Page 31 of Second Chance Saloon

Mitch thought about what his parents would say if he told them about Jackie. His mother might’ve shrieked in excitement, but he had no doubt his father would sulk and remind him in his usual gruff voice that he was at UT to swim; a girlfriend would be nothing more than a distraction. Tanner Craigton didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. Bringing Mitch’s mother a supermarket-bought bunch of random flowers—usually the only ones that were left at the end of the day—on their wedding anniversary was the height of his romantic inclinations.

Ignoring the hammer blows of his pulse brought on by thinking about his father, he cracked a smile at Dustin. “Nice to meet you, sir.” Without letting go of Jackie’s hand, Mitch extended his right hand to Dustin.

Dustin skewered him with a hot gaze. “Boyfriend, you say?” He didn’t make a move to shake Mitch’s hand.

Jackie sighed. “Come on, Dustin. He’s nice, you’ll see.”

Dustin huffed. “He’d have to be a damn saint to deserve you.”

Mitch dropped his hand, pushing it behind his back. Annoyance pooled on his tongue. Who did this guy think he was? He somehow understood Albert’s immediate suspicion toward him. A degree of apprehension from Jackie’s uncle, he could handle. But outright rudeness from some stranger? Mitch was shy but he wasn’t a complete pushover, or at least he hoped he wasn’t.

“Well, it’s a good thing that it’s none of your business who I date then, isn’t it?” Jackie’s words were barbed but her tone was playful.

Dustin barked a laugh. “Look at you, all grown up and full of sass. It seems like it was only yesterday when you were runnin’ naked through the fields, shoutin’ at the sky to stop rainin’.”

The tips of Jackie’s ears pinked up. “That never happened.”

“Sure it did.” Dustin turned to Mitch. “She was four, maybe five. It’d been rainin’ non-stop for days and she was bored of bein’ cooped up in the house. Brenda got her out of the bath and Jackie bolted right out of the front door, straight into the cornfield. I heard Brenda screamin’ after her and went to see what happened. And there she was, little Jackie, wigglin’ her fist at the sky.”

“What did you do, boss?” a tall man standing by the fence asked. His buzz-cut scalp shone in the sun, black ink covering his exposed arms. A white tank top stretched over his hard abdominal muscles and dirt caked the brown chaps covering his trousers.

Mitch only knew what they were called because he’d spent over two hours last night looking up some terms related to ranching. He wanted to appear a bit more in-the-know than he was, which wasn’t really a high bar.

Dustin scratched the back of his neck, his eyes glazing over with old memories. “Well, first I laughed to myself. It was hard not to. Then, I walked up to her, took my jacket off to cover her with it and told her she did a great job. The rain would definitely go away after those threats.”

Jackie’s posture relaxed against Mitch’s side, her fingers still encased in his. “I don’t remember this.”

Buzz-cut clicked his tongue. “How could you if you were so young.”

“At least I don’t run around naked howling to the moon as a grown-up, after some moonshine,” Jackie bit off.

Mitch snort-laughed.

The brown-skinned woman with black waves cascading down to her shoulders cupped her hands around her mouth. “Awoo!”

Buzz-cut elbowed her in the side. “Behave.”

“You’re the one who started it, Colt.” The woman shrugged, wiping the long sleeve of her burgundy shirt across her face. Ignoring Colt, she approached Mitch. “Don’t listen to all these miserable fools. I’m Ali.”

He shook her hand. “Mitch. Pleasure meeting you, ma’am.”

Colt snickered behind Ali’s back.

“Just Ali is fine,” she said.

Mitch nodded. “Ali, then.” He glanced to buzz-cut guy. “And you’re Colt?”

Colt crossed his muscular arms. He pinned Mitch down with a stare. “That’s right. You can call me sir if you want, though. Won’t mind one bit.”

Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m the only sir on this ranch, kid.”

Colt mumbled something under his breath, but Mitch didn’t catch it.

“And this is Kit.” Dustin folded his arm around the shoulder of a man who lingered behind Ali. “He’s the newest member of our crew but must have some magic flowin’ through his veins. Horses love him.”

Kit’s gaze darted between Jackie and Mitch. He waved his hand at Mitch and gave him a curt nod.

“Hi, Kit,” Mitch said.