Colton: Rodeo Cowboy

“Did Sierra grow up here?”

Relieved that Leah didn’t ask to drive again, Colt walked around to the driver’s side and pressed the buttons to return his seat and mirrors to their original positions. His new truck had impressed her. It was kind of ridiculous how happy that made him.

“Nah, Sierra’s parents lived in Chicago. But her mother and Aunt Jordan grew up in Roundup and Sierra’s family spent summers at their cabin along the Musselshell River.”

Leah glanced out the window as they drove along Highway 87 toward First Street. “Must have been some change moving from Chicago to here.”

Her comment made Colt wonder how Leah herself was making the adjustment. “You miss Calgary?”

She was quiet for a bit, then shifted her gaze from the town to him. “If the past six years taught me anything, it’s that I’m a small-town girl at heart.”

There was a world of unhappiness in that comment, Colt thought. He parked across the street from the redbrick building that housed the Number 1.

“Hey, isn’t this the old newspaper building?” Leah whistled. “Sierra sure fixed it up nicely.”

“Wait until you taste the food.” Colt was about to open his door when Leah stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Hang on a sec. You’re still not off the hook where last night is concerned.”

“I’m not?”

“Like I told you before, I’m planning to start a new business here in Roundup. I’ve got a business diploma with an agricultural accounting concentration and—” she took a deep breath “—I was hoping Thunder Ranch might be my first client.”

It took him a few seconds to process what she was saying. “Seriously? You want to be an accountant?”

“It’s a good job for a working mother. Tell me—who does your family’s books now?”

“My mother.”

“Do you think she’d consider hiring outside help?”

He thought about the health scare she’d had recently, and all the extra work that had fallen on her and Ace’s shoulders since they added the bucking horse breeding program. Most everyone in his family would rather be working on the land and with the animals than doing paperwork in the office. “I’ll talk to her about it—okay?”

“That would be great.”

He adjusted his hat, then gave her a cautious glance. “So we’re square now?”

“What do you think?”

Colt laughed. She kept him hopping, that was for sure. And if he had to be on the hook with someone, Leah Stockton would be his first pick.

* * *

THE INSIDE OF the café had been decorated in keeping with the mining theme, with historical photographs on the walls and a shelf full of mining artifacts. Leah especially liked the dramatic color scheme—sparkly red tables and black leather seats. Colt led her to a corner booth, and she was charmed to see a miniature coal bucket in the middle of the table holding the condiments.

Colt waved at someone out of her line of sight. She turned to see a curvy woman, about her age, in a red apron delivering two plates of the lunch special to the table behind them. When she was done, she gave Colt a warm smile.

“Hey, Sierra. How’re you doing?”

“Business is good, so I’m happy. I’ll take your order in a sec, Colt. Just let me get you some water, first.”

She turned on her heel, heading for the kitchen, and Leah cleared her throat.

“Um…either I’m invisible, or that woman only has eyes for you. She didn’t even glance at me.”

Colt flashed a smile—the kind he’d used a lot the previous evening. “Darlin’, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“Right. After last night? I don’t think so.”

Sierra returned then, and Leah flashed a smug look at Colt when she had only one glass of water. See—I was right. She didn’t even notice me!

“Oh, dear.” Sierra looked flustered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a guest.”

Colt made the introductions, then asked for the lunch special.

“I’ll have the same, please.” Leah had to admit that Sierra was making up for her earlier rudeness by being especially attentive now. She quickly brought an extra glass of water to the table, and apologized again for her oversight.

When they were alone once more, Colt’s expression turned serious. “About last night—I want to apologize.”

“Really, for which part? For hitting on me like I was one of your buckle bunnies? Or running for the hills once you found out I had children?”

He grimaced. “When you put it that way…”

“Maybe you were judging me because you figured out Jackson and I got married because I was pregnant?”

Colt looked truly miserable now. “God, no, I wasn’t judging you. I’m the last—” He turned his head away and drummed his fingers on the table as he searched for the right words to say. “My Uncle Josh likes to say that if you want to be successful in life, figure out what you’re not good at, and don’t do it.”

Leah had to smile. That sounded like something her father might have said.

“And what I’m not good at is kids. And responsibility. I’m not like Ace, or my father, or my uncle—I don’t know why. I just was born with…something missing.”

Did he really believe this crap? No one knew better than Leah that people weren’t born with the ability to be responsible parents. She certainly hadn’t been mentally prepared to be a mother when Jill was born. She’d loved barrel racing and she’d enjoyed the travel and meeting new people. Settling down hadn’t been in her plans, at all.

But now that she had Jill and Davey, she was grateful for how her life had worked out. She had a feeling that Colt wouldn’t understand, even if she tried to explain. Best to keep things simple between them.

“I get it. You don’t want to be involved with a woman who has children. And you’re probably right. We were always best at being just friends.”

“Right.” Colt didn’t sound convinced, however. The look he gave her was rather pensive, in fact.

Sierra arrived with their food then, and she set the fragrant plates in front of them. “Hope you enjoy. Let me know if you need anything else.”

For a few minutes Leah and Colt ate in silence, though Leah couldn’t remember when she’d last had such a small appetite. Then Colt put down his fork.

“Everything you just said makes perfect sense. But you have to admit…we did have something there for a bit, didn’t we?”

Leah didn’t dare reply, or look up from her food, because she’d been thinking the exact same thing.

Chapter Four