Second Chance Ranch Chapter 21

Chapter TWENTY-ONE:

Chelsea Ackerman saw her father’s cowboy hat before she went through the security doors. Her heart leapt and pinched at the same time, and she had no idea where it fit inside her chest anymore.

Tears flooded her eyes, making everything in the Amarillo airport blurry. She’d been holding them back on the flight from Dallas, but she didn’t have the mental or emotional strength to do so any longer. 

Daddy wore his mouth in a grim line, but that wasn’t that unusual. The way Squire mimicked him without meaning to was. 

Her brother. Her only sibling.

Squire moved forward, half-pointing and half-twisting to say something over his shoulder. Then he jogged toward her, and Chelsea sagged into his arms. 

“Hey, hey,” he said in the kindest, quietest voice. It soothed some of her raging emotion, but even within the safety and comfort of his arms, she couldn’t find peace.

She wasn’t sure it existed anymore.

People flowed around them, and Chelsea didn’t care. Squire would keep them all at bay anyway, as broad and as tall as he was. He kept his back to their parents, creating a buffer for her as if he knew she needed one.

She’d called her mother yesterday to tell her the news about Danny, and she was sure her mom had her bedroom spic and span and ready for company. 

Chelsea wouldn’t be leaving Amarillo, a fact she hadn’t conveyed to her family yet. 

Squire’s grip on her finally loosened, and Chelsea found the strength to stand on her own. He pulled back and asked, “Okay?” before releasing her fully.

She nodded and cowered into his chest while she wiped her eyes. She’d given up makeup three days ago when Danny’s sister had called. She hadn’t been to work in that long, and she wasn’t going in this week either.

Her job demanded a lot of her, and she had a couple of accounts right now that pulled her in dozens of directions. She wasn’t sure how her boss would handle the portfolios without her, but she didn’t want to bury her grief in marketing campaigns. 

God surely didn’t expect her to do that, did He?

“Hey, sweetheart.” Her father spoke in the most tender voice too, and she moved from Squire’s protective embrace to her daddy’s. He held her tightly too, and Chelsea inhaled the familiarity of his cologne. The woodsy, musky notes, mixed with the fabric softener that Momma used on his clothes.

“I love you, Chelsea-bear,” he said, his voice gruff now. Daddy didn’t express much emotion, but Chelsea had never once doubted that he loved her. She had left Three Rivers the moment she could—Kelly hadn’t been lying about that—but she’d always known she could come back at any time, and her parents would open their arms wide to receive her.

Momma hugged her too, and Chelsea stood sandwiched between her parents, wondering how this was her life. 

Everything felt so heavy, from her handbag to her eyelids to her heart. She wasn’t sure how she could make it through one more second, and then she did.

Then another, and another. A full minute passed, and Daddy finally let her go. “Hungry?” he asked.

She nodded, and her parents flanked her, with Momma giving her several furtive glances as they approached the baggage claim carousels. “Do you have a bag?”

Chelsea shook her head. “I’m only staying one night, Momma.”

“One night?” Squire asked, looking past their daddy to see her.

Chelsea didn’t look at him. “I have a room just down the road at the Triple Regency.”

“A hotel?” Momma acted like staying in a hotel was as bad as the death of a loved one. “Chelsea.”

“I can’t come back to the ranch right now,” Chelsea said. “I just needed a day away, okay?” She didn’t want to explain herself right now, mostly because nothing made sense inside her own head.

“Let’s just go out to eat,” Daddy said. “We can say everything then, and Chelsea can escape to her hotel.”

“What if she shouldn’t be alone?” Squire muttered, and Chelsea came to a full stop.

“You don’t think I should be alone?”

Her brother stepped in front of everyone and glowered at her. “Not particularly, no. You’ve just experienced a massive loss, and when that happens, you don’t need to be alone with your own thoughts.” He flicked a glance to Momma and then Daddy. “Trust me, I know.”

“I’m not one of your men.” Chelsea lifted her chin, not sure why she was picking a fight with her brother. He only wanted what was best for her.

“No, you’re not,” he said, folding his arms. He’d kept up his regimen in the gym, because he was huge through the bicep and chest. “But I know what it’s like to go through a traumatic event, and I know we wouldn’t leave our men alone.”

Momma reached out and put her hand on Squire’s forearm. “Maybe she’ll let me stay with her tonight, and Daddy can come pick me up tomorrow.” She looked at Daddy and then Chelsea. “I promise I will not ask any questions.”

Chelsea half-scoffed, because getting her mother to stop asking questions was like getting the sky to turn yellow instead of blue. “Momma, you’ll ask five thousand questions.”

Her mother looked affronted, her eyes going wide. “Not five thousand.”

“Mom,” she said at the same time Squire said, “Momma. None.”

Her mother moved next to Squire and pressed both palms to her heartbeat. “I will not ask a single question.”

Chelsea met her brother’s eye, and he cocked his head ever-so-slightly. His way of saying, Well? If she’s not staying, I will.

Squire would be quiet all night, which sounded really appealing. But when Chelsea switched her gaze to her mother’s, she knew she couldn’t deny her.

“Fine, Momma can come.” She managed to smile as her mother did.

She returned to Chelsea’s side and looped her arm through hers. “Now, Daddy, Squire and I have something to talk to you about.”

“We’re not even out of the airport yet,” Chelsea said. “And I don’t want to talk about Danny, okay?” She felt the great urge to tuck her left hand in her pocket, but she reminded herself she didn’t need to. She wasn’t wearing the engagement ring, and her folks didn’t know about the proposal or that she’d said yes.

To them, Danny was simply her boyfriend. A serious one, sure, but a boyfriend. Not a fiancé. 

Fresh tears brimmed in her eyes, but she blinked them back. 

“It’s not about Danny,” Momma said. “Frank?”

“It’s about the ranch,” he said.

“The homestead,” Momma corrected. “Not the ranch, honey.”

Her parents could talk circles around each other sometimes, and since Squire didn’t say much, Chelsea would have to figure things out on her own. 

“Right, the homestead,” Daddy said. “See, your momma and I are going to be moving in a few months.”

“We found the cutest condo in town,” Momma said. “The kitchen is a little small, and it’s not quite finished being built, but your brother isn’t going to be leaving right away.”

Chelsea put the brakes on her steps again. “You’re leaving?”

“Maybe,” Squire said quickly. He didn’t look at her, and that irritated Chelsea. She seized onto the emotion, because anger she could deal with. Frustration, she understood. Irritation was familiar, comfortable even, compared to the devastating anxiety and sadness she’d been dealing with.

“He’s applied to veterinary school,” Daddy says. “If he gets in, and we all think he will—” He cut a look over to Squire, who continued to ignore them all. “He’ll be leaving the ranch for a few years. We’re moving to town. We need someone to take care of the homestead.”

“Not the ranch,” Momma said. “We have a foreman and a general controller all lined up. All the cowhands will still be there. You’ll just tend to the house and the yard.”

“The house and the yard.” 

Her mother made it sound like a grand party. To Chelsea, it felt like a noose slipping indiscreetly around her neck.

She felt like she should have thoughts, a reaction to this proposal, but everything inside her felt trapped behind a dam. She flowed outside with her family, and the walk through the parking garage happened quickly.

“Where do you want to go to eat?” Daddy asked after he’d fired up the pick-up truck. 

She looked over to Squire, who said, “You like that sushi place here. Or there’s Foster’s Finest.”

“Foster’s,” she said, scooting into the middle of the bench seat so she could lay her head against Squire’s shoulder. He lifted his arm as she did, and Chelsea loved the way she fit inside her family just like that.

She’d been gone for ten years, but she could come home and fit. 

“What about work?” she asked.

Daddy backed out and started to drive. “Work?”

“If I come to live in the homestead, how am I going to pay my bills? I’d need a job, and the drive into town is awful.” The forty-five minutes from the ranch to the small town of Three Rivers, Texas had been the thing she’d hated the most about her hometown. 

“You said you could work remotely,” Momma said.

“When I lived in Dallas,” Chelsea said. “For a few days. Every now and then. I can’t move up here and keep my job.” Even as she spoke, Chelsea knew she could give up her job. She didn’t even like it all that much. 

The idea of being a marketing manager was a lot different than actually being one. The long hours, the pressure to get a campaign exactly right, when most of the time she was grasping at straws and hoping she pulled the right one.

“Oh.” Momma patted her hair, something she did when she got surprised and needed a moment. “Well.”

“Well what?” Chelsea asked. Her momma said that a lot too, following it up with nothing.

“The ranch can pay you a stipend,” Daddy said.

“It can?” Squire and Momma asked at the same time.

“We’ll work it out,” Daddy said. 

“Or she can get a job in town,” Squire said.

A sense of betrayal moved through her, and she lifted her head to look at her brother. “Doing what?” 

He shook his head, a hint of pink crawling up his neck and into his cheeks. “Kelly worked at the grocery store.”

Her eyebrows flew up. “The grocery store?” He had to be kidding. She also hadn’t known her once-best friend had been forced to work at the grocery store. She supposed once someone swallowed their pride, they could do anything to survive.

Was that what she needed to do? Swallow her pride?

“We’ll talk about it,” Squire murmured, obviously keeping his voice low so their parents couldn’t hear. She tilted her head, trying to hear more than he was saying. Why couldn’t he just say it? She was tired of riddling through things.

She’d had to do that a lot in Dallas, personally and professionally, and doing so here too only added to the weight around her neck. 

The scenery of the city flew by Squire’s window, and Chelsea closed her eyes to it. He took her in his arms again, and she went willingly, because she needed his support. 

She’d be shocked if he didn’t call or text her every day moving forward, because that was what Squire did. He took care of those important to him, and since Chelsea only had him and he only had her, they were important to each other.

“I get one question,” Momma said as Daddy turned into the steakhouse parking lot.

“Fine, Momma.” Chelsea opened her eyes to the afternoon sunlight streaming through the windshield. “One question.” She wouldn’t be surprised if she talked more at dinner, but at least it would be her choice. She’d dictate where the conversation went, and she wouldn’t say anything that caused her too much sorrow.

“Will you at least think about moving home?”

“Of course I will.”

“Not of course you will,” Momma said, twisting in her seat and pinning Chelsea with the kind of maternal gaze she usually only pulled out when one of her children had gotten in trouble.

Boy, did Chelsea know that look all too well.

“What does that mean?” Chelsea asked.

“It means that you sometimes dismiss things without thinking bout them,” Momma said sternly. “And I know you don’t love Three Rivers, but it would be a good place to heal.”

“It’s a great place to slow down,” Squire said. “Get some perspective.” He nodded. “Heal, like Momma said.”

“Just think about it,” Momma said. “Really think about it.”

“Okay,” Chelsea said, feeling very much like the three of them were on one team and she on the other. “I promise I’ll really think about it.” That meant she’d have to do exactly that, because Chelsea Ackerman didn’t make promises she couldn’t keep. “When do you need to know?”

“Not for a few months yet,” Daddy said. “Like Momma said, the condo isn’t even finished being built yet.”

“And we don’t know if I’m even leaving,” Squire said. “But you’re welcome to live in the homestead even if I stay.”

“Sure,” Chelsea said dryly as she scooted across the seat to get out. “Because that’s going to be okay with Kelly. Your dear old sister in her house.”

“What?” Squire sputtered, his eyes moving to the front seat.

“Squire Frank Ackerman,” Momma said, her you’ve-disappointed-me gaze moving to her son. “Things are that serious with Kelly?”

“No,” he barked at her. “They are not.” He looked at Chelsea, his bright blue eyes burning holes in her. “Chels doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” He opened his door and slid out of the truck.

Chelsea copied him, following Daddy around the front of the truck and toward the entrance to Foster’s. She fell into step beside her brother, noticing for the first time that he limped. 

Her heart shattered a little bit for him, though she’d known he’d been injured on his last deployment. Knowing about it and seeing it were two very different things.

“Things are getting serious with Kelly, though, aren’t they?” she asked under her breath.

“Yes,” Squire said. “But I don’t need Momma turning her questions on me.” He cut her a look out of the corner of his eye. “So just…shh.” 

“I’m texting you then.”

“Fine,” he said

Daddy reached the doors and opened them. Chelsea grinned at her brother, because he hated being badgered in person, and if there was anything worse, it was getting badgered through texts. 

“Okay,” Chelsea said as she ducked past her daddy. “But you gave me permission.” She didn’t turn around to see his glare; she could feel it burning a path down her neck.