Page 39 of Want You Back (Second Chance Ranch #1)
Light snow dusted the outside, the sort of early-season powder that the weather folks would be crowing about for days. However, rather than be out in the snow, I was in a shopping center in the Denver area, trapped in Christmas shopping hell. Tinny holiday music played over the loudspeakers and harried shoppers kept bumping into each other.
“What do you think of this one?” Willow held up dress number one thousand four hundred and forty-seven. At least. Maverick had the bright idea to let Willow and Hannah pick whatever they wanted to wear to our New Year’s Eve wedding. A great idea in concept, but the reality was turning into an epic quest.
“It’s nice.” I nodded with what I hoped was the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, but Willow groaned.
“You’ve said that about the last four dresses, Dad.”
“Sorry.” I needed caffeine and fast. And Maverick. He might be better at fabric discussions than me. However, he and Hannah were in Arizona for Faith’s ninety-day celebration at the treatment facility. They were returning with Faith so she would be home for the holidays and the wedding.
“Hannah already has her dress.” Willow was near wail, and I was ill-prepared to cope with tears. “I don’t know why I can’t pick.”
“Do you want to try a different store?” I offered.
“Maybe. I dunno.” Willow’s mood had been glum the whole long drive to Denver the day before, sinking lower and lower the more we shopped.
“Let’s walk.” Lord knew that I, at least, needed a breather from this store. “Let’s go get a drink and maybe a cinnamon roll.”
“Not everything can be fixed by eating.” Willow had taken on several of Maverick’s sayings and mannerisms over the past few months. Funny the way people wore off on each other. Hannah lived in riding boots and jeans these days, and Maverick and I awaited new episodes of their favorite show with almost as much anticipation as the girls.
“No.” I sat on a nearby bench outside the store and gestured for Willow to join me. “I know I’ve said it a bunch, but however you’re feeling, it’s okay.” Maverick and I had tried to make the whole wedding as low-key and pressure-free as possible. “If you’re not that into the whole wedding prep thing. If you want to wear something you already own. Whatever you feel and need, I’m here for it.”
“I wish Mom were here.” Willow stared at her slender hands. “Which is weird because if she were here, you wouldn’t be getting married. And I love Maverick. I just wish Mom was here to help me pick the perfect dress.”
“I get that.” I nodded slowly. “I miss my dad every day, Willow. I wish he was here to sit up front with Grandma. But I’m also happy Grandma is bringing a date.” My mother had recently started seeing the Realtor helping me list my current house. “You don’t stop missing someone simply because life keeps moving. But it’s also okay to enjoy the happy parts that happen along the way.”
“Yeah.” Willow exhaled hard as she swung her feet. “I haven’t picked a room color yet either. Maverick’s feelings might be hurt.”
“Maverick is fine.” I patted her knee. Willow was taking Maverick’s old room, next to Hannah’s, because we didn’t want to force the girls to share even though they were best friends. Maverick had offered to decorate in whatever scheme Willow could dream up. However, I understood Willow’s reluctance to move on from her cowgirl room. “Your mom will always be a part of our story, Willow. No matter where we live or how the family grows and changes, she’s a part of you and part of our family.”
“I’ll get to see Pepperjack every day.” Willow took a few more deep breaths. I tried not to take it personally that time with her horse was the big selling point for Willow. “Too bad he can’t come to the wedding.”
“Tell you what. I’ll wake up early on New Year’s Eve morning with you.” The whole reason for the fast engagement was that we wanted a true fresh start for our second chance, getting married on New Year’s Eve, so we could start the year as a married couple. Well, that and after waiting twenty years, Maverick and I weren’t inclined to wait much longer. But I tried to be sensitive to what that speed might mean for Willow. “We’ll go out to the barn and give you a little Pepperjack time before the big night.”
“Okay.” She nodded, then abruptly stood. “Look!”
She stalked to a nearby store window, which featured a bunch of mannequins having a New Year’s Eve party. Willow pointed at the center mannequin, who looked ready for a country music awards show in a pink rhinestone suit with flared legs ending in black cowboy boots. A black and pink cowboy hat sat nearby.
“That’s it,” she breathed with the awe I reserved for new trucks. “But it’s not a dress.”
“Do you love it?” I asked, praying the price tag gods would be kind to us.
“Yes.” She clasped her hands to her chest. “That’s so me.”
“And you are exactly who Maverick and I want at the wedding. He’s gonna love you in that suit.” I could say that because Maverick would love Willow in a paper bag. But Willow was our future rodeo queen, and if she wanted to dress like it, neither of us was going to stop her.
“Thank you.” She stretched to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Can we go try it on?”
Hours later, we’d done the airport pickup run, and the suit sat in a shiny pink shopping bag in the hotel room Hannah and Willow were sharing with Faith next to the one for Maverick and me. Finally alone, Maverick and I lay in bed, and I showed him pictures of Willow trying on the suit.
“It’s perfect.” Maverick smiled as he nudged me with his elbow. “And you’re a good dad, Colt.” He flipped back to the closeup I’d taken of Willow grinning at the camera. “I’m so glad she found something she wants to wear.”
“Me too.” I chuckled. “Keep that same attitude when she explains the bedroom theme she’s finally settled on. Some sort of rodeo meets girl power with a lot of glitter. She made a drawing.”
“I can’t wait.” Maverick wriggled against the sheets. “I can’t wait till New Year’s Eve.”
“We’ve waited this long.” I tickled along his bare ribs. I was so happy he was back that I couldn’t stop touching him.
“We did.” He stopped his wiggling to give me a kiss.
“I’ve got something else to show you from while you were gone.” I shrugged out of my T-shirt to show him my upper right bicep.
“A new tattoo?” Maverick traced it. I’d had the artist start with the stylized horseshoe logo he was using for Second Chance Ranch, but circling around the horseshoe, I’d added Family First, Always.
“The words were my dad’s saying, but for years, I used it to shove down what I wanted, put everyone else first, myself last,” I explained, skin heating. “But then I got to thinking. We’re going to be a family now, you, me, the girls, Faith, all of us. And that includes me. Family first means making sure you and I make it as a couple, centering us and the ranch too.”
“That’s beautiful.” Maverick dropped a kiss right on my tattoo. “I like that I’m going to be your family now. I used to lie awake at night wishing the Jennings would adopt me.”
“Be careful what you wish for.” I snorted. My mother and Aunt Georgia had taken a simple New Year’s Eve potluck party and turned it into an event the town would likely talk about for years.
“I love your family,” Maverick said fervently.
“And they love you. And Hannah.” I gathered him close to my side. “And yes, you’re my family now. Always. Forever.”
“Forever.” He shook his head, wonder lacing his speech. “We never had that before. And now we do. I can’t wait to see what this second chance brings us.”
“Brought me you. Can’t do much better than that.” I kissed him to hide my misty eyes, but in my mind, I could see it all, the wedding, the girls’ first day of high school next year, their graduation, a trail of visitors to the ranch, family, friends, and us at the center, the way it was always meant to be.