Chapter One:
Lance Longcomb bent to get another brick, the wicked January wind threatening to unseat his cowboy hat. He mashed it on his head, actually grateful for it. Laying brick was no joke, and though the weather had threatened rain today, so far, only the sky foamed with angry clouds. No moisture yet.
He’d cover the new entrance gate to the ranch once it did, but it wouldn’t be the end of his workday. Lance spent long hours in the Canine Club and out with the horses when he wasn’t doing specific tasks Hudson assigned him.
Working kept him busy. Kept his thoughts from going around and around in circles. Kept him from reminding himself that the only woman he’d had eyes for in the past two years had yet another boyfriend.
Not only that, but Amber was dating another cowboy on the ranch. Dave had told Lance to wait. Watch. She’d break up with him eventually. And she had. But before Lance could ask her out, Ames had. That hadn’t lasted long. And now she was seeing another volunteer, one who came out to the ranch several times a week.
“Gotta move on,” Lance muttered to himself. Problem was, there was nowhere to move to, and no one else he even cared about. So he mixed cement and layered it on top of the row he’d already done. Put the bricks on. Moved the trowel.
Work, work, work.
And when he wasn’t working, he spent time with his band, though they’d all now found women to love. Dave and Sawyer and Carson were all married now, and Cache and Karla would be before long.
Lance had honestly started spending more time with Ames, Cook, and Gray, though the cowboy from down south annoyed Lance with his loud voice and general arrogance.
The engine of a truck met his ears, and Lance stood back off the road as Dave’s big black truck rumbled by. He pulled to a stop next to Lance, who said, “Going to the base?”
“Yep.” Dave looked at him and then the wall. “What are you doin’ this weekend?”
“Same old,” Lance said. And he was tired of it. Something in his life had to change, but he didn’t know what. Show me what to do, Lord, he thought as Dave knocked on the side of his truck.
“See you Monday.”
“Have a good one.” Lance lifted one gloved hand in good-bye, wishing he was the one driving away from the ranch.
Even as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t true. Last Chance Ranch had been a sanctuary to him the same way it was for the rescue animals so many labored to help and protect. He’d come to the ranch after the death of his father that had left his heart broken and his soul filled with darkness.
With prayer and the new job, he’d managed to keep getting up in the morning. With the help of his family and his new cowboy friends, he’d managed to find a measure of joy again. He still felt somewhat empty inside, though every time he went to church, that lessened.
At least until he saw Amber again.
Then he was reminded of his insane attraction to her. Sure, she was beautiful, with long, gorgeous blonde hair Lance wanted nothing more than to fist in his fingers as he kissed her. But he’d been around pretty women before. Lots of them. He’d married one.
Why Amber affected him so strongly, he wasn’t sure. Only that something had sparked the moment he’d laid eyes on her and hadn’t stopped in the time they’d worked together, despite him going out with other women. Despite her flitting from one boyfriend to the next every few months.
He’d love to be with her for just a few months.
Thunder clapped in the clouds above, and Lance decided he’d set his last brick for the day. He hurried to pull the thick plastic over the section of the wall he’d been working on for a couple of hours. No reason to have to redo it later, and he really liked the red brick Hudson and Scarlett had chosen for the gate flanking the dirt road up to the ranch.
They still had Prime, the robot mailbox that welcomed everyone to the ranch once they’d gone a half a mile down that dirt road. The wreath and tinsel that Prime had been holding for a month was gone now, and soon he’d have a big pink heart on his chest to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Lance was dreading the holiday, but he put it out of his mind as he stepped into the road, tugging on the plastic to get it into place.
A car turned off the main road at a speed that was much too fast for him to get out of the way. He froze, the same way deer did, he supposed.
The driver slammed on the brakes, and Lance managed to dance out of the way. The car swerved toward the wall he’d spent the last three hours building, and he thought that might be as bad as him getting hit by the vehicle.
“Wait, wait,” he said as the car came to a stop. Frustration and annoyance surged within him, but he just stood there with one hand clutching the plastic that still wasn’t in place. His heart pounded in his chest as the first raindrops fell.
The driver’s door opened, and a woman jumped from the car. Not just any woman. Amber Haws.
“Lance,” she said, her voice high-pitched, her face red, her eyes weeping. “I’m so sorry.” She sobbed immediately afterward, and Lance had no idea what to do.
He looked at the wall, which she hadn’t touched. With his eyes back on her, he had no idea what to do. “You didn’t hit it,” he said. She had a good three feet to go. He wondered if she’d have hit him, standing in the road.
She shook her head, angry little bursts of movement. The rain started to fall in earnest, and Lance was torn. He needed to cover the wall, but he had the woman of his dreams standing in front of him, crying.
“Amber,” he said. “Get in the car, okay? Let me cover up this wall, and I’ll come help you.”
Thankfully, she did as he said, and he hastened to get the plastic in place. Facing the car, with his shoulders soaking wet, he started toward the passenger door. He opened it and slid in, a sigh slipping between his lips.
Her car smelled like his fantasies. Something floral, something peachy, and something so feminine the hole inside him widened, reminding him of how lonely he was.
“What’s going on?” he asked easily, like maybe they’d go to lunch in a few minutes, and they were just catching up on small talk.
“What is with you cowboys?” she asked, her voice full of acid. She looked at him, the brown eyes that often followed him into sleep accusatory and full of sharpness.
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m so done with cowboys. Just done.” She clenched her fingers around the steering wheel. “Rude, ignorant, arrogant….” Her voice trailed off as she put her car in reverse and got it centered back on the road.
Lance had no idea what was going on, but he knew he didn’t need a ride up to the ranch. “Hey, I have my truck,” he said as she jammed her foot on the accelerator. He grunted and reached for the handle above the window as he got whiplashed backward.
Amber slammed on the brakes again, and Lance severely regretted getting in the car with her. He thought maybe he’d be able to help her, make her see that all that flirting six months ago had been real for him. That he wanted to touch her softly again, laugh with her, show her that not all cowboys were bad.
She skidded to a stop on the road beside where he’d left his truck. “There you go.”
His chest heaved as if he’d just run a marathon, and adrenaline skipped through his bloodstream. He looked at her, the fire in her face scorching hot. “Amber,” he said, but he didn’t know how to finish it.
“Dwayne broke up with me,” she said, the anger crumpling from her fine features. “On the phone, Lance. As he left town.” Her breath hitched, and her voice broke, and those fingers strangled the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry,” Lance said, though he secretly started rejoicing. If only she hadn’t said I’m so done with cowboys. Just done.
As far as he’d known, Dwayne wasn’t even a cowboy. Sure, he might wear a hat when he came out to walk dogs, but that didn’t make him a cowboy.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” she said. “But I’m late for work.”
Time spun forward then, and Lance scrambled for the door handle. “Of course. I’m—I’ll—sorry.” He got out of the car and backed up as she floored the accelerator again. The tires spun on the slightly wet dirt, and when they found purchase, they kicked gravel out behind them.
Lance stood there as the sky opened up and drenched him, sure the woman had just driven away with his heart.
* * *
When his doorbell rang that night, Lance just glanced at it. It could only be one of three people, and Cache, Ames, Cook, or Gray would just walk in. Sure enough, the door opened a moment later, and Cache walked in, a couple of pizza boxes in his hand.
Ames and Cook entered behind him, and while Lance was happy for the food, he didn’t really want the company. He’d been going over everything he and Amber had said to each other last July when they’d flirted at the animal adoption event.
That had been a great few hours and then a few days. But she’d started dating someone else, and Lance had faded into the background again.
But she had to know how much he liked her. Maybe he should ask her out now. Not wait another moment. Another hour. Another day.
Sure, she’d almost hit him and then the wall he’d been building. She’d been crying and had basically sworn off men right in front of him. But someone else would ask her out, and she’d say yes. Lance just knew it.
Lance wanted to be the guy she said yes to.
“Supreme and Hawaiian,” Cache said. “Karla’s bringing dessert, if that’s all right.”
“I don’t mean to keep you from her,” Lance said, pushing himself off the couch. His whole body hurt, but he didn’t let the groan come out of his mouth.
“She said she’d give us a twenty-minute head start,” Cache said, moving into the kitchen and putting the pizza on the counter.
“Head start for what?” Lance asked.
“All the women have been with Amber all afternoon.” Cache faced him, his eyes bright and shining and knowing. “Her boyfriend broke up with her. Now’s your chance, man.”
Lance opened his mouth to respond, but no words came. He scoffed and looked at Ames and then Cook. “What’s he talking about?”
“You’re not going to let her get away again,” Cook said. “We’re not going to let you.”
“Yeah,” Cache said. “So we have twenty minutes to figure out your next move with Amber, or else Karla’s going to tell you what to do.”
Horror struck Lance right between the ribs. “I don’t need all the women on this ranch gossiping about me,” he said.
“It’s not all the women,” Cache said. “Just Karla, and only because I may have mentioned something about you and Amber.”
“Cache,” Lance said, exasperated with everything lately. He got out a stack of paper plates and opened the pizza boxes.
“Okay, here’s what you’re going to do,” Cache said, a huge smile on his face. “And just listen all the way to the end.”
Lance felt his hopes crash back to the ground with those words, but at least he could eat while his friends talked.
