Page 81 of The Cowboy Complication

“What in the hell is going on?” Leland pushed through, stopping short just before stepping on the downed ranch hand. His eyes went to Janie. “What did you do?”

“Wasn’t her.” Gertrude lifted her chin, shoulders squaring. “It was me. I confess.”

Cooper scrubbed one hand down his face. “There’s a whole bar full of witnesses who saw what happened. You can’t make a false confession.”

“It’s not false,” Gertrude argued back. “I decked that sucker right in his dumb face.”

“No she didn’t.” Betty held both hands out. “It was me. I did it.” She gave Leland a wink. “Cuff me.”

How did she ever think coming to Moss Creek would be calmer than living in New York? Because it was wild here.

Devon Peters was the next police officer to arrive. His eyes landed on where his wife stood.

“You’re too late. She already got her swing in.” Cooper crouched down as the ranch hand tried to sit up, offering support to keep him upright.

“I’m not here to stop her.” He turned to Leland. “I’m here to bail her out once you do what you need to do.”

“Fucking hell.” Leland blew out an aggravated sigh as he turned to Janie. “Why’d you have to pull this shit on my shift?”

Janie started to respond, but Gertrude cut her off. “She doesn’t know what you’re talking about because she didn’t do anything.” She gave Janie a pointed look. Like she genuinely thought they could get her out of this.

Janie didn’t seem to worried about it. Heck, from what she’d heard it sounded like she’d warned her husband. And the smile on Janie’s face as the cowboy’s face started to swell made it seem like she thought it was worth it.

And maybe it was.

As expected, Leland had to arrest Janie. He didn’t cuff her—she went more than willingly—but he did have a hell of a time wrangling the girls. When they’d realized they couldn’t spare Janie a trip to the station, they’d started fighting over who got to be her ‘bail money bitch’.

Apparently that was a position of great prestige.

On the plus side, the whole thing meant everyone decided to go home early. And after dropping the girls off at the station so they could pay for Janie’s release, she finally managed to be piled up in her pajamas next to her husband on the giant couch in their living room.

Curling up next to him as he started their most recent series obsession,Love on the Spectrum, Isla sighed. “I think we’re going to have to tap out of taking the girls to the bar.”

“Agreed.” Cooper tucked her closer. “They don’t need a designated driver.” He flashed her a dimpled grin. “They need a bouncer.”

Epilogue Two

Cooper

Two Years Later

“YOU GIRLS WANT some snacks?” Cooper opened the door of the coop, balancing the bowl of kitchen scraps in one hand while also being mindful of the small body strapped to his chest. “I’ve got a lot for you today.” He stepped into the run portion of the pen and spilled the tomato tops and pumpkin guts into the large rubber dish reserved for all the bits and pieces left at the end of the day.

Isla’s flock ran straight for it, flapping their wings to go as fast as possible as they raced to see what he’d brought.

“I think they like it.” He bounced a little, grinning as their resident egg-layers scratched and pecked at the pile. “Should we see if there’s anything in the nesting boxes?” He brought along the scrap bowl, exiting the coop before rounding it to the other side where the trap doors at the back of each box opened.

Continuing to talk to the dark-haired little girl snoozing in the carrier fastened across his front, he went through each of the six boxes, adding any eggs he found to the bowl. “Looks like a few of our feathered friends were late layers today.”

After waiting—and wanting—to be a father for so long, he worried maybe it would fall short of his expectations. That he’d built it up so much, for so long, it would be anticlimactic when Beth finally came.

Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

Being a dad was better than he could have ever imagined. Just like being a husband was.

“You okay out here?” Isla’s sweet voice carried across the yard. “Or did you two decide to run away and leave me to clean this mess up all by myself?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” he called back.

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