Love Profound (Cowboys & Angels 2)

Mom entwined her arm with mine. “He’s proud of you, Trevor. The things you’re doing for the ranch do not go unnoticed.”

I smiled as my brother tipped his hat to our mother and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “We best get on the road if we want to get you there on time, Meli.”

Nodding, I faced Mom. “I’ll miss you.”

Her hand landed softly on the side of my face. Sweet, loving eyes stared into mine. “I’ll miss you, sweetheart. Tell Waylynn I miss her, and I can’t wait to see her again.”

My hand covered Mom’s. “I will. I’ll only be gone two weeks.”

She smiled and stepped to the side as I climbed up into Trevor’s truck. I rolled the window down and waved.

“Oh! If Steed asks, it wasn’t me who gave Chloe the idea of a horse for Christmas.”

Her grin faded, she closed her eyes, and shook her head while Trevor lost it laughing.

The two-hour drive to the San Antonio airport seemed to drag. Trevor was listening to some sports talk show on the radio, and I was about to pull my hair out from boredom.

“So, who is this Wade guy?” I asked.

Reaching over to turn the radio down, Trevor peered at me before looking straight ahead. “I already told you.”

“No, you told me you went to school with him and that he was coming to work at the ranch. What made you want to hire him? You have a degree in ranch management.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, well, his degree goes more into the science side of running a ranch. The land, food the cattle graze on, benefits of going organic. All of that.”

“Organic? Y’all are switching over to organic?”

With a shrug, he replied, “I don’t know. That’s where Wade will come into play. The guy is smart as all get out when it comes to cattle. Hell, not just cattle. He’s already working on a side gig with some girl in Fredericksburg who makes all natural products from goat’s milk. She’s looking to find someone to buy it from, and Wade’s thinking we might be able to sell her some of our goat milk for her products.”

“Wow. Wade sounds like a go-getter. Where has he been working?”

“His daddy’s place in Colorado.”

I turned to Trevor. “Colorado?”

“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”

With a silent chuckle, I shook my head, staring back out the front window. “Not surprised, tickled, I guess you could say. My latest book is based in Colorado. I was actually thinking of taking a trip up there.”

In my mind I pictured this Wade character as a skinny, nerdy cowboy who loved science, but not enough to give up his roots.

“Were y’all good friends in college?”

Trevor laughed. “Yeah. We were. He took me under his wing when I started partying a little too hard. He’s more of a book guy over a partying guy.”

Ding. Ding. Ding. Yep. Cowboy nerd.

“Well, maybe he can help me if I have any questions about Colorado.”

Trevor laughed. “Oh, trust me, he’ll help you with anything the moment he sees you.”

I was about to ask what he meant, but Trevor pulled up to the curb and put his truck in park. “Alright. Have a safe flight, little sis, and kiss Waylynn for me.”

I jumped out of his truck and waited for him to get my suitcase from the back seat. “I will, and be careful driving back home, okay?”

With a full-on smile, dimples to boot, Trevor wrapped me up in his arms. “I love you, Meli.”

I hugged him back. “I love you more, Trev.”

Standing on the curb, I watched as he drove off to kill time before Wade showed up.

I reached for my suitcase and headed into the airport where I checked in and made my way to the gate. As I sat waiting, I stared at the blank Word document in front of me. This was the worst case of writer’s block I’d ever had.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

What was wrong with me? I chuckled. I knew what was wrong. I needed to get laid. It had been far too long. Pretty much ever since Ryan, my ex. The one guy I opened my heart for only to have him stomp on it, the cheating, rotten bastard. I’d been with a couple of guys since, but nothing serious.

After staring at the screen for ten minutes, I packed up my laptop and began one of my all-time favorite activities. Well, other than watching to see if April had given birth yet.

I people watched.

Unfortunately, all the happy couples around left me snarling. Ugh. The one sitting across from me seriously needed to get a hotel room. Rolling my eyes, I looked away. I didn’t want to admit my heart ached to have a man look at me that way. I wrote about love, but it seemed I was destined to never find it.