The Second Chance Rancher

by Kate Pearce

  “Tell me about your new boyfriend.”

  “His name is Jackson Lymond, and—”

  “Wait.” Rae interrupted her. “I do hope he has nothing to do with that awful drunkard Mark Lymond.”

  “Jackson’s his son.”

  “Poor boy.” Rae shook her head. “I remember Mark’s wife Anita; she was lovely. I have some recollection of them having two boys because they were of an age with some of your brothers.”

  “Mark died a couple of years ago, leaving the ranch in a terrible state. His older son, Cauy, came back to take it over.” Daisy decided to give Rae the whole rundown.

  “Cauy was the quiet one,” Rae said. “Mark never had a good word to say about the boy.”

  Knowing how much her aunt loved gossip, Daisy prepared to unload. “Well, funny you should say that because apparently, Cauy wasn’t actually Mark’s son. Anita was pregnant when she married him.”

  Rae’s mouth made a perfect O. “Really? That makes all kinds of sense.”

  “Cauy left when he was sixteen to get away from Mark. Anita stayed until Jackson went into the United States Air Force Academy and Amy went off to college. Then Anita divorced Mark, stayed with her parents for a while, and went to live in Florida.”

  “Good for her,” Rae interjected.

  “For some reason, Mark left the ranch to Cauy, and when Jackson came out of the air force last year, he came home to help his brother restore the place.”

  “So this Jackson was in the air force and he’s now a rancher?”

  “Yes.” Daisy sat back. “He has Mark’s looks, but he’s nothing like him at all.”

  “I guessed that or you wouldn’t have agreed to go out with him.” Rae pulled the shopping list toward her. “When can he come over for dinner? I can’t wait to meet him.”

  “He’s pretty busy right now with . . . ranch things, but I can certainly ask if he wants to come over to meet you,” Daisy agreed. “How long are you planning on being here?”

  “Rick’s off playing golf with his buddies, so I’ll be here for at least a couple of weeks.” Rae scribbled herself a note and then got to her feet. “The pastry needs folding again. Do you want to help me with the peach filling before we head off into town?”

  “Sure.”

  She’d spend a couple of hours at the shop while Rae got through with her visiting and meet her aunt for a late lunch at Yvonne’s. Desperate to direct Rae away from the troubled waters of her current finances, Daisy would’ve jumped into a vat of boiling oil if necessary. Skinning and chopping a few peaches was a small price to pay for breathing space. She could always claim Jackson was too busy to meet Rae.

  She stared down at her folded hands. She was doing it again—expecting Jackson to pull her out of a hole. At some point, whatever he said, he was probably going to get tired of saving her. And she’d have another load of explaining to do. After their San Francisco trip, she wasn’t sure where they stood anymore . . . She’d reminded him not to get serious, and he’d backed off from sharing his worries with her, which was what she’d wanted. Except now perhaps it wasn’t.

  “Are you okay, Daisy?” Rae looked back at her from the sink.

  “Just peachy,” Daisy said.

  * * *

  “Hey.” Jackson used the front entrance to access the flower shop. Daisy was behind the counter talking to Bella from the Red Dragon Bar while she made up a bouquet.

  “Hi, Jackson!” Daisy smiled at him, which was reassuring, and so did Bella Williams. “Did you want flowers or did you just come to see me?”

  “You of course, but I’m not in a rush. I’ll wait.”

  Bella handed over her credit card. “We’re almost done. It’s my daughter-in-law’s birthday today, so I’m taking her some flowers.”

  “I’m sure she’ll love them,” Jackson responded. “Daisy’s really creative.” He thought about adding, in many ways, but that might make her blush and turn his thoughts to sex, which was never good in public.

  He still wanted her, but where did he draw the line? And, more importantly, where did Daisy see the line being drawn? Was it time to hash the whole thing out again, or was he too scared to mention it in case she told him to get lost?

  Bella departed, the bouquet held carefully in her hand, and Daisy came around the counter to see her out the door. She wore her usual jeans and flower shop T-shirt and Jackson just wanted to grab her and hold her close.

  “Hi.” She came over and went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Mmm, you smell nice.”

  “I borrowed Cauy’s shaving gel this morning and used it all up,” Jackson confessed. “Don’t tell him. That’s one of the reasons I came into town today.”

  “What was the other?”

  “To see you of course.” He cupped her chin. “I was wondering whether you’d heard anything back from those Silicon Valley guys?”

  “Not yet.” She made a face. “They have to go back, talk to their board of investors, and secure permission to fund each venture.”

  “Okay, but Chase doesn’t have to do that, does he?”

  “Chase isn’t the one making the initial decision because Jake’s handling it. At some point Jake will talk to his two partners, but yes, they’ll probably get back to us more quickly,” Daisy agreed. “I hate all this waiting.”

  “Couldn’t you just sell the idea to another company and be done sooner?” Jackson asked.

  “It’s possible, but the closer we are to offering a complete product and potentially even gaining a client or two, the more attractive we become to buyers.” She sighed. “Which means more commitment, more funding rounds, and the potential to lose control of the whole thing along the way.”

  “Which is what happened before, right?”

  “Yes. We diluted our equity too much, got sold for one hundred million dollars, and only got three fourths of a percent out of that between the five of us.”

  Jackson tried to work out the math in his head and failed miserably. “That sounds bad.”

  “We got something, but most of us had college debt to pay off, credit card debt, and all the stuff we’d lived off for the four years we’d been developing the product.” Daisy stuck her hand in her pocket. “It’s not quite like the movies. Most start-ups run on a dime. For companies like ours, with high growth expectations and huge market opportunity, if we don’t get proper investment, which means offering up some equity in the company, we won’t succeed.”

  “Maybe Chase and his buddies will come through for you?” Jackson asked. “At least you know they’re honest.”

  “You never know,” Daisy said gloomily. “I’m not even sure I’d trust my mother—no, strike that—I’d never trust her, but you get my point.”

  He bent to kiss her nose, and she didn’t back away, so he kissed her mouth. “Have you got time for lunch today?”

  Her brow crinkled. “I think that will work if it’s later. I was planning on going to Yvonne’s around two.”

  “Works for me. I’ve got to get some stuff from the store and pick up the mail first.”

  “Then I’ll meet you there.” Her smile took his breath away. Jeez . . . he was so screwed.

  “Are you okay, Jackson?” Daisy asked.

  He took a hasty step away from her, aware he’d been staring. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll see you at Yvonne’s.”

  As he walked down the street, he gave himself a stern lecture about abiding by Daisy’s rules, but it didn’t help much.

  “Yo! Jackson!”

  He looked up to see BB Morgan standing beside his truck by the post office.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Jackson said.

  “You free tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah, I think so; why?”

  “Because I’ve got a couple of military friends coming in, and I’d like your input on this survival course thing.”

  “Sure.” Jackson was happy to agree. He was really interested in the idea and glad BB had thought to include him again. “Where and what time?”


  He continued into the one and only store in Morgantown that was all tourist at the front and all local stuff in the back. He needed new jeans, having ripped his favorite pair on a coil of wire while he was mending the boundary fence.

  An unknown woman checking out the racks of Western shirts looked up as he went past, and he tipped his hat to her.

  “Ma’am.”

  “Are you Jackson?”

  “Yes, I am.” He raised an eyebrow. “Um, should I know you?”

  “You probably won’t remember me, dear, but you do have a look of your father, and Daisy said you resembled him, although he never smiled, so I guessed it might be you.” She beamed at him. “My, what a handsome man you turned into!”

  “You know Daisy?” Jackson asked cautiously

  “I’m her Auntie Rae.” She stuck out her hand, making her bracelets jangle. “It’s so nice to meet you again. I’m just getting some shopping in for the ranch, and I stopped to talk to Maureen because we’ve known each other for years, and ended up in here spending too much money.” She pointed to a pile of bags next to the door.

  “Can I help you take your bags to the car?” Jackson offered.

  “That would be lovely of you, dear. I parked behind the store so it isn’t far, and then I’m supposed to be meeting Daisy at the café for lunch.”

  “What a coincidence, so am I,” Jackson said.

  He set his jeans to the side and just about managed to pick up all the bags and stagger out into the parking lot. He hadn’t known Maureen sold solid lead bricks, but he didn’t want to drop anything and look like a wuss.

  “Oh.”

  He carefully put the bags on the ground and regarded Daisy’s aunt, who was staring at the rental car she’d somehow managed to park sideways at an angle over three spaces.

  “Is everything okay, ma’am?”

  “Please call me Rae. It’s much nicer than ‘ma’am,’ which makes me feel like my grandmother.” She frowned. “I don’t know what I did with my keys.”

  “Did you put them in your purse or your pocket?” Jackson asked. His mom never remembered where she put her keys, so he was used to helping out.

  She upended her purse on the hood of the car. Jackson rushed to corral half her possessions from either rolling off the car or blowing away in the wind.

  “Ah! Here they are!” She unearthed the keys from a mound of tissues. “I’m not used to driving this car and I keep forgetting what the darned key thing looks like.” She looked back toward the store. “And I haven’t said goodbye to Maureen yet.”

  Jackson stepped up. “How about I pack the bags in the trunk, lock up the car, and meet you back in the store? Then we can walk down to Yvonne’s together?”

  Rae smiled and patted his cheek. “You’re such a nice man. I can see why Daisy picked you for her boyfriend. I’ll go inside and wait for you there.”

  After loading the bags, Jackson took the opportunity to back the car into a single space. It got busy behind the store, and he didn’t want Daisy’s aunt getting a ticket from Nate Turner.

  He went back in and found Rae talking away to Maureen. While she chatted, he reclaimed his jeans, got the food supplies on his list, and paid for everything. When Rae finally ran out of breath, she took his arm and walked with him along Main Street toward the pink and black awnings of the coffee shop.

  Jackson held the door open for Rae and followed her inside to find Daisy sitting at a table near the back. She jumped to her feet when she saw them, a guilty look on her face that didn’t surprise Jackson one bit.

  “Daisy! Look who I bumped into at the store,” Rae called out to her niece. “Your lovely boyfriend! And isn’t he just the sweetest thing?”

  Rae sat down, placing her purse on the table, leaving Jackson eye to eye with Daisy. He held up his bags.

  “I’m just going to put these in the truck and be right back. Can you order me some lemonade?”

  When he went back inside, his lemonade was waiting for him. He gulped it down gratefully before turning his attention to charming Daisy’s Auntie Rae, which wasn’t difficult because she was a complete badass. She questioned him intently about his mother, his brother and sister, and what exactly had been up with his father before his death, but he took it all in good part.

  Daisy didn’t say a lot, her gaze going between him and her aunt as she managed to slip in the odd word. Eventually, Rae got up to go to the bathroom, leaving him alone with Daisy for the first time.

  “I meant to tell you that Rae might be joining me,” Daisy said.

  “It’s all good,” Jackson replied, keeping his tone light.

  “Sometimes she gets to chatting and forgets the time, so I wasn’t sure she’d actually turn up.” Daisy still sounded a little tense.

  “Your auntie Rae is awesome,” Jackson said. “I don’t really remember her from before because it was usually your dad or Adam who came to all our games.”

  “After my mom left, Dad asked her for help, and she dropped everything and came to live with us. I’ll never forget that,” Daisy said. “She’s my hero.”

  “So did you tell her the truth about our relationship, or does she really think you chose to go out with me? I want to make sure I don’t put my foot in it or anything.”

  “I told her you were my boyfriend.” Daisy met his gaze levelly. “She’ll take that at face value.”

  “Great.” Jackson finished off his second glass of lemonade. “I’ll have to get going soon. I’m meeting Roy up at Morgan Ranch to talk cattle.”

  “Okay.” Daisy messed around with her silverware. “I feel like you’re still annoyed with me.”

  Jackson stood and pushed in his chair. “I don’t have the right, remember? We’re just friends.”

  She raised her chin. “I know I’m asking a lot.”

  “Yeah, you are.” For some reason, Jackson couldn’t find a way to laugh it off. “But hey, my bad. I knew what I signed up for.”

  Daisy sighed. “Can we sit down and talk about this properly, Jackson?”

  “Not right now. I’ve really got to go,” Jackson prevaricated.

  “Can you meet me after the shop closes tomorrow night?”

  “I’m meeting BB tomorrow.”

  “Then the night after?”

  “Sure.” He tipped his hat to her. “I’ll call you if I can’t make it. Say my goodbyes to your auntie Rae for me, okay?”

  “Will do.” Daisy looked down at her plate, her long hair covering her expression. “Thanks, Jackson.”

  After paying the bill, he left the shop and went back to his truck. He should’ve known that with him and Daisy, a collision of some kind was inevitable. They lived to butt heads and their next conversation might well be their last. Jackson considered that as he started the engine. Usually, he was the one who kept things light in his relationships, but something had changed. Daisy brought out all his protective instincts and he didn’t want to let her go.

  He backed out of the space. Did he want to be that guy? The one who was hopelessly in love with someone who would never feel the same way?

  Hell no.

  Maybe it was time to have it out and go their separate ways before he lost his heart for good.

  * * *

  Daisy drove home with Rae following merrily along behind in her rental. They’d spent a couple of hours at the flower shop, where her aunt had proven to be an excellent salesperson. Daisy had forgotten that Rae had helped out Great-Aunt Florrie, who had originally opened the shop back in the sixties.

  Rae had also gone on and on about how nice Jackson was until Daisy had felt so guilty, she’d almost blurted out the truth. Jackson hadn’t been happy with her either, and she had a sense their upcoming discussion might mean a parting of the ways. Even as she admitted it, her stomach clenched in denial. She didn’t want to lose him. Was it time to admit he’d become way more than a stand-in boyfriend?

  He was kind, he was loyal to a fault, and he’d been a rock over the past few weeks, shielding her from dis
covery and encouraging her to do her thing. And that wasn’t even considering the closeness between them and the phenomenal sex . . .

  When she got home, she would text Nancy and Yvonne and ask them to meet her tomorrow night, when she knew Jackson was occupied. Maybe her friends could help her unravel the tangle she’d gotten herself into with some good, honest, plain-speaking advice.

  By the time they entered the kitchen at the ranch, the rich smell of the casserole Rae had put in the slow cooker before they’d left filled the house and several of Daisy’s brothers were milling around waiting to be fed. Of course Rae had to hug each brother, interrogate them about their lives, and give them lots of advice before they could finally sit down as a family to eat.

  It was toward the end of the meal that Daisy’s father, who never ate dessert, poured himself a cup of coffee and turned to Rae.

  “So while we’re all present, tell me why you came to visit?”

  Rae rolled her eyes. “Really, Jeff, you want me just to blurt it out in front of all the kids?”

  “Don’t see any kids sitting here, Rae.” Her father looked around the table. “They’re all old enough to hear whatever you have to say, so spit it out.”

  Rae dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and put it down. “I had a letter from Leanne.”

  Daisy sat up straighter and shared a surprised glance with Kaiden, who was sitting opposite her.

  “My Leanne?” Daisy’s dad asked.

  “Yes.” Rae sighed. “She wants to come visit the ranch.”

  “Why?”

  “She said it’s important and that she needed closure.”

  “What the heck does that mean?” Daisy’s dad snorted. “She’s the one who walked out twenty-odd years ago. No one was pushing her.”

  “I know that,” Rae said patiently. “I haven’t replied to her yet. I wanted to ask you what you want me to do.”

  There was silence around the table, as if everyone was gathering their thoughts. Adam was the first to stir.

  “I don’t need to see her, but it’s up to Dad. It’s his ranch.” Kaiden cleared his throat. “I’d be okay with it, actually—as long as Dad is.”

  “Me too,” Ben said, and Danny and Evan nodded in agreement.