Page 63 of Unforgettable Cowboy
She nodded instead of forcing words out of her rapidly closing throat.
“Take your time, Bailey.You know where to find me.”
And with those words, her cowboy walked away.
Chapter Fifteen
“Iowe youso much, Bailey.”Jenna stroked the palomino’s golden neck, and the mare turned her head to lightly bump Jenna’s arm.There was no denying the affection between the pair of them.“And you, too,” she said to Dylan as she stepped out of the horse trailer and closed the door.“I’d like to repay you, if I could.”
“No need,” was all he said before touching his hat in true humble cowboy fashion before turning to Bailey.“You’ll be heading south?”
“Yes, I will.”Because that was what she did.Traveled alone, although eventually she’d have a canine companion.
Was it enough?
It didn’t feel like it.
The two women stood side by side watching Dylan pull out of the campground, then Bailey turned to Jenna.“You’ll stay in contact?”
She shifted her weight.“I was thinking…I know that Milo is helping you out for a couple of shows, but you’ll still need to replenish your stock and it’s my fault it’s gone.”Bailey began to protest, but Jenna shushed her.“I have a place where you could stay.You could even go to work with me, if you wanted.I can always use a clever mind and clever hands.”
Bailey considered the surprise offer.Working with Jenna would be cool, but she didn’t really like to sew.She also wasn’t ready to turn her life in a new direction.Not yet.
“That’s okay,” Jenna said, clearly reading the direction of Bailey’s thoughts.“But if things change, the offer stands.”
“I appreciate that, but for now, I need to do what I set out to do.”
“I kind of thought so.”Jenna reached out to give her a one-armed hug.
“Where are you keeping the mare?”Bailey knew she shouldn’t ask, but she really wanted to know.
Jenna smiled.“Max Driscoll’s Palomino Ranch.”
Bailey laughed.“Needle in a haystack?”There were probably a hundred yellow broodmares on the property located in the eastern part of the state.“I’d like to ask how you arranged that, but I won’t.”Max Driscoll and her father had roped together years ago before they’d had a falling-out over Pinto’s drinking.
“You don’t want to know.It took some time mending burned bridges, but I managed.The good thing is that it is fairly close to where I’m living.I can visit her, even if I can’t use her.That would be too dangerous.”Jenna pushed her long braid over her shoulder.“Just knowing she’s alive and well and that Chance doesn’t have her is enough for me.”
It was enough for Bailey, too.
“Are you okay?”Jenna asked as she walked Bailey to her truck.Bailey gave her a sideways look wondering how she’d become so transparent.
“I’m just glad this all worked out.”
“That’s all?”
Bailey gave a casual shrug then hugged her former roomie.“Keep in touch, Jenn.”
Bailey got into her truck, but before she started it, Jenna moved forward to take hold of the open window frame.Bailey let go of the key.She knew this look, had seen it several times during college as they’d hashed out their complicated twenty-something lives.
“Tell me.”
Bailey didn’t attempt to hedge because Jenna was like a Jack Russell chasing a rabbit when she got an idea in her head.She simply did not give up.
“I fell for a cowboy and it’s scaring me to death.”
Jenna was well aware of her past scars, but instead of the strict warning about men and relationships that Bailey expected, Jenna surprised her by simply asking, “Is he like Chance?”
“No.”The word popped out instantly.
