Page 65 of Wounded Cowboy
Kelsey smiled, touched by his words.“And I’m really going to miss them, too. But I think Claudia Harwood might be perfect for the girls.”
“No one can replace you,” Spring said, and the sincerity in his voice made warmth pool in Kelsey’s chest.“But she sounds very promising. Thank you for taking the time to find someone qualified.”
“Of course,” Kelsey replied.
Spring cleared his throat. His smile vanished and his expression turned serious.“Kelsey, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Oh?” Her throat went suddenly dry. Her heart began pounding.Is he going to ask me to stay?
And if so, why in the world ask hernow, when she’d already signed a lease, was all packed, and ready to begin her drive the day after tomorrow?
“Kelsey,” he began,“I can’t thank you enough for taking such good care of my girls this summer… and for taking care ofme. You’re beautiful, kind, and fun, and I’ll always treasure our time together.”
His eyes locked onto hers. Kelsey saw sincerity and pain etched across his face.
“It—it was my pleasure,” she said, knowing she sounded lame.
“I thought about asking you to stay,” he confessed.
Her heart missed a beat.
Then Spring continued speaking. “—but I realized I don’t have the right to ask you to give up your big dream for my sake. You deserve better—a hundred times better—than the guy who killed his wife and almost killed his daughters,” he finished bitterly.
Kelsey’s breath caught in her throat. She’d heard about Laura’s death from Jenna and others in town, but Spring had never spoken of it. She swallowed hard.“I heard it was a car accident.” She reached out and put her hand on his arm.
“It was stupidity.Mystupidity.” Spring looked away. Kelsey saw his jaw muscles clenching. After a long moment, he resumed speaking.“Back then, I was still an active-duty Marine stationed at Miramar in San Diego. Laura and I brought the girls to the ranch for Thanksgiving. I insisted on leaving my parents’ house and driving to the airport hotel in Belgrade late that night so that we’d be sure to catch our early morning flight back to San Diego.” He shook his head.“Laura tried to talk me out of it. But I insisted. If only I’d listened to her! Or left Thanksgiving dinner early, then maybe our car wouldn’t have hit that patch of black ice on Highway. 90.” He looked back at her, his expression stark and his eyes filled with pain.“Our car flew off the road and rolled down a steep embankment. We—we were all wearing our seatbelts. And the airbags deployed… but Laura still died. The girls might’ve died, too.”
Kelsey’s heart ached for the man sitting beside her. Spring had been carrying this burden of guilt for far too long. She felt a sudden surge of protectiveness toward him.
“Spring,” she whispered, squeezing his arm,“you can’t blame yourself for what happened. It was anaccident. You couldn’t have known about the black ice that night.”
She’d grown up in Montana and knew what she was talking about. Black ice was the bane of winter driving, almost impossible to spot on a roadway while driving at night. It was dangerously slick and made vehicles almost impossible to control once you hit it.
Over the years, she’d survived a few terrifying experiences with black ice herself. Only sheer dumb luck had saved her from serious injury or death.
Spring sighed, running a hand through his hair.“My therapist has been trying to convince me for years that it’s just survivor’s guilt, but deep down… I should’ve known better.” He shook his head.“That’s one reason I haven’t tried dating anyone since Laura passed. I just… I don’t want my girls to go through losing another mother.”
Kelsey’s heart ached for him, and her vision swam with tears. But his reasoning made little sense to her.“Spring, you can’t assume that the next woman you marry will also die. Laura’s death was a freak accident. You deserve happiness, and so do your girls. Don’t deny yourself the chance to find love again.”
As the words left her mouth, Kelsey wished more than anything that she could’ve been the person to help Spring heal from his trauma. But she understood now why he wasn’t ready to be in a committed relationship again.
She could only hope that someday, Spring would find the strength to open his heart once more. With an effort, she smiled through her tears.“You’re a wonderful man, Spring, and you deserve all the happiness in the world.”
She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him. Spring hesitated for a moment before returning the hug, his powerful arms enveloping her in a comforting cocoon. They stayed like that for a long time.
Finally, Kelsey pulled away.“I should go,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.“I need to finish packing for my move.”
Spring nodded.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Kelsey tried to smile, wanting to leave on a positive note.
“Tomorrow,” Spring agreed, his own smile strained.“And please stay for dinner. I have a special meal planned for you.”
∞∞∞
The next day, Spring pulled into his driveway after leaving work early and driving into town to pick up his surprise for Kelsey. He wanted tonight to be perfect for her, a proper send-off filled with good food and family warmth.
He parked in front of his house and carefully retrieved a large cardboard tray from the passenger seat. At his request, his sister Summer and her husband Brock had prepared Kelsey’s favorite meal from The Yummy Cowboy Diner—freshly baked chicken pot pies. They were still piping hot, their savory aroma filling the cab of the truck as he drove home.
