Page 14 of Rip Ryder's Second Chance

Noelle gave her head a shake, sending tendrils of hair around her cheeks. “I’ll sell the house and everything will be okay.” She swallowed back the emotion rising in her throat.

Briefly, she closed her eyes and forced the tears away.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry,” Sammie said. “Does your mom know?”

Noelle shook her head. “No, and I don’t want her to know.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I wish I knew,” Noelle said in a low tone. Then Rip’s words came to mind.Tuck left you acreage and his prized Highlanders.Although Noelle knew only the basics about horses, she remembered that Tuck had loved the Highland cow he bought off a friend. Since Rip used the word “prized” that told her he had many of that breed of cows now.

But how could she accept Tuck’s generosity? She hadn’t spoken to him once after she left Second Chance.

“This is all that douche Gavin’s fault.” Sammie snorted. “Sammie!” Noelle pointed at Ollie who was busily playing with his toys. “He repeats everything he hears. Anyway, I’ll figure my issues out.” Her gaze trailed to the door. She did have an option.

No, she couldn’t go back.

And yet she was always telling others how they needed to face the demons that weighed them down.

That night, after her sister had left and Ollie was in bed, Noelle ran herself a bath, poured in lavender oil, lit a row of candles, and stripped out of her clothes. She sank into the soothing water that surrounded her like a cloud. Laying her head back, she closed her eyes and her mind drifted to Rip.

She was still in shock that he’d showed up at her house.

Still in shock too that Tuck was gone.

At ten, she saw him as a giant. She remembered her mom saying they were moving to a small town to live on lots of land. Noelle didn’t entirely understand what was happening, except that some cowboy’s wife had suffered an illness and needed help. Which had been more confusing because Noelle’s mom wasn’t a nurse, but had worked in an upscale boutique.

Noelle and her mother moved into a small cottage behind the big Bluebird farmhouse and Patricia took care of Tuck’s wife and the domestic duties at the house.

At first, Noelle hated living there. Hated that she’d left her friends back in the city where there were always birthday parties and things to do. But soon, the man she had at first been frightened of had shown her a kindness that Noelle had never known. Tuck had shown her how to ride horses, feed the livestock, brand the cattle. She’d fit right into the country environment.

A few years later, she met Rip. He seemed to have no use for a tomboy girl who liked to tease him relentlessly.

She’d had the most massive crush on him without receiving a single sliver of attention in return. It had crushed her dreams and she’d all but given up on the idea that he’d ever see her as more than a pest.

Until he left for horse camp one summer, returned and was hired to help at Bluebird.

They’d both changed in appearance, but Noelle guessed she’d made the most transformation because when Rip saw her, he didn’t even recognize her. She’d always been a late bloomer but something happened that summer and Mother Nature transitioned Noelle into a young woman that suddenly grabbed everyone’s attention. She’d gone from the gawky girl with big teeth and hormonal pimples to someone with confidence. Her hair had taken on a life of its own that year too. It was no longer pin straight and oily, but was thick and wavy with natural highlights from the sun. She’d grown into her teeth, her pimples disappeared, and the freckles she’d once loathed she now adored. Something had happened to her body too. What seemed like overnight, she needed a bra because she had breasts. And curves. She filled out her cutoff jeans in a new way and started noticing that a few of the ranch hands were looking at her differently, which Tuck took care of by giving the men a firm glare. None of them had ever crossed a line.

Even Buddy, who didn’t have a filter when it came to his crush on her, maintained his manners.

However, there was only one person that she wanted to notice her, and he had…oh boy had he. She’d been naïve and never had a boyfriend, but she could tell almost immediately that Rip appreciated the physical change. They started hanging around together, riding horses, teasing each other, talking about everything under the sun. He’d even told her she wasn’t like all the other girls he knew. She was fun and didn’t care about makeup and clothes. Little did he know she did care about those things but her mom refused to let her buy cosmetics.

Soon their friendship blossomed and after one kiss she was hooked.Theywere hooked. No one saw one without the other and rumors started flying that they would be married down the road. Patricia didn’t like it. She’d made it known that she had bigger plans for Noelle that involved marrying someone with money. So, she snuck around to see Rip with no intention of stopping.

Until the fairy tale came to a screeching halt…

She swallowed back the familiar acerbic taste that flowed into her throat.

She didn’t like that the incident still took up residence inside her head. She was stronger, confident in herself, yet the pain of what happened still lived like an invasive plant that was taking over the garden and killing the flowers.

With a sigh, she sat up to turn on the hot water tap and she saw the envelope that she’d placed on the toilet seat. She was being ridiculous. She should read it.

Drying her hands, she lifted herself partway out of the tub and stretched to reach the envelope.

Guilt plagued her. Tuck had been so good to her and she’d repaid him by leaving and never turning back. She thought she’d been doing the right thing—looking out for herself. She’d missed him, the hands, the horses, and the simple life. Rip.

As if she was holding a priceless artifact, she carefully opened the seal, took out the folded paper from inside, and with trembling fingers she smoothed out the fold.

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