Page 83 of Second Chance Saloon

Jackie trilled a laugh, passing Kit the water bottle. “I’m glad to hear he isn’t a hopeless case. Would be a shame, given the future we’re planning.”

Mitch’s heart grew ten sizes whenever she said something like that. They’d applied to mostly the same grad schools—or at least ones close by—and already talked about moving in together when he was in vet school, and she was in med school.

Kit tilted his head. “I thought you wanted to be a hotshot pediatric surgeon.”

Mitch got down from Diamond, pulled Jackie to him by the belt loops in her denim shorts and wrapped an arm around her, dropping a kiss on the side of her neck. “She wants to move to a ranch outside one of the big cities once she’s an attending.”

Jackie caught his hand on her waist and tilted her head up, her lips meeting his. “She does indeed,” she whispered against his lips. Cupping his cheek, she kissed him.

When they drew apart, Kit was watching them with amusement. “Don’t mind me.” He opened the water bottle and took a long sip. “If you’ve had enough for today, I’m going to go check on Ali.” He turned on his heel and walked toward the bunkhouse.

Jackie pressed her open palm above Mitch’s heart, taking off his hat with her other hand and putting it on her head. “Does it suit me?”

The hat covered her forehead, stopping on top of her ears.

Mitch smiled, pushing it back so he could look into her eyes. “Everything suits you, love.”

Jackie hummed, tilting her head and moving both of her hands up his chest. “You haven’t called me love before the summer, and now you do all the time. Why?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“On the contrary. I love it, love.” The sunlight brightened her blue eyes and set her grin on fire. She drew away from him, picking up the basket. “Come on, cowboy. We’re going to have a picnic by the lake.”

With Diamond tired after spending all day out in the sun, they hosed him down and got him back in the barn for some rest. When the weather was cooler, they rode to the lake, which was their spot, at the edge of the ranch’s boundary. Today wasn’t one of these days; the unforgiving sun burned bright in the sky.

Jackie threw Mitch the keys to one of two ATVs parked outside Quack Barn—the name still puzzled Mitch, given they kept cattle there, but he’d stopped questioning it the first summer he worked there, when no one was able to explain it and Mimi glared at him over her plate of meatloaf when he’d asked.

“We’ll take one of these.” Jackie passed him the basket and climbed on at the front.

“Won’t Dustin and Colt mind?”

Jackie shrugged; her hands were already clasping the handles. “I asked, they don’t need them at all today.”

Mitch strapped the basket to the toolbox at the back of the ATV. Then, he slid on the seat behind Jackie, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She sucked in a breath, and he put his chin on her shoulder.

“What’s the occasion for the picnic?” he asked.

Jackie started the engine. “I missed you the past few days. And it’s our last summer before graduation. I want to make some extra memories. Special ones.”

His teeth nipped the soft skin of her neck. “Every day with you is special.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Mitch from Portland, the sweetest talker in all of Texas. Who would’ve known that day you fell over your own suitcase.”

The ATV’s engine roared as they drove away from the ranch buildings, leaving them behind and driving through the fields, into the wooded area at the very back of the ranch that opened up to a small lake.

Jackie parked the ATV under one of the sycamore trees. She climbed down, looking around with wonder. “I love this place so much.”

Mitch smiled at the bald cypress where they’d carved their initials, with a small heart, the first time they had come here, over two years ago. He walked up to the tree and traced the letters with his thumb. “It feels like time doesn’t exist here.”

Jackie set the basket on the ground, opening it up to reveal a purple blanket and several Tupperware containers. “Sadly, we aren’t that lucky. But I got sandwiches, strawberries and peach iced tea.”

He chuckled, pushing himself off the tree trunk and helping her with the blanket. The shade provided by the thick trees was a welcome respite after the past few days spent working in the blinding sun during the cattle move.

Jackie put her hands under her head as she lay on her back. She stared at the sky peeking through the tree crowns with a dreamlike expression. “Did I tell you I once saw a pair of bald eagles here?”

Mitch lay down next to her, his elbow grazing her ribs. She swallowed at his touch, and he bit back a grin.