Page 22 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

The little girl nodded, still looking disappointed. Colin suddenly remembered that the last time Nancy had made pancakes, she’d thrown some blueberries into the mix. “Bex, did you want blueberries in your pancakes?”

She lit up. “Yes, please,” she said in that singsong way of hers. Colin grabbed the package from the refrigerator and added a small handful into the remaining batter. When he turned around from the stove with a fresh batch, Bex was in a much brighter mood. “These are so good,” she said and launched into a story about doing chores with Jessie the day before.

They were finishing up breakfast when Bex asked, “Daddy, after Aunt Evie’s wedding, does Nancy really have to leave?”

Her words pierced into him more than he could ever let her know. “Nancy has a job in Boulder, darlin’,” he said, trying to keep his voice light.

“I know,” Bex said. She sounded so small; he wanted to sweep her into a big hug. “I just don’t want her to leave.”

Me neither, Colin thought glumly. He’d warned himself not to get used to her being at the ranch, but then she confessed to him how much she disliked her job, and he’d gotten his hopes up. But just because Nancy didn’t like her boss didn’t mean that she wanted to move back to Windy Creek. He told himself to stop holding onto the idea that Nancy might just stay, but it was a persistent thought in the back of his mind.

The honk of a horn broke into his thoughts. Bex jumped up from the table and rushed to get her shoes and bag. It took Colin a second to remember that she was getting a ride to school with a friend who lived down the road. She’d been so excited when Colin agreed to it earlier in the week. She came and threw her arms around his middle, and he bent to kiss the top of her head. “Love you, darlin’.”

“Love you too, Daddy!” she called and swept out the door. Colin watched her get in the car and waved as it drove off toward the road. He turned his mind to cleaning up and was arm-deep in the sink when his phone rang. He fumbled to wipe his hands and grab for it, noting that it was Nick calling.

“Hey, man,” his friend greeted. “My cousins from Texas are coming in for the bachelor party, so that makes twelve of us.”

Oh, shit. Colin had completely forgotten about Nick’s bachelor party with all the renovations. “That’s great,” he said. “More the merrier.”

“So I know you’re not going to tell me what we’re doing, but Evie wanted to know what I needed to wear that night.”

Colin could have laughed; Nick was not the best at getting information out of anyone. He couldn’t lie either. “I’ll let Evie know what to lay out for you,” he said with a grin. “That work for you?”

“Oh sure,” Nick said, sounding disappointed, “sure, man. Like I said, she was the one who wanted to know in the first place.”

Colin hummed. “Uh-huh.”

Nick sighed. “You suck, you know that? Fine, keep your secrets to yourself. I see how it is.”

Sweat sprouted between Colin’s shoulders and ran down his back. He could feel his shirt sticking to him. “It’s going to be legendary,” Colin promised coolly, despite the panic rushing through him. “Best send-off into marital bliss that a guy could ask for.”

The conversation turned to the renovations, to the secret honeymoon plans that Nick was working on, to the fight he and Evie had over the song for their first dance. “I need to be getting to work,” Nick said a few minutes later. “It was good catching up, man.” It had been. Colin knew things had been crazy lately, but he felt like he hadn’t seen Nick in weeks.

“Come by for a ride this week,” Colin said. “I’ll show you the new trails for the guests.” Nick agreed, bid him goodbye, and ended the call. As soon as it disconnected, Colin pulled up his internet browser and started searching for ideas for hosting a bachelor party. He’d been to a couple before, but he didn’t think Evie would appreciate strippers going anywhere near Nick. But that did beg the question: if strippers were out, what would they do for entertainment? And where would they go? It couldn’t be here on the ranch—he didn’t relish the idea of twelve drunk guys around Bex. Besides, she didn’t need to see her daddy or Nick like that.

He was a moment away from looking at Pinterest when the front door opened. He glanced up and a wave of relief washed over him. “Nancy, thank God,” he said.

Her eyebrows rose slightly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been greeted like that.” She smiled slyly, and it made him want to kiss her. “Kind of dig it.” She came over and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed a little. The little touch chased away some of the churn in his stomach. “What’s up?”

Colin wasn’t looking forward to the mockery that was sure to follow, but he steeled himself and told her about the bachelor party.Or lack thereof, he thought. “I’m his best man, and I forgot all about it.”

Nancy didn’t tease him like he thought she might. Instead, she sat down beside him and offered to help. “Evie’s bachelorette is more or less handled, and the major wedding planning is done,” she said. “I have time.”

“Thank you,” he said with all sincerity. “Coffee?”

She nodded. “Please.” He got up and went for the pot; Colin could feel her eyes on him all the while. When he turned to grab the milk from the fridge, she looked down at her phone and appeared to be in deep thought, but he knew better. He carried her coffee back to the table. When he made to sit down, Nancy’s work phone began to ring, and he couldn’t help himself: he groaned aloud. “Don’t worry,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m not getting it.”

Then why bring it with you?“You can if you need to,” he said, “but can I be honest with you?”

Nancy gripped the mug between her hands, and she dipped her head in acquiescence. “Go for it.”

“You’re on vacation, right? You’re using PTO to be here.” She nodded and took a sip of her coffee; her eyes slid shut for just a moment, and she let out a little sigh that reminded Colin far too vividly of the noise she had made when he’d kissed his way down the column of her throat.Focus, man, dear Lord. “So why is your boss calling every day? Why are you fielding texts from clients if other event planners have been assigned to oversee things for you?”

Nancy looked like she was going to argue with him, but her mouth twisted, and she deflated in front of him. “It’s not nice to hate people,” she said, “but I hate my boss.” She set her mug down and rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “She totally steamrolled me the second my back was turned, you know? She made all these changes so that this couple’s fiftieth anniversary party ‘would photograph better’ for her website and then leftmeto sell the changes to my client.”

Colin reached out and peeled Nancy’s hands away from her face. “So what are you going to do about it?” he challenged her. He didn’t tell her to quit, to move back home, but he wanted to. God, how he wanted to.

Nancy stared at him for a moment, and then she reached for her work phone, clearly making a call. “Reagan? Hi,” she said a second later, grimacing. Her boss must have been sitting on top of her phone, waiting on Nancy. “No, I can’t jump on Facetime with you right now. No…no, look, I’m not available today or any of the other days for the rest of my vacation. I took a month’s worth of PTO, and I’ve had to answer at least one call or email every day since I’ve been here.” Her voice was rock steady; Colin was proud. “Yes, I smoothed things over with Mr. Lawler and sold him on the changes for you, but that’s it—that’s the last work I’m doing on my vacation. I’m the maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding, and that is my focus for the next few weeks. No more calls; no more texts. My phone will be off.” Colin could hear a muffled, but clearly outraged reply, but if Nancy was getting flustered, she didn’t show it. “You’ll be fine, Reagan. See you in a few weeks.” With that, she ended the call and held down the power button until the screen went dark. She looked at Colin and let out a breath. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

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