Free Another Chance by Michelle Beattie Page B

and overheated, until Jillian rode out of sight.
    ***
    For hours he stared at the ledgers, scratching out numbers and shuffling them around.  All he had to show for it was a crick in his neck, a thumping headache and acid twisting in his belly like a tornado ripping across the plains.  Nothing he did erased the fact that he remained deeply in debt and the dream of a horse ranch was as far away as ever.
    Goddammit.
    He slammed the books shut, pressed his fingers over his eyes.  It would take a miracle to turn the ranch around.  And miracles were in damn short supply around the Triple P.  The only thing he could be thankful for was the deal he'd made with Liam, who owned a spread not far from Wade's ranch.  In much the same predicament Wade was in, they'd agreed to trade bulls.  It would breathe new blood into each of their herds without the expense of buying a new bull.
    There was also Chancy, the yearling colt he and Scott were working on.  He was a smart horse, a fast learner and showed excellent potential to be a damn good cow pony.  They'd thought to keep him, add him to their small herd of working horses, but maybe they should sell him instead.  Since Scott had come to the Triple P he'd garnered a reputation as a solid horseman and more than a few men had come to him for advice for difficult horses.  If they put Chancy up for sale, let folks know Scott did most of the training…
    From the open window he heard the porch swing creak.  He dropped his hands.  He'd forgotten his ma had gone out after making him coffee.  He looked at the empty cup, wondered how long ago that had been.
    "Long enough," he muttered, coming to his feet.  He knew his ma and she wouldn't go to bed until he did.  And though she hadn't spent the last few hours stewing over the ledgers, he didn't doubt she worried about them as much as he did.
    The porch swing dipped with his weight as he settled next to her.
    "Make any progress?" she asked.
    "The numbers haven't changed."  There wasn't any point in lying to her since she was smart enough to see what surrounded her on a daily basis.  "But I do have a few ideas up my sleeve."
    Her hand found his, held on.  "Let James help, Wade.  He wants to."
    Before the words had fully left her lips he was shaking his head.  "Ma, I've already had this discussion with James.  I won't take his money.  He should be using it to build you a house, or saving it in case something happens to him the way it did Pa, not lending-" he hung his head, unable to say the rest.  He'd loved his pa, but the man had left them a mess.  Still, it somehow felt disrespectful to say it aloud.
    She squeezed his hand.  "I think we all learned your father's lesson.  If James is offering to help, he's doing it within his means."
    "I won't have you penniless, not again."
    "Much as I loved your father, he and James are very different men.  James saw what your father did, Wade.  He saw what it did, what it's still doing to us.  He's promised me he won't make that same mistake."
    Wade wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaned back in the swing.  With his heel, he set it in motion.  Frogs sang, the crickets played a soothing melody.  The moon hung plump and bright and the stars were out in droves.
    "Let him help you, Wade.  Even a little."
    "He already did when he helped me pay Jillian's bill.  I won't accept more than that.  You deserve to be taken care of, to not have to worry about money any more.  Tell James to build you a house if he's got some to spare.  I've tried telling him but he won't listen to me."
    "We don't need a house, Wade."
    Same argument, different person, Wade thought with a sigh.  "Ma, it don't feel right having you two live in his bunkhouse after the wedding."
    "What do I need a house for?  It'll just be me and James in it.  Besides, we'll still do our meals together here, same as always.  The bunkhouse suits us, Wade."
    "It's not very big."
    "What do we need big for?  We have a table