Page 6 of Lost and Found Cowboy

He’d looked at her in a way she hadn’t been looked at in a long time. And he’d said she looked ‘stunning’. That one word—a description her ex hadneveruttered—went straight into her heart and buried itself there like a treasure inside a chest she could pull out later to hold and cherish.

Her attention sprang back to her sister as the minister proclaimed, “By the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

She laughed and held back a sob of happiness—and a little grief over remembering her own failed marriage vows—as Chevy grabbed Leni and bent her back in an exaggerated dip before pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

He pulled her back to standing as he let out a whoop then kissed her again. Joy radiated off both him and Leni, like a campfire giving off warmth and light, and making everyone around them lean in, as if wanting to capture some of that happiness for themselves.

Lorna couldn’t have been happier for her older sister. Leni had stepped in and taken care of her when their father had left and their mother had fallen apart, and Lorna knew that hersister had fallen in love with Chevy Lassiter the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

But there was a tiny feeling, like a small worm in an otherwise delicious apple, that had her glancing over at Mack and wondering if she’d ever get to feel that kind of love. If she’d ever be brave enough to risk getting her heart shattered and stomped on and tossed away like a fast-food wrapper again.

She felt a nudge in her back from Elizabeth, the bridesmaid behind her, and realized Duke was waiting to walk back down the aisle with her. Lunging forward, she smiled at her sister’s new grandfather-in-law and tried to put thoughts of handsome cowboys and shattered hearts behind her.

It was Leni’s day,andthe first night she’d been out without Isabel, in months, and she was determined to enjoy it.

Maisie’s neighbor, Gertie Henderson, who was a mother of five, a grandmother to eight, and a great-grandmother to two, had offered to stay overnight at Lorna’s house to watch Izzy, so Lorna could participate in all the wedding festivities.

Gertie had been watching Izzy a few days a week while Lorna worked at the coffee shop. The little girl loved her bonus grandma, and it meant everything to Lorna to know her baby was with someone she could trust.

“Mom,” Max called as he and Mack made it to the end of the aisle runner. He ran to her and threw his arms around her legs as he flashed a huge grin up at her. “Did you see that Mack is back? And he brought me a birthday present. Even though he missed my birthday. But he said he was real sorry he wasn’t back in time to see me and have some of my birthday cake, which I told him had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it so the frosting turned your tongue green and black. And he said that sounded really cool.”

“Okay, slow down, take a breath, buddy,” she told him, used to her son’s mile-a-minute conversation style, and wonderingwhen he and Mack had time to discuss Max’s birthday party and the black and green frosting—which had been more disgusting than cool, in her opinion, but it had made Max happy, and so it had been worth it.

And had Mack really bought Max a birthday gift?

If he had, it would have been more than her ex had done. Lyle had called her a few days after, full of excuses and justifications of why he’d missed his own son’s birthday and asked her to stick a twenty in a card and sign his name to it. Which she’d already done the night of his birthday, not for Lyle, but so Max didn’t have to know what a shit-heel his father was.

Not that Max was short on gifts. The Lassiter clan had held his birthday party at the ranch, offering pony rides and ice cream to the few friends he’d invited, and had showered him with presents and hugs. But still, it sucked that his own father had forgotten.

And it meant something that Mack hadn’t. He had texted that day and sent Max a funny GIF of a tiny dog scarfing down a huge birthday cake. Her son had loved it.

“Hey,” Mack said, catching up to Max and obviously hearing the tail end of their conversation. “I hope it’s okay that I got him a gift. I probably should have checked with you first, but he was telling me about his birthday, and it slipped out that I had brought him something back from Texas.”

“It’s fine,” she told him, surprised, and a little curious, about what he’d had the foresight to purchase and bring with him from the Lone Star state. “As long as it isn’t one of those cows you’ve been taking care of.”

Mack’s face fell. “Oh dang. They told me I couldn’t return it.” Then he smiled as he teased her.

She lifted one shoulder in a good-natured shrug. “Well, I guess Iwillhave a spare bedroom now that Leni’s moving out and into the cabin at the lake with Chevy.”

Max jumped up and down, pure glee evident in his grin. “Am I really getting a cow? And I can keep it in Aunt Leni’s room? I promise I’ll feed it every day. And take it for walks. And it can even sleep in my bed, if it wants.”

Oops.

“No, I’m sorry, honey. Mack and I were just teasing each other. He didn’t really bring you a cow back from Texas.” She glanced up at him, a question in her eyes, and dropped her shoulders in relief when he grinned then shook his head.

Max’s body sagged against her as if his bones had all turned to spaghetti. “Aww dang. I would have really liked having my own cow. Can you think about it for when I turn seven?”

“Sure, buddy,” she said, giving his limp body a hug.

“I need to get Zeus back to the barn and take his saddle off. How about you come help me, then we’ll visit some of the cows on our way to my truck to get your gift?” Mack asked, then glanced back at Lorna. “I mean, if that’s okay with your mom.”

Lorna nodded. “Sure. Just don’t take too long. Anddon’t get dirty. Aunt Leni wants usallfor pictures in fifteen minutes. Including you,” she told Mack. “Why don’t I try to track down Mabel Turner and see if I trade her dress for your wedding clothes, so you’ll at least have the right ones for the pictures.”

Ten minutes later, she met Mack and her son in the kitchen of the ranch house, his shirt, tie, and vest hanging over her arm.

“Mom, look at this huge present Mack got for me,” Max told her, gesturing to the rather large box sitting on the kitchen table. “Can I open it now?” he asked, already ripping into the paper almost before she told him he could.

He tore the wrapping paper away—another impressive thing that Mack had the foresight to not only bring a gift, but to wrap it in blue and white paper covered in the Paw Patrol puppies—to reveal a Lego set for a huge pirate ship. “This is sooo cool. I love it just as much as a cow,” Max said, jumping down from the chairand throwing himself into Mack’s arms. “Thank you, Mack. Will you help me build it? Can we do it now?”

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