The Trouble With Cowgirls

“Not here.” Nicolino motioned to the small outdoor stable office near the main corral. Following him inside, Nicolino closed the door. “I know you’re surprised to see Lucy again.”

Lane snorted. “Well, there’s that and the fact you gave your cousin my promotion. What experience does she have?”

“Lane.” Nicolino held up his hands. “It was never your promotion. I considered you as a candidate and I decided on Lucy. I applaud your enthusiasm and continuing your education, but I have to put this business first. I’m sorry, but you don’t have the skill set it takes to be barn manager of a ranch this size. Lucy does. She has a master’s degree in equine science and will probably earn her doctorate in the near future. You can learn a lot from her, providing you put what happened between you two in the past.”

Lane’s shoulders slumped as he attempted to digest Nicolino’s words. The last he’d seen of Lucy, she’d been a party girl with absolutely no direction in life. The little she knew about horses back then had come from what he’d taught her during the summers on the ranch. He’d worked with horses all his life and had been her teacher. How could she be better suited for the job than him?

“It shouldn’t just be about education. Practical experience should carry more weight.” Lane’s jaw tightened. “You knew all along you would never promote me to barn manager, didn’t you?”

Nicolino lowered his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. “When Curly announced his retirement, I immediately thought the job would be perfect for Lucy. That’s not to say I hadn’t considered you, too. And before you say it—no, I didn’t choose Lucy because she’s family. I chose her because she’s better qualified.”

Lane’s stomach hardened. Curly had announced his retirement six weeks ago. All this time he’d thought the position had been his. “You could have told me at any point between then and now. Letting me find out in front of everyone was cruel. I know you’ve never been my biggest fan. You made that clear when I dated Lucy ten years ago and you’ve never let me forget it, but a little respect would’ve been appreciated.”

“You’re right.” Nicolino nodded. “I knew how much you wanted it and I should’ve told you. It has nothing to do with you once dating Lucy—it was strictly a business decision. That being said, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that she’s your new boss. You’re an excellent employee and I need you here, but if working with her is going to be a problem, you may want to start looking elsewhere. Lucy’s here to stay.”

Nicolino’s words punched him in the gut. He could work for a woman. He could even work for Lucy, but he didn’t feel he should have to. Nicolino was wrong. He was qualified to manage Bridle Dance and he’d prove it.

“Understood.” Lane left the office and headed for the stables where he’d last seen Lucy. Their reunion had been a long time coming and Lane wished it were in a private setting instead of the middle of his workplace. Spotting her halfway up the spiral staircase leading to the main administrative offices, Lane called out to her.

“Lucy, do you have a minute?”

She froze at the sound of his voice, not turning to face him at first. Slowly she loosened her white-knuckled grip on the railing and made her way back down the stairs.

“Lane, I’m surprised to see you. I thought you had moved to Wyoming.”

Her Italian accent wasn’t as heavy as he remembered. Her English had improved significantly, but her voice was still velvety rich and deep, yet utterly feminine.

He had waited ten years to have this conversation, and the resentment he’d bottled up finally broke free. “I was in Wyoming. Waiting for you in the apartment that I’d rented for us. But you never came.” He could taste the bitterness in his tone. “You never answered any of my calls or emails. Then, a year later, I found out you’d gone and married someone else. So I guess you could say I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Lower your voice, please. If you want to discuss this, we will, but my employees don’t need to know my personal business.”

“Your employees.” Lane smirked. “How easily the phrase rolls off your tongue. For the record, I’m one of your employees. I’m sure there are quite a few around here who remember you, and many others probably already know we dated for four years.”

“We were teenagers back then, and what do you mean you work for me?” Lucy asked.

“I’m your second-in-command—the assistant barn manager.”

“I didn’t know.” Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and for a moment Lane wondered if she was attempting to wish him away. She opened them and came a step closer. “Things got complicated after I left.” Her voice was low. “I never meant to hurt you, but it’s in the past. I’m trusting that we can work together, because, Lane, I could really use a friend right now. Someday I’ll tell you all about it—but not today, and definitely not here. If you will please excuse me, I have paperwork to fill out upstairs. I’d like to meet with you later this afternoon to go over the barn schedules...if you have time.”

Lucy’s raw honesty startled him and Lane suspected that whatever had happened back then paled in comparison to what had happened recently. And that bothered him more than he cared to admit. “I’ll be here. Page me if you can’t find me.”

“Mamma,” a small voice called out from behind them.

“Carina!” Lucy perked up at the sight of the child, who was accompanied by Ella.

Lucy has a daughter?

“Did you come to see where I work?”

Carina nodded and quickly walked past her mother to the stalls. “Sono molto belli!”

“In English, Carina,” Lucy corrected.

“They are very beautiful.” The girl’s thick accent was reminiscent of the one Lucy had had when they first met.

“Come here, mia gattina. I want you to meet someone.” Lucy waved the girl over. “Lane, I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Carina.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lane shook her hand. His mind raced as he attempted to determine the girl’s age. Finally, he asked, “How old are you?”

“Almost nine,” she answered.

Lane swallowed hard, quickly doing the math in his head. He blew out a breath, relieved she couldn’t possibly be his. When he looked up at Lucy, she shook her head and quickly looked away as if she’d read his mind.

“I’m going to show Carina around,” Ella interrupted. “Then we’ll head over to Aunt Kay’s house.”

Lucy gave her daughter a quick kiss goodbye. “Thank you, Ella.” A silent look of concern briefly passed between the two women.

He waited until Carina was out of earshot before he attempted to explain. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

“Yes, you did.” Lucy brushed past him. “Your poker game must really suck with tells like those. You and I are in the past. Things happened, and we’ve both moved on, so let’s not make a scene.”

Things. Lane had thought they were more than a thing back then. “No problem.” Lucy continued up the stairs as Lane watched Ella and Carina exit the stables. He felt like a damned fool. It had been bad enough finding out she’d married someone else. It was entirely different to know that while he’d been planning their future in Wyoming, Lucy had been carrying another man’s baby. All the scenarios he’d imagined as to why he’d never heard from her again had always been forgivable. This wasn’t.

Chapter Two (#ulink_d9203fa9-ac05-5e29-9a15-783b5dfe0e76)

By lunchtime Lucy couldn’t get out of work fast enough. Her first day wasn’t exactly going as planned. The safety of her car provided little shelter against the torrent of emotions rocketing through her veins. Why hadn’t Nicolino forewarned her about Lane?

When she was a teenager, she couldn’t wait for the school year to end. Summers had meant seeing Lane again. From the moment her plane landed, they’d been inseparable whenever he wasn’t working. By the end of their final summer together, he’d accepted a better job in Wyoming and they’d begun making plans to live there once Lucy had graduated from higher secondary school the following year. Their plans had been short-lived. Once Lucy arrived home in Italy, she’d discovered she was two months pregnant. Obviously she had been wrong in assuming Lane had stayed in Wyoming, but Nicolino should have mentioned it in conversation at some point.

She lowered the window in a desperate attempt to pull more air into her lungs. Tears clouded her vision at the memories of what could have been. Her fingers lightly brushed along the side of her rib cage. Underneath her shirt, inked into her skin for eternity was one word: Lane.

“I don’t have time for this.” Lucy started the ignition. Everything she did, despite Carina’s protests, was for her daughter. There wasn’t room for the past. Any efforts to push Lane to the back of her mind would probably prove futile, but for sanity’s sake, she had to try. She had less than fifteen minutes to make her appointment to register Carina for school. Ella had offered to drive, but the school was close enough to find on her own. Besides, she was desperate for some much-needed alone time, however brief.

Carina had been out of school for only a little over a week, which was good considering their transcontinental move. The Texas school year had begun a week earlier, so Carina wouldn’t be too far behind. Lucy pulled into the parking lot with seconds to spare. She was the school’s first impression of her daughter and she didn’t want to ruin it. Within an hour, she was on her way back to work. Overall, the enrollment had been painless enough because she’d emailed most of the paperwork before they’d left Italy.

The school’s biggest concern was Carina’s ability to speak English, despite Lucy’s reassurance that her daughter was fluent in Italian, French and English. Now she wondered how well her daughter would do, given the way Carina had struggled to understand the language yesterday. Lucy had gone through the same learning curve during her first summer in America. But she’d only been vacationing and no one had expected her to understand perfectly. It would be different for Carina. Lucy couldn’t sit beside her in school to make sure she grasped everything the teachers said, let alone translate the other students’ slang on the playground. The additional change from private to public school had given her daughter one more reason not to talk to her. She’d heard other parents say the teenage years were the most unpleasant. If they were any worse than this, Lucy didn’t think she’d survive. Hopefully, she could prepare herself over the next four years.

She pulled up beside Bridle Dance’s main house. Ella’s deceased uncle, Joe Langtry, had lovingly built the log mansion. Lucy had been heartbroken to hear of his passing four summers ago. He’d always gone out of his way to explain things to her, as had Lane. Lucy winced at how easily he came to mind and how much it still hurt to think about him. She needed to keep Lane out of her thoughts unless it was work related. She was his boss and anything else would be unprofessional, not that she wanted anything else to happen.

Seeing Ella in the Langtrys’ side yard, Lucy stepped from the car.

“How did it go?” Ella unlatched the gate and held it open.

“Good. I’m a little concerned about the language issue, but I’m hopeful.” She waved to Carina on the far side of the garden, but her daughter was too preoccupied with a large black poodle to even notice she was there. “How has she been?”

“Quiet.” Ella smiled. “The most I’ve heard her talk is to the horses and Barney over there—and that was in Italian.”

Lucy shrugged. “I guess there’s no harm in it as long as she speaks English to other kids and her teachers. Are you sure you don’t mind taking her clothes shopping today? I can take her after work.”