He fixed Darci a cup of coffee, seated her in his leather chair and held her hand. When she didn’t respond, the panic began to creep through him. If only he’d stayed away. If only he’d looked for another way to save himself. Instead, he’d managed to drag her down with him. He could go back to the board, demand to be heard and expose Anita’s plans. But, it was doubtful they would listen, even more doubtful they would believe him.

Pushing the guilt aside, he tried to get through to her. “At least this means we won’t have to work this weekend.”

She didn’t respond.

“I hear the weather’s supposed to be perfect, so we’ll have to plan something special.”

She blinked, but still didn’t acknowledge him.

“Darci.”

Finally, she looked up at him. “I still can’t convince myself that they really did it. I thought we had a chance. We never did, did we? The decision was already made before we even got here.”

The wounded disbelief in her voice caused his hand to tremble as he smoothed a stray curl away from her face. “I think you might be right. But we’ve still got almost a year left of our agreement. We’ll just have to find another way to save the ranch.”

Did he dare consider staying with her for the agreed-upon year? Would fate find a way to tear her life apart even more if he hung around? Would he be able to resist her potent draw?

One corner of her mouth tipped into the beginnings of a smile. “This was my entire life, Cole. All my plans have centered around Blackmore’s for as long as I can remember. Now I have to start all over, and I don’t even know where to begin.” She sighed, her shoulders finally slumping with her defeat. “I have no source of income, very little savings and no job prospects. Know anyone who’ll hire an out-of-work company president?”

“I would if I could, honey. But defunct rodeo champions don’t have much better prospects.”

Knowing there was one thing that would take her mind off her troubles, he stood, tugging gently on her hand. He would share the light of his life, and hopefully manage to bring a smile to Darci’s eyes again. “So we’ll just forget about it all until next week. Come on, honey. I have a surprise for you.”

Hand in hand, they stepped into the hallway. They walked past the people congregated outside the boardroom, ignoring everyone. Together, they turned into her office so she could pick up her purse. Just as they stepped inside the plush room, the sun broke through the clouds, casting a glow on the furnishings. Cole couldn’t help hoping that for once this was a good sign, hoping that somehow, some way, he’d fix everything that had gone wrong.