THE COWGIRL OUTSHOT EVERY MAN AT THE FALL CONTEST — THE COWBOY WATCHING FELL FOR HER ON THE SPOT
Chapter 2
The crowd surrounded Emma before she could even put the rifle away.
People shook her hand.
Men who had laughed when she registered now congratulated her.
Women pulled her into hugs.
Children asked her how she could shoot so accurately.
Emma answered everyone politely.
But she wasn’t smiling much.
She looked toward the ranch horse tied near the fence.
Then she noticed Cole standing several yards away.
He was still holding his rifle.
Jake approached him.
“You okay?”
Cole nodded.
“Fine.”
“You just lost.”
“I noticed.”
“And you’re smiling.”
Cole touched his face.
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
Jake stared at Emma.
“Oh.”
Cole looked at him.
“Oh what?”
“You’re in trouble.”
Cole laughed.
“Shut up.”
Jake shook his head.
“You’ve never looked at a woman like that.”
Cole glanced back toward Emma.
“Like what?”
“Like she just shot you.”
Cole smiled.
“Maybe she did.”
Emma was placing the contest medal inside her saddlebag when Cole approached.
“Congratulations.”
She turned.
“Thank you.”
“You were good.”
“Good?”
Cole smiled.
“Very good.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“That’s generous.”
“I don’t give compliments easily.”
“I noticed.”
Cole laughed.
“I suppose you knew you’d beat me.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“Then why enter?”
She looked at the medal.
“My father won this contest twice.”
Cole remembered.
Thomas Carter had been a legend with a rifle.
Emma continued.
“I promised him before he died that I’d enter one day.”
Cole’s expression softened.
“I’m sorry about your father.”
“Thank you.”
There was a brief silence.
“Did you learn from him?”
“Most of it.”
“Who taught you the rest?”
“My mother.”
Cole smiled.
“She shoots?”
Emma smiled faintly.
“Better than both of us.”
He laughed.
“Now I feel embarrassed.”
“You should.”
Cole looked at her.
She was teasing him.
For the first time, he saw something beneath her quiet exterior.
Warmth.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Emma hesitated.
“I’m not really—”
“A drink?”
“Interested.”
Cole nodded.
“Fair enough.”
He stepped away.
Emma watched him go.
She didn’t know why she felt disappointed.
Cole had never been the kind of man she trusted easily.
He was too confident.
Too charming.
Too comfortable in his own skin.
She had heard stories about him.
He had inherited the Tanner ranch from his grandfather.
He had turned it into one of the most successful cattle operations in the county.
People admired him.
Women liked him.
Men respected him.
But Emma had no interest in becoming another person impressed by his reputation.
She had more important things to worry about.
The Carter ranch was drowning in debt.
Her father’s death had left behind unpaid loans.
Two hundred head of cattle needed feeding.
The north fence was falling apart.
The irrigation system was failing.
And the bank had given her until spring to prove the ranch could survive.
She hadn’t told anyone.
Especially not Cole.
That evening, after the festival ended, Emma loaded her horse into the trailer.
The parking lot was nearly empty.
She was struggling with a stuck latch when another hand appeared.
“Let me.”
She turned.
Cole.
“I can do it.”
“I know.”
He pulled the latch.
It opened.
Emma looked at him.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
He stepped back.
She climbed into the truck.
Cole rested his hand on the door.
“Emma.”
“Yes?”
“If you ever need help…”
She smiled politely.
“I’ll manage.”
He nodded.
“I figured you’d say that.”
She started the engine.
Cole watched her drive away.
Jake appeared beside him.
“You’ve got it bad.”
Cole sighed.
“I know.”
“You barely know her.”
“I know.”
“She rejected your drink.”
“I know.”
“She probably doesn’t like you.”
Cole watched the truck disappear down the road.
“That’s okay.”
Jake frowned.
“Since when?”
Cole smiled.
“Since I met her.”
That night, Emma returned to the Carter ranch.
She found a letter waiting on the kitchen table.
It was from the bank.
The loan officer wanted to meet Monday morning.
Emma sat down.
She opened the envelope.
Her father’s ranch was worth millions.
But the debt was enormous.
If she couldn’t make the next payment, the bank could foreclose.
She looked toward the window.
Beyond the glass stood the old barn her father had built.
She whispered:
“I’m not losing it.”
What Emma didn’t know was that someone else had already decided the Carter ranch would be his.
And his plan had nothing to do with the bank.
