Page 35 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

“Marina always wanted to get out of the house and from under his control.”

Something about the way his brother said her name clued Dallas in. “Do you like her?”

Kai didn’t answer, and that was an answer in itself. Or maybe it was because they made it to the herd. They steered the horses around it to make it to 128.

Dallas studied the cow. “She looks okay to me now.” If not, they’d have to call Austin.

“I think so, too, but glad to have you confirm it.” Kai nodded. Then they worked together to make sure everyone else looked healthy and fine. It was nice to have the inoculations done for the season. Finally, they headed to the ranch house. Dallas wasn’t about to let it go. “Do you like Marina?”

Kai groaned. “Aren’t you the talkative one today?”

“I’m taking lessons from your parrot.” Dallas shrugged.

“Okay, okay.” Kai laughed. “I do like her, but it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters a lot.” Dallas’s thoughts switched to Skylar. “Why have you never told her?”

This time, Kai edged his horse to go into a gallop, but Dallas caught up to his brother fast. Kai wasn’t running away from this conversation. Stubbornness ran in the family.

“Come on,” Kai finally said. “Marina knew she was going to leave this small town and worked hard for her goals. She had big dreams, also spurred on by her father diminishing her. I couldn’t stand in the way of her dreams.”

Dallas tried to wrap his mind around that. In school, everyone thought the charming Kai was great at getting dates and the silent Dallas—well, not so great. Yet Dallas had done everything to pursue a relationship with the girl he’d liked while Kai had done nothing at all. In the end, Dallas ended up with a broken heart and Kai with an aching one.

What could they do now? They should steer clear of romance to avoid more heartache.

Dallas eyed the sky as if he could find answers written there. “You could’ve left with her.”

Kai hesitated as if he wanted to say something, then shook his head, making a golden earring dance in his ear. “I belong here.”

Dallas had thought the same about himself. But then, maybe it had been easier to support Skylar in her dreams because she’d promised to return after getting her art degree in Charleston. There wasn’t much work for a lawyer in their small town.

“In high school, you told me you thought about leaving.”

Kai frowned. “Yeah, to follow Marina. I had no clue what I was going to do in a city, but I’d figure it out once I got there. Okay, fine, I was going to tell her everything. When I met her that evening, she couldn’t stop talking about the new guy she met at the restaurant. She was smitten. A lawyer, he also fit her better than I ever did. He could help her in ways I couldn’t.”

Dallas gazed at the ranch house in the distance, the entire story reshaping in his head. “I’m sure she didn’t marry him just because of that.”

“Oh, she was in love.” Kai’s voice turned bitter. “Very much so.”

How could Dallas miss all this right under his nose? He urged Garnet to slow down. He needed to have the rest of this conversation. He sent up a prayer for Kai and Marina. “It’s over between them now. And everyone deserves a fresh start. Don’t you think?”

Lord, please guide my brother to his happiness.

Kai raised an eyebrow. “Including you and Skylar?”

“I said ‘a fresh start.’ Not rehashing one-sided relationships.” Dallas changed his mind and urged Garnet into a gallop as if to outrun the longing inside him. Everything between him and Skylar was over. It had to be, right?

Then a frightening sound far away made Garnet neigh and buck. Her nostrils flared. Dallas tensed, then patted the horse reassuringly. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” But he wasn’t sure it was okay. “Did you hear that?” he asked his brother.

Kai stopped, too, keeping a tight rein. His eyes narrowed. “Yes, a weird blast.”

“Was it a gunshot?”

Kai rolled his eyes, but his mouth remained taut. “And they say I’m the one with the wild imagination in the family.”

“It came from the direction of the beach. The place of... ofthatcottage.” Dallas swallowed hard, everything in him protesting against going there. Even his blood seemed to curdle at the thought. “Let’s check it out. It’s the right thing to do.”

Kai groaned. “You’re kidding, right?”

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