A Second Chance at Crimson Ranch

by Michelle Major

  Natalie clinked her beer bottle against Olivia’s fruity drink and grinned. “It was way cool to watch you publicly eviscerate your slimy ex-husband.”

  “I didn’t mean to go off on him so hard.” Olivia grimaced. “I got caught up in the moment.”

  “And what an awesome moment,” Sara added. “He deserved everything you said. I just wish Logan could have been there to see you in all of your glory.”

  “You were on fire,” Natalie confirmed. “It was hot. Very hot.”

  Olivia couldn’t help but laugh. “I have to admit it felt pretty darn good. Turns out being a doormat doesn’t suit me after all.”

  “I’m glad you realized it,” Natalie said.

  “I finally feel like I belong in Crimson.” Olivia placed her drink on the table. “I probably always did, but now I believe it.”

  “It’s just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz,” Sara said. “You always had the power but you had to learn it for yourself.”

  “How do you do that?” Natalie leaned forward and made a show of peering into Sara’s ear. “You can find a movie reference for any situation.”

  “It’s my secret superpower,” Sara answered with a wink.

  Olivia took a deep breath as some of the heaviness around her heart began to lift. Her friends were right. She hadn’t felt like celebrating anything tonight. Not with how raw the pain of missing Logan felt. But she had learned that she was tougher than she’d thought. And even if her whole body ached, she was going to keep moving forward.

  “I’m going to go out front for a minute and call Millie,” she told her friends. “She texted earlier to see how things went tonight. I’d like to invite her back to Crimson. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “We’ll be right here,” Sara assured her.

  Several people stopped her as she made her way to the front of the bar, a couple to congratulate her on the open house and several to ask about upcoming classes and events at the community center.

  She stepped out into the cool night air with a smile on her face, already punching in her half sister’s number on her phone.

  “You made a big mistake messing with me, Liv.”

  Her finger stilled on the keypad as she glanced up to see Craig standing in the shadow of the bar’s green awning. She could just make out the glint of his angry gaze. His arms were crossed over his chest and he took a step forward.

  She glanced back to the door then fully faced him. “You’re the one who made the mess, Craig.” Her voice was steadier than she felt. “I told you I wouldn’t help, but you tried to take advantage of me. Again. I’m done letting people walk all over me, especially you.”

  “You humiliated me in front of half the town.”

  “Paybacks are hell.” She pocketed her phone, not wanting to spend any more time near her ex-husband. “Good luck with the future, Craig. I think you’re going to need it.”

  She turned to leave, but Craig grabbed her arm. “You can’t let me hang in the wind, Olivia.” He yanked her around, his face inches from hers. “I brought you to this town. You’d be nothing here without me.”

  Her mouth fell open, but before she could make a sound Craig was jerked away from her. She watched Logan drop him to the ground with a single punch. Her ex-husband curled into a ball, moaning loudly.

  “I think you broke my nose,” he said through his fingers. Slowly, he stood. “I should sue you for that.”

  “Do whatever you need to, but don’t ever touch her again.” Logan shook out his hand and turned to Olivia. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, dazed at seeing him standing in front of her. “You hit him,” she whispered as Craig turned and stumbled off into the alley next to the bar.

  “I’m sorry if you think it was wrong.” He took a step toward her then stilled. “My reputation around this town isn’t the greatest, but that part of my life is over now. I’m not the enraged kid I once was, always looking for a fight. But your jerky ex-husband has been asking to be laid out all night.”

  She whirled around at the sound of clapping behind her. Several people, including Sara, Josh and Natalie, stood in front of the bar. A quick glance at the windows made it clear that most of the other patrons were watching the scene from inside. All of them were clapping.

  “We have an audience,” she said, turning back to Logan.

  His smile was sheepish. “That’s the first time anyone has ever applauded me for punching someone. I know you can take care of yourself, Olivia. But I need you to understand that I’m in your corner. Always.”

  “Always?” Olivia put her fingers over her mouth, trying to keep from bursting into loud, embarrassing sobs.

  Logan reached out a hand and pulled her against his chest, his strong arms enveloping her. Olivia didn’t know if it was his warmth or the way he smelled but suddenly the emotional roller coaster she’d been on caught up to her. She sagged against him, trying to catch her breath as the tears came again.

  “So stupid. I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Craig was acting crazy. And I didn’t expect to see you and...it’s just all too much.”

  He ran a soothing hand along her hair. “No apologies,” he reminded her, nuzzling his chin along the top of her head. “And no one is going to hurt you ever again.”

  She tipped her head up and noticed that the others had moved back into the bar. She tried to give Logan a worldly smile. “I made mincemeat of him in my speech.”

  One side of his mouth quirked. “I heard.”

  “I’m sorry you left the community center thinking I’d let him take credit for our project. I want you to know I’ll always protect you. Whether or not you want me in your life.”

  His head bent toward hers and he captured her mouth in a gentle kiss. “I want you, Olivia. I want you in my life and my heart—hell, sometimes it feels like you are my heart. I love you.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “You do?”

  “I love you and I’m humbled that you would stand up for me. I want to do the same for you. I want to keep you safe and happy forever. Until I met you, I was just going through the motions. You brought me back to life, Olivia. Everything I am and will be is for you.”

  “I love you, Logan. You make me want to be brave, to try new things and to be myself. I never understood that it was okay to just be me before you came along.”

  “It’s more than okay,” he said and kissed her again. “You’re perfect, Olivia. Perfect for me.”

  She bit down on her lip. “But you don’t want to stay in Crimson.”

  “I want to try,” he told her. “I left the open house tonight and started driving out of town, but I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t leave you. You’re my lifeline.” He smoothed his palms over her face, wiping away the last of her tears with the pads of his thumbs. “I went to visit my sister’s grave. I needed to make peace with my past in order to move forward.”

  “And you have?”

  “I’ve started to. I hope that with your help, I can continue. I want a life with you more than anything. I was just too much of an idiot to realize that you’re all that’s important to me.”

  She flashed a smile. “I’m glad to see you’ve wised up. Because I’m not going to let you go so easy again.”

  “You’ll never have to.”

  She wound her arms around her neck and he lifted her off her feet, kissing her until she wasn’t sure where he left off and she began.

  “Get a room,” she heard Natalie call out of the front of the bar.

  Logan put her back on her feet. “Are you done celebrating?” he asked with a smile.

  She turned, pressing her body against his. Her hands cupped his face and she lifted on tiptoe to look into his eyes. “I’ve only started,” she told him. “You’re stuck with me now, even when I get old and gray and you’re still hot. I’
m yours forever.”

  “That goes both ways,” he said and kissed her again.

  “Hey, you two,” Sara called. “What do you think about taking that mutual admiration society off of the sidewalk?”

  “Good idea,” Logan said and laced his fingers with Olivia’s. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Right now, I’m more interested in a private celebration back at home.”

  Olivia felt a blush start from her toes and quickly color her cheeks. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” she agreed, knowing her future would be better than she ever could have imagined.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE BACHELOR’S BABY DILEMMA by Sheri WhiteFeather

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  Chapter One

  Candy McCall didn’t want to sell her house. It was her dream home, her Southern California sanctuary, and she was going to miss it when she was gone.

  Of course it hadn’t sold yet. She hadn’t even gotten any offers. That might change today, though. A potential buyer was on his way. And of all things, she’d discovered that it was someone from her past. Her very first boyfriend, in fact. A man named Tanner Quinn. She hadn’t seen him since they were teenagers or kept track of his whereabouts, but they had a mutual friend who’d referred him to her.

  She’d spoken to him briefly on the phone and learned that he owned a place called T.Q.’s Riding Academy and Stables. Oh, and that if he was interested in her house, it would be a cash sale.

  She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. A cash sale was just what she needed to get out of this mess. She was in such a dire financial situation she couldn’t even afford to use a Realtor.

  But how strange was this going to be, showing her house to Tanner? She was actually nervous about seeing him.

  Just as she opened her eyes, the doorbell rang.

  She rushed to answer the summons, then gazed at the man on her porch. Heaven almighty. That six-foot-three frame. Those slate-gray eyes. He would be around her age, thirty-four or so now, and although he’d grown up and filled out, she would know him anywhere.

  With his short black hair slicked away from his handsomely chiseled face, he made quite the dashing figure. He wore a classic ensemble of English riding gear. Clearly, he’d just come from work. Or a polo match. Or something where wicked boots were required.

  Neither of them spoke. They just kept staring at each other, with awkward smiles, trying to get used to this hasty reunion.

  He finally said, “Well, hello, Candy Sorensen.”

  “Hello, yourself. But for the record, I’m Candy McCall now,” she reminded him.

  “Oh, that’s right. Your married name.”

  “Yes.” She paused and uncomfortably added, “But as I mentioned on the phone, I’m divorced now.” The dissolution of her marriage was a painful topic, but she couldn’t very well behave as if she was still a doe-eyed wife. Changing the subject, she gestured to the doorway. “Do you want to come in?”

  She stepped back to allow him entrance, and he crossed the threshold, looking like the horseman that he was. She wasn’t surprised that he made his living in the equestrian industry. He’d always worked around horses, except that he’d been more of the cowboy type when he was younger.

  Then again, she didn’t doubt he would be just as comfortable in Wrangler jeans and a Stetson as he was in a button-down shirt and breeches, or that he still rode Western-style.

  Trying to keep a professional air, she took a deep breath, preparing to treat him like the potential buyer he was. But he wasn’t glancing around her living room or paying attention to the house he’d come to see.

  Instead, he swept his gaze over her. “You sure as hell look good. But you always did.”

  “Yes, picture-perfect me.” There went her professionalism. She made a doll-like motion, mocking herself. Candy was a long, lean, leggy brunette who’d spent her youth parading around in beauty pageants and hating every second of it.

  He broke into a smile. “You still can’t take a compliment after all this time? Some things never change.”

  She hoped he was wrong about that. She didn’t want to think of herself as the same people-pleaser she’d been back then. She’d never had to please him, though. He’d accepted her for who she was. She’d always liked that about him.

  He moved toward the fireplace, the mottled stones enhancing the color of his eyes. “Are you selling your house because of the divorce?”

  “No.” She kept her response vague, not wanting to get into the money issue. “It doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

  “I’ve never been married.” He frowned a little. “But I prefer being a bachelor.”

  Was he thinking about his parents’ troubled marriage and how it had disintegrated after his infant sister had died? Or was his frown something altogether different?

  She certainly remembered the devastation from the past. Candy had been there that morning, playing video games with Tanner, when his frantic mother had found the lifeless baby in her crib.

  “How’s your family?” she asked, needing to know about them, needing to hear that they were fine.

  “Kade is a horse trainer, but he’s on the road a lot, doing clinics and whatnot, so I don’t see him all that much. But we call each other when we can.”

  The older brother. She’d only met him once, when he’d come home for the baby’s funeral. Otherwise he’d been away at college, studying equine science. Apparently he was still away, in some form or another.

  “We don’t talk to our dad anymore,” Tanner said. “Too much water under that bridge. Mom was always there, of course, with her nurturing ways. But then she died last year.”

  A stream of sadness swept over her. So much for everyone being fine. “I’m so sorry. She was such a nice lady. I always liked her.”

  “She liked you, too. She used to marvel at how much Meagan adored you.”

  Meagan was his other little sister, a spitfire of a child who’d needed mounds of attention. “Remember how she was always pestering me to curl her hair? And paint her nails? And put makeup on her?”

  “Of course I remember. She wanted to be just like you. She was pissed at me after you and I broke up. She kept asking me when I was going to bring you back. But then Buffy became her idol, and she let me off the hook.”

  Candy feigned offense, especially since he was smiling once again. “I was replaced by a vampire slayer?”

  “Afraid so. But Meagan was only eight. She didn’t know any better. Now, if I’d dropped you like a hot potato for Buffy and her Scooby gang, it would have been another story.”

  She swatted his arm, and he laughed. But just as quickly, they both went serious again. He hadn’t dropped her, not in the way he’d just suggested. Their breakup had been more of a moody drift. After the baby died and his parents started going through their messy divorce, Tanner began to retreat into himself, becoming more and more detached. Finally, it reached a point where he couldn’t handle having a girlfriend anymore.

  Candy, on the other hand, had longed to have another boyfriend, which, eventually, led to Vince, t
he handsome heartbreaker she’d married.

  “After you and I broke up, my mom said that I was being a jerk,” Tanner said.

  Her pulse jumped. “What?”

  “She didn’t like how I ended it with you. She was critical of my behavior because of my dad. But I wasn’t like him. I was just a kid, trying to cope with it all.”

  “I remember how difficult it was for you.” She also recalled the big blasting hurt of being rejected by him, even if it hadn’t been as callous as the way Vince had kicked her to the curb. Before the past got the better of her, she changed the subject. “Speaking of kids, you never said what Meagan does for a living. Does she work with horses, too?”

  “No. She isn’t a horsewoman. And she’s not a kid anymore, either,” he added. “She’s twenty-five now, and her situation is complicated.”

  She waited for him to expound, but he didn’t. Whatever was going on with Meagan, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

  A moment later, he asked, “How’s your family?”

  She answered the question, loaded as it was. “My grandparents are gone, so it’s just me and my mom now.” She didn’t have a dad. He’d died when she was three, and her mom rarely spoke of him, even when Candy prodded her for information.

  “Did you ever become a model?” Tanner asked. “The way you were supposed to?”

  She tugged unglamorously at the hem of her top. “Yes, I followed the career path Mom chose for me. But I wasn’t as successful as she would’ve liked.” She quit tugging and smoothed the fabric. “I’m a yoga instructor now. I teach doga, too. Yoga for dogs,” she clarified.

  “Really? Oh, that’s cute. I’d like to see that sometime.”

  As if on cue, her faithful companion, a yellow Lab, moseyed in through the back door. Candy made the introduction. “That’s Yogi. She’s my best student.”

  “Hey, there,” Tanner said, prompting the dog to come forward and greet him.

  He knelt to pet her, running his fingers through her luxurious fur. Yogi all but melted from his touch, pressing closer to his hand. Candy considered correcting her, but the poor thing wasn’t doing anything wrong. Besides, she knew the feeling, remembering how Tanner used to touch her, too.