Second Chance Ranch Chapter 19

Chapter NINETEEN:

“I thought you said Kelly wasn’t into you,” Pete said as soon as he’d climbed in the passenger seat of Squire’s truck. He’d taken a few laps around the building, and almost the entire parking lot had cleared out.

Squire didn’t know what had brought on Pete’s panic, but he could guess. An unfamiliar crowd, rushing around him. They hadn’t ever served in undercover missions, but sometimes being the only green-eyed man in the country could make a person anxious.

“She’s….” Squire didn’t quite know how to articulate how Kelly felt about him. He’d seen her fight her attraction to him. He’d felt the passion in her kiss at the well. And just after the meeting had ended, and she’d pressed into him as he’d gained his feet? He could’ve sworn she’d have gone to the moon with him. 

But College Station would do just fine.

“Into you,” Pete finished. “I’m obviously better at reading women than you are, Major.” He puffed out his chest. “It’s okay to admit it.”

“So how does Tammy read?” Squire asked to get the spotlight off himself. He pulled out of the parking space and started for the exit of the lot.

“She’s interested,” Pete said. “I mean, I might only be here for a few months, until I figure out what I’m going to do next. But she seems interested for now.”

They drove out of town in silence, Squire occupied with thoughts of Kelly and Finn out on the ranch. He wanted to see her again, smell her perfume, maybe hold her hand. 

He couldn’t believe the poor timing of his sister’s visit, but his chest tightened at what Chelsea was going through right now. She was his only sibling, and he’d do anything and sacrifice anything for her—even his afternoon with Kelly. 

After he and Pete returned to the ranch and changed out of their church clothes, Pete went up to the house for lunch. Squire couldn’t believe his momma was still serving it, but he also wasn’t surprised. She’d want things to seem as normal as possible until they had all the details about the death of Chelsea’s boyfriend. 

Squire puttered around the tack room, knowing he needed a few minutes before he faced his mother and her relentless questions. Not only that, but Kelly hadn’t texted yet, and he wasn’t sure if he should eat lunch with his family and the cowhands or wait for her.

When the soft hum of an engine met his ears, he sauntered over to the doorway. He blinked a couple of times to ensure he wasn’t hallucinating. But when Benson practically knocked him to the ground and licked his face, Squire laughed.

“Did we make it in time for lunch?” Kelly wore jean shorts and a tank top; clothes he hadn’t seen her wear since high school. He swallowed hard, scanning down to her feet. Knee-high boots. Black. With a heel.

He muscled Benson out of the way so he could step closer to Kelly. Finn hovered near her, shyly looking past Squire and into the barn. He was probably interested in finding the foal, but he’d also been keen on showing Squire all of his pictures, his coloring books, and anything else his grandmother had brought to church to entertain him.

He hadn’t realized how badly he wanted to be a father until the four-year-old had climbed into his lap. 

“You’re never too late for lunch, darlin’,” Squire said, brushing his fingers against hers on the side where her son couldn’t see. “You want to see the new foal?” he asked Finn in a more normal tone of voice.

“What’s a foal?”

“A baby horse.” Squire moved down the aisle that split the horse barn in half. “Come see. He’s a beauty.” He led the boy to the stall where the foal was romping around. Raven poked her nose from the doorway in the back that connected the two spaces.

“What’s his name?” Finn said, hanging back when Squire didn’t think he would. The child was usually full of energy, ran everywhere he went, and asked relentless questions. Well, the questions were still happening, but Squire hadn’t expected him to be shy on the ranch.

“Doesn’t have one yet.” Squire leaned against the bars. “You can come right up here. He won’t bite.”

Finn joined him, pushing his face between two bars. Kelly crouched next to him, and they tried to get the foal to come over. He was skittish, and moved back into the private room with his mother.

“Can we feed him?” Finn asked.

Squire smiled down at him, smitten by the wonder in the boy’s bright eyes. “Sorry, bud. He only drinks milk right now.” He glanced at Kelly. “Let’s go get something for us to eat.”

He wanted to take her hand in his, but he wasn’t sure how she’d react, what with Finn there. He had no idea what she’d told her son about him, and any number of people could see them from the second floor of the house, where lunch was still in full swing.

Pete had probably already informed his Eagle Eye mother of Kelly’s imminent arrival, so Squire stuffed his hands in his pockets. Sure enough, inside the kitchen, his mother had a basket out and was tossing silverware into it. Pete sat on the couch in the living room, watching football with Squire’s father. A few cowhands lingered at the table, where a half-eaten chocolate cake sat in the middle of them.

“Hello, Kelly.” Squire’s mother paused when she saw Finn. “And this handsome boy must be Finn.”

He looked at Kelly, and she said, “Mind your manners now.”

Squire loved the Texas accent in her voice. He shifted closer to her just because he could.

Finn stepped forward. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Squire laughed with his mother, while Kelly beamed at Finn.

“He’s quite the charmer,” his mom said, tossing in a roll of paper towels. “Here’s your lunch. When I saw you pull up, I grabbed whatever these cowboys hadn’t eaten yet. I hope it’s okay.”

Squire stepped forward and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks, Ma.”

“I’m sure it will be fantastic,” Kelly said. “I’ve never eaten anything you made that I didn’t like.”

He carried the basket outside and down the patio steps. “You guys want to ride horses out on the ranch? Or go in the ATV?”

“I promised Finn a horse ride, so—Oh!”

Squire turned to find her lilting on her toes, trying to get away from a big, red hen. He wasn’t sure who was squawking more, Kelly or the chicken.

“Shoo!” He kicked toward the chicken, and she puffed out her chest feathers, taking one more nip toward Kelly’s leg before strutting away.

He couldn’t help laughing, and not a gentle guffaw or a carefree chuckle. The kind of laughter that rattled his insides and filled the wide sky with sound.

Kelly shot him a glare while she tried to catch her breath.

“Watch out,” he said. “There’re dangerous animals around here.” He sobered as Finn fell into step beside him, linking his little fingers between Squire’s.

A swell of what felt dangerously like love started small in his center. It grew, morphed, expanded until it burst from him in the form of a smile.

They reached the stables, and Squire set down the picnic basket so he could saddle up the horses. “Maybe you can ride with him?”

“I haven’t ridden a horse in, well, ever.” She glanced around like they kept man-eating dinosaurs in the barn’s storage.

“Yes, you have.” He threw a blanket over their mildest horse. Baywatch only grazed these days, having put in many good years on the ranch as a working horse. “Remember you and Chelsea rode out to the bull pasture once? When the boys were moving them.” He watched as her cheeks turned pink. “Oh, I get it. You were tryin’ to show off for one of the cowhands. Betcha can’t even remember which one.”

She shrugged one shoulder as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Squire focused all his attention on saddling Baywatch lest he allow her to distract him. “Well, this here horse is the gentlest one on the block.” He spoke in a fake cowhand accent. “A pretty little lady like you won’t have no trouble with ‘im.”

“Stop it.” She pushed him away from the saddled horse. “Also, I can’t believe you can remember the one time I’ve ridden a horse.”

Squire covered his rising embarrassment by lifting Finn onto Baywatch’s back. “Hold these,” he said, handing the reins to Kelly. “I’ll help you up as soon as I have Juniper saddled.”

He had his horse ready in record time and he put a stepping stool next to Baywatch. “Okay, step here, and then throw your leg over his back.”

“I’m so going to regret this,” Kelly said, placing one heeled boot on the stool. “You already saw me freak out over a chicken. What if I fall off this horse?”

“Then you’re fired,” he joked. “Every ranch needs their accountant to be horse-worthy.”

“Ha.” She put her hand in his for balance.

“Hold onto the horn there,” he said. She leaned over Finn and pushed off. Squire held all her weight for a moment, and then she landed in the saddle.

Baywatch startled, which for him, meant he took a step forward when he should’ve kept still. He gave Squire a cynical look, the horse equivalent to a human eye roll. Squire patted his flank in assurance as he went to mount Juniper. She pranced over to Baywatch, where Squire tied the reins to his saddle horn.

“Ready?” he asked.

Finn cheered, and Kelly managed to nod. Both reactions burrowed into Squire’s memory, and he vowed never to forget them.

They put the cabins, the barns, the stables, and the homestead behind them. The wide open Texas range spread in front of them, a sector Squire knew as two. One sat behind the house and all along the road that came onto the ranch from the highway. But out east here, this became sector two.

“No cattle out here?” Kelly asked.

“They’re all in the west right now,” he said. “We’ll round ‘em up in the fall and bring them back in. Then we use these sectors.” He glanced over to her, his mouth suddenly turning dry. She was absolutely gorgeous with the sunlight bathing the back of her head and her son riding in front of her.

He almost blurted out something that she probably wouldn’t want Finn to hear, and instead, cleared his throat. “What are you excited about this summer, Finn?”

The little boy looked over to him, his eyes wide and somewhat blank. “Playing football with my gramps.”

Squire grinned. “That’s great, son. Did your momma tell you I played football in high school?” He’d loved the game too. Absolutely loved it. 

“No.” Finn twisted to look at Kelly, but she only smiled at him. Squire didn’t imagine they went home and had pajama parties where she gossiped about her feelings for him.

He wanted to shift in his saddle, sure the woman didn’t have feelings for him at all. He pushed against those insecurities, because she’d kissed him back at the well, and she’d held his hand, and she was the one misbehaving in church.

“Well, I’m excited about being the vet here,” he said. “I mean, I’m not really a vet yet, but I do know a few things from my pre-veterinary classes in college.”

“What did you get your degree in?” Kelly asked.

“Veterinary Science,” he said. “I got a Bachelor’s degree and took some post-grad classes too.”

Surprise edged her expression and came out in her voice when she said, “Oh, so you do have some experience with it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I can take a few more courses if I don’t get into the program at A&M, and then I can try again next year.”

“I really think you’ll get in,” Kelly said with a smile.

“I guess we’ll see.” Squire hated the waiting game, because he’d like to make a plan. He’d like to know where he’d be living in only a couple of months, and he’d like to know how fast he needed to move with Kelly to keep her in his life even if he did end up moving away from the ranch.

“Did you like college?” he asked her.

“It was okay,” she said. “Sometimes just a lot.” She kept her smile in place, but it definitely took on a tighter edge. “I met Taylor in college, about five months before I graduated.” 

“Ah, so that’s why you never worked as an accountant.”

“We had a whirlwind romance,” she admitted. “Finn didn’t take long to come along.” She beamed down at her son, and Squire sure did like how she adored him. 

“What did your daddy do?” Squire asked.

Kelly didn’t wait for Finn to answer. “He ran a paralegal firm,” she said. “He was a lawyer, and they opened a new branch in San Diego just before we got married. So we said ‘I-do’ here and moved there immediately afterward.”

“No honeymoon?”

She shrugged, though a storm had entered her face. It raged across her fine features, and Squire didn’t like it one little bit. “I’d never been to California,” she said. “I counted the beach in San Diego as our honeymoon.”

He made another vow to himself right then and there. If he and Kelly ever did stand across the altar from one another in wedding bliss, he’d take her on the very best honeymoon in the world.

“Where would you have gone if you could’ve picked?” he asked.

“You’re asking a lot of questions,” she said.

He gave her a smile he hoped would win her over. At least she wasn’t strangling the saddle horn anymore. She didn’t ride with a lot of confidence or relaxation, but Baywatch kept plodding along dutifully.

Kelly sighed the sigh of the century. “Fine. I would’ve gone somewhere in Europe. The old buildings and churches there have always fascinated me.”

“Wow,” he said. “That’s a big trip.” Way out of his budget too, especially if the lost money on the ranch stayed lost.

“Yeah,” she said. “That’s why I just watch documentaries and read books. But maybe one day….” She let the words hang there, and Squire picked them up and tucked them away for later.

He wanted Kelly to have her happily-ever-after, even if wasn’t with him. But he really hoped it was with him….