Page 34 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

Reagan, thankfully, didn’t look surprised. “That’s not a problem,” she said with a firm nod, as if she’d expected for Nancy to say as much. “Just fax that to me when you can.”

Nancy nodded, and their meeting came to an end. She shook Reagan’s hand and rushed back over the parking lot to her car without looking back. Reagan took it as a given that she would accept the offer, that much was clear. Nancy couldn’t fault her for it; it really was a good offer, everything she’d been working toward. It would prove that she’d succeeded, and success sounded tempting. Just…not as temping as happiness. But could she be happy on the ranch? Was there really a place for her there?This is such a mess, she thought miserably.

The ride back to Windy Creek was a quiet one. She passed the rolling hills and didn’t take in a bit of the scenery. She just wanted to be back at the ranch with Colin and Bex, even if she wasn’t at all prepared for the questions Colin might ask about where she had been.

Nancy needn’t have worried, however. She pulled into the ranch’s drive right at dinner time, and while Colin looked at her, questions heavy in his eyes, Bex was on her the instant she came through the door. “Nancy! Daddy and me made chicken noodle soup for dinner! We even made the noodles ourselves.”

Nancy smiled. A rush of warmth washed over her. This little girl could make her smile even in her worst mood. “Homemade chicken noodle soup sounds amazing.”

Bex beamed, took her hand, and dragged her to the table Colin had set. A third bowl for her had been laid beside his. Nancy’s heart leapt into her throat, and she glanced at Colin, who was pointedly not looking at her. “I’m sorry if I’m late,” she murmured to him.

Colin shrugged. “Right on time,” he said, as if her hours-long disappearance wasn’t a big deal. “Hope your trip into the city turned out okay.”

Rather than replying, she focused on the soup. It smelled heavenly. The perfect cure on a cold day—except she was still sweating from the walk from her car to the house. “Soup in the summer?” she couldn’t help but ask as they sat to eat.

“Soup doesn’t need a reason or a season,” Bex said, as if reciting something, and grabbed her spoon. She glanced at Colin. “Right, Daddy?”

He smiled. “That’s right, darlin’.” They tucked in, and Nancy had to admit: even in the heat of summer, there was nothing quite as comforting as a bowl of chicken noddle soup.

While they ate, the conversation bordered on too polite. They talked about small things—the weather earlier that day and how Bex fared at school—but Colin didn’t ask where she’d disappeared to, and Nancy didn’t volunteer the information.

“Why are you guys being weird?”

Nancy looked at Bex, who was staring at them with all the scrutiny that a five-year-old could muster. “What do you mean, sweetheart?” she asked and winced at her overly bright voice. “Nothing’s weird, everything’s fine,” she said next, trying to sound more normal.

Bex didn’t look impressed, but she hit the bottom of her soup bowl and looked at Colin. “Can I go watch TV, Daddy?”

Colin nodded, tension clear on his face. “Sure thing.”

They both watched as the girl took her bowl and spoon to the sink before she disappeared into the living room. The sounds ofSpongeBob SquarePantsdrifted in. Nancy and Colin sat at the dining room table for a few minutes more in silence, tension growing between them, before they both pushed away from the table at the same time. “Why don’t I—” Colin started.

“I’ll do—” Nancy said at the same time.

They shared a laugh that lightened the atmosphere a bit. Nancy let the warmth of his laugh wash over her. “How about,” he says, mirth in his eyes, “I wash, and you dry?” He gestured at the kitchen and the sink full of dishes.

Nancy agreed, and the two gathered in front of the sink. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, and Nancy watched as he filled the sink with water and soap before he dumped in the dirty bowls and spoons. Her eyes followed his hands as he methodically scrubbed and rinsed the first bowl. When he handed it to her, their hands touched, and she felt that littlezingof attraction and want that she’d come to associate with Colin. “Where’d you learn to make homemade soup like that?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It was something Sabrina craved all the time when she was pregnant,” he told her, “and after making her approximately fifty cans of Campbell’s Chicken and Stars, I figured I should figure out an alternative that was a little less heavy on salt and preservatives.”

Nancy’s knees felt wobbly. Something about Colin making soup from scratch for his sister so that she could watch her sodium levels during her pregnancy just made her melt.Could he get any sweeter?“I guess it’s no wonder that Bex loves it so much,” she said.

Colin smiled and nodded. “Sabrina still asks for it too,” he said. “When she gets stressed at school, I freeze some and send it to her in those refrigerated boxes.”

Nancy leaned into his space, resting her head on his shoulder, even as she dried the bowl in her hands. She felt more than saw Colin turn his head, and then the sweetest brush of his lips against her temple. Her heart thumped in her chest. She wanted—no, sheneeded—to tell him about the offer that Reagan made to her. It was time to lay it all out and see what he had to say. She knew what she wanted him to say—that she belonged here, that he wanted her to stay forever—but she couldn’t put the words in his mouth. He had to be the one to say it. “Colin?”

“Yeah?”

He handed her another bowl, and she rubbed it with the damp towel in her hands. “There’s something I want to tell you,” she said.

Colin stilled, even as he tried to maintain his calm, nonchalant demeanor. “Okay,” he said.

But she never got any further because someone knocked at the door. “Daddy!” Bex called. “It’s Uncle Nick and Aunt Evie!”

Colin mumbled something that sounded likeshitbefore he dried his hands and hustled to answer the door. Nancy put the dishes away and put the stock pot on the rack to dry as Colin led Nick and Evie into the kitchen. They came bearing baked goods and homebrew: a thank-you for their bachelor and bachelorette parties. Nancy took the cookies from Evie with a smile that felt disingenuous but hopefully looked real.

They settled back around the dining table, and it didn’t take long for the four of them to be laughing and joking around like old times. It was the first time since Nancy had come back to Windy Creek that it was just the four of them together, and she felt something click into place that she hadn’t even known was missing. She’d always loved it when it was just the four of them, back in the day. And yet…it wasn’t quite the same now as it had been then. She didn’t feel quite as secure in her relationships as she had been—especially when she compared her and Colin to Evie and Nick.

Nancy sipped at the homebrew—it was bitter, but Nick looked so proud of himself when he held it up, she was determined to finish the glass—as Evie told them about finally narrowing down their honeymoon plans. “We’re going to Aurora for the weekend,” she said. “I found the cutest cabin in the mountains.”

---