Charmed By The Daring Cowboy (Sage Valley Ranch Book 4)

by Melanie D. Snitker

  Less than an hour later, one part had been replaced, and the sink was in good working order again. He turned the water back on, tested it out, and flipped the air conditioner off so as not to waste electricity before the next guest took up residence.

  Before he left, he took out his cell phone and checked his lack of messages like he had frequently over the last few days. He thought about texting Alyssa and nearly put the phone back in his pocket. Instead, he tried to think of something that might help her, no matter what she’d decided about the job today.

  “I wanted to let you know that if you need help moving, I’ve got access to a large truck through my mom’s store. Say the word, and I’ll be happy to give you a hand.” He sent it and then another, adding, “I hope you and Noah are doing well.”

  He wanted to say he missed them, but figured that was probably more than enough. Besides, she’d ignored previous texts. He had no reason to think this would be any different.

  To his surprise, not ten minutes later, his phone pinged as he was walking to the stables. He stepped into the shade of a tree. Seeing Alyssa’s name there had his heart rate going up a notch.

  “Thank you. Hey, are you free tonight? We need to talk.”

  Dare’s excitement at getting to see her and hopefully Noah again overshadowed his dread concerning what she wanted to talk about. “Of course. Name the time and place.”

  It took long enough to get a response back that he’d started wondering if she changed her mind.

  “How about Main Street Burgers at six for milkshakes?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  * * *

  Dare didn’t think six o’clock was ever going to arrive. He was going to eat dinner before he went, but wasn’t hungry.

  When he arrived at Main Street Burgers, he went inside and immediately spotted Alyssa and Noah sitting in a corner booth. The moment Noah saw him, the boy jumped out of the booth and ran toward Dare with a grin on his face.

  “Yay! It’s been forever since I last saw you.”

  “I know how you feel, sprout.” Dare picked Noah up and carried him back to the booth where Alyssa waited. The smile on her face was genuine, although tentative.

  Dare waited for Noah to clamber onto the bench seat, scoot around the table, and settle in a space in the middle. Dare sat on the side opposite Alyssa and placed his cowboy hat on the small ledge behind him.

  She pulled her bag up and put it on the table. “I’ll go order the milkshakes. My treat. What flavor would you like, Dare?”

  “Chocolate would be great, please.”

  Noah bounced up and down on the cushioned bench. “Me too! Me too!”

  Alyssa gave him a pointed look. “If you want a milkshake, you’d better settle down.” She waited until he was on his bottom and as still as he was likely to get. “I’ll be right back.”

  Dare watched her walk toward the front counter for several moments before turning his attention to Noah. “So chocolate is your favorite milkshake too, huh? Good choice.” Noah beamed. “What all have you been up to lately?”

  Noah shrugged. “Nothin. I wish I were working with you on the ranch some more. You never did get to teach me how to carve with your knife.” His young voice was thick with disappointment.

  “I wish you were, too. We fixed Hopscotch’s pen so he can’t get free anymore. And I fixed a sink. I haven’t had the opportunity to dig in the dirt, though, since you and your mom left.”

  The little boy pushed his lower lip out. “That’s sad.”

  “Yeah, it is. But I guess we all have to sometimes do things that we don’t like to do. And that makes doing the things we love even better, right?”

  Noah seemed to mull that over and finally agreed as Alyssa slid into the booth again. “I guess so.” He told them all about the new battery-operated bulldozer he saw in the store until someone brought their milkshakes to the table. Then he was preoccupied with the creamy chocolate dessert.

  Dare appreciated that the restaurant used large straws as he took a sip of his milkshake. It was one of the best he’d had in a long while.

  Noah drank a third of his milkshake and then pointed to the small alcove where several old-fashioned video games were located. “Can I go watch?”

  Alyssa smiled at him. “Sure.”

  Dare was going to slide out of the booth, but Noah had crawled under the table and out again before he had the chance. “He never runs out of energy.”

  “That’s the truth. And here I’m sugaring him up before bedtime.”

  They were only sitting across the table from each other, but right now, it felt like much farther. Especially when it would be easy to slide across the bench and sit next to her. Instead of doing that, he picked up a napkin and used it to mop up the condensation from his glass.

  Had she taken the job in Houston? Is that why she wanted to meet here, to let him know?

  Alyssa cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for what I said the last time I saw you. About how my situation wasn’t something you could fix.”

  He waved away her comment. “You were right. I push too much sometimes. I’m sorry if I ever made you think you were only a project to me. I assure you I’ve never felt that way about you or Noah.”

  Alyssa shook her head. “That was all me. I don’t handle stress like that gracefully.” She paused. “My friend reminded me that, even when we can’t choose the challenges placed in front of us, we can still choose how we approach them. I’m afraid that’s not something I did well this time around.”

  “I’ve had some similar insights today. When you told me about the job in Houston, I felt like there were only two choices: either you and Noah stay here, or you leave, and I wouldn’t see you. It wasn’t until later that I realized there was so much more I’d wanted to tell you.” He still didn’t know if she was moving, but maybe that didn’t matter right now. “I’ll come visit you and Noah in Houston every chance I get. I’m sure there are plenty of places in that area where I could find a job if it came down to it.”

  Her eyes widened, and he instantly wondered if he’d said too much. Feeling as though he’d shoved his foot in his mouth, he let his gaze wander to where Noah was sitting at a race car game, pretending to use the steering wheel.

  “You’d really do that?” Alyssa’s voice was low and thick with emotion.

  “In a heartbeat.” Dare pushed the rest of his milkshake away from him. “I should have told you then, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

  * * *

  Tears clogged Alyssa’s throat, and she swallowed hard. His words filtered through her system and settled over her heart.

  That he’d be willing to drive to Houston every weekend to see them, even consider moving there, too… It was more than she deserved from someone she’d nearly walked away from. She reached up and pinched her earlobe as she tried to curb her emotions.

  “I turned down Ben’s job offer.”

  Dare stared at her as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “You turned it down?”

  “I couldn’t take it.” Her chest tightened as she wiped her damp palms on a napkin. Why wasn’t he responding? She needed him to say something…anything. She dropped the nearly-shredded napkin on the table and shifted nervously.

  “You know what?” Dare pointed at the bench space between them. “This table is a lot larger than I originally thought it was. Any objection to my shifting over to your side?”

  Alyssa shook her head, her face growing warm as she watched him move around the table and stop when his arm was a breath away from hers.

  “Why didn’t you want to take the job, Alyssa?”

  His gaze held hers captive. “Because I don’t want to move away from you.”

  Dare’s eyes focused on the ear she was still tugging and then back on her face. “I’m glad.” He took her hand, his thumb grazing her earlobe. “For the record? I’m kinda in love with you.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  He nodded, a hopeful smile on his handsome face.

&
nbsp; Alyssa couldn’t have stopped her smile if she’d wanted to. “I’m kinda in love with you, too.”

  Alyssa’s pulse thrummed as he leaned in and kissed her, his free hand tangling itself in her hair as he pulled her close.

  Their kiss hadn’t lasted nearly long enough when Noah’s voice interrupted them. “You guys are kissing?” He spoke loudly, and with enough emphasis, that he had several people nearby chuckling. He climbed onto the bench and looked at them curiously. “Does that mean we get to work at the ranch again?”

  Dare laughed and took his hat off the ledge, dropping it onto Noah’s head. “I don’t know about that.”

  Alyssa smiled at her son. “But it does mean we’ll get to see a lot more of Dare. What do you think of that?”

  Noah’s eyes widened along with the smile on his face. “Then Mr. Dare can teach me how to carve.” He turned his attention back to the milkshake he’d abandoned earlier, apparently content with the direction his life had taken, and in no hurry to remove the cowboy hat that was way too big for him.

  Dare turned back to Alyssa. “What about a job?”

  “Well, I found out about a possibility here in Sage Valley, and I had an interview today. They want me to go back and talk to them again on Wednesday.”

  “That’s great! Sounds like you impressed them. What company is it?”

  She told him about the job and what she understood her position would entail. “It’s definitely different from what I’m doing now.”

  “Different isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think you’d do really well there.” Dare smiled at her as he put a hand over hers. His thumb traced a gentle path from her palm to the tip of one finger and back down again. “They’d be crazy to not give you the job on the spot Wednesday.”

  “I may need your help with something between now and then.”

  That had his attention, and he straightened, completely serious. “Name it.”

  “I may need you to help keep me sane while I wait. Because right now, I’m going to be unemployed in less than five days.”

  “I’ll be happy to.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth.

  This was a distraction she was in favor of.

  “You’re kissing again?” Noah sounded incredulous.

  Alyssa touched her finger to her lips as she tried not to laugh at her son.

  Dare turned to look at him. “I think this may be something you’ll have to get used to. Do you think you can do that, little cowboy?”

  He thought for several moments before nodding, the motion causing the hat to slip down and cover his eyes.

  Dare laughed loudly and adjusted the hat again. He smiled at Alyssa. “I’m glad he’s on board, because I’m hopelessly addicted to your kisses.”

  Alyssa blushed as he settled an arm around her shoulders. “I know what you mean.”

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  To Alyssa, it felt like they’d been driving forever. “Are you sure you can’t tell me where we’re going?” She tried to peek around the blindfold Dare had secured, but he’d done way too good of a job.

  When he’d asked her out to dinner tonight, Alyssa had been more than happy to accept Morgan’s offer to stay at her house and watch Noah before getting him in bed. It was Friday night, but the poor boy was still exhausted after a long day of kindergarten classes and fun. Morgan had texted to let Alyssa know he’d fallen asleep by eight.

  Dare took Alyssa to eat at a nice restaurant in downtown Sage Valley. Once they’d finished their dinner, he’d announced he had another surprise, but she couldn’t see where they were going until they’d arrived.

  Alyssa didn’t realize how much she was fidgeting in her seat until Dare chuckled at her. He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Relax, we’re almost there. Tell me how your classes went today.”

  He definitely knew how to distract her. She brightened at the thought of her work at the Sage Valley Nature Center. She’d been organizing classes for school groups as well as the local senior centers. In her short time working for the Nature Center, she’d quickly discovered how much she liked to share her knowledge of the local plant life and the impact it had on their ecosystem. She hoped these classes were only the beginning of their local outreach programs.

  Moments later, the truck came to a stop, and Alyssa stilled. She tried to guess where they might be, but she could hear nothing that would give her a clue.

  Dare released her hand. “You stay here, and I’ll be around to get you.”

  She heard him get out of the truck and then her door opened moments later. She took off her seat belt and gave a little gasp as he gently lifted her from the truck and set her on her feet. Dare took her hand and threaded it through his arm. “Now we walk, but just for a few minutes.”

  Alyssa said nothing as she put all her trust in the man who expertly guided her to their apparent destination. When he removed her blindfold, she blinked and tried to orient herself. It was well after ten at night, but the full moon above bathed them with soft light.

  She took in the trees around them and the grassy field where they stood. They were at the top of a slight hill, and the stars above them twinkled with a brilliance that never ceased to amaze her. “Are we on Sage Valley Ranch?”

  Dare smiled. “I wanted to take you back to where we first met. I considered throwing mud at you, but quickly vetoed that idea.”

  Alyssa giggled. “I’m glad.”

  “We may have kissed for the first time in the stables, but it was when I kissed you under the stars later that night that I knew I could never get enough.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

  Alyssa could barely detect the shape of the box in the moonlight. She gasped as he opened it and took out a ring before slipping the box back into his pocket.

  “Alyssa Reid, I love you with all of my heart.” He reached for her hand and held it gently in his. “Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife and giving me permission to kiss you every night for the rest of our lives?” Even in the darkness, there was no missing the love that swam in his eyes as he watched her.

  Goosebumps peppered her skin as she released the lungful of air she’d been holding. “I love you, too, Dare. And of course I want to marry you.”

  He slipped the ring onto her finger before pulling her into a hug, swinging her around once, and then setting her back down again.

  She lifted her chin and welcomed a kiss from her cowboy, one that promised forever.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading Charmed by the Daring Cowboy. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and that you’ll consider leaving a review.

  Make sure you pick up the next Sage Valley Ranch romance, Inspired by the Creative Cowboy, by Bree Livingston: A woman who’s lost her trust, an artist who’s lost his inspiration, and the broken-down barn that brings them together.

  Pick up your copy now!

  If you enjoyed the memorable characters you met in this book, I think you’ll love the complete Love’s Compass series. With six novels full of faith, family, and love, you’re sure to find a new favorite. Grab the first book, Finding Peace, and get to know Tuck and Laurie:

  Tuck is determined to keep Laurie safe, even if it means risking his own heart in the process.

  Police Officer Tuck Chandler works hard to protect the citizens of Kitner, Texas. He’s also good at holding women at arm’s length. Jilted by his fiancée for his dedication to his job, he’s not about to open himself up to hurt like that again.

  Laurie Blake is a struggling photographer. After growing up in a wealthy family, she’s determined to make it on her own, even if it means doing it the hard way.

  When Tuck is assigned to a puzzling burglary involving Laurie’s fledgling photography business, he goes into it with his usual perseverance. He wants to help her – if she’ll let him. As the case unfolds and the mystery deepens, another question arises.

  Will their pasts get in the way of a future togethe
r?

  Read it today!

  * * *

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  * * *

  Sage Valley Ranch Series

  Romancing the Conflicted Cowboy

  by Crystal Walton

  Falling for the Younger Cowboy

  by Liwen Y. Ho

  Wrangled by the Watchful Cowboy

  by Tamie Dearen

  Charmed by the Daring Cowboy

  by Melanie D. Snitker

  Inspired by the Creative Cowboy

  by Bree Livingston

  Acknowledgments

  Doug, the last couple of years have been anything but easy. Thanks for being there for me and for continuing to encourage me in my dream. This book, and my sanity, wouldn’t be here without you. I love you!

  Crystal, I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for your friendship. Your support means the world, and I’m so glad that we can be there for each other as we go through all the challenges and joys life has in store. You are amazing, and don’t you forget it.

  Being able to work on this group project has been such a blessing. Crystal, Elizabeth, Liwen, and Tamie, thank you for the opportunity to participate in such an amazing series with you all.

  Steph, I so appreciate you for setting aside the time to read this story as soon as it was finished. Your encouragement was appreciated, your comments helpful, and some of those typos you found had me laughing. Your friendship is a true blessing.