Second Chance Ranch

by Jenna Hendricks

  She cleared her throat, hoping they would pay attention. When they kept ignoring her, she yelled out, “Suppertime!”

  Still no response from those at the table.

  Her father looked at her and arched a brow. When he shrugged, she knew she’d have to play her mother’s trump card.

  “If you don’t clear the table and get it set for supper, you won’t get anything. And that includes Ma’s tempting peach cobbler.” She knew mentioning the dessert would get everyone moving. Shoot, it had her moving plenty as a kid growing up in this house.

  There was nothing more important than dessert. Especially if it was made by their mother.

  Chapter 27

  After dinner and dessert, Elizabeth called Logan to see if he was willing to talk with her. She shouldn’t have worried—he had always wanted to see her, no matter the time.

  Since the store had been closed for a while, Logan was already home and had finished his supper by the time she arrived at the Hayes house.

  Logan came outside before she could get up the porch steps. “Hi, how ya doing?” He had his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. His lips were quirked in such a way that she knew he was just as nervous as she was.

  “Hi yourself.” She stopped a few paces from him.

  The air at night had grown crisp with the fall weather, and Elizabeth regretted not bringing a jacket with her. She wrapped her arms about her body in an attempt to keep her body heat in.

  “Are you cold?” Logan took his light jacket off and offered it to Elizabeth.

  She smiled up at him. “But now you’ll be cold.”

  He shook his head. “I can always go inside and get another jacket if I need it. Come on, let’s sit on the porch and talk.”

  When they walked up on the wraparound porch, so many memories of their time sitting outside watching the sun set during the summers, cuddling up with a blanket and hot cider in the fall, and—when they could—cuddling together under a blanket with hot chocolate during the winter came flooding back. She missed those days.

  The way Logan looked at her, with longing in his eyes, she figured he felt the same way.

  They both sat together on the cushioned wicker loveseat, just like they did most of their childhood. He reached behind him and pulled off the old afghan that his mother kept on the back of the chair just for evenings like this one. He set it over the both of them and smiled at Elizabeth.

  Chills went down her spine, and not from the cold.

  Butterflies zoomed around his stomach when their legs touched under the blanket.

  “I miss this.”

  His whispered confession went straight to her heart.

  She had to be honest with herself, and with Logan. “So do I.”

  His hand moved under the blanket, and he took hers. “Your hand is so cold. Why didn’t you tell me you were this cold?”

  He pulled their joined hands out from the blanket and blew his warm breath on her hand for a few seconds. Then he brought his other hand out and began rubbing his hands against hers until he felt the warmth coming back into her hand. Then he took her other hand and did the same thing.

  However, before he let her other hand go, he brought it up to his lips and lightly kissed the back of her hand.

  She inhaled and blinked. Her hope was that they would become friends. Never in a million years did she think anything more could happen. Did she want more? She wasn’t exactly sure at that moment what she wanted.

  “Lizzie.” Logan’s masculine timbre shook her to her very core.

  “Logan…” She wasn’t sure what to say.

  When she looked into his eyes, she saw the same love she had seen from him most of their lives. She didn’t know what he saw in her eyes, but when he moved closer to her, she knew she was going to let him kiss her.

  She wanted it with everything she had.

  When their lips were only a few inches apart, the screen door slammed shut.

  “Oh! I’m so sorry. Keep going, I’ll leave you to it.”

  Leah’s nervous chatter killed the mood, and they both quickly moved apart just like they had when they were teens and got caught kissing in that very same chair.

  “No, Leah. It’s alright. What did you need?” Logan called out.

  Leah’s hands fidgeted, and she hemmed and hawed. “Well…I… Um…Ma wanted to know who was here. That’s all. It’s no big deal. I’ll tell her that Lizzie’s here and the two of you are having a private discussion.” A hint of a smile turned her lips up, and she went back into the house without waiting for a response.

  Lizzie giggled, and Logan chuckled. Then he pulled her close to him and sighed in contentment. “This is exactly where we belong.” He kissed the top of her head.

  She leaned into him and put a hand on his chest. “Is this really what you want?”

  He could hear the insecurity in her voice, and it cut him.

  “This is all I’ve ever wanted. I made such a mistake of things when we were kids.” He pulled back so he could look into her face. “Lizzie, I love you. I have always loved you, and only you.”

  Tears pricked her eyes. “But, will you leave me again if you think it’s the right thing to do?”

  “Never,” he boldly stated before he claimed her lips.

  The euphoria that came over her was nothing like she had felt before. Even when they kissed as teenagers, she didn’t feel this strongly.

  Their lips moved together in time with their heartbeats. As their kiss deepened, she pulled him even closer. Logan felt things getting too heated, and he slowed down the kiss before anything got too far.

  When he pulled back, he looked lovingly into her eyes. “Lizzie. My Lizzie.” He kissed the tip of her nose and pulled her against his chest.

  She sighed and knew that here was exactly where she belonged. The contentment flooding her body was nothing like anything she had ever felt.

  “What does this mean?” She didn’t mean to say it out loud, and she stiffened when she felt him take a deep breath.

  He let his breath out and said, “I think this means that we need to see where this leads.” He gestured between the two of them. “I know what I want. It’s what I’ve wanted since we were in high school.”

  She knew what she wanted as well. However, she wasn’t sure she could trust him, yet. “So, no pressure. You’ll go at my pace?” She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t push.

  Until they sat down, she wasn’t even sure she wanted more with him. Could she trust her feelings? They were so all over the place, and she feared he would leave her again. There was no way her heart could take him breaking up with her…again. It would destroy her.

  But she couldn’t deny what she felt. Love—pure, unadulterated love. The strength and depth of what her heart was telling her frightened her, while at the same time she knew it was…right.

  Logan leaned forward and kissed her temple. When he pulled her tightly against him, he said, “Yes. As slow or as fast as you want. But know this: you’re mine, now and always. I’m not letting you go again. I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep you if that Max fellow comes back. Or if you change your mind.”

  Lizzie chuckled. “Max isn’t coming back. Well, he might for business, but not for me. Our time together is over. We were never meant to be forever.” She looked up into his face. “I think he was what I needed to get me ready for you, again.”

  “Then I’ll always be grateful to him for your past.” He hugged her back to himself again and kissed the top of her head. “This is your future.”

  Epilogue

  October 30, Chloe’s Move

  “Chloe, I love your house. It’s so cute.” Elizabeth looked around the outside of the small house located only a few blocks from the center of town, and the small hospital where she would start work in only two days.

  “Wait until you see inside. The wainscoting has a little shelf across the top at chest height where I can put all my Christmas figurines.” Chloe smiled as she looked at the front of her house
and just knew she was where God wanted her. A sense of contentment and peace settled over her, even though she had a lot of work to do before her house was ready for Christmas.

  Logan walked up with a bag of snacks in one hand and a cooler full of water and sodas in the other. “Where should I put these?”

  “Follow me to the kitchen.” Chloe let her sister and her boyfriend inside. She had waited a decade to see them get back together, and she couldn’t be happier to see them.

  Their families both had been ecstatic when they found out that the pair were back together again. While they hadn’t set a day, or even bought a ring, Chloe was confident they’d be married by summer. She only hoped Lizzie would ask her to be maid of honor, even though she was four hours away.

  Chloe opened the door and let Logan and Lizzie in before her. The rest of her brothers were still outside by the moving truck she had rented. Even though it was cold, the boys seemed content staying outside and making sure the truck was ready for them to unload.

  “The kitchen is to the back.” Chloe led her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law to the back of the house to see her farm-style kitchen. “You can set the cooler down on the island and put the bag of snacks on the built-in kitchen table in the corner.”

  “Nice, sis. You did good.” Elizabeth smiled and took the bag of snacks from Logan’s hand and set them out on the oak kitchen table set back in the corner of the room.

  Matthew walked into the room. “Where should we start unloading?”

  “Right. Let’s get the boxes unloaded to the spare room, and then I’ll direct you to where you should put the furniture.” Chloe walked outside to begin the arduous task of getting all her belongings in the right rooms.

  Logan stayed back and took Elizabeth’s hand. “So, how are you feeling?”

  Lizzie sighed and leaned into his strong chest. “I’m sad to see my twin leave, but so happy for her. This is something she’s wanted for a very long time, and I can’t be selfish.”

  He ran a hand down the back of her long hair. “You’ll still see her all the time. She’s only a few hours away. Why don’t we plan on coming out here in early December for a weekend?”

  She nodded. “I think that’d be a great idea. I doubt she’ll be coming to visit for a while. She’s going to be very busy getting her house in order and starting a new job.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Alright, let’s get going and help the boys unload the truck. I can’t believe how many boxes Chloe has. Where did she put all of this in her old house?” Logan shook his head and laughed.

  Elizabeth slapped his arm. “Hey, my sister is not a pack rat.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Please tell me you don’t have this much junk, too.”

  She turned her back on him and smirked. “It’s not junk if you use it.” And walked outside to get a load of boxes.

  “What have I gotten myself into?” The wry smile that covered his face belied his words. He was truly happy for the first time in his adult life.

  Even though Lizzie wanted to take things slowly, he was already planning to get her a ring for New Year’s Eve, or possibly even Christmas Day.

  When they were almost finished unloading the furniture, Chloe and Elizabeth had the headboard in their hands, and Chloe slipped on the wet ground. “Oh!”

  Elizabeth dropped her end of the oak headboard and went to her sister. Before she could get to her, a masculine set of arms was helping her sister up. The arms belonged to a face she had never seen before.

  “Are you alright?” the stranger asked.

  Chloe stood up and brushed her hands on her jeans. Without looking at the guy, she responded, “Yes, just embarrassed.”

  Elizabeth cleared her throat. She knew as soon as her sister looked at the gorgeous face in front of her, she’d be even more embarrassed.

  When Chloe looked up, Lizzie noted the red beginning to tint her sister’s cheeks, and she smiled.

  If this was what the men of Frenchtown looked like, Lizzie was confident her sister wouldn’t be single much longer.

  In fact, some still, small voice told her that they’d both be married soon.

  The End

  Author’s Notes

  So, what did you think? This was my first foray into the Clean & Wholesome Cowboy Romance sub-genre. I love this type of book and hope you think I did a great job representing the characters and genre.

  If you could spare just a couple of minutes to write a review, I would be forever grateful! Since this is a brand-new pen name for me, no one knows who I am yet. Reviews will help readers to know if what I wrote is up their alley, or not. All I ask is that you be honest.

  The inspiration for this book came a long time ago. I felt the Lord leading me to join the fantastic line-up of Clean Cowboy Romance authors and I took my time researching and writing this first book. Book 2 is already in the works, but first up will be a prequel.

  Actually, this was supposed to be the prequel to the entire series. But as I began writing about Elizabeth and her life, she kinda stole the reigns and put her boot down. Her story couldn’t be told in only 30K words or less. She ended up needing over 70K words to get her life on paper.

  So, I’ve had to create a different set of characters to introduce new readers to Beacon Creek and the wonderful cast of characters who make up the town. Look for it Spring of 2020, or sooner!

  And if you’re wondering about the clean eating I wrote about, it’s something new for me. As I started writing this book, I had to change up my diet because I have an autoimmune disease. It’s crazy how food affects our bodies and health. So as I wrote this, I was dealing with some of the food issues in real life, like being sensitive to gluten.

  If you have any health issues, please talk to your doctor about the possibility of food making your issues worse, or the flip-side. Healthy eating clearing up some of your issues. Once I began to eat healthier, I have been doing a modified paleo diet, some of my smaller issues, like IBS, began to go away. Also, brain fog and fatigue are less of an issue than before.

  No matter what you do next, I hope you have a healthy and happy year! Don’t forget to check back, or even join my newsletter, to find out about the next book in the Triple J Ranch series, coming spring 2020!