by Ava Winters
When a racehorse lost its ability to win, it was immediately sold and another one took its place. Because of his father’s knowledge, Thunder Valley Ranch had some of the top Thoroughbreds in the country.
As they began to eat, Ian watched Miss Amanda as he continued to answer his father’s many questions. The moment Mr. McAdams began to drink from his glass, he looked at Miss Amanda.
“How has your day been, Miss Amanda?” he asked her, determined to move the direction from horse business.
Miss Amanda looked up just before she took a bite of salad, as if startled that she had been asked a question.
She set her fork down without eating the salad. “It’s has been fine, thank you for asking,” she answered, almost by rote.
“Did you enjoy the tour of the ranch this morning?”
“Of course she did,” Mr. McAdams blustered. “I asked her that very thing when I called her into my office. She even said that this ranch is much larger than her father’s.”
Ian’s eyes narrowed at his father, not liking how he had just subtly put Miss Amanda’s ranch down. He looked at her again. “I’m glad that you enjoyed the tour.”
Miss Amanda just smiled at him, but she also looked as if she didn’t know what to say next. Mr. McAdams took advantage of her silence by asking Ian another question to which he dutifully answered. He knew that he would need to come up with some way to include Miss Amanda more in their dinner conversations.
An hour later, Mr. McAdams finally got up, his way of indicating that dinner was now over. Ian stood up as well and waited while his father gave him last-minute instructions about what he should do that evening before he retired for the night. After he left, he heard Miss Amanda give a small sigh, as if in relief.
Her face flushed when he looked at her. “Shall we go into the parlor?”
Miss Amanda nodded, and Ian held her chair so that she could stand.
“Shall we?” he asked again.
Miss Amanda nodded again but didn’t take the arm that he extended to her. Instead, she waited for him to move ahead of her. Ian hesitated for a moment before mentally shrugging his shoulders, and led her from the dining room and into the nearby parlor. After they were inside, he waited while Miss Amanda walked around the room, looking at its furnishings and decor.
This room had been his mother’s favorite, and she had spent a lot of time here. She had loved the large window that overlooked the ranch.
It let in sunlight most of the day and she would sit in a large comfortable maroon chair with her sewing projects. A huge Chinese carpet covered most of the floor. Curtains that matched the maroon and dark blue furnishings hung by all the windows.
The fireplace had wood in it, ready to be lit if heat was needed in the parlor which was rarely.
Ian watched Miss Amanda make her way to a wooden china hutch which had glass doors. Inside were many small figurines and other knick-knacks that his mother had collected or acquired during her life. There had to be at least thirty of them on the various shelves of the hutch. Ian was aware that a maid dutifully dusted every one of them weekly.
When she finally made it around the entire room, Miss Amanda looked at him.
“This is a beautiful room,” she said.
“It was my mother’s favorite. She spent hours here,” Ian told her. He took her arm and led her to one of the sofas. “Why don’t you sit here?”
Miss Amanda nodded, and Ian waited until she sat down before he took a chair across from her.
“I don’t know much about your mother,” Miss Amanda said. “Tell me about her.”
“I don’t remember much about my mother. She died when I was about six years old. I do remember that she was happy and a joy to be around. I remember that Father was much happier when she was alive,” Ian reminisced a bit sadly. He had never been able to understand the drastic change his father had undergone after her death. It was almost as if he had decided that he wouldn’t let himself become close to anyone again, including his own son.
“I don’t remember much about my mother, either,” Miss Amanda said.
Ian was confused with her comment. “Didn’t your mother die when you were a baby?”
Miss Amanda looked confused for a moment and then acted very flustered. “Of course. Yes, she died when I was a baby. That’s why I don’t remember her. My father talks about her a lot so sometimes it seems like I … knew her.”
Ian nodded, understanding what she was saying. He was sure that it was difficult for a young woman such as Miss Amanda to grow up motherless.
“I’m sorry that my father felt that he needed to separate you from your companion, Luisa,” Ian said, deciding he needed to bring up this subject.
Miss Amanda shrugged. “It’s alright. I assume that you had nothing to do with his decision. And I doubt that you can do anything to change his mind.”
“Will you be alright if Luisa isn’t with you as much?” Ian asked. If she did indicate that it would be difficult for her, he was prepared to insist that his father change his mind. He found himself relieved when she smiled at him.
“Yes, of course. I’ll be fine,” Miss Amanda replied.
He suddenly had a thought. Since his father was the one who was keeping Miss Amanda from Luisa during the day, Ian decided that it was up to him to entertain Miss Amanda.
He would rearrange his schedule so that he could spend time with her to make up for his father’s demands. He was sure that she would be very bored if she had to spend all day alone. He also realized that he did want to get to know her better.
And wasn’t that the entire reason why his father had brought Miss Amanda to the ranch in the first place? So that they could get to know each other and see if they were compatible for marriage?
“There is a part of the ranch that I didn’t show you this morning. It was the area that my mother loved. Would you like me to show it to you tomorrow after breakfast?”
Miss Amanda smiled at him. “I would like that very much.”
***
Later that night, Amanda lay in the large bed listening to the soft snores of Luisa. She felt a bit bad that Luisa had had to listen to Mr. McAdams yell at her.
She wouldn’t have been able to handle that. She was developing an intense dislike for the man, even more than she’d had before they arrived. She was actually glad that she wouldn’t have to share meals with him.
She couldn’t believe how boring each meal was, especially dinner. Mr. McAdams continually talked to Ian about ranch and horse business, totally ignoring the fact that she and Luisa had been at the table as his guests.
She had picked up that Ian would sometimes try to direct the conversation towards Luisa, acting as Amanda, but Mr. McAdams only allowed it for a few minutes before he would interrupt and start talking about something else.
Even Amanda’s own father didn’t do that. He kept the dinner hour as a time to talk about things that pertained to himself and his daughter. He hardly ever brought business to the table.
Even when they had visitors that were there because of horseracing or interested in purchasing one of his Thoroughbreds, he would keep the conversation so that everyone who joined them could be included. He only talked about business with his visitors after dessert had been served, and the women had been dismissed.
When Amanda had gone to the servants’ kitchen for dinner that evening, she was disappointed to see that Stefan wasn’t there.
The other servants were nice enough to her, but she ate her dinner slowly, hoping that Stefan would eventually show up.
She finally found out by listening to the conversation of two servants who had also been eating, that Stefan had asked for his meal to be brought out to him because he was working with one of the horses and didn’t want to disturb the training he was doing.
From what she could tell from the conversation, Stefan made this request often, and her heart dropped at the thought that she wouldn’t see him as much as she had expected to.
She had bee
n hoping to see him at meals, at the very least. Then she could follow him after he finished eating. Maybe he’d invite her to walk with him back to the stables or allow her to watch as he worked with the horses.
She had been honest with Luisa. She wasn’t at all disappointed that she wouldn’t be eating with her or spending much of the day with her.
There was something intriguing about Stefan and she did want to get to know him better. She would just have to come up with a new plan. The Thunder Valley Ranch was huge, and she knew that she could walk around all day long and not find him.
She would need to figure out different places where she could hang out and wait for him. Then maybe she could get him to talk to her.
She turned on her side and gave a soft moan when she rolled onto her right hand. The bite that Gladiator had given her was starting to really hurt.
She remembered the warning Stefan had given her, but she thought that the horse would be calm enough to at least touch. She had laid her hand on the side of his face, and he had turned his head so quickly and bit her, she hadn’t even seen it happening.
Stefan had gotten upset, but he had also been very gentle with her as he cleaned the bite and wrapped her hand with the cloth bandage. She could also admit to herself that she should have listened to Stefan.
What made her think that she knew the horse more than Stefan did? Just because she could approach any horse on her own ranch with love and affection didn’t mean she could do it on this ranch.
The next morning, Amanda made sure that she was on time for breakfast, but she didn’t see Stefan there either. She wasn’t sure what she should do with her time, so she decided that she would find him even if it took all day for her to do so.
When she went back to her room, Luisa had already left for the day. She quickly put on one of Luisa’s dresses and then left the house. She stood on the porch for a moment, trying to decide which direction she should go to find Stefan. She finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt to start in the horse barn.
As she walked, she thought that she could see two people walking through part of the ranch that Ian hadn’t shown them the day before.
She squinted her eyes and thought that she recognized Luisa in one of her day dresses. And was that Ian with her? They were far enough away from her that she couldn’t see them clearly. Shrugging her shoulders, she made her way to the horse barn.
A groom that she had met the day before greeted her with a smile. She smiled back with the usual greeting she gave any man who noticed her and then continued her search for Stefan. But he wasn’t anywhere to be found.
She went to Gladiator’s stall and noticed that the horse wasn’t there. She assumed that he had been put in a paddock or field for the day.
“Maybe Stefan is out in one of the paddocks with a horse,” she murmured. But as she continued to look for him, he was nowhere to be found.
This ritual continued over the next few days. Stefan didn’t show up for meals, although she found out later that he was coming in to eat at different times than when meals were to be served. She sometimes asked the grooms or the trainers if they had seen Stefan, but they either hadn’t or would say that she had just missed him.
She was starting to get the idea that he was aware that she was looking for him and was avoiding her. That thought actually hurt her. She had never had a man actively avoid her before and she felt confused as to how to handle it.
She did spend some of her time with Gladiator when he was in his stall, but she didn’t try to touch him again. She now had a large bruise on her wrist as a reminder that he wasn’t as friendly as he looked. But as she talked to him, he seemed to enjoy her verbal attention.
Amanda didn’t see Luisa much over the next few days either. She didn’t mind though.
It was nice to be able to go wherever she wished on the Thunder Valley Ranch and not have anyone care that she was around. She made sure she only went to places where she knew she would be welcomed.
She wondered how Luisa was doing and how she was discouraging Ian, but she decided that eventually they would catch up to each other, and she would be able to hear what her friend had been doing with her time.
Chapter 13
Luisa eagerly waited for Ian to meet her on the long porch. He hadn’t joined her for breakfast, but a maid had informed her that he would meet her in this exact spot at precisely ten o’clock.
She heard some footsteps coming from the side of the house and turned in that direction. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Ian striding towards her. He had to be the most attractive man she had ever seen. She could see that his brown hair had been carefully styled under his black cowboy hat.
His hazel eyes twinkled at her.
“Are you ready for the next stage of the tour of Thunder Valley Ranch, Miss Amanda?”
“Yes,” Luisa found herself answering a bit breathlessly. She walked down the porch stairs and waited until he reached her side.
“Let’s go this in this direction,” Ian said as he pointed away from the horse barns.
“What are you going to show me today?” Luisa asked curiously. She had been expecting him to take to another horse barn or maybe the field where the mares and foals spent their summer days.
“I want to show you another place that was my mother’s favorite,” Ian replied.
They walked slowly side by side, mostly in silence. Ian helped her walk around a small puddle of water on the dirt path. She noticed that this particular path had been cared for extensively.
There weren’t any plants or rocks where they were walking, making her realize that someone had made sure to remove them. Small rocks, about the size of her fist, lined the path. The path wasn’t straight but meandered left and then right, then left again. A few trees had been planted along it.
Ian and Luisa walked up a small hill and when they reached the top, Luisa couldn’t help but gasp in delight.
What was below her was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. It almost looked like the Garden of Eden had been plopped down in the middle of the desert of Texas.
The first thing she saw was a small stream that gurgled throughout the garden. Many types of cacti had been planted in strategic places, with other plants scattered around them. There were also flowering bushes and other large plants.
Luisa recognized some of them: Texas sage with its lavender flowers, and the sweet-smelling red yucca. There was one shrub that she didn’t recognize. It had small gray leaves and yellow flowers, but it made a nice contrast against the other shrubs around it.
She was amazed by how much color there was in such a small area.
“This garden was your mother’s?” Luisa asked with delight.
“Yes. Mother was from the East and missed the green of that area. She knew that she couldn’t transplant the plants that she had grown to love, or expect the seeds to grow, but she decided to do the next best thing. She learned to love the beauty of the desert. She spent many hours riding around these hills and transplanted every plant that she could and then cultivated this entire area.”
“Wow, that seems like a lot of work,” Luisa said.
“Well, she did have help. Father allowed her to hire two men, gardeners who helped her make this … oasis.”
“It’s beautiful,” Luisa said. “I find it interesting that she didn’t create this closer to the ranch house.”
“She wanted a place to go to that was away from the house,” Ian answered. “Come on, would you like to walk through the garden?”