made it to the picture of his four daughters together. The last one taken before their mother walked out the door. His hand moved over the photo. Josie was the one who was a miniature version of her mother, petite and curvy, although her hair was lighter and her eyes were definitely Slater blue.
He frowned, knowing he’d been unfair to his girls. He couldn’t even use the excuse of being a single parent. Kathleen, the longtime housekeeper, handled most everything while he worked the ranch. He sighed, recalling those years. Since the day Lucia left, he’d closed up and couldn’t show love to his four daughters.
He studied the photo. Analeigh was the oldest. Then came the twins, Josefina Isabel, followed five minutes later by Vittoria Irene. The memory of him standing next to his wife, and encouraging her as she gave birth to their beautiful daughters, Ana, Josie, Tori and Marissa.
He felt tears gathering in his eyes. Would he get the chance to fix the damage he’d done?
“Hello, Colt.”
He turned and saw his beautiful Josie leaning against a crutch in the doorway. He’d just been given a second chance, and he wasn’t about to throw it away.
CHAPTER TWO
JOSIE FELT STRANGE, not only being back in this house, but seeing her father after all these years.
“J...Josie. I’m gl...glad you’re home.”
Colt still stood straight and tall as he had before his stroke. Thirty years ago, he’d been a rodeo star, winning the World Saddle Bronc title before he retired when he married Lucia Delgado and brought her back to the Lazy S to make a life, raising cattle and a family.
Now in his mid-fifties, he was still a good-looking man, even with his weathered skin and graying hair. His blue eyes were the one thing she’d inherited from him. Her dark coloring was what she’d gotten from her Hispanic mother.
“This hasn’t been my home for a long time.” With the aid of her crutch, she bravely made her way into the room.
“You had an accident,” Colt said.
“It seems I got in the way at the construction site.” She nodded to her ankle. “In a few days I’ll be as good as new. Looks like you’re stuck with me for the duration anyway.”
“Hap...happy to have you.”
His words gave her a strange feeling, making her realize how badly she wanted to be here.
She began to examine the rehab equipment to hide her nervousness. “Looks like I don’t need to go to a gym to exercise. You have everything right here.”
“You’re welcome to u...use it,” he told her. “When you’re able to.”
She sat down on the weight bench and eyed the parallel bars, then Colt. Outside of some weight loss, he looked good. “Is all this helping you?”
He nodded. “Been working hard. I hope to get a lot better s...soon.” He studied her. “Thank you for coming home.”
That was a first. Her father actually thanked her. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m not sure how much I can help, or how long I can stay.”
Colt smiled.
Another first, Josie thought, not to mention he was actually carrying on a conversation with her. How many times had she tried to get some attention from this man? She felt tears gathering.
“Just glad you’re here,” he told her.
Suddenly her throat tightened so she nodded. “I should go and unpack.” She got up, slipped the single crutch under her arms and headed for the door, but Colt’s gravelly voice made her turn around.
“M...made a lot of mistakes, Josie. I would like a s...second chance.”
His words about threw her over the edge. She raised a hand. “I can’t deal with any more right now. We’ll talk later.”
She managed to get out the door and headed toward the staircase. She hopped up the steps on her good leg until she got to the second floor. Using her crutch, she made her way down the familiar hall to the third door on the left that had been her and Tori’s bedroom. She stepped inside and froze. It looked the same as it did when she’d left here.
The walls were still pale lavender and the twin beds had floral print comforters with matching dust ruffles. She walked to her bed against the far wall and sank down onto the mattress. Taking a toss pillow from the headboard, she hugged it close against the burning acid in the pit of her stomach.
Great, this trip was supposed to help relax her. This time when tears welled in her eyes she didn’t stop them. Colt wanted to rebuild their relationship. What relationship? They’d never had a father/daughter relationship.
Memories of the lonely times welled in her chest. She’d been grateful for her sisters, especially Tori. When something wonderful happened to them, they’d been each others cheerleaders, along with Kathleen, the housekeeper and their surrogate mom, replacing the mother who’d disappeared from her kids’ life when Josie had been only three years old. It had been pretty clear that neither parent wanted their children.
Josie wiped a tear from her cheek. Dang it. She thought she’d gotten over all this. Leaving here and the pain behind, she’d gone off to L.A. and worked hard on a career, building a successful business, Slater Style.
She got up and hobbled to the window and looked out at the ranch compound. From this room, she had a great view of the glossy white barn with the attached corral. There were many outbuildings, some old, plus some new ones that had been added over the years. Her attention turned to the horses grazing in the pasture. There were mares with their foals, frolicking around in the open field.
Smiling, she pressed her hand against the cool glass, knowing cold weather was coming, along with unpredictable Montana snows. Surprisingly, that had been what she’d missed since moving to L.A.
She caught sight of her car coming down the road and watched as it pulled up in front of the house. Good, she had her vehicle back.
Then she caught sight of two men stepping off the porch below her, Vance and Garrett. She felt a sudden jolt as she got the chance to observe the man she had once called her boyfriend. Both men were about the same height, and drop-dead handsome.
Josie hadn’t been surprised at all when she learned Ana and Vance had fallen in love and planned to marry soon. The guy had been crazy about Ana for years, since he’d come to live at the Lazy S when he was a teenager.
She smiled, happy for her sister.
Josie looked back at Garrett. She couldn’t help but take notice of the man. He’d filled out since college, and he still had those incredible eyes and sexy smile. And she hated the fact that just seeing him again still had an effect on her. She released a breath, recalling how it felt when he carried her in his arms.
After Vance shook hands with Garrett, her future brother-in-law headed off toward the barn. Garrett went to her car and spoke to the driver, one of the men on his crew.
Then as if Garrett could sense her, he looked up. Their eyes locked, and suddenly she felt her heart pounding in her chest.
