Austin's Patience (A Second Chance Romance Book 4) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Copyright 2017 © Gone Writing Publishing

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  Chapter One

  Alma

  I stared at the email longer than necessary. I had read it at least a dozen times. It would be simple for me to reply and remind the coordinator I was still on vacation and I didn’t want to take the job. It didn’t matter if I was the only one in the area.

  “Alma.”

  I jerked my head up and glanced at my date. “What?”

  “I asked if the food was okay. You’ve not touched it.”

  I looked down and saw he was correct. I wasn’t hungry anyway. Papa had been shoving food in my mouth since I got out of the car when I arrived at his house. He kept telling me how thin I was and needed to gain some weight.

  “Sorry but work is wanting me.”

  “Your father said you were on vacation.”

  I studied the man whose name I can’t really remember. He looked like the man Papa would pick. He was Mexican with deep tan skin, dark hair and eyes, with a thick accent and choppy English.

  “I am, but my job needs me.” I removed the cloth napkin from my lap and set it on the table. “This has been fun… um… well, thanks.” I quickly rushed away without another word.

  “Where are you going?” Papa stopped me as I reached the porch.

  I was certain he wanted my date to be at his house so he could eavesdrop the entire time. “I’m going to work. I’ll be home later.”

  He was upset with me. I shut the car door because once he was yelling at me in Spanish, I knew it was going to get worse. I drove away, not needing my GPS to get where I was going. I knew the ranch like the back of my hand. I grew up, fell in love, and left there in tears.

  It was where I wanted to call home.

  I punched in the code to open the gate. It was the same code as when I was a child. The gates opened, and I drove down the dirt and gravel driveway I had been on so many times before when I rode my bike, chased chickens that were out of the coop, and raced… him.

  As I got out of my car, in front of the main house, the porch light shone brightly and there he was, standing on the top step. It has been six years since we’ve been face to face. A lot has happened, but inside, I was still Alma Villanueva, sixteen and in love with Austin Chambers, twenty-three. We had a secret relationship for a whole year before…

  “Hello, Alma.” His red hair and matching beard shined under the light. He was just as tall and just as built as the man I fell in love with.

  “Hi,” I managed to say to him. “You requested me.” It wasn’t a question. My coordinator told me I was requested by the family.

  “I heard Jose tell some of the workers you were coming home this week.” He confessed. “I wanted the best for Dad.”

  “And you think I am?”

  “I know it.”

  Half of me wanted to run into the arms of the man I loved and the adult rational half of me remembered I have a job to do. “I’m sorry to hear about your father’s stroke. He was a good man.”

  “He still is.” He corrected me.

  “You’re right. Forgive me.”

  “He’s this way.” He held out his arm toward the front screen door.

  “Thank you.” I walked into the house.

  It still smelled of deep breach wood tobacco. Mr. Chambers always smoked a pipe while watching the evening news. It looked the same. The bright white walls with minimal pictures and wall hangings. The furniture was a bit more worn than I remembered but was still black leather.

  “I moved everything to the den. I didn’t want him to hurt himself around the stairs.” Austin explained as he headed down the hall.

  “His chart said he still has his speech, but his walking is what’s bringing him difficulties.”

  “Correct. His speech is slowed, but luckily everyone understands him. He doesn’t have any memory loss or anything like that. But walking, keep balance, and such is where we need you. It’s where I need you.”

  I need you.

  Those three words touched my soul many times when they came from his lips. It happened many times in our relationship.

  “I’ll go in alone. Thanks.” I told Austin.

  “I will be in the kitchen then.” He should leave me now, but instead, he stared at me. “It’s good to have you home.”

  I nodded. “I’ll say goodbye before I leave.” I walked around him and into the den.

  Years ago, there was a large screen TV, VCR, and an old Nintendo game system Austin and I would play on rainy days. Now, it was a larger, thinner TV, not a VCR in sight and not one gaming system either.

  “Well as I live and breathe.”

  I turned to see a large hospital bed tucked in the corner with Mr. Chambers laying on it. He appeared the same. He had been bald and gray as far back as I could remember. He was always husky, with a small round belly. All of which was the same still.

  “The beautiful Alma has come home.”

  Mr. Chambers was a good man. He was probably the only one who supported Austin and me being together. My father has been his head ranch man since I was a baby. Mr. Chambers was the best boss, which was why Papa still worked for him. He was paid well and given benefits, which many ranch hands and workers never received. Mr. Chambers even paid for my tuition to a private high school two towns over and my college tuition too. Even considering everything that happened, he still took care of us.

  “I’ve missed your smile, Alma. This ranch needs a bright, real smile every day.”

  I giggled. “Still the charmer.” I walked over and sat on the side of his bed.

  “Can’t blame a man who misses his little girl.” He always treated me like a daughter.

  “I missed you as well.”

  “Are you home for Austin?” There was hope in his eyes, but it faded when I shook my head.

  “No. I’m here for you. You need to get well and keep
this ranch in shape.”

  “He loves you.”

  I pushed my tears away. “My focus is on you and getting you up and walking.”

  He took my hands in his. “I would only want you to help me with this small challenge.”

  “It’s a minute challenge.” I gave him the brightest smile. “Now, what have you done so far?”

  Mr. Chambers went on to tell me about the rehabilitation hospital he was at but didn’t like being away from the ranch. He wanted to come home and get well. He knew being here would be better than anywhere else. He has a nurse who helps in the daytime but no therapist.

  That was where I came in. It was my job. Being a traveling therapist wasn’t my original dream career, but when the position opened, I took it and fell in love with it. I traveled all over Texas and Oklahoma. It paid extremely well and kept me away from my never-ending nagging Papa, who wanted me to be married with a houseful of kids. I loved Papa more than anything, but his nagging was driving me up the wall.

  “I’m here now. I promise to stay until I think you’re well enough to get around on a walker.” I vowed.

  “I’m a stubborn man.”

  This time I laughed loudly. “Well, I’m just as hardheaded.”

  He squeezed my hand. “I will do whatever you tell me to and try my best not to argue. Too much.”

  “I promise the same.” I kissed his cheek. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

  “Alma.” He gave me a crooked smile since the right side of his face drooped. “It’s good to have you home.”

  “See you tomorrow.” I got up and walked out to the kitchen.

  Austin was sitting at the table with a cup in front of him. I knew it was coffee because it was all he practically drank. He was mesmerized by the liquid as I watched him for a moment. There was worry on his face. He and his father were closer than any son and father I’d ever seen. They always had been.

  “He’s the same.”

  He glanced up at me. “He missed you.”

  I nodded. “He told me. I’ll be back in the morning to start working with him.”

  “Alma.” He stood up quickly. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Um… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Two

  Austin

  I knew there was only one person who could make my dad well again. I’d done the best I could to help him walk again but between his pride and my gruff, not much had gotten done.

  Dad had a good deal of grump as well about the whole thing – that was until Alma walked in.

  There were other therapists, sure. Probably hundreds just in the immediate area.

  But there was something about Alma.

  I knew she would bring the sun with her.

  “Dad, do you need anything?” I popped my head into his room, enough to be able to see him but not enough for him to wrangle me into a conversation about her.

  His cologne hung in the air. He’d put on cologne for Alma. He’d even asked for a comb and his old hair oil. That morning, he’d asked me to change his sheets and vacuum.

  I did those things already, but he wanted it extra clean for Alma.

  He was a sucker for her. Maybe more than I was.

  Nope, not possible.

  “It’s funny that you think you can just stick your head in here and ask me a flippant question as if the love of your life didn’t just breeze through here like a breath of fresh air. Get your butt in here.”

  Thirty years old and still being told to get my butt in his room.

  “Yes, sir.”

  I stepped in but didn’t meet his eyes. Instead, I sat in the chair next to his bed and straightened pictures and a plant that was already straight.

  “Talk to me, Austin.”

  I took off my hat and balanced it on my knee. “Nothin’, Dad. She was here for all of ten minutes. It’s not like I fell in love with the girl all over again in that amount of time.”

  Dad started laughing but soon it turned into a full-blown chuckle. “If you think for one second that you can actually fall out of love with your first love, you’re kidding yourself.”

  That’s exactly what I had been trying to do for years – kid myself, even lie to myself –whatever it took to deny the fact that the one woman I loved in the world was the same one I couldn’t have.

  I came from the wrong side of the tracks.

  And according to her father, I wasn’t good enough for her.

  It took me weeks not to think about her every second. But one day I realized I’d only thought about her once an hour. A while later, I’d only thought about her when I laid down at night.

  One day I hadn’t thought about her at all.

  Her voice faded from my ears.

  I couldn’t remember her lips anymore.

  Her face was like a ghost. I knew the shape but the features were lost.

  “I have to be out of love with her, Dad. I can’t sit around here pining for her. She’s got a life. I’m sure. Probably a boyfriend, maybe a husband.”

  Of course, he chimed in. “Name’s the same. If she was married, her last name would be different.”

  I tried like hell not to roll my eyes. Last time I rolled my eyes, I was sixteen and ended up being pushed into a pile of horse manure.

  When my dad had enough, he really meant he’d had enough.

  “Dad, maybe it means she’s one of those modern women who doesn't change their names... or wear a wedding ring.” I sat up straighter, proud of myself for preempting his next argument.

  “So, you were looking for it, huh?” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “I noticed. That’s all. Anyway, I’m not paying her to start up an old flame. I’m paying her to make sure you walk again.”

  His face fell at the prospect. There wasn’t a big chance that he would walk again, but I knew that Alma would make it happen. My dad was a man who needed his independence just like I did. He never relied on anything – or anyone.

  He relied on himself.

  The only other time I’d seen him falter, other than the stroke, was when my mom died.

  I thought the world might’ve stumbled in turning that day.

  “Either way, that girl is welcome at my house any day.”

  “Dad, she’s a woman, not a girl.”

  “You noticed that too, didn’t you?”

  How could I not? She used to wear her hair so long that it touched the bottom of her cowboy boots. Her father had forbidden her to cut it. It was shorter now, only to her waist, but with different lengths cut throughout.

  Her dark eyes still cut through me.

  She was the same yet completely different.

  “Stop, Dad. I’m going to take care of the night chores and then cook you some supper. Any requests?”

  He patted his belly. The medicine and staying in bed had turned him a little chubbier and a little puffier around the face.

  “Shepherd’s Pie. You make it just like your mom did,” he said as I got up and crossed the room.

  “Sounds good. Call me if you need something. I love you, Dad.”

  “Me too, son. And Austin?”

  I stopped at the door. I knew I’d gotten off too easily. “Sir?”

  “Her eyes are just the same.”

  I allowed myself to smile at that one. “Just the same, Dad. I know.”

  Outside on the porch, I’d put my hat back on and whistled for Hewitt. It was his supper time too.

  I took the steps down to the yard two at a time and went to the barn. It would take Hewitt a half hour to get to the house. He was the fattest hound dog in the country. He used to chase the horses and run the fields from daylight until dusk but now he just chased mice in the barn and only when they got close enough.

  With the barn door now open, I whistled. I’d practiced that whistle for so many years to make it sound just like my dad’s. It wasn’t as loud, but they knew the sound well.

  Each horse came and waited for their
turn to get into their stables. I threw the locks and turned out the lights. After the horses, there wasn’t much else to do. I had the crops on a timed sprinkler. My dad thought the idea was lazy and ridiculous until he realized how much time it freed up for me and him.

  I’d made several improvements over the years that he thought were silly but turned out to be money and time savers, turning our ranch into not only a self-sustainable place but a place that generated income for us.

  Times had been tough and many of the farms around us had sold off most of their land and their cattle, but I’d made sure ours was run as efficiently as possible to weather any storm.

  I made my rounds, checking the chickens, pigs, and testing the gates that kept the cattle in, just to be sure. It had become my habit to check everything twice.

  Better safe than sorry.

  On my way back to the house, I heard Hewitt and his signature howl. He must’ve been hungry that night. He made it back to the porch before I did. He was another one that competed with me for our love of Alma.

  The dog would’ve left to run the pageant if she’d let him.

  Traitor.

  “Hey there, Hewitt. You didn’t come out to see Alma? Shame on you. No manners, I swear.”

  He barked at me once, probably telling me to hurry up with the chow.

  “Here.” I poured some food into his bowl and washed out the water dish, filling it again.

  I sat on the swing, knowing full well I should’ve been in the house making dinner but I needed a few more minutes to myself.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding since she’d come in. Alma had taken most of my heart with her when she left. We said we would be friends, but it became harder and harder to hear her voice over the phone until the sound seemed like a dream. Every once in a while, she’d sent postcards with shallow messages scribbled in a hurry on the back.

  They were pitiful next to the feel of her skin on mine.

  Phone calls were cheap when I’d held her all night in my arms.

  Nothing compared to Alma in my life.

  I had to forget about that once and for all. She was here for my dad and that was it.