Free Second Chance Cowboy by Rhonda Lee Carver Page A

felt so
lost. What are you not telling me?”
    He didn’t get the chance to defend
himself. On cue, Duke came out onto the patio. “Is that Thelma’s
cooking I smell?” Halfway to the table, he realized he’d stepped
onto a minefield. “I’ll turn around and let you both pretend I
wasn’t here.”
    “ No, Duke, it’s okay. You
can stay. I was just going inside.”
    Chance watched Carly disappear into
the house. He turned to Duke and shook his head. “Do you have any
sense of timing?”
    “ Can’t you do anything
except piss her off, pal?” Duke asked.
    “ Can’t you mind your own
business?”
    “ I would mind my own
business, but yours is always a helluva lot more interesting.” Duke
sat in the chair across from Chance and relaxed back into the
cushions with an exaggerated sigh. “Anyway, I’m good at givin’
advice.”
    Chance eyed him in irritation. “Are
you married?”
    “ No.”
    “ Case closed.”
    Although their bantering was always in
good fun, Chance knew Duke realized what lines not to cross. Carly
happened to be one of those lines. Duke was a friend to Chance and
Carly, and he above everyone knew they went through the wringer
after Devon died.
    A friend knew when to shut the hell up
and listen. That’s what made Duke a great friend.
    “ Tell the men we won’t be
having the staff meetings here at the house any longer. It’s too
risky for Carly to be around them. I don’t want them to get wind of
what’s going on. Have any of them started asking questions?” Chance
kept his eyes fixated on something, but nothing, in the
distance.
    “ The men who’ve worked here
the longest know their limitations. The others, well, they know to
keep their mouth shut and do their work,” Duke answered.
    “ And, FYI, you’re not off
the hook, buddy.” Seeing his friend’s questioning glance, Chance
chuckled. “To Carly, this is four years ago and tell me, what were
you doing four years ago, if you can think back that
far?”
    “ I had broken up with
Lila.”
    Chance laughed and it felt good. It
eased his tension, a bit. Felt good not to be on the shit end of
the stick for once. “Good luck, pal.”
    They both remembered how angry Carly
was when Duke broke off the relationship with Lila. Carly
eventually forgave him, but four years later Lila still spit fire
at the mere mention of Duke’s name.
    After a long moment of silence, Chance
looked at his friend in curiosity. “Did you have something to tell
me? Is it regarding the pipes?”
    Duke anchored his boots at the ankles
and hooked his hat on the armchair. “Do you want the good news or
the bad news first?”
    “ I don’t care.” He rolled a
broad shoulder.
    “ Doc Bakerfield was here
and she examined the new mustang, Wildfire. She said he has
spasmodic colic.”
    “ Figures.” Chance shook his
head. “What does she suggest?”
    “ She administered an
anti-spasmodic drug. She said he should be fine after a few weeks
with special care.”
    Chance wasn’t sure why he bought the
stallion. He was wild and enjoyed being alone. He’d never be any
good for riding. He guessed he’d felt sentimental when the owner
told him they’d have to put him down if they couldn’t find him a
home.
    “ If that was the bad news,
what’s the good news?”
    “ Doc Bakerfield said she’ll
be back tomorrow. She headed up here to speak to you and I cut her
off halfway. That would have been an interesting scenario. Ex-wife,
now wife again, meets girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend.” Duke chuckled
at the humor of the circumstances. “She was pissed, talking about
how you haven’t returned any of her calls.”
    “ You call that good
news?”
    “ No, I guess I don’t have
any good news to share.”
    “ I have a feeling I’m not
going to be happy when you tell me the answer, but what did you
tell Leslie?” When one thing blew to hell, they all tended to. He
hadn’t spoken with Leslie in a week and she certainly didn’t know
Carly was back. It wasn’t