April's Angel

giggle was wicked as she watched her husband’s face pale. He didn’t like big boats or big water or doing what he would consider nothing all day.
“It doesn’t seem possible that Megan will be three this year and Jonas will be a year old this fall.” The cowboy shook his head but grinned. He was more than content with his family and thanked God every day for them. He hadn’t expected, taking the job as head wrangler to change his life so radically, but he was happy it had.
“Now that we have Amber helping out with child care, I don’t feel so guilty either,” Phil admitted. “You were right. There was no reason for me not to get help, and as much as the whole crew here at the Broken J love and help with our tiny terrors, it is wonderful to have someone I can depend on and also know I can visit the children anytime I want to.”
“It’s a blessing,” Chase agreed. The sound of a hammer ringing out across the clear morning made him grin. “Sounds like Colten has got the smithy going already.” He leaned in stealing a lingering kiss. “That’s my cue to get movin’.” He leaned his head against Phil’s for a moment breathing in her essence, so he could carry it with him throughout the day. “See you at lunch?”
“It’s a date.” Phil laughed making Chase shake his head again as he finished his coffee and stepped off the porch of the old house. The place had been built by Phil’s great, great, great grandmother, and her husband Clayton Allen long ago, but the low structure with the wide porch was solid and perfect for their needs. Like everything else on the ranch, it had needed to be updated and remodeled, but Phil had kept that old west look.
The Broken J, as a whole, was her legacy, a ranch handed down by the James family over generations. It had landed in Phil’s hands as the last living member of the Allen family who could even begin to claim it. Now it was home. Phil’s heart swelled with love and remembrance. God had brought her to Wyoming to inherit a ranch, but she had been blessed with so much more. Thinking back to all she had learned over the years of research on the original cattleman’s daughters, she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
A cute little RAV 4 in neon blue puttered across the winding driveway toward the ranch and Phil smiled. Amber was here and it was time to get the day started.

Chapter 1
Angela Cortez pulled her van into the parking area of the ranch and sighed. It had been a very long drive from Orlando, and her restless night in a hotel in Tipton hadn’t seemed to wash away any of the weariness that settled on her shoulders like a lead weight.
The sun wasn’t even halfway over the horizon yet, but she hadn’t been able to wait to get to the Broken J Dude Ranch. She had dreamed about returning to this place ever since her father had brought her for a visit while she was still in high school. She had loved the place, the people, the horses, just everything about the experience.
Pressing the button on her door handle, she let her seat slide back then turn so that she could grasp the handles of her wheelchair and leverage her body toward the other seat. She was hoping that she would be able to have a long soak in a tub once she checked into her cabin and ease some of the chafing she knew she would have from such a long trek. Snapping the wheels of her chair into the locks on the lift, she pulled the lever that shifted the platform and slid the side door open.
The smell of fresh air, horse, and hay hit her in the face like a physical blow, and she gasped as old memories rolled over her in a wave. It was good to be back. She only hoped that the trip would prove worth it. As a college senior, Angie had so many things she needed to work through before she rolled across that stage at graduation. She needed to know that her studies had been worth it and that she would be up to the task she had dreamed of for so long.
A cold burn hit her stomach as an all too familiar wave of anxiety washed over her leaving her unable to disengage from the now lowered platform. Closing her eyes Angela took in a deep breath of the fresh cool air focusing on the sound of birds in the trees on the far side of the cabins. Slowly the tight feeling in her chest receded, and she unclipped her wheels rolling smoothly onto the gravel drive. A few clicks of her keys later and the van was secure. For check-in, she only needed her purse and credit cards. She would send someone for her bags later once she was settled.
Angie grinned despite the fear that had gripped her earlier. Perhaps Kade Ballard, the strapping cowboy she had met before, would fetch them for her. If she could find Michelle, the big man’s petite wife, she was sure Michelle would ask him for her, and her bags would be taken care of.
Pulling a pair of fingerless leather gloves from her bag, Angie tugged them into place then lowered her hands to the wheel handles of her chair. Taking a deep breath, the dark-haired young woman fixed her eyes on the big gray ranch house nearly a quarter-mile away and pushed off. Angie was determined to make it to the house on her power. It was the first task in the long line she had set for this journey. She needed to prove that she could do what she had her heart set on even with her handicap. Only time would tell if she could do it. Only time would