Page 44 of Ride Me Cowboy

She pulls a face. “After I was told to leave? No way.”

“But your mom…”

“Didn’t want me.”

“Oh, Mackenzie,” I say, softly. No parent, surely, would really feel that way about their child. Then again, my dad had been a no-show my whole life—what conclusion could I draw other than he hadn’t wanted me, either?

“Anyway, I decided to try Vegas. Thought it might bring me some new luck. I hitched a ride, but the guy dropped me off on the road into Goodnight. That was as far as he was going. I was trying to catch another lift when Cole—Cole Senior, I mean—stopped to pick me up.”

I sip my drink.

Mackenzie’s face now has softened. Her memories of Cole’s dad are obviously warm.

“He told me he’d take me to Vegas, but only if I came home and had a good meal first. I was so hungry, I didn’t stop to think how stupid it was to go to some old dude’s place.” She grinned at the memory. “Something he never let me hear the end of, either.”

I smile at that.

“I must have eaten everything in that place. It felt so good to have food. And so much food. Not to mention a clean, safe room to sleep in. But I was scared. What did he want from me? Why was he giving me all this? So, I was gonna bolt early the next morning, at first light, get back on the road and find that lift to Vegas.”

“What happened?”

“I slept in,” she laughs. “I hadn’t had a proper bed to lie in for a while. I woke up to the smell of bacon and biscuits, fresh squeezed juice, too. He really laid it on thick,” she says, shaking her head. “After I’d eaten—so much food—he asked if I could stick around another day or so. Help him mend some fences. By then, I’d met this lot,” she nods at the table, generally, “so I was pretty sure he wasn’t an axe murderer.”

“And so, you’ve stayed since then?”

“Yeah. Turns out, I liked working on the ranch. I liked being busy, using my hands. I like these guys, you know? They say what they think. And most of the time, what they think is pretty simple. There’s no second guessing myself. If I mess up, they tell me, but they’re never cross. I’m safe here,” she says, and it’s such a perfect echo of how I’ve been feeling, almost since the moment I arrived, that tears claw at the back of my throat.

“Yeah, I think this place has that effect on people.”

“The place, the people. It’s home.” She looks around the bar, and I see it in her face: contentment. She’s wary—Cole’s right—but when she lets you in, she lets her guard down. Like she’s doing with me now.

“You must miss him.”

She glances at me and nods, but her eyes quickly flit to Cole’s, across the table, then lowers her voices. “It’s worst of all for Cole, you know.”

I can’t help it. I look toward him, and this time, when our eyes meet, I just know we both feel the same electrical charge. My heart jams against my ribs. I quickly turn back to Mackenzie but the echo of that shared glance warms me right through.

“Why?”

But Mackenzie is standing up. “You’d have to ask him that. Wanna dance?”

I look at the writhing mass of bodies, all forming a line.

“Ah, I’ll sit this one out, thanks.”

“You sure? I can show you.”

“You go ahead. I’ll watch.”

“She likes you,” Cole says, when it’s just the two of us, at the table. Everyone else has gotten out on the floor. I watch as Beau uses his hip to nudge Mackenzie and she laughs, then pushes him right back.

“Mackenzie?”

He nods. “Doesn’t make the time to talk to everyone, you know.”

“I was surprised,” I admit. “But pleased. She’s sweet.”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid.”