by Jean Oram
The Cowboy’s Second Chance
The Cowboys of Sweetheart Creek, Texas Book 3
Jean Oram
From the Back Cover
The Cowboy’s Second Chance by Jean Oram
Ryan Wylder isn’t looking for love. He’s been burned before and has learned his lesson the hard way. But when his sexy new neighbor Carly Clarke takes aim at him with her shotgun during a late-night misunderstanding that sparks his interest, he may have to look out for more than his life—he may have to look out for his heart!
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Carly Clarke is ready for change. No more men. No more bad decisions or accepting well-meaning interference in her life. Just self-reliance as she builds up her soon-to-be organic farm. Only one problem, handsome cowboy Ryan Wylder keeps showing up and making offers her new business can’t refuse. Will accepting his help mean she’ll lose her fight for independence, or will he respect her boundaries while pushing her to new levels?
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And what will this duo do as their lives become inexplicably entwined, and their hearts beg them to take a second chance on love?
The Cowboy’s Second Chance
The Cowboys of Sweetheart Creek, Texas Book 3
By Jean Oram
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© 2020 Jean Oram
First edition
All rights reserved
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Thank you for downloading this ebook. Although in electronic form, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and it cannot be reproduced, modified, copied and/or distributed by any means for commercial or non-commercial purposes whether the work is attributed or not, unless written permission has been granted by the author, with the exception of brief quotations for use in a review of this work. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite online vendor where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. Keep reading!
All characters and events appearing in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, alive or dead, as well as any resemblance to events is coincidental and, truly, a little bit cool. Unless your names rhyme with Travis or Shauna, in which case it’s still not a resemblance. At least, not really.
Cover created by Jean Oram
ISBN: 978-1-989359-32-7
1120p
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note from the Author
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
More Books by Jean Oram
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Sometimes the most memorable event at a conference is one of the sessions. The one that makes you look at everything differently, sending you charging back home to make big changes.
And sometimes the most memorable event is a simple supper in a pub with author Patricia McLinn. She’d collected a few of us conference orphans at the end of RAM 2019, selecting a table with a good view of the football game, asking the waitstaff not to interrupt during a play. (To which they obliged with humor and grace.)
Patricia patiently taught me almost everything I know about football during that supper. Explaining patiently and expertly everything from what the numbers on jerseys meant, to what high school football might look like in Texas—the cheerleaders take a different bus to events, for example. She used terms like “the green team” to help me keep track of what was going on as she explained.
It was the best part in a conference full of greats. It’s always a pleasure to sit with Patricia and I owe her a debt of gratitude for her help making Ryan’s story that much more rich in detail.
Obviously, any oversights or errors are my own.
As for some of the ‘game talk’ and strategy, a lot of that comes from years of listening to my husband talk about volleyball. In several short years he went from having never watched a game to coaching at a competitive level.
Carly’s tips on mixing up the plays, throwing the other team off guard and being unpredictable are things he might try. And the feeling of not earning the win due to what happens to the other team in one of the scenes—that’s him, too. Him and his big heart full of empathy. It’s what makes him, him.
As well, besides thanking Patricia and my husband for the sports element, I’d also like to thank my ‘make it better’ team. A heartfelt thanks goes to Margaret Carney and Tessa Shapcott for patiently accepting my numerous series scheduling changes as I dealt with life during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a big thanks for your suggestions, edits, and overall help to make this story all that it is. I’d also like to thank my beta team: Margaret C., Donna W., Erika H., and Lucy J. I’d also like to thank Stefanie Brame for her sensitivity read and suggestions. And finally, to my error finding team. You’re the icing on the cake, ladies! Thank you for your help.
A Note from the Author
When you sit down to write a book sometimes you think you know how things are going to go. You know who your characters are and what they are striving toward. And then things happen. Things change. The characters begin to insist on certain things, or some things appear on the page and feel so right.
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As I write this note (June 2020) our world is in the midst of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and my neighboring country is dealing with riots and protests of various kinds. Many are related to discrimination based on color.
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It is a confusing time filled with pain. As a woman raised to believe that every single life, story, and perspective matters and that kindness and caring matters more than a person’s color, it is especially confusing for me. Discrimination and racism is not right, and it does hurt.
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Maybe that’s why I love writing so much. It’s an escape for me as much as for my readers.
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Enter my dear heroine Carly Clarke who is a woman of color. Carly walked onto the page from the start as a strong woman with beautiful dark skin and a hurt soul. She is like me and you with her hopes and dreams for a future where things will finally go right, and where she entrusts her heart to the right person.
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My books are always about hope, love and following one’s dreams. And this is the heart of Carly’s story, too. Just like it’s mine. Just like it’s probably yours.
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If I have misstepped, please forgive me. And if our society’s perspectives change over the years, as they always do, and the things I have written today are no longer relevant or appropriate, please forgive me. My only intention is to assist in making the real world line up with what is in my heart: compassion, kindness and caring, where every life matters greatly and where a person’s character matters more than their color.
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I hope that I have done justice in telling Carly’s story. I hope that I have helped give more women a voice. I hope that, thanks to Carly, more women will see themselves on the pages of my books. And I hope that those who assume they will see themselves reflected back on the pages of these stories will also see themselves in Carly. We are more alike than we are different.
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Every person deserves love, kindness and compassion.
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Let the healing start here.
With love,
Jean Oram
Alberta, Canada 2020
For McPat
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You are probably beyond needing or wanting to have a book dedicated to you, having written so many of your own and having shaped so many moments and careers in your life already.
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Just the same…
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Cheers, girl! This one’s for you.
1
Ryan Wylder searched through the ranch house fridge, on the lookout for his mother’s semi-famous lasagna. He was certain there’d still been some left when he’d gone over to the neighbor’s at one in the morning and just about gotten himself shot.
“Already ate it,” his brother Myles said, entering the room.
“All of it?” He checked his watch: 7:40 a.m. Myles must have had an extra early start to his Saturday to have consumed that much lasagna already. “Hey, how high does our forklift go?” Ryan asked, closing the fridge.
Myles studied him for a moment. “Why? Looking to go next door and get yourself shot at again?”
“She didn’t shoot at me.” Carly Clarke, their gorgeous new neighbor, had shot out the yard light above him when he’d returned her loose goats in the middle of the night. He may have also been enjoying the view through her slightly translucent nightgown. That woman had more curves than any road he’d ever driven down in Texas Hill Country.
She hadn’t been a fan of his gawking.
“Doesn’t she wear a wedding band?” Myles asked, no doubt reading Ryan’s expression and coming to conclusions.
“What kind of husband sends his wife out alone in the dead of the night to take care of an intruder?”
“Maybe he wasn’t home.”
“Has anyone ever seen him?”
“I’m not sure,” Myles said thoughtfully.
Ryan headed to the pantry to rummage. He didn’t live on the family ranch any longer, but regularly helped with chores and felt entitled to raid the kitchen when hunger struck.
He let out a sound of triumph as he held up a tray of their mother’s extra gooey cinnamon buns.
“Mom’s saving those for later,” Myles stated.
Ryan groaned and returned the cinnamon buns to the shelf.
The purposeful clack of cowboy boots landing on floor tiles signaled the arrival of their eldest brother, Levi, now thirty-five.
“Any lasagna left?” he asked, heading to the fridge. He adjusted his cowboy hat, appearing very much like the ranch owner he was, as he leaned down to look inside the old appliance. Technically, the five Wylder brothers shared ownership in the Sweet Meadows Ranch, but Levi was in charge and frequently reminded Ryan of his recent status change. Levi was no longer simply the I-Know-Best bossy big brother, but also the one taking the lead in the family business that fed every one of the Wylder clan, whether they had retired, like their grandfather and parents, or had jobs off the ranch, like Ryan and Brant.
“Myles ate it,” Ryan said.
Levi eyed the second youngest Wylder, who was built like the linebacker he’d once been. “Where do you put it all?”
Myles shrugged. “Since I know you won’t let us take a break until we’re done moving Brant back to the ranch, I thought I’d better pack on some reserves.” He patted his flat stomach with a grin.
Ryan had almost forgotten about Brant moving out of the apartment above his veterinarian clinic today. The plan was to let Ryan’s best quarterback’s pregnant girlfriend live there. After last night’s important playoff game—one that had brought the high school football team one step closer to the elusive state championship trophy—Robyn’s parents had kicked their daughter out of the house.
Not great timing for Ryan’s starting quarterback to have a personal crisis. Area football playoffs were in six days, and the state championships four weeks after that. These next few games were what their entire season had been leading up to. And if Blake Hernandez was fretting over Robyn, then he wasn’t focusing on the game. And if he wasn’t focusing on football, then goodbye championships, and goodbye scholarships for him and several other players on the team.
The crazy thing was that Ryan hadn’t even thought about that mess once this morning. Apparently getting shot at by a feisty neighbor on her hobby farm was an excellent way to take one’s mind off of a potential crisis.
“Karen said Robyn’ll be ready to move her few bags of stuff into Brant’s around noon,” Myles stated, his voice warming as he said his girlfriend’s name.
“So if we can get all of Brant’s personal effects moved to the ranch before then,” Levi said, selecting an apple from the fruit bowl, “we should be set.”
“I’ll be late,” Ryan told them.
Levi blinked at him, asking around a mouthful of apple he’d bitten off, “How can you be late? You’re already here.”
“There’s something I need to do.”
Myles smirked, carrying a bowl of cereal to the table near the windows, where he had a coaching textbook open.
Levi let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, when you’re not too busy with your projects, our brother needs your help.”
“I said I’d help and I’m here, aren’t I?”
“The ranch could use more of your time, too, you know.”
“I hired Hernandez to do my morning chores.” That way Ryan could focus on being a high school teacher and football coach, as well as keep a finger in the other pies he had on the side. His star quarterback could also use the money, with the baby coming next summer. “And didn’t you hire another farm hand?”
“I need your analytical brain to look over a breeding schedule I want to test next spring.”
“I can’t focus on anything but football right now,” Ryan replied. Mentally, he was trying to remember where he’d find the keys for the ranch’s ancient forklift.
“This schedule could save the ranch a fair amount in feed costs. We may also lose fewer calves due to dehydration during heat waves.”
Ryan wasn’t falling for his bait. Levi was trying to lure him into asking questions about his “plan.” He’d hook Ryan’s curiosity with some details he’d want to research, and then before long it would be Ryan’s project.
“Brant’s already doing some casual research on that stuff,” Ryan stated.
“We’re working on it together.”
“He’s the veterinarian, not me.”
“We need help.”
“I’m busy. Call in partner number two,” he said, referring to their AWOL brother, Cole. He’d been Levi’s constant companion growing up, but had left almost five years ago. As far as Ryan knew, Cole had an equal share in the family property and was doing absolutely nothing to help.
Levi echoed Ryan’s stance, his expression stern, jaw set. Uh-oh. He’d pushed it too far and now he was about to get The Question again. His brother was like a woman who wanted an engagement ring—unrelenting.
“Do you want a stake in this ranch?”
And there it was. Ever since their parents had divorced, and the operation had been turned over to the five sons last June, all Levi had done was ask what role they wanted to play in running the place, hinting they could walk away.
And leave him with everything? Fat chance.
The problem was that whenever Ryan thought about helping out more, he felt stifled. There was no independence working on the ranch. It was all just following orders, keeping to routines, and being Levi’s lackey. And since the flash flood that had swept Ryan downriver at age seven, his eldest brother had been extra vigilant to breathe down his neck at all times. If he wasn’t twenty-seven he might not find the protectiveness as oppressing as he currently did.
So if the question was did he want to put on his cowboy boots and hat full-time, the answer was no.
But giving up revenue from the ranching business, as well as his part of the family legacy? That wasn’t an easy thing to turn away from.
“Because if you don’t want to be involved, I understand.”
“I already have a full-time job, and when I asked if we could expand the stables as my way of helping out, you said n
o.”
“We don’t need more horses.”
“And we don’t need to sink everything we’ve got into cattle. We should diversify. If I end up renting stable space from someone else, I’m charging it to the ranch.”
Levi’s jaw tightened. “You think I’ll authorize something like that?”
“Maybe we should vote on it. You have only one-fifth of the say. I bet if I could find Cole, he’d vote my way. Myles and Brant might, too.”
At the table, Myles looked up from his textbook, his spoon halfway to his mouth.
Levi’s expression turned hard, his attention fixed on Ryan. “If you don’t tell me what you want by December first, I’m going to draw up the papers to buy you out.”
“I’m in the middle of football playoffs. If we make it to State, I can’t be thinking about the ranch and what you need.”
Levi had been happy enough taking charge of the operation, with Myles as his right hand and Brant and Ryan stepping in to help as their jobs allowed. But ever since Levi had started dating Laura Oakes, things had changed. The more serious he got about his relationship, the more he demanded of his brothers.