The Trouble With Cowgirls. Amanda Renee

a small voice called out from behind them.

      “Carina!” Lucy perked up at the sight of the child, who was accompanied by Ella.

      Lucy has a daughter?

      “Did you come to see where I work?”

      Carina nodded and quickly walked past her mother to the stalls. “Sono molto belli!”

      “In English, Carina,” Lucy corrected.

      “They are very beautiful.” The girl’s thick accent was reminiscent of the one Lucy had had when they first met.

      “Come here, mia gattina. I want you to meet someone.” Lucy waved the girl over. “Lane, I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Carina.”

      “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lane shook her hand. His mind raced as he attempted to determine the girl’s age. Finally, he asked, “How old are you?”

      “Almost nine,” she answered.

      Lane swallowed hard, quickly doing the math in his head. He blew out a breath, relieved she couldn’t possibly be his. When he looked up at Lucy, she shook her head and quickly looked away as if she’d read his mind.

      “I’m going to show Carina around,” Ella interrupted. “Then we’ll head over to Aunt Kay’s house.”

      Lucy gave her daughter a quick kiss goodbye. “Thank you, Ella.” A silent look of concern briefly passed between the two women.

      He waited until Carina was out of earshot before he attempted to explain. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

      “Yes, you did.” Lucy brushed past him. “Your poker game must really suck with tells like those. You and I are in the past. Things happened, and we’ve both moved on, so let’s not make a scene.”

      Things. Lane had thought they were more than a thing back then. “No problem.” Lucy continued up the stairs as Lane watched Ella and Carina exit the stables. He felt like a damned fool. It had been bad enough finding out she’d married someone else. It was entirely different to know that while he’d been planning their future in Wyoming, Lucy had been carrying another man’s baby. All the scenarios he’d imagined as to why he’d never heard from her again had always been forgivable. This wasn’t.

Chapter Two

      By lunchtime Lucy couldn’t get out of work fast enough. Her first day wasn’t exactly going as planned. The safety of her car provided little shelter against the torrent of emotions rocketing through her veins. Why hadn’t Nicolino forewarned her about Lane?

      When she was a teenager, she couldn’t wait for the school year to end. Summers had meant seeing Lane again. From the moment her plane landed, they’d been inseparable whenever he wasn’t working. By the end of their final summer together, he’d accepted a better job in Wyoming and they’d begun making plans to live there once Lucy had graduated from higher secondary school the following year. Their plans had been short-lived. Once Lucy arrived home in Italy, she’d discovered she was two months pregnant. Obviously she had been wrong in assuming Lane had stayed in Wyoming, but Nicolino should have mentioned it in conversation at some point.

      She lowered the window in a desperate attempt to pull more air into her lungs. Tears clouded her vision at the memories of what could have been. Her fingers lightly brushed along the side of her rib cage. Underneath her shirt, inked into her skin for eternity was one word: Lane.

      “I don’t have time for this.” Lucy started the ignition. Everything she did, despite Carina’s protests, was for her daughter. There wasn’t room for the past. Any efforts to push Lane to the back of her mind would probably prove futile, but for sanity’s sake, she had to try. She had less than fifteen minutes to make her appointment to register Carina for school. Ella had offered to drive, but the school was close enough to find on her own. Besides, she was desperate for some much-needed alone time, however brief.

      Carina had been out of school for only a little over a week, which was good considering their transcontinental move. The Texas school year had begun a week earlier, so Carina wouldn’t be too far behind. Lucy pulled into the parking lot with seconds to spare. She was the school’s first impression of her daughter and she didn’t want to ruin it. Within an hour, she was on her way back to work. Overall, the enrollment had been painless enough because she’d emailed most of the paperwork before they’d left Italy.

      The school’s biggest concern was Carina’s ability to speak English, despite Lucy’s reassurance that her daughter was fluent in Italian, French and English. Now she wondered how well her daughter would do, given the way Carina had struggled to understand the language yesterday. Lucy had gone through the same learning curve during her first summer in America. But she’d only been vacationing and no one had expected her to understand perfectly. It would be different for Carina. Lucy couldn’t sit beside her in school to make sure she grasped everything the teachers said, let alone translate the other students’ slang on the playground. The additional change from private to public school had given her daughter one more reason not to talk to her. She’d heard other parents say the teenage years were the most unpleasant. If they were any worse than this, Lucy didn’t think she’d survive. Hopefully, she could prepare herself over the next four years.

      She pulled up beside Bridle Dance’s main house. Ella’s deceased uncle, Joe Langtry, had lovingly built the log mansion. Lucy had been heartbroken to hear of his passing four summers ago. He’d always gone out of his way to explain things to her, as had Lane. Lucy winced at how easily he came to mind and how much it still hurt to think about him. She needed to keep Lane out of her thoughts unless it was work related. She was his boss and anything else would be unprofessional, not that she wanted anything else to happen.

      Seeing Ella in the Langtrys’ side yard, Lucy stepped from the car.

      “How did it go?” Ella unlatched the gate and held it open.

      “Good. I’m a little concerned about the language issue, but I’m hopeful.” She waved to Carina on the far side of the garden, but her daughter was too preoccupied with a large black poodle to even notice she was there. “How has she been?”

      “Quiet.” Ella smiled. “The most I’ve heard her talk is to the horses and Barney over there—and that was in Italian.”

      Lucy shrugged. “I guess there’s no harm in it as long as she speaks English to other kids and her teachers. Are you sure you don’t mind taking her clothes shopping today? I can take her after work.”

      “It’s not a problem at all. My kids will take the bus home and keep themselves occupied until dinner.” Ella’s face brightened. “I’m looking forward to shopping with just one child for a change. It’ll bring back memories of when I used to take you shopping.”

      Lucy appreciated Ella’s offer to take Carina for school clothes. The local kids had picked on Lucy during her first summer in town and she didn’t want her daughter to suffer the same fate. Italian fashions and Texas casual weren’t exactly the same thing. Ella—who was fifteen years older than Lucy—had given her a Southern makeover back then and was bestowing the same kindness on Carina.

      Lucy removed a small envelope of cash from her bag and handed it to Ella. “It’s not much, but there should be enough in there for whatever she needs, within reason. I was thinking a few pieces to dress down what she already owns.” Lucy hated to admit it, but she was glad Ella was the one taking Carina shopping. Her daughter wasn’t as crabby with other people. “She won’t be happy about going to a discount clothing store, but a lesson in frugality will do her some good. Besides, she’s always hated wearing a school uniform, so this will give her the chance to play around and develop her own style.” Lucy checked her watch. “I’ve been gone too long. I need to get back to work.”

      “Yes, you do,” Nicolino said from behind her.

      Lucy spun to face him. She might have held it together inside the stables, but