The Cowboy Who Got Away

And that’s why she needed to watch herself.

The truck bumped along the grooves that had worn into the carpet of green grass. They passed groups of skinny pine trees and the occasional cluster of rocks and boulders. Finally, Jude stopped between the big live oak where the two of them had carved their initials on one of those endless summer nights and the old cabin that had served as their lakeside cabana.

They used to sneak off down here and disappear into their own little world. Everything else would fade away, except for them. God, they’d been two crazy teenagers who had been so hot for each other they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. But even before that—when they were younger and more innocent—they’d always been drawn to each other. They’d rode horses together on his family’s ranch. He’d taught her how to barrel race and she’d taught him the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork. He’d held her and let her cry on his shoulder when her dad died. She’d given him advice about how to make his relationship with his own dad better. She was his girl. He was her guy. She couldn’t even remember when exactly they’d made their relationship official. They just always were.

Jude and Juliette.

Juliette and Jude.

Juju.

Juju was interchangeable for them collectively or for each of them separately—one of the sickeningly sweet pet names they’d had for each other.

It had all been great. Until it wasn’t anymore and ten years of silence had stretched between them like an endless ocean cloaked by night.

“The place looks good,” Jude said, leaning forward to look out the windshield and glance around. “Ethan has been looking after it for me.”

Juliette took off her seat belt and shifted so that she was facing him. It would’ve felt so natural to slide over next to him and tuck herself into that nook under his arm where she’d always fit so perfectly.

But no. That was the danger zone.

“Did you not make arrangements to have someone else take care of the place?”

Jude nodded. “Of course I did. I paid the upkeep bills. He just offered to help. You know Ethan.”

She hadn’t meant to sound judgmental. Even though she felt proprietary, the place wasn’t hers and whatever arrangement Jude and Ethan had agreed to wasn’t her business. As an only child, she didn’t know the luxury of leaning on a sibling. She certainly hadn’t been out here to look after the place. Not since...that night.

That fateful night. It had all unfolded in the cabin. She hadn’t realized when she’d come out here searching for Jude that her whole world would change. Or maybe she had. Maybe having a big blowup was the only way she could’ve left.

No, she wasn’t going there. The best way to get herself back on track was to make a joke. “I mean, think of all the hooligans who might come out here and party and skinny-dip and get into all kinds of trouble.”

Jude nodded. “Exactly. I’m sure they’ll thank me later.”

Playing along, Juliette rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they will.”

They got out of the truck and started walking down toward the lake.

“Oh, my gosh,” Juliette said, pointing to a tall tree near the lake bank. “Is that the sapling?”

“It has to be,” Jude said. It was the only tree between the lake and the cabin that wasn’t ancient. “Looks like it not only survived, but it’s thriving.”

“I’m so glad it’s still here,” she said. “We planted that, Jude. You and me. Look at it. It’s beautiful.”

He was looking at her like she was an angel. “At least we did something right. I think it’s a sign.”

She narrowed her eyes. “A sign of what?”

He smiled a knowing smile. “A sign of good things to come.”

She wanted to make a joke and ask him if he meant a sign of good times to come. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. A comment like that felt like she was offering more than she could deliver. There was a lot to sort out.

She was rarely at a loss for words, but as she stood there trying to figure out what to say, he turned and started heading toward the lake.

The warm breeze played with her hair and danced on the water, creating gentle ripples. It was the perfect day to be outside. Closer to the spot where the grass gave way to a dirt embankment, the rustling leaves of the river birch whispered a sweet welcome-home greeting. The grass looked as if it had been freshly mowed and the water weeds were so neat, they must’ve been trimmed recently.

A few feet in front of them, a black snake slithered by.

Juliette let out a little yelp as she jumped back and grabbed onto Jude’s arm. The move was a reflex and she pulled away as soon as she realized how good he smelled.

“Snake.” She grimaced. “You know how I feel about snakes.”

He smiled. “I remember. But don’t worry, that black snake is harmless. Even though there are other creatures around here who aren’t. Did we really used to take off all our clothes and swim in that water? At night—?”

“Were we stupid or what?” she agreed.

And crazy for each other.

They’d done a lot more than swim in that lake, but she wasn’t going to remind him. She probably didn’t need to.

The look that settled on his face told her that he was right there with her.

As if reading each other’s minds, they smiled knowing smiles at each other. He was a gentleman and he didn’t bring it up. She knew she should be grateful, but the teenager in her was disappointed.

“I need to check on a couple of things while I’m out here,” he said. “This is one of them. The buyer’s Realtor said the water level of the lake was way down and it was close to drying up. Looks fine to me. He also said there’s a problem with that old foundation slab that my dad poured. Remember how he wanted to build an outbuilding to house the mowers and equipment? The buyer’s agent is using the lake and the slab as reasons to undercut the offer.”

As they walked toward the place where Don Campbell had poured the foundation for the project he hadn’t been able to complete, Juliette said, “It sounds like they’re playing hardball, Jude.”

He shrugged. “You know, that’s just how it goes in business.”

“What kind of a business is the buyer in? Is it another rancher? Did Zane tell you that he sold his ranch to Bridgemont Farms? They’d been after him for a while to sell and when Dorothy got sick he needed the money to help her out with her medical bills.”

Zane Phillips was engaged to Jude’s little sister, Lucy. The pair was expecting a baby in a few months. If Juliette was a true romantic, Lucy and Zane’s story might have made her believe that there was still hope for her and Jude. Lucy and Zane had been lifelong friends and had finally taken that friendship to the next level. Now they were expecting a baby.

But they had done things the right way. They had been friends before they became lovers. They knew each other inside and out and understood each other. Sure, she and Jude had history, but they also had a whole lot of standing water underneath their own bridge of years. Too much water, Juliette feared, to be able to bail themselves out and get to the other side without drowning if they decided to shed the superficial and dive into everything that had gone wrong.

When they got to the concrete slab, Jude stepped up onto it and then offered his hand to Juliette, helping her up onto the foundation. The block was weathered and cracked as expected for something that had been exposed to the elements for nearly a decade.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s not going to cost them twenty thousand dollars to remove it,” Jude said.

“Twenty thousand dollars? Are you kidding me?”

“Like I said, they’re playing hardball. They’re saying that because the lake dried up it shouldn’t be considered lakefront property. Since I don’t live in Celebration anymore, I guess they thought I wouldn’t check, which is pretty ridiculous.”

“The lake is perfectly fine. Who are these con men?”

“I’m not altogether sure. My Realtor is dealing with them through their Realtor. She’s the one handling the specifics. It’s some corporation I’ve never heard of. I haven’t had a chance to check them out because I’ve been so busy. I just haven’t gotten to that point yet. And I wanted to check out their claims before I invested too much energy. But now that I’m back, once I get settled in and I can take a breath, I’ll do my research.”

Juliette nodded. At least he wasn’t 100 percent set on selling to this buyer. She knew it was crazy, but the thought of him letting go of the property made her sad. It would feel as if he was divesting himself of the last bit of them. And that was selfish. Because if he had no use for the property, he still had to pay property taxes and such. Even so, the thought of it made her heart feel heavy. This was their place.