Page 13 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

Then she took a deep breath of salty air, reopened her eyes, and pasted on a smile before lifting the cup emanating the fragrance of mint tea. Her hand didn’t shake this time. Good.

She sipped the soothing liquid. The open-air lattice canopy, thick with climbing wisteria vines, shaded them while the whimsical patio stones she’d painted in vivid oceanic blues, teals, and purples cooled her bare feet.

She needed to distract her grandmother from the tragic past, and she knew the perfect topic. “Why don’t we talk about your upcoming wedding? You must be so excited. And I can’t wait to meet your fiancé.”

“Yes, except Earl took off for an unexpected trip. In some mysterious place where cell phone coverage is close to nonexistent.” Grandma grimaced as she helped herself to a cherry turnover. Usually, cherry turnovers or speaking about her fiancé brought a smile to her lips. But not today. “He should be here, helping me with all the difficult decisions about the cake, decorations, and invitations.”

Skylar blinked. Well, she’d distracted her grandmother all right.

Grandma’s whirlwind courtship and short engagement with a tourist Skylar knew little about and never met had worried her, but a thousand more times now. Why would a happy husband-to-be take off instead of helping plan the wedding?

And where exactly was cell coverage nonexistent these days? At the bottom of an ocean?

Chapter Three

WITH THOUGHTS BUZZINGin her head, Skylar slipped behind the steering wheel of her car to visit her aunt.

Grandma went to visit her friend—Dallas’s mother—and it was best Skylar didn’t accompany herthere. Considering how much grief she’d caused his family by breaking Dallas’s heart, she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t meet her with rotten eggs.

She’d done her best to think about planning the upcoming wedding, but her thoughts kept returning to him. The way hurt flashed in his ocean-blue eyes before those eyes became distant again. The way everything in her wanted to erase these last fifteen years and curl up in his arms. The way she longed to see his smile while knowing she’d caused his frown.

Even upset with her—upsetwas the understatement of the century—he’d still jumped in to help her and somehow even enlisted the help of his mechanically inclined brother to repair her sedan. Dallas had also brought her car from the vet’s office to her grandmother’s cottage.

Her heart contracted. That was the kind of man he was. That was the kind of man she’d lost.

And here she was, staring at the windshield without having started the car. It had been a while since she’d been so distracted. She prided herself on being organized, being focused. Routine helped her do more in her job... and remember less.

She turned the key in the ignition, and the engine turned over easily this time.

As soon as she drove from her grandmother’s cottage driveway, her hands-free phone rang. She smiled at it announcing her aunt was calling and answered. “Hello, Auntie. I’m on my way.”

“Hello, Little Miss.” Aunt’s voice sounded a tad uncomfortable. “I can’t wait to see you, but something came up at the restaurant and requires my presence.”

Skylar’s heart dropped somewhere to the gas pedal, and she deflated like an airbag long after an accident. Was this Auntie’s polite way to say shedidn’twant to see Skylar?

After all, it was a long time since Skylar had visited her. And while she’d called her aunt, it wasn’t the equivalent of being present. She’d alienated a lot of people she loved, and she only had herself to blame. Acid coated her stomach.

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