Margaret Daley - Heart of A Cowboy

“Fine. How about we set up a time to talk, and then you can look through the resources? Say tomorrow morning at eleven?”

“I appreciate that. I don’t want the situation at school to go on too long.”

“Then I’ll see you at eleven. Now if you all will excuse me, I need to get this meeting started. We’ve got an HHH Junior Rodeo Event to plan for in October.” Nancy walked toward the front of the room.

“What’s going on at school?” Zachary’s deep voice, with a husky edge, broke the momentary silence.

Suddenly Jordan faced him alone because Ian and Alexa moved off to sit in a row not far away. “He’s teased a lot because he’s smart. He has trouble socializing with some of the kids his age. But mainly Nicholas isn’t being challenged enough in school.” She didn’t want to go into too much detail. That could lead to questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.

He scanned the group of children filing into the room off the main one. “It looks like he’s getting along great with Randy.” He gestured toward Nicholas, who was laughing and talking with the boy as they trailed behind the group of kids. “I know that Randy wanted to learn to ride as much as your son did. Nicholas will be a good addition to the Saturday riding group. They both have a fascination with the rodeo.”

“Nicholas said something to you about that?”

“Yes, he wanted me to teach him to ride a bronco.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“He could learn some of the less risky activities like barrel racing.”

Racing! Falling off a horse going fast! She ground her teeth and kept those thoughts to herself. As Nancy started the meeting, Jordan realized they were the only two not sitting. Two chairs nearby seemed the logical choice for them to sit in, but she didn’t want to be seated next to Zachary. How in the world was she going to handle him being in Nicholas’s life as his father?

Why was he sitting next to Jordan at this meeting? The question needled Zachary with pinpricks of awareness of the woman who was only inches away from him. The hair on his arm near hers actually stood up as though at attention. He’d suffered through the past hour while the group planned the HHH Junior Rodeo activities scheduled to be at his ranch, but he’d hardly heard what had been said. The turmoil in his mind drowned out the voices. Worse, when he’d been called on to give his opinion, he’d barely been able to manage a coherent sentence in answer.

Since he saw her on Saturday, he hadn’t been able to get the blonde dynamo out of his thoughts. She’d plagued his awakened moments and his sleep until exhaustion clung to him like sweat on a hard-ridden horse. She had no right to turn those dark brown eyes on him as though they hadn’t parted ways after a nasty fight that had left him reeling eleven years ago. She’d been angry when she’d seen him in the corral a few days ago, as if he’d been the one who’d fled Tallgrass and hadn’t looked back. He’d stayed around two months waiting for her to come to her senses. But not a word from her.

If his dream had been fulfilled, they would have been married, possibly with two or three kids by now. He hadn’t wanted children right away, but he’d always wanted to be a father someday. But instead he’d decided to get as far away as possible from Tallgrass because of the constant reminders of what he and Jordan could have had.

After nine years he’d returned home, ready to put his life back together. He was through running from the home he’d loved and needed to put down roots. He was ready to complete one of his dreams—to own a ranch and raise horses, some of which were used in the rodeo. That was about the only way he was going to participate in the sport he’d loved after his injury in a bull trampling two years ago.

Suddenly, he noticed the people surrounding him and Jordan rising. The meeting was over? He blinked, wondering where the time had gone and what he’d agreed to as far as the HHH Junior Rodeo.

Zachary shot to his feet, needing to escape before Jordan totally befuddled him. He started to hurry away when her hand clamped on his arm and that tingling awareness became a flash through his body. Sweat beaded his brow. She’d always had that effect on him.

“I need to talk to you. Can we get together sometime soon?”

Her question threw him off-kilter. Talk to him? Get together? Why? He wanted to stay far away from her until he could tamp down the lingering feelings he had for her. Because being rejected by her once was enough. “I’m busy.” For a second his gaze clung to her full lips—lips that he’d one time loved to kiss.

“This is important.”

He dragged his focus to her chocolate-brown eyes, concern in their depths that tried to wheedle its way into his heart. “Is this about Nicholas?”

She blinked, her face going white. “Yes, how did you know?”

“Let me assure you I meant what I said on Saturday. He can still take riding lessons even if you don’t decide to join this group. I don’t go back on my word.” Realizing she still clasped his arm, he shook it free. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go.”

“But…”

He didn’t wait for her to say anything else. Quickening his step, he escaped outside and drew in deep breaths of the hot summer air. The light breeze cooled his cheeks.

Nicholas. The boy’s name flitted through his mind. She’d moved on without him, had another man’s son—loved another man. He’d tried to move on and for a short time had even become engaged to a girl after he’d been on the rodeo circuit a few years. After his bull riding accident, she’d left him. Audrey had wanted to have children, and he wouldn’t be able to give her any. No, he’d decided not feeling anything was so much better for him. He had his ranch and was doing what he loved to do, raising horses. That was his life now, and he wasn’t going to let Jordan’s return change his plans nor the memories of their good times together.

Jordan looked up from working on her laptop to see her sister come into the kitchen. “Have you been hiding from me?” She clasped the edge of the table.

Rachel poured herself some coffee and sank into the chair next to Jordan. “Granny told me I’d better come down or you were going to send out a search party.”

“Yeah, I have a beef with you. You sent me to Zachary’s ranch last Saturday and now I’m stuck taking Nicholas there tomorrow. What were you thinking?” She couldn’t keep her rising ire from resonating in her voice.

“That you two needed to work the past out.”

“Have I interfered with your life?” Rachel had never been able to resist meddling.

“Only because you’ve been in South Carolina until four weeks ago. In time you’ll be right in the middle like you were as a child.”

“Me? Telling you what you should do? You’ve always done that. Don’t. I can live my own life now.” The words exploded from Jordan’s mouth like compressed soda in a shaken bottle.

“I’ll always care about you. I can’t stop being your big sis.”

“Sister, not mother.”

Rachel’s gaze connected with Jordan’s. “I’m sorry.”

Her apology deflated Jordan’s annoyance. She couldn’t stay mad at her sister for long. Growing up, Rachel had protected her. She’d listened to her. She’d been there through the pain of her breakup. “I know,” she murmured, her tone a ragged stream.

Rachel took a sip from her mug. “Hmm. Your coffee is so much better than Mom’s.”

“How do you know I made that?” After Jordan closed down the program she was working on, she pushed her laptop to the side and lifted her mug to take a drink.

“Because you got Granny’s cooking genes. Mom didn’t. I didn’t.”