April's Angel

tell if she had wasted the past four years of her life chasing an impossible dream. This spring break could change everything, and she had to push the hot pangs of fear away once more.
Angie felt her arms bunch and stretch, bunch, and stretch as the familiar rhythm of moving her wheelchair brought her ever closer to her destination. Soon she would be rolling up the ramp to the wide wraparound porch that covered all four sides of the sprawling two-story structure and into the warmth of the richly appointed rustic kitchen.
“Mornin’ ma’am,” a male voice drawled and Angie turned toward a cowboy as he leapt over the wood rail fence to her right. “Can I help you?”
“No thank you,” Angie smiled taking in the man’s faded jeans, battered boots, and faded plaid shirt. “I’m just headed to the house.”
“I’d be happy to push you,” the man said. His blue eyes were soft, kind. “I work here, and I’d get an earful if cousin Chase found out I didn’t offer.”
“Chase Haven is your cousin?” Angie gaped. Everyone had talked and gossiped about the handsome cowboy and former rodeo star who had married the owner of the Broken J several years earlier when she had been there before.
“Guilty, as charged,” the cowboy teased, a bright smile breaking across his handsome face. “I signed on to work here with him for a while. I’m Jace by the way,” he added offering his hand.
Angie lifted her dusty gloved hand then thought better of it, but before she could retract her hand, the cowboy grasped it in both of his. “Angela,” she blushed.
“Doesn’t that mean Angel?” he grinned, “and I don’t mind a little dirt,” his blue eyes twinkled as he pressed her hand firmly between his. “Now how about I push you to the house?”
“No!” Angie said her voice harder than she had intended. “No, I mean, I want to do this myself.” She smiled her round cheeks flushing with heat.
Jace nodded. “Can I walk along with you then?” he asked. “I’m due for my second breakfast about now. I’ve been fixing fence since before the sun was up.”
“Suit yourself,” Angie agreed. She had been so focused on getting to the house she had been surprised by the cowboy. She would have to make sure that didn’t happen again. She didn’t need a man jumping in to do for her what she could do for herself. Still, it was always fun to check out the eye candy here on the Broken J, and the man with the short blonde hair and bright blue eyes was a prime example. She had spent weeks giggling and talking to her friends back home about the handsome and interesting cowboys from her visit so long ago. Angie did hope she was a little more mature now, but that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate a handsome cowboy with a lazy smile.

“Things have changed a bit around here,” Angie offered absently as she looked toward the cabins. Several tiny home-like structures had been added to the area around the larger homes that had been original to the ranch. According to the website and the history of the Broken J, the rental cabins had been the homes of the six daughters of the founder of the ranch in the mid-1800s.
“You’ve been here before?” Jace asked meandering along as they pretty woman continued to wheel over the gravel road.
“Several years ago,” Angie admitted. “My dad brought me for my birthday.”
Jace smiled lifting one eyebrow as he studied her curvy figure and little feet tucked into heavy laced boots. She couldn’t be much younger than he was. He grinned again as they passed under the high arched sign with the name and brand of the ranch displayed in large letters. The sign had been refurbished by the blacksmith on the ranch a few years ago and looked fresh yet rustic. The words BROKEN J picked out in fine wrought iron with a jagged arrow through the J.
“So what brought you back?” Jace asked adjusting the wire cutters in his back pocket.
Angie’s eyes flicked toward the big barn and the horses milling about in the large corral. An old windmill creaked lazily in the early morning breeze, and she swallowed hard. “There were several things I didn’t do when I was here before,” she finally spoke. “I’d like to get them off my to-do list.”
Jace followed her dark gaze toward the corral. He could hear the other wranglers finishing up barn work and the steady clop of hooves as horses were brought out of stalls to be saddled and prepared for the day’s first ride.
“Is Dandy still here,” Angie asked peering more closely at the corral. “I had a great time riding around in that pony cart with Michelle Ballard.”
“You rode with Michelle!” Jace’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Are you crazy?”
A bubble of laughter burst from Angie’s chest and she stared at the man next to her. “We had fun. It was thrilling. Besides, Michelle wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her unborn baby.”
Jace shook his head. “No one rides with Michelle,” he scratched under his hat a hint of his blonde hair peeping from under the brim. “To answer your question though, yes, Dandy is still here. Michelle takes her kids for a ride in that ancient cart quite often.”
“Kids?” Angie said then shook her head as his words fell into place. It had been over five years since she had been at the Broken J. Michelle had delivered her first child and surely had more by now. The Broken J hadn’t been frozen in time the way it had in her mind. “How many children do she and Kade have now?”
“Two just like Chase and Phil, and another on the way.”
“Philomena has children?” Angie rolled to a stop in front of the house as a young couple ambled out onto the wide wraparound porch.
“Two,” Jace confirmed holding up two fingers as he peered out from under his hat brim.