Her Last Chance Cowboy: A Sweet Western Romance (Prairie Valley Book 5)

by Ellen Joy

  Now she needed to talk to him, before Elaine did.

  Jake looked out the window to see his mother’s sleek black sedan pull up to the house.

  “You can be just as dramatic as Ted,” she said, shaking her head as she got out of the car and slammed the door. “You have that girl a lot more worried than she needs to be.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, wondering who the girl was, and what he was being dramatic about. He hadn’t even left the ranch in days.

  “I saw Hannah.”

  Oh.

  “And…?”

  “And then I talked to Ted.” She crossed her arms against her chest. “Do you want to tell me your side, now?”

  He crossed his own arms. “I’ll never understand what you see in that guy.”

  She looked past him, out toward the fields. “Why didn’t you just ask for the money?”

  “Maybe because I already knew the answer,” he said.

  “Did you?” She shook her head.

  “Why are you mad at me?”

  “Because all I’ve ever asked is for you two to get along. Why can’t you just look past your differences, for me?”

  “How is him firing me somehow my fault?”

  “Ugh! You make me so mad, Jacob Michael Ryland!” she growled. “You told him you wouldn’t stay on much more than a year.”

  “Maybe this is partly on me, I never really wanted to work there. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to be fired out of the blue without any notice, either. Why can’t you ever be on my side?”

  “Do you know, he said that same exact thing to me?” She shook her head. “When will you knuckleheads realize we’re all on the same side? We’re family, damn it.”

  “He’s not my family.”

  “And that, right there, is the problem, Jakey. You can’t be accepted if you refuse every advance. Just like the good Lord says, ask and you shall receive.”

  That was the problem, Jake thought. Ted wanted him to ask. He wanted to put him in that exact position, so he could lord it over him. “He hated me from the start.”

  “You hated him.”

  The reality was that he’d hated all men at that point in his life. For good reason. He had frequently seen his dad pummel his mother’s face like Rocky Balboa on Ivan Drago.

  “I was a child, who’d just gone through some pretty traumatic stuff, and he was a grown man.”

  He almost rolled his eyes when he saw his mother tear up. He knew this was hard for her to hear, but she needed to hear it.

  “Ted has been a good husband to me, and he took us both in when we needed help,” she cried. “I always tried to do what was right by you.”

  “Mom, that was almost thirty years ago. And you talk about it like you were a stray dog he decided to pick up off the street. That’s not how a relationship is supposed to work. A marriage should be about love and partnership, not about one person feeling beholden to the other.” He couldn’t keep it in any longer, though he knew how much his words might hurt her. He had tried to see things from her perspective, but he just wasn’t sympathetic anymore. “I love you, mom, but I want nothing to do with Ted.”

  “Jake, come on!” Elaine shook her head. “You can’t choose your family.”

  “Actually mom, you can. And I feel like I’m at a stage in my life where, for the sake of my own well-being, I need to make that choice.”

  She blew her nose with a tissue from her purse.

  “Look, you can tell me that I was closed off and unreachable, and maybe I was, but he is unreachable even to his own kids. Julia works day and night and gets no recognition. Josh is his errand boy, going nowhere.” He was sick of feeling inadequate. “You will always be welcome in my home, wherever that may be. But I was never welcome in Ted’s house. I was always a guest there, and that will never change.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Mom, I ring the doorbell when I come over.”

  She shook her head. “He opened his home–”

  Jake cut her off. “I don’t want to hear that one more time. You can keep believing it if it makes you feel better, but please keep it to yourself. Now, if there’s nothing else, I have a lot of paperwork to do.”

  She hesitated. “Why can’t you just ask for your job back?”

  He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you at church.”

  Another tear slipped down her cheek, but she nodded.

  She turned away and went back to her car without making eye contact. But he kept his eyes on her. She might not want to see the truth, but he could only hope that the walls were cracking, and the light would start shining through.

  “Are you mad?” Hannah asked, after he told her about his mother’s visit.

  He shook his head, pushing the porch swing back and forth as they listened to the crickets. “Nah, I guess I just got a taste of my own medicine.”

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve stayed out of it.” Yet, when she saw the house, the yard, the view, she just couldn’t bite her tongue.

  He shrugged. “It’s fine. Really.”

  She thought back to when she first met Jake Malloy in the grocery store. She would never have believed she’d be sitting here with him, swinging on his front porch under the silver glow of moonlight. “I’m sorry for getting mad at you. That day we first met.”

  He smiled, showing off his dimple. “I told you I wasn’t such a creep.”

  “You were right.” She playfully pushed her shoulder into him. “But you were also right about Troy. I can see the signs so clearly now. The fear kind of blinded me to it all, if that makes any sense.”

  He nodded and kept pushing his foot against the floor.

  “I’m really sorry about how everything went with your stepdad,” she said. She could see his heart had been crushed with the loss of his job, soon the ranch, and maybe even the animals.

  “I’m going to try to figure out how to get some land, find a place I can afford.” He settled his arm around her shoulders. “I’m going to find a place for all of us.”

  Hannah so badly wanted to believe this was real. That Mr. Marine, the guy who stood up against Troy, was truly her knight in shining armor. But maybe he needed rescuing, too.

  Chapter 16

  “Come out with me!” Josh yelled through the screen door.

  “I’m tired,” Jake said, piling plates into the sink.

  “I heard you got in a fight with Dad again?”

  Jake leaned against the counter with a sigh. He loved his baby brother, but Josh never understood how very different his life had been. He didn’t understand anything that Jake and their mother had gone through before he was born. How Jake had feared his own father, how he never really trusted men in general.

  When he married Hannah, he’d do everything he could to be the best father for Emma. He’d make her feel welcome in his life, just as he had wanted to be included in Ted’s. He’d wanted the guy to prove he was trustworthy, was someone who would protect him, but Ted only saw him as a leech.

  “I’m going to church with mom tomorrow,” he said, which was true, but he was mostly going because he wanted to be with Hannah. He was still pretty angry with his mom.

  “It’s only 9:30. You can have one drink with your brother.”

  “Not tonight.” He wished Josh would grow up and start settling down. Soon.

  “Then I’m going to stay here and drink your whiskey.” Josh pushed through the door and headed straight to the cabinet.

  Jake took in a deep breath. “Don’t be a donkey.”

  “Come on.” He steepled his fingers. “You never come out anymore. Come have some drinks with me.”

  “One. And I’ll drive myself,” Jake said. He was not getting stuck there.

  “You better show up this time,” Josh muttered as he walked back to his own truck.

  Jake groaned as he looked around the kitchen. He wanted to clean up, go to bed, and wake up to see the sunrise before heading to church. The drive to town took on
ly ten minutes, but it dragged by, and all he wanted to do was swing a U-turn and head home.

  The minute he stepped into Lumberjacks, he knew he should’ve stayed home. Allison was standing at the bar. She looked at the door as he walked in, just as though she had been waiting for him. Her eyes were hot with anger. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with. He turned around to leave, almost running into Josh coming in behind him.

  “You made it!” Josh patted him on the back, pushing him further into the bar. “Billy, grab me two beers!”

  The bartender nodded, grabbing the glasses.

  “I’m not staying.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Allison’s here,” He jerked his head toward her.

  “So? Just ignore her.” Josh steered him to a set of empty stools just as Billy slid two frosted dark brews in front of them.

  Josh raised his glass to Jake. “Cheers.”

  Jake sighed. “Cheers.”

  He slugged down a big gulp, looking around the crowded space. They were people he had known most of his life, but they felt like complete strangers since he came back from the Service.

  “So, what happened with Dad?” Josh asked, resting his elbows on the edge of the bar.

  “Look, I thought you wanted to relax and have a drink?” Jake snapped.

  “Okay,” Josh said, holding up his hands in surrender. “So, tell me about this new family you have?”

  Jake rolled his eyes. “I like her. A lot. So be cool.”

  “Doesn’t she have, like… a kid?”

  “Emma, yeah. She’s really great.”

  “Are you really serious? I mean, I’m happy for you, but she comes with a lot of baggage.”

  Jake huffed at his brother’s audacity. “I come with a lot of baggage.”

  And that explained everything to Jake. Hannah was the only other person who really understood who he was, how he felt, and how to move forward. He loved that she took everything life threw at her and just kept going, with quiet strength.

  “How about asking her old man for permission?” Josh laughed. “He’s right behind you.”

  Jake swung his head around to see Joel Destin stumble out of the bathroom, staggering against the wall.

  “Oh man,” Jake said under his breath.

  He was beyond drunk. His face was blotched red, his nose swollen. Jake could see the bloodshot eyes from thirty feet away.

  “Hey, watch it!” A big, muscle-bound man said to Joel as he spilled a drink on his shirt.

  Hannah’s father slurred a retort back at the guy, whose girl was clutching his chest, trying to get him to cool down.

  “He’s not worth it Gordo,” someone said.

  But the big man had a crazy glint in his eye. He pulled back his arm, ignoring his pleading girlfriend, and swung at Joel. Jake had seen it coming and already jumped from his stool, and yelling out, “Gordo! Gordo, man, he’s with me.”

  Gordo stopped his swing and craned around to see who had spoken. He seemed amused when he spotted Jake. “Jakey Malloy, you hanging around with old drunks nowadays?”

  Gordo, aka Stanley Gordon, had gained a few pounds since high school. “Just on Saturdays.”

  Gordo laughed. “I did hear that you were banging his daughter.”

  Before Jake could react, Joel Destin swung a fist and smacked Gordo right in the nose. Blood spurted as other regulars grabbed the man, trying to hold him back before he killed the old man.

  “Get him out of here!” someone called out, jerking his head toward Hannah’s father.

  Gordo wiped the blood off his face with his shirt while trying to fight off his friends. “Let me at him!”

  Just as he broke free, Jake pinned his hands against his chest and stepped between him and Joel. “Calm down, I’m taking him home.”

  Then he grabbed Gordo by the shirt, pulling him close.

  “And don’t ever talk about Hannah like that again,” he warned, loud enough for his friends to hear.

  “Let me go!” Gordo seethed.

  The man stumbled when Jake dropped him, and he grabbed Joel, who had already made his way to the bar.

  “Let’s get you home.” He propelled him toward the door.

  “Don’t you touch me!” Joel squirmed out of his grasp.

  Billy came around from behind the counter. “It’s time for you to leave, Destin.”

  “You can’t kick me out!”

  “He lives over on the hill, on Second,” Billy said, grabbing Joel under the armpits and hauling him up. “First house on the left. The blue one.”

  “I don’t need your help!” Joel slipped out of their grasp, tripped, and fell hard onto the floor… unconscious. Blood began to pool on the dirty floor from a nasty cut on his head.

  “Call 911!” Jake yelled out. He turned to Billy, his medic training kicking in. “Go grab me some towels. Don’t move him! Back up.”

  He took the man’s pulse. “Joel, can you hear me?”

  The crowd backed away, people quieting down as Billy ran up with towels.

  Jake put one behind Joel’s head and applied pressure to the laceration. It felt like forever before the paramedics arrived, but it probably was only a few minutes.

  “How do you know Mr. Destin?” the police officer asked.

  He looked at the man being lifted onto the stretcher and said, “He’s my girlfriend’s father.”

  Emma took a shower and came out of the bathroom with rosy cheeks and slicked-back hair.

  “You smell delicious,” Hannah said.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “I shower regularly now, Mom.”

  Hannah couldn’t believe how much her little girl had grown up. The saying that children grew up in the blink of an eye couldn’t be truer. It felt like just yesterday she’d held Emma in her arms, and now she was almost the same height as Hannah. She sat alone in her room more often than she hung out with her mother on the couch, these days. And her attitude. Ouff. She was definitely growing into a teenager.

  She sat on the couch next to Hannah now, though, and said, “Tonight was really fun.”

  Hannah had been waiting for this conversation. She had been torn about sharing her feelings. How much should she include Emma in all of this? The consequences for both of them were serious.

  “Emma, Jake is just a very good friend,” she said tentatively.

  “Jake is in love with you, Mama,” Emma said. “He couldn’t stop looking at you all night.”

  Hannah couldn’t help but smile at the thought. “Don’t get too excited. Not yet.” But she could see hope building in Emma, like she could feel it building inside her. “Want to do our nails?”

  Emma’s eyes shot open. “Yes!”

  Hannah got up to fetch her small collection of polishes. “We could even make some popcorn and watch a movie.”

  “It’s already nine-thirty.” Emma looked confused at this sudden change in their routine.

  “It’s Saturday night.” She handed Emma her phone. “Text Olivia. I bet she’d like to join us.”

  Olivia came running up the stairs with face creams, masks, and oils. “I brought Pride and Prejudice!” She shook the boxset of DVDs.

  “You want to watch a six-hour-long adaptation of Jane Austin?” Hannah laughed. “You really did need to get out of the house.”

  “I love my family, I really do, but Jesse’s into this Western thing with Nana, and I just can’t.”

  “How about letting Emma pick the movie?”

  Emma picked up the box. “We could do one part tonight, and make it like a regular Saturday night thing?”

  Hannah could feel the joy building, and as always, it brought anxiety with it. “That’s a great idea.”

  As happy as she should’ve been, as perfect as things seemed to be, she was still waiting for something to prove this wasn’t real. That Hannah Destin didn’t deserve happiness, only struggle and misery.

  There was a knock on the door.

  “It must be Jess,” Olivia said.


  “Come in!” Hannah called out.

  “Hello, Hannah?” But the voice wasn’t Jesse’s, it was Jake’s.

  Hannah got up immediately, flustered, wishing she had time to change from her pajamas into normal clothes. She must look ridiculous, cream covering her face, her toes locked into foam spacers, and her hair up in a messy bun.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt.” His face was worried.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s your dad,” he said. “He’s in the hospital.”

  Chapter 17

  The noise of the blood pressure monitor stirred her awake. Hannah rubbed her eyes, looking at the dimly lit hospital room. The nurse would be in soon. They had been coming every two hours or so since Hannah arrived.

  “Your father suffered severe trauma to the head. We have the bleeding under control, but I’m afraid with the progression of his cancer and the state of his health, we recommend he be transferred to a hospice care facility.”

  “Oh… what does that mean?”

  Joel Destin had woken up long enough to ask when he could go home, but he was unsure of where he was or why he was there. He didn’t even notice or recognize Hannah. She didn’t even know why she was there, other than a sense of family obligation. She was so glad Jake had come with her. He stood by her while the doctor explained the next steps for her father.

  “I’m afraid Mr. Destin is very sick. The cancer has spread quickly, and he’ll need immediate around-the-clock care. We recommend he stays at a rehabilitation center here in town.” Dr. Verry held the file against her chest.

  She could feel her feet sinking into the floor, the air escaping her lungs. She couldn’t even think what else she should ask. “Okay.”

  “What do you need us to do?” Jake asked the doctor. He stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder.

  “You may want to grab a few of his things, and we’ll transfer him by ambulance. You’ll want to start putting his affairs in order. See if he has a living will.”

  The doctor kept talking, but everything seemed to go in one ear and out the other. She couldn’t focus. When they were alone, Jake rubbed her back. “Don’t worry. I will help take care of everything.”