Second Chance Cowboy Read Free

his shirt and finger-combed his hair.
    “ It wasn’t my fault you
cheated.” Once she said it, she wanted to yank the words back. Too
late, just like their relationship.
    “ You’re a broken record,
sweetheart. It’s not worth denying the accusation any longer. Maybe eventually you’ll believe your words and
feel justified in leaving. ”
    He sat back down on the edge of the
bed and pulled on his socks and dusty cowboy boots. Dropping his
booted feet to the floor with a thump, Chance then looked at her,
his face hard and blank of any emotion.
    “ Devon died, Carly. He’s
gone and we can’t change the truth. One of us needed to make the
decision to let him go and I made it. I held out hope you’d
ultimately find a sliver of forgiveness in your cold heart. I guess
I was wrong.”
    The old wound broke open and her lungs
emptied of oxygen. She wanted to lash out at him, tell him to go to
hell, but the words didn’t come. Instead, she whispered, “I’m going
to the bathroom. When I get back I want you gone.”
    “ Carly, you’ve become an
expert at sucking all the joy out of your life and pushing away
anyone who reaches out to you. You’re living in a self-made prison,
founded on guilt and pain, and there is no key to unlock the cell
door.”
    She watched him get up from the bed,
cross the room in four quick, troubled stomps, and come to stop
directly in front of her. Rolling her head back to meet his glazed
eyes, she bit back tears.
    “ I’m leaving now, sweetheart. I want to thank you for last night. It was...”
He seemed to search for the right word. “Enlightening. My last wish
is you’ll realize, before it is too late, what you’re letting
go.”
    “ I do, Chance.” With
lowered voice, plagued with emotion, she said, “I know exactly what
I’m letting go.”
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    CARLY JETTED AROUND the bathroom in
haste. She took a three-minute shower and dried her shoulder-length
hair. She applied a coat of basic makeup and dressed, all in record
time.
    If she didn’t hurry, she’d be late for
a meeting with the buyer for her peaches. She hated being delayed
and wanted to appear polished and professional. The sell would
prove not only to herself, but to everyone else, that she’d evolved
into a successful businesswoman.
    She swept past the unmade bed and
darted a glance at the messy sheets. The crumpled linen reminded
her of her deteriorated marriage. Sadness crept over her. She
wanted to deny the truth, but it was stark and blaring inside her
head.
    Chance’s final wish bombarded her
thoughts.
    His last wish could screw
itself.
    Why did she feel like her heart
exploded into a million pieces? She wanted to deny the truth, but
it was stark and blared inside her head. The love she had for
Chance remained.
    From the moment Chance Taylor walked
into her life, she’d been caught in a whirlwind. Love, marriage,
family.
    She allowed her thoughts to travel
back to the day they’d met…
    Carly stood by the punchbowl with her
friends at the Fourth of July picnic when in walked the Chance Taylor. Muffled whispers and girly giggles echoed from the
female partygoers, married and single.
    Not one woman in Shelby could resist
Chance’s good looks and charm. They flashed pretty smiles when he
walked past, hoping he’d glance in their direction. Carly’s body
heat rose when he crossed the grass toward her. He looked mighty
fine in a long-sleeved blue button-down, dark denims and black
boots.
    The afternoon sun glinted off his coal
locks and his granite gaze warmed her skin. She couldn’t take her
eyes off him. A drop-dead smile curved his lips and masculinity
oozed from him. It was hopeless to resist a man who exuded virility
from every pore.
    Her friends’ oohs and aahs filled the
air as he approached their circle. He gave each a nod of
acknowledgement before he’d focused his full attention on her. He’d
made a heady path down her white silk top, tight-fitting jeans, to
the cherry red points of