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over her car, at his mercy…
    “Daddy, do you think my new teacher’s gonna be nice?”
Cassidy asked, bouncing up and down in the back seat of Cole’s big truck.
    He eased into the crowded parking lot of the only elementary
school in town. All of the little boys and girls looked happy and excited as
they bounded through the doors, ready to take on the challenges ahead.
    “I’m sure she will be, honey.” He couldn’t very well tell
his seven-year-old daughter that he knew her new teacher intimately .
“You just be a good girl, like we talked about, and you and your teacher will
get along just fine.”
    “I can’t wait to see all my friends again.” She pouted. “I
just wish Stacey could be in my class this year.” Stacey was his daughter’s best
friend, and both little girls were devastated to learn they would have to
settle for seeing each other during recess and lunch breaks.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Cole said, climbing out of the
truck. He unfastened Cassidy’s seat belt and lifted her down, setting her on
the ground. “You girls will still see each other plenty.”
    She looked positively angelic with those soft blond curls
and big, blue eyes. He knew it wouldn’t be long before all the little boys were
beating a path to their door. Just the thought of losing his little girl made
his gut clench. She was the only person he’d ever loved more than himself, the
only person he would consider sacrificing his own happiness for.
    “Are you sure I look okay?” she asked, frowning as she
looked down at the soft pink jeans with matching pink sweater. She wrinkled her
little nose. “Maybe I should’ve worn the white sweater instead.”
    God help him. He was ill-equipped to deal with so many of
his daughter’s problems. He was grateful he had a mother to lean on, but he
knew Cassidy would start to yearn for the mother she’d lost before long.
Cassidy was only two when her mama died, so she didn’t remember much about her.
Cole didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse. He still kept a framed
photo of his wife by his daughter’s bedside to remind her that her mama was up
in Heaven, watching over her, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Ever since she
started school, she commented about her friends’ mothers, and he knew she
wished for a mama to call her own.
    “You look beautiful, baby.” He reached into the truck for
her brightly colored backpack and helped settle the straps on her shoulders.
Reaching for her hand, he asked, “You ready to do this, Princess?”
    She shrugged, looking a little scared and uncertain. “I
guess so.”
    His daughter was rarely apprehensive about trying new
things, but he suspected every kid experienced butterflies on the first day of
school. “You’ll be fine once you get settled. Come on, let’s go. We don’t want
to be late.”  
    Cassidy squeezed his hand as they walked toward the double
doors. With only a few hundred students, the school was small. Every time Cole
walked through the steel doors and saw the peeling paint, he thought he really
should talk to the principal about making a donation, but he never seemed to
get around to it.
    Real estate had been good to him. He started small,
investing when he was young, and by the time he turned thirty, he owned enough
properties to ensure he never had to work another day in his life unless he
chose to. Then he got the call from his mama. She needed him to help her run
the ranch, or she would be forced to sell it. Since she didn’t want to consider
that option, Cole did the only thing he could: he packed up his daughter and
committed to being a rancher in a small town.
    Most days, he enjoyed his new life, but days like this, when
his mistakes threatened to come back and bite him, he wished for the anonymity
that came with living in a big city. Back home, he could have a one-night stand
and never worry about seeing her again, unless he chose to. But things were
different in Brant County. Here, everyone knew