Finding Hope (A Chance and a Hope Book 2)

by SJ McCoy

  “No, not yet. Please, can I say hello to him before I go?”

  “Yeah,” Chance smiled. He liked the idea that she didn’t want to leave his dad out either.

  He dialed the number and waited. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Alice.”

  “Chance! We were just talking about you.”

  “You were? Nothing terrible I hope.”

  She laughed. “No, we were wondering how you and Hope were doing.”

  “And wondering when you’re going to bring her to see us!” his dad shouted in the background.

  “Tell him soon. I’ll bring her down there in a couple of weeks, okay. She’s right here though if you want to talk to her.”

  “Why don’t you put her on speaker, and I’ll do the same with your dad. I won’t be able to hear a thing for him shouting otherwise.”

  “Okay.” He turned to Hope. “I’m putting you on speaker with both of them.”

  “Hello?” his dad’s voice blared out.

  “Hi Frank, hi Alice. How are you both?” asked Hope.

  “I’m doing a whole lot better since I visited your uncle. He’s a miracle worker, but I’m not as good as I will be when you come to see us.”

  Hope laughed. “We’re working on it. I have to go back to LA next week, but when I get back, we’re going to make time to come see you.”

  “Good, don’t take too long about it, will you?”

  “Frank! They’ve both got busy lives, we have to be patient,” said Alice.

  “I don’t do patience.”

  Hope laughed. “So that’s where Chance gets it from?”

  Chance loved the sound of his dad’s laughter. “Yeah, probably, and I guess you’ve got me to blame that he’s such an ornery son of a gun, too.”

  Hope laughed. “No, you’re both sweetie pies.”

  Chance rolled his eyes at her and Alice laughed loudly. “Either you don’t know them too well yet, or you’ve already figured out how to handle them.”

  “I think I’m getting the hang of it, but I’m hoping you’ll give me some pointers when I see you?”

  “I’ll try, but most of the time I just hang on and go along for the ride.”

  Hope waggled her eyebrows at Chance. “Me too.”

  Chance tried not to laugh. He doubted Alice meant the same kind of ride Hope did.

  “What are you kids up to this evening?” asked his dad. “It’s Saturday night. Why are you home calling us? Shouldn’t you be out partying?”

  “We’re on our way out, but I hadn’t called you for a few days, and I wanted to check in.”

  “Oh.” His dad sounded disappointed.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. I just thought maybe you had some news for us, that maybe you were calling to make an announcement.”

  Hope smiled, and Chance had to smile with her. It was a good thing they were already talking about the possibility of getting married; this could be an awkward moment if they weren’t. “Like Alice said, you need to be patient.”

  “I have been. I’ve been waiting ever since Oregon.”

  Hope laughed.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t plan to keep you waiting too much longer.”

  Hope’s eyes widened, and he heard Alice gasp. He grinned and shrugged at Hope. “We all know it’s coming; I don’t see the point in wasting much time.”

  “Oh, Chance, that’s wonderful!” said Alice.

  “Just hurry up about it, would you?” asked his dad.

  Hope just smiled at him; that must be the happiest he’d seen her yet. He hadn’t given much thought to the timing of things before, but now he’d said it, he wanted them to just get on with it. If they were going to get married, what was the point in waiting? “I’ll keep you posted, but we’d better get going. I’ll call you again soon.”

  “Take care, son. You be careful in LA, Hope, get back to the mountains as soon as you can. It’s safer up there.”

  “I will, and when I get back, we’ll figure out when we can come and see you.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  “Me too,” added Alice. “Love to you both.”

  “See you guys,” said Chance. “Love you.”

  When he hung up, Hope came around the table to sit on his lap. “So, you don’t plan on waiting too much longer?”

  He slid his arms around her waist and hugged her to him. “I don’t. Do you?”

  “I don’t want to, no, but I will if you need more time.”

  “For what?”

  She shrugged. “To be sure.”

  “I am sure. We’re going to hit bumps in the road; there are still details that are going to come and bite us in the ass, no question about it, but isn’t that the same for everyone? We want to be together; nothing’s going to get in the way of that now. So, I’d rather we made it official and face whatever life throws at us as a couple.”

  She nodded. “Me too.”

  ~ ~ ~

  When they were ready, they decided to walk over to the cottage. Hope had seen the place before, but she’d never been down there. It sat behind the barn a little ways, on the other side of the creek. Chance had told her that Mason and Gina used to live there, but now that Dave had officially retired and let the guys take over running the ranch, he and Monique had moved down here while Mason and Gina had taken over the main house.

  Chance took hold of her hand as they walked by the barn and she smiled up at him.

  “Don’t say it,” he said out of the corner of his mouth.

  She laughed. “What that you’re sweet? I wasn’t going to, but now that you mention it.”

  He shook his head at her. “I think you’ll love Dave and Monique.”

  “I’m sure I will, I just hope they’ll like me.”

  “They’re going to love you.”

  “I think I remember her. She’s French, isn’t she?”

  “Yeah, maybe she’ll be able to help you since you’re kind of the same.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “She was some society lady in Paris before she met Dave. She came out here to visit Yellowstone, met a cowboy in a bar and never went home.”

  “Really?”

  Chance nodded. “That’s the story anyway.”

  Hope smiled. “I’ll have to ask her about it, but I like the idea of us turning out like them. They seem to have had a long and happy life together, they’ve raised all you boys, and now they’re retired and enjoying life.”

  Chance nodded, looking thoughtful. “If we can turn out like them, I’ll be happy.”

  Hope would, too.

  As they got closer to the cottage, they could hear voices out back and Chance led her around to the patio. It was beautiful, like a storybook cottage with lovely flower beds.

  “There you are,” said Dave when he spotted them. “Come on in.”

  Chance opened the gate and let Hope go ahead of him. Her dad got up from his seat and came to greet them with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you?”

  “Of course not, it’s a lovely surprise,” said Hope as she kissed his cheek.

  He turned to shake Chance’s hand. “You’re going to have to get used to seeing me around, so this is good practice.”

  Chance nodded. “I’m glad you came.”

  Monique came out from the house and beamed at them. “Hope! It’s so lovely to see you.” She came straight to her and wrapped her in a warm hug, before kissing both her cheeks. Hope loved her instantly; there was something so warm and welcoming about her. She felt like a mother figure, and Hope desperately needed one of those—not that she’d known it until that moment.

  “Let her go,” said Dave with a smile. “I want to say hello, too.” He edged his wife away and gave her a warm hug of his own. He felt so strong, and she could see where the Remington boys got their looks from. He was still a good-looking man.

  “It’s lovely to meet you.”

  Her dad smiled. “Though you don’t know you’re not meeting them for t
he first time.”

  She looked at Monique. “Were you friends with my mom?”

  Monique nodded. “She was a wonderful woman. I still miss her.”

  Hope looked at her dad. They didn’t normally talk about her mom much at all; she hoped she wasn’t upsetting him.

  He smiled at Dave, then at her. “Your mom and Monique helped each other adapt to living out here.” He nodded at Monique. “They both had a lot of adapting to do.”

  Monique smiled. “We did, but it was well worth it. Your mom loved it here.”

  Hope couldn’t help it; she went to Monique and hugged her again. She wanted to feel close to this woman who’d been her mother’s friend.

  Monique smiled and patted her shoulder. “Do you want to come help me?”

  Hope nodded, glad to get a moment alone with her. She didn’t know what she wanted to say, just that she wanted to be around her. Monique felt like a link to her mom.

  She looked back and smiled at Chance as she followed Monique inside. He winked at her and nodded before turning to take the beer Dave offered him.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chance was enjoying this evening. He smiled over at Hope who was sitting beside Monique, chatting happily with her. It seemed he’d been right that the two of them might connect. He was glad to see it.

  Monique had made them a wonderful meal, and while they’d eaten Dave and Seymour had entertained them with stories of how life used to be in the valley. Chance had been surprised how well they got along. They acted like old buddies, but Dave had never mentioned knowing the Davenports before. Now they were sitting on the patio, Dave had lit the fire pit, and they were enjoying after-dinner drinks. Chance was a little on edge because there’d been no mention of any idea to run by them during dinner. They must be saving it for later—and later must be coming any minute now.

  Dave smiled at Hope. “I understand that when you come back from LA, you’re going to be staying here full-time?”

  “I am.” She looked at Chance, and he nodded, knowing she was wondering how much she should say. As far as he was concerned it was up to her how much they told people about their plans. She turned to Seymour. “Dad’s going to be teaching me about trading, and …” She gave her dad a meaningful look. “I’m going to move into the cabin with Chance.”

  Chance sucked in a deep breath, wondering what Seymour’s reaction might be.

  He nodded slowly but didn’t say anything immediately.

  Monique smiled at Chance. “You’ll have to start thinking about a bigger place.”

  Chance nodded. He’d think about any place Hope wanted, but right now he was more concerned what her dad thought.

  Seymour met his gaze. “I think that brings us neatly to the idea we want to discuss with you.”

  Chance nodded and waited; he had no clue what was coming.

  Dave grinned at him. “Sorry, son, but we got talking.” He smiled at Seymour. “We think we’ve hit on something that might benefit all of us.”

  Chance nodded again.

  “When we rode out, and you refused my request to run a herd of cattle on my land, I was surprised—pleasantly so—by your refusal. Your loyalty to Dave is admirable.”

  Chance nodded. He didn’t think it was admirable, but it was non-negotiable. If Seymour was about to repeat the offer, he wasn’t going to take it, even if Dave said he should. He’d said no, and he meant it. He didn’t need Seymour thinking he could come in and talk Dave around to what he wanted.

  Seymour smiled. “Would you relax? Dave and I want to run something else by you. I haven’t come here to get Dave on my side to make you do what I want.”

  Chance did relax a little, glad that Seymour could see how this must look to him. “Okay, but tell me already.”

  Seymour laughed. He no doubt wasn’t used to being told to hurry up, but Chance wasn’t about to start bowing and scraping to him.

  “Okay. I want you to run cattle on my land. Dave wants you to run cattle on his land. Our properties share a border, which could be opened up so that one large herd would have access to both. What do you say? Do you want to expand your operation?”

  Chance looked at Dave; he needed to know what he thought first.

  Dave grinned encouragingly. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. Everybody wins. If you want to do it.”

  Seymour smirked at him. “I’ve done my homework. What I have in mind would have you managing the largest herd in the valley. If you’d be up to that. It’d be a big job.”

  Chance smiled through pursed lips. He knew damned well what Seymour was doing. He was taunting him, poking his ego to say of course he could do it, of course, he was up to the job—and it was working. He nodded. “I could handle it all right, but what’s in it for you?”

  Hope, Monique and Dave all looked a little taken aback by the direct question, but it was one that needed to be asked.

  “You know what’s in it for me. You’re going to be an important part of my daughter’s life.” He smiled. “You’re going to be an important part of my life. I’d like to see you happy and fulfilled. I’d like to know that you’re commanding a salary worthy of the biggest rancher in Paradise Valley. And I’d like to think that since your parcel of Remington Ranch is the closest to my house, you might build your own place on that end, so I’ll be closer to you both.” He chuckled. “And so that my daughter won’t be living in a tiny cabin for too long.”

  Chance had to laugh with him. “Yeah, I was concerned about that, too.”

  “I wasn’t!” said Hope.

  Monique smiled at her. “With the best intentions in the world, you’ll still want out of that cabin before the year is out, dear. Believe me.”

  Dave laughed. “If our experience is anything to go by, I’d start building now, if I were you, Chance!”

  He looked around at them all. They were all so happy, they saw this as possible and workable, and the strangest part was that he did, too. He turned back to Seymour. “We’d have to write up a contract.”

  Seymour laughed. “My lawyers are drafting one, and, of course, I’ll expect it to go through several revisions and negotiations before we agree to terms.”

  Chance smiled. “Then, in principle, I guess it’s a yes.”

  Seymour got to his feet, and Chance joined him to shake his hand. “Thank you. This means more to me than you know.”

  Chance nodded. He felt as though he had some idea. Seymour had no interest in cattle. If he did, he would have done something about it at some point in the last twenty years. This was about securing his daughter’s future. He looked over at Hope who looked a little concerned. He knew she was worried her dad was trying to control them somehow, but Chance didn’t see it that way. Seymour’s intentions were good. He knew it.

  ~ ~ ~

  When they were back at the cabin, Hope led Chance out onto the back porch. She’d had a great time, right up until the point where her dad had made Chance that offer. Since then she’d been in turmoil. She wanted to believe that her dad was looking out for her and for Chance, but she had a niggling doubt that he was going back to his old ways—trying to direct her life.

  “You’re worried about what your dad’s up to you aren’t you?”

  “I am. Aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m not. He’s trying to help you, not control you.”

  “What about you? Don’t you feel that by getting you to work for him he’s trying to control you?”

  “No. I don’t. I think he’s trying to help us get a good start on our life together. He already understands who I am and how I work. I won’t sign anything that has sneaky clauses in it, and I know an excellent lawyer, Gabe. You’ll meet him when we go to Summer Lake. I don’t think your dad’s trying to string me up though, honey. I don’t. I think you need to relax.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I think I am.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll relax about it. If I believe that it’s for the right reasons, then it’s an awesome thing for him to
do, isn’t it?”

  Chance smiled. “It is. I love the idea. Like he said, we all win. That doesn’t happen too often in life.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I’m going to put my doubts aside and be happy about it.”

  “I think you should.”

  He came to her and wrapped his arms around her. “It seems to me we’ve got a lot to be happy about these days. We’ve got a new life ahead of us, and it’s all just about to begin.”

  She nodded against his chest, feeling happier than she ever had, standing here with this wonderful man underneath the big starry Montana sky.

  “I love you, Chance.”

  “I love you, Hope. I can’t wait to see where we go from here.”

  Hope smiled as she hugged him tightly. They’d come so far, overcome so much already. She knew it wouldn’t be plain sailing from here on, but she believed that the biggest of their problems were behind them;

  A Note from SJ

  I hope you’re enjoying the journey with Chance and Hope. You won’t have too long to wait to see what happens next.

  Book Three is called Give Hope a Chance and will release on July 11.

  Chance has his own page on my website – check it out here for updates.

  If you haven’t read my other books, be sure to check out the Remington Ranch series, where you’ll see Chance with his adopted family. You can get started with book one, Mason, which you can download for FREE here.

  If you haven’t read the Summer Lake series yet, you can start that for free too, just click here to get started with a FREE boxed set of the first three books. You’ll see Chance make his first appearance in book three.

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