The Ranch (A Second Chance Romance)

“I guess hauling sandbags around is a pretty far cry from the glamorous life you’re used to back in L.A.,” I joked, hoping to at least get a smile out of her.

And it worked, even if that smile didn’t quite reach all the way up to her eyes like it normally would have. “I don’t mind getting my hands dirty,” she shrugged. “Besides, there isn’t much glamour involved in modeling—at least not until after the fact. It’s stressful and unpredictable and sometimes even impossible to live up to the standards that everyone expects. That’s why I want to focus more on my designing.”

Okay. Talking about fashion stuff was a little outside my wheelhouse, but at least we were talking. And if I could try to figure out how long she might be stuck in L.A. before she could move back here and do her design work, that would be even better.

“I guess most of those modeling jobs are still gonna be based out of Los Angeles, though, right?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as desperate as I actually was. “Or do they have some jobs like that closer to, say, Atlanta?”

She smirked. “I get what you’re asking, and I understand why. But most of the jobs that I need are still in L.A., unfortunately. I don’t see how that’s going to change anytime soon—not even for those cute puppy dog eyes you keep giving me.”

That wasn’t the answer I’d been hoping for, and apparently, it showed in my “puppy dog eyes.” Was that a compliment? Did women like men with puppy dog eyes? I wasn’t even sure.

But I sure would have kept on using them if it would have made even the slightest bit of difference.

“Okay, but you can do your designing work from closer to home—closer to here, I mean. Right?” I was grasping at straws, but what choice did I have?

Cooper threw the bag of sand he’d been carrying down to the ground. “Fuck, Nolan. Give it a rest, would you? She isn’t staying.”

Poppy sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes went as wide as saucers while I pinned Cooper with a hard stare.

Not that he was wrong. He wasn’t, and I knew that. I didn’t want him taking his shitty mood out on me, though.

Still, it was better than if he’d taken it out on Poppy.

“I’m just trying to get an idea of—” I started to say, but it didn’t matter. Cooper had already turned to walk toward his truck, leaving Poppy and me standing there silently.

“Dammit,” I muttered. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.” I looked over at Poppy and cursed myself again because she’d been close to tears for the past couple of minutes.

Fuck if I had any idea what to say to make any of it better, though.

Coop wasn’t mad at her, just like he wasn’t really mad at me. And if I had to be honest, the situation frustrated me as much as it did him. If throwing a fit would’ve helped, I would’ve been right there next to him, bitching and yelling and kicking up dust.

“I’d better go make sure he cools down,” I said to nobody in particular as I started off after him.

“Coop!” I called out after him. “Wait up, buddy.”

He was already twenty feet ahead of me and had almost made it to his truck by the time I started following. He didn’t even slow down when I called his name.

I wanted to go back and check on Poppy, but I was worried I’d see her crying and not have any solution to offer. And since I could only put out one fire at a time, I kept following Cooper. I’d deal with him first, and then we’d talk to Poppy again once the two of us were on the same page.

Once I’d caught up to him, he raised a hand without looking back at me. “I don’t want to hear it right now, Nolan. You can lecture me about acting like a dumbass later, but not right now.”

“I wasn’t going to lecture you at all,” I said truthfully. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder just as he made it to the door of the truck. “Hey, wait a minute. I’m trying to make sure you’re okay.”

When he finally turned to face me, I saw he wasn’t okay at all. Coop had always worn his heart on his sleeve, and that was true for all his emotions. This back and forth with Poppy tore him up inside, and it showed on his face and in his eyes.

“It’s gonna work out,” I said, squeezing his shoulder before letting my hand drop again. “In time it will.”

“How can you be certain?” He pinned me with a hard, searching look. “Because I thought we were all clear, but I ain’t so sure anymore. We want it to work. I’m pretty sure Poppy wants it to work. But... I’m not sure it can, Nolan. We might be past the point of fixing all the shit that has gone wrong between the three of us.”