Second Chance Cowboy (18 page)

He’d never been good at comforting
Carly. He seemed to always say the wrong things. When they’d lost
Devon the dynamics of their relationship changed. He’d been in
control one day and then everything altered.

After the funeral, Carly seemed to
give up. She had slept the first few months away, and every time
he’d try to comfort her, she’d push him away. Once they got through
those earliest months, she obscured herself behind a facade. She
pretended everything was okay. She lost herself in her work, but
wouldn’t look at him, not like a woman who loved him.

Six months later, their marriage had
been on the edge of an abyss. One horrible evening he came in from
a long day at the ranch. They had lost a handful of cattle, a storm
had torn the roof off one of the barns, and ten other small things
weighed on his shoulders.

On top of all the troubles that
pressured him, the biggest one, he had missed his wife.

They had lost a child, their child
conceived out of love, and they were fighting instead of consoling
one another. He had needed her, and he had no doubt, she had needed
him.

That particular evening, tired and
diminished, he’d decided he was finished keeping his mouth quiet
around Carly. He knew it was long past a heart-to-heart. Yet Carly
wasn’t having it.

An argument ensued. She hadn’t said
the words specifically, but she blamed him for Devon’s death, not
the heart condition, but signing the papers to have his machines
turned off.

Hell, maybe he had blamed himself. He
started second-guessing his decision. Maybe they hadn’t explored
every option and channel to keep him alive.

He buried his face into his palm and
sighed.

Duke cleared his throat, bringing
Chance’s head back up.

“
I saw Lila,” Duke
disclosed.

Chance nodded. “I bet you did. You
have radar in your head that alerts you when she’s in the vicinity.
She’s been around a lot lately,” he teased. “You’d think after all
this time you’d either admit you’re still crazy for her or find
someone else who can tolerate you.”

Duke’s face remained blank. “I was an
idiot for breaking things off with her.”

“
You’re only now realizing
that?” Chance rolled a shoulder. “Talk about your
mistakes.”

Duke slid him a grim expression.
“Yeah, she wasn’t thinking when she got involved with me. She
should have known better.”

“
That’s not what I meant by
mistake.” Chance replied solemnly. “Breaking up with her was a
mistake.”

“
She needs a house with a
white picket fence, two kids with one in the oven and a supportive
husband. Last I checked, I wasn’t cut out for any of those things.
When she started talking children I knew I had to make my
escape.”

“
You despise the thought of
kids that much?” Chance asked with a shake of his head.

“
No, kids wouldn’t be bad,
but I’d end up being a screw-up. I didn’t have a parental role
model to hand down the skills to be a good parent.”

Chance leaned his elbows against the
top board of the fence and cocked a booted foot on the bottom. “I
remember you hanging out at the Swift Wind most days, and once
while we were playing out by the old barn, you told me we were like
brothers. You said my father was your substitute dad.” He looked at
Duke’s profile. “He thought of you like a second son. So I’d say
you had a great role model.”

Duke laughed. “Yeah, I guess you got
me there.”

“
We’ve been a coupla fools,
haven’t we?”

Duke pushed the brim of his Stetson
farther up his forehead. “At least you have been given a second
chance, cowboy. I haven’t told you—or anyone—but I’m sleeping with
Lila again.” He ran his hand over his hair. “Problem is, I’m in
love with her, and she doesn’t want anything from me except what’s
behind my zipper.”

“
A sex-only relationship.
Most men would be euphoric.” Chance laughed. “Got to be more than
just that keeping her hanging around though.” Chance ribbed him
goodheartedly.

“
Hey, what can I say? When
you got it, you got it, and I guess I do.” Duke held up his hands
in a motion of defeat.

Chance didn’t argue. “I need you to do
me a huge favor, friend.”

“
What is it?”

“
I’ve hired Dan Steele to
follow Martin Kincaid and look into what makes him tick. I need you
to run our employment file on Kincaid over to his office.” He could
trust Steele. They were good friends and he’d done some
investigative work for Chance in the past.

Duke’s eyes narrowed. “No problem. I
thought you paid Kincaid what he asked?”

“
I did.” Chance stepped
back from the fence. “I have a feeling I haven’t seen the last of
this asshole. He may try to reach Carly for spite. If I can dig up
something it may give me more leverage.”

“
Why don’t you warn her
about Kincaid?”

Chance looked out into the pasture.
The sun started to set and the evening turned golden. Why did it
feel like things were stacking up against him? “And tell her what?
She’ll know there’s more to the story than a disgruntled ranch hand
that wants revenge.”

“
You’re right. And I guess
I should keep this from Lila?”

“
Not a word.”

Duke nodded. “Gotcha.”

Chance walked into the kitchen an hour
later and found Carly peeling an apple. She looked dangerously
absorbed in using the sharp knife to cut the red skin. The tip of
her tongue darted out and slid across her bottom lip. Unknowingly,
she pulled it back between her teeth, nibbling at the corner of her
mouth.

Her chestnut hair, sun-streaked in
gold, framed her cheeks. His eyes slid to the firm, round shape of
her breasts. Was it his imagination or did they look
fuller?

His heart tightened with a sensation
that left him breathless. Damn, he loved her with every cell of his
body. He couldn’t lose her again.

* * * *

The hairs on Carly’s neck stood up and
her skin tingled. She looked up and Chance stood in the doorway
watching her. Self-conscious, she dropped the apple and knife to
sweep a hand over her hair and down her flour-dusted
shirt.

His eyes, olive green and bright,
glinted and a tingle shimmied down her spine. The feeling spread
like molten lava from her stomach to her sexual organs. “Hi.” Her
voice cracked from emotion.

“
Hi.”

“
How long have you been
standing there?” She lifted a brow.

“
Long enough to know that
I’m the luckiest man in Texas.”

She blushed at his compliment. “Thelma
went to deliver the sack lunches to the men and I told her I’d help
by peeling these apples. I’m sure if I make it out with all of my
fingers still attached, I’ll have accomplished something
spectacular.”

He strode toward her, his eyes
smoldering, heating her skin with the passion.

He touched her chin with a feathered
stroke of his thumb. His knuckle grazed her skin so gently that her
pulse points teetered on red alert. She wanted his hands on her,
over her, everywhere.

He popped a piece of apple into his
mouth and said with a trace of roughness to his voice, “Delicious.”
His eyes remained on her with covert intention. Ripples of hunger
trickled through her veins.

“
They are sweet.” She
swallowed the lump growing in her throat. How could her husband
still make her giddy like a teenager?

“
Yes, very sweet, but I
wasn’t referring to the apples.”

She gripped the side of the counter
tightly. “Are you finished for the day?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Good.”

“
Dr. Maxwell called?” He
pointed to the note written in Thelma’s writing. An elephant magnet
held the paper to the refrigerator.

“
Yeah, he called a week
ago.” Seeing his confusion, she explained with a smile. “Thelma
forgot to give me the message until this morning. The chaos around
here has everyone forgetful.”

His exhale brushed against her cheek.
“Good thing I have my own private phone. Who knows what important
calls I’d miss.”

“
No harm.” She shrugged and
lowered her eyes to the forgotten apple, playing with the partially
cut peel with the tip of her finger. “In fact, it had slipped my
mind that I had labs done.”

He reached inside her shirt, skimming
his fingers over her skin and along her stomach. He dropped a kiss
on her collarbone, her chest and his touch almost made it to the
swell of her breast when she said, “We need to talk.”

His head came up in screeching
awareness. “No one ever says that phrase unless they are about to
deliver bad news.”

“
You sound afraid,” she
stated curiously.

“
I did have other things on
my mind besides talking,” he admitted.

She laid her hands against his
shoulders, but didn’t push him away. “If you keep doing that I
won’t be able to speak.”

He stopped and she carried on in a
raspy voice. “Since the accident I haven’t…well, I haven’t been
visited by the monthly service.” His confused expression made her
grin.

“
A visitor?” He blinked and
frowned.

She nodded. “The monthly visitor.” At
first, he looked baffled, and then his eyes widened in
understanding.

“
Your period?”

“
Yeah, you get it.” She
shot him a thumbs-up.

“
You haven’t had
it?”

“
Let’s get past that.” Her
stomach twisted and turned. “We talked about the Pill and a baby at
The Riverwalk.”

“
We talked, but we haven’t
decided yet,” he added, tapping the tip of her nose with the pad of
his forefinger.

She shook her head, sending her hoop
earrings swinging. “I…uhh, I’m not sure I was still taking the Pill
before the tumble down the stairs, remember? With Father dying we
haven’t discussed the issue in weeks.”

“
Okay, so what were the
results of the lab work?”

“
That’s the
problem.”

“
If your blood shows you’re
not physically ready, have Dr. Maxwell write you a prescription for
the Pill. We wouldn’t want you to get sick.” He rubbed her lower
back with his fingers.

“
Nope, can’t do that,” she
said quietly. Her skin grew clammy.

“
Can’t do that?”

Was he going to keep robotically
repeating everything she said? “That would be considered shutting
the gate after the cows are out.” He looked like he might fall to
the floor if she gave him the slightest push. “I’m
pregnant.”

His jaw tightened.

A memory flashed in her mind. A moment
of déjà vu or coincidence. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she
had the strangest feeling they’d done this before. She stood in the
kitchen telling him she was pregnant. His reaction was completely
different then—excited, happy. And now he looked like he could toss
his cookies.

She felt nausea turn her
stomach.

She raced to the bathroom and dropped
to her knees in front of the toilet. Hot bile rose in her throat.
The contents of her stomach emptied into the basin.

A second later Chance stood at her
side, helping her up and handing her a cold, moist cloth. “You
okay?” Concern evident in the thin set of his lips.

She nodded. “Give me a second
here.”

He didn’t leave her. He waited on her
while she washed her face, rinsed her mouth and flushed the
commode.

Holding her elbow, he led her to the
kitchen table and she sat in one of the wooden chairs. He dropped
to one knee in front of her. “Are you certain?”

“
I called Dr. Maxwell’s
office and he told me the news. I wasn’t sure if there had been a
mistake. So I took five home tests and each and every one showed
two lines.”

“
Maybe two means not
pregnant.”

Apparently, his nerves clouded his
logical thought process. “I read the directions. It’s pretty
cut-and-dried. You pee on the stick and you wait five minutes.
Repeat with stick number two and so on, you get the
idea.”

“
Aren’t you supposed to do
the testing in the morning?”

Looking at him through her lashes, she
blinked. “Chance, trust me, I did everything exactly as I should
have. And the blood work shows I’m pregnant.” The sting of
disappointment filled her heart. “Are you hoping there’s a chance I
made a mistake and got false results?”

“
No.” A smile broke out
over his face, but it quickly disappeared. “How do you
feel?”

“
We’ve talked about having
children, and honestly, I’m ecstatic, Chance. A big part of me is
nervous, but maybe because I’m anticipating your feelings.” She
sipped a deep breath into her lungs and exhaled slowly. “I know you
weren’t sure we should get pregnant with my memory
loss.”

He lifted her hand and kissed her palm
tenderly. “Darlin’, the only thing I could imagine being more
spectacular than having you in my life is adding a child, our
child, to the mix.”