself staring at him time and time again. He was taking on so much responsibility—for the land, for Bex. It was all so much. Part of her wanted to help him—but most of her was scared to get too close. This wasn’t her life, not anymore. She wasn’t staying here. And she didn’t want to become something else that Colin lost—again.

When they got back to the stables, Colin helped her off of the mare again. She turned to find him standing close, and it would be so easy to let him kiss her. Shewantedhim to kiss her more than anything, but it didn’t feel right. Not when she knew how little she had to offer.

When he leaned in, she jumped back. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, and I don’t think we should do this, okay?”

“Nancy—”

“Look, Colin, I’m not happy at work; I’m not happy in my apartment. I’m not happy most of the time, to be quite honest.” She reached out and touched his cheek with her hand; she felt the subtle stubble that he missed this morning with the razor. “My life is a mess that I refuse to drag you into. And I can’t let myself lean on you when I still need to sort myself out. That’s where my focus has to be now.” She stared into his blue eyes, clouded with hurt. She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said again and practically ran from the stables.

SEVEN

“Well,” the bank manager, Mr. Reid, said as he flipped through Colin’s business plan, “this looks fantastic, Mr. McCabe. You’ve met all of your milestones, and you’re on track to open on schedule.” The older man looked up. “Keep in mind, though, you are taking on quite a bit of debt. You’re approved for the increase to your credit line, but you need to be aware of the risks, if things don’t go as planned.”

“I know, sir,” Colin said with a tip of his head. Worst-case scenario, he and Bex could lose some or all of the ranch. He glanced at Bex, who was scribbling in the coloring book he’d brought for her. He usually didn’t bring her when he came to the “Big Bank,” but after yesterday morning’s encounter with Nancy, he’d wanted his sidekick with him so he wouldn’t spiral. Now, though, he realized his mistake. She was only five, but she understood “losing your home,” which meant he had to avoid that talk as much as possible. “I’m taking this seriously,” he assured Mr. Reid. “I am taking every precaution that I can.” He clapped his hands together—a gesture he knew came from his father. “If we’re done here, I’ve got a little girl in need of lunch.”

“Sure thing.” Mr. Reid handed him back his business plan. “Have a wonderful day, Mr. McCabe. See you the next time you come to Boulder.”

Colin and Bex escaped the stuffy bank and stepped out into the crowded city sidewalk. After a two-hour car ride and an hour-long meeting, he was feeling claustrophobic. He hated coming here, but his great-grandfather had taken out the original loan on the ranch at a bank in Boulder, back when therewasno bank in the fledgling town of Windy Creek, and it was something of a family tradition to keep banking there. At this point, he needed all of the good luck he could get.

“Look, Daddy!” Bex crowed and took off toward a street vendor that was selling stuffed animals. Colin’s heart lurched, and he jolted forward to scoop her up. “Daddy, stop! Put me down!” She wriggled in his grip, unhappy.

Colin set her down on the side of the sidewalk nearest to the building and knelt down so that they were eye-level. “Boulder isn’t like home,” he told her and pointed out into the busy street. “There are cars everywhere. You can’t just go running off.”

Bex looked solemn for two seconds before she saw a pet store with puppies in the window. She looked to him pleadingly. “Can we go look? Please?”

He sighed. His plan was to grab a quick lunch and head home, but Bex’s eyes, huge and round, roved the crowd and the buildings around them. He needed to bring her with him more often; he liked raising her in Windy Creek, but he didn’t want her to not know the world. “If you hold my hand,” he told her, “we can go explore a little before lunch.”

Bex practically squealed in her happiness, and they spent a good portion of the afternoon exploring the town center, buying lunch from a street cart and eating as they went. City life wasn’t for him, but he could enjoy the bustle and activity for an afternoon, especially when Bex was having so much fun. But then Colin spotted something that stopped him in his tracks. Heknewthat building up ahead—and it only took him a second to realize why. He’d seen it in Nancy’s social media posts. It was the building where she worked.

Looking around, he found himself wondering if Nancy had been to that café, that hair salon. They passed a group of men in business attire, all talking about going clubbing that night. Did she do that when she was having a rough week? Nancy had such a different life here. Sure, she said that she wasn’t happy with it, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Even if she was going through some problems with her boss, the city was where she belonged. That was what she’d always said, and he couldn’t see that changing. “Come on, darlin’,” he said. “We need to be getting back.”

Bex begged to stay a little longer, but he needed to get out of there. As they were walking back to the parking lot, they passed a Claire’s, and Bex all but yanked him to a stop. “Can we go in? Just for a few minutes?”

Colin sighed and followed her in. He watched as she assessed the selections of cheap jewelry, perfume, and make-up with the greatest of care. It was almost like watching the Discovery Channel as a wide-eyed explorer roamed through the Australian Outback or the Serengeti. She reached for a tube of pink-tinted, cherry-flavored lip gloss; it cost all of a dollar, and he knew that she had some pocket money from completing her chores last week. But she’d never seemed interested in anything like that before. “Are you sure you want to buy that?” he asked as they approached the overly chipper woman behind the counter who was way too old to be wearing body glitter and faux fur.

“Nancy wears lip gloss,” Bex told him confidently, as if that was all the reason she needed. Maybe it was. Bex talked about Nancy nonstop; she was wholly fascinated by the woman in their guest house, and it was only Colin’s intervening that kept Bex from spending all of her time following Nancy around. That was another problem in and of itself. When Nancy did eventually come to her senses and leave Windy Creek again, what would that do to Bex?

Shortly after purchasing her first tube of makeup, Colin had Bex strapped into her booster seat, and they started home. About twenty minutes into the drive, he saw Bex’s head bobbing in his rearview mirror. Sweet girl had a big day. He thought she had sacked out when she murmured in a sleepy voice, “Daddy?”

“Yeah, darlin’?”

“I like Boulder—but I don’t want to move there. I want to stay in our house.”

Colin wanted to turn around and look at her, but he couldn’t do that safely. “We’re not moving to Boulder, Bex,” he promised. “What made you think we were?”

“I heard Ms. Lila tell Jada’s mommy that everyone’s moving to Boulder because all the jobs are there.” His heart broke to hear her sound so fearful. “Where would the horses stay? They wouldn’t like it there.”

“I promise that we aren’t moving to Boulder,” he said. “The ranch is our home, and I have every intention of staying there.”

“Are you sure?”

Colin smiled. “Absolutely.” She settled again, and when he heard her little nose whistles, he knew that she was out for sure. He looked back at her in the mirror; his heart felt like it would burst in his chest. Just another thing to lose, then, if the guest ranch launch went pear-shaped. If he couldn’t make it work, a city job would be the only answer to providing for Bex. He couldn’t bear it if he had to tell her they were moving away from the ranch.

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