The Cowboy's Little Surprise

She had gotten close to him, yet he had walked away from her without looking back.

Apology or no apology, if she let him get close to Robbie, how could she believe he wouldn’t walk away from their son?

She pushed the thoughts of Cole from her thoughts and envisioned her little family—Robbie, Abuela and Jed. For their sakes she needed to focus on her work. On what was important to her. And that definitely didn’t include Cole.

She forced her attention back to the computer screen.

Though she made sure to double-check each entry, the numbers didn’t look good. Not because she hadn’t totaled them correctly, but because they didn’t add up to enough.

She had just finished her entries when she heard the familiar sound of Jed’s boots on the stairs. His steps grew louder as he approached the front desk in the hotel lobby.

“Tina, you in there?”

“Yes,” she called. “Give me a second.” She hurried to back up her file and close the program.

In the kitchen that morning, Jed had seemed more like his old self. But that couldn’t make her forget the past few weeks, when every time she’d tried to talk to him about her concerns, he’d brushed her off. Maybe now, he finally wanted to discuss what he had on his mind.

The office doorway led right to the lobby’s registration desk. There, Jed stood with his crossed arms on the counter and one boot planted on the brass foot rail. Tall and thin, he had neatly combed his sparse white hair and wore his usual boots, jeans and Western shirt with a string tie.

Though she often lovingly teased him about being lord of the manor, as she had done in the kitchen a while earlier, there was some truth behind her words. He now left the day-to-day working of the ranch to his manager, Pete, and his cowhands, but Jed kept tabs on everything. And he always took care to project just the right image for a man who owned both a ranch and a hotel.

“Hey, my handsome abuelo,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Not much. Just checking to see if you were in there. And where’s that little guy of ours?”

Her throat tightened at the thought of her son. How would she explain her years of silence about his daddy to Abuela and Jed? She swallowed hard and forced a smile. “He’s in the kitchen with Abuela.”

“You and Paz get all the shopping done this morning?”

“We did. She had quite a list.” Unlike their trip earlier in the week.

“We’ll use everything she bought. Things are gonna be a mite busier around here soon.”

“You mean with Jane and Andi coming to visit?”

“That. And more.” His grin made her heart fill with love—and additional concern. The low number of reservations continued to bother her. For years now, they hadn’t opened the small wedding chapel on the property or even catered a reception. They would manage, especially with the bookings she had taken for later this week and the next. But they had nothing on tap for the next few months to justify Jed’s level of excitement.

“Did you book a large group while we were gone?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Did half of Cowboy Creek call to reserve tables for dinner?”

He shook his head.

“Then, what? Come on, tell me.”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Oh, really? And is this surprise the reason you’ve been so quiet lately?”

“Might be.” He winked. “No more questions. You’ll see soon enough. And I’m off to see your gran.”

Relieved to have him acting like himself again, she returned to her office with a smile.

Before she could take her seat, she heard a discreet buzz, the signal Jed had set up in the hotel’s office and kitchen to announce the opening of the front door. Again, she went out to the registration desk. This time, she froze behind it.

Cole Slater stood in the entryway, looking back at her.

His nephew, Scott, gave a little cry. He had seen the collection of horse figurines in the sitting room off the lobby. As if he visited the Hitching Post on a regular basis, the boy headed right toward the next room. She watched him go.

Better to focus on Scott than to stare at the man standing across the room from her. But even that didn’t help, when she knew the little boy she watched was just a few months younger than her own son.

“Looks like he made himself at home,” Cole said. He glanced around. “As I told Jed, this place never changes.”

“Like some people I know.” A pile of brochures sat on one side of the desk, the paper edges neatly aligned. She reached out to straighten them, anyhow.

“I wouldn’t make snap judgments,” he said.

“I don’t. As you might remember from school, I’m the one who analyzes everything.”

“Yeah, I do recall that.”

When he approached the counter, she hid her dismay behind a frozen smile. Any second now, Robbie might come down the hall.

The minute she had seen Cole in the lobby, she had thought of what Jed had said. Her abuelo had been on edge for weeks, but Cole’s arrival couldn’t be the surprise he had referred to.

She couldn’t forget what Cole had told her the other day. Jed had invited him to the ranch and then hired him again. It was odd Jed hadn’t said a word about that to her beforehand. As the bookkeeper, she should have been told about a new hire. Maybe he had intended to spring Cole’s return on her, after all.

Unfortunately, his secret would pale by comparison once he learned about hers.

She couldn’t let the impending disaster make her forget her obligations—no matter how eagerly she wanted to run to the kitchen, grab Robbie and head for the hills. She took a deep breath and said, “Welcome back to the Hitching Post.”

“Thanks. Are you managing the place now?”

“I’m the assistant manager. And bookkeeper for both the Hitching Post and the ranch.”

“Bookkeeper, huh? That fits. You always were good at math.”

“What can we do for you? I know you can’t be looking for a room.”

“Why not?”

Her fingers tightened, crumpling the long-forgotten brochure she still held. “You’re staying with Layne at her new apartment, aren’t you?”

“How did you know that?”

“It’s a small town.”