Switched Hearts: A Western Historical Romance Novel

by Ava Winters

  He immediately told Stefan his plans and they began to prepare the staff who would work with the horses during their absence. It wasn’t rare for Ian and Stefan to be gone for a few days since they both attended each horse race, but this time was different.

  Ian told Stefan that he wanted to spend at least a week in Albertson, if they were able to work things out with Luisa and Amanda. Stefan had agreed. He began to prepare for his trip to Albertson. He spent some time in the horse barn, making sure that everything was okay and that there wouldn’t be any problems while they were gone.

  He saddled his usual riding horse, Buster. He also arranged for Ian’s favorite mount, Pepper, to be saddled. He made sure each of the saddlebags was filled with jerky and enough water for the trip to Albertson. He also put his bundle of clothes he had packed into the saddlebag before tying them securely on each horse.

  Ian showed up at the time Stefan had expected. He wanted to ask Ian how his talk with his father went but knew he wouldn’t get his questions answered until they were on their way.

  They had been so busy over the last few days that he hadn’t been able to talk to Ian at all about personal matters. They left the ranch, urging their horses into a slow trot. But once they left the ranch boundaries, they slowed the horses down to a walk.

  It was a hot day and Stefan knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to push them, even though he was eager to get to Albertson.

  “How did your talk with your father go?” Stefan finally asked.

  “About as had expected,” Ian answered with a frown. “I’m glad that I talked to him though. He now knows where I stand. I love Luisa and I need to do something about it.”

  Stefan nodded, feeling the same way. He deeply regretted how he had treated Amanda, but he was also glad that he’d had some time to really think through things and figure out what he wanted his future to be.

  He wasn’t sure what Amanda would do when she saw him again, but he felt good that he was doing his best to make things right. She’d had the courage to confess what she had done. He needed to have the same courage and see if they had a future together.

  “I know that Father was beginning to like Luisa, even though he thought she was Amanda. Luisa was somehow able to get him to open up about Mother. They also talked about their interest in books. He even told Luisa one time that she reminded him of my mother.”

  “That’s interesting,” Stefan answered with a glance towards his friend.

  “I have to admit, I’m glad that they switched. I never would have given Amanda a chance if they hadn’t.”

  “I think that sometimes things happen for a reason,” Stefan responded. “Amanda was nothing like you had described her when you visited her ranch four years ago.”

  “She grew up, I guess,” Ian said. “But I still don’t think I would have fallen for her if they hadn’t switched places. Her personality is too strong for me.”

  “Her personality is just right for me,” Stefan admitted. “But I have to wonder, this was a pretty big lie. Can I trust her?”

  “I guess that is something that you’ll need to decide,” Ian answered. “Maybe once you spend some time with her on her ranch, you’ll be able to find that out.”

  “I guess,” Stefan said.

  “I have something else that I want to talk to you about,” Ian said. “I’m not sure that my father will ever accept Luisa as my wife.”

  “What are you going to do then?” Stefan asked, afraid of the answer. He wondered if Ian was thinking about leaving the Thunder Valley Ranch. But if he did that, Stefan didn’t know if he would want to stay there, especially if he did marry Amanda. He knew that Patrick wouldn’t treat Amanda very well because she’d married him, a man beneath her station. He wanted to protect her from that.

  “I have a large trust fund left to me from my maternal grandfather. It is enough to purchase some land of my own.”

  “What would you do with it?” Stefan asked. “Would you start your own Thoroughbred horse business?”

  “I wouldn’t want to race horses. I think there are enough Thoroughbred ranches in the country as it is. I don’t want to compete with my father. I’d like to focus on purchasing horses that are done racing, as I did with Gladiator.”

  “What would you use them for?”

  “It depends on their temperament. As you know, some of them have calm personalities and can be transitioned over to other work, like pulling carriages.”

  Stefan nodded. “Others are too high strung. What would you do with those?”

  “I’m hoping that with enough care, they’ll settle down. They could make riding mounts.”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Stefan said, warming to the subject. He began to think of all the possibilities for Ian if he had a ranch like he was talking about.

  “I’d like to offer you a position,” Ian said. “You would be my partner.”

  “Are you sure?” Stefan asked with surprise. “I do have some money I’ve saved over the past few years, but not enough that I could contribute much towards something this big.”

  “You have a gift with horses, Stefan. Look at the progress you made with Gladiator. To me, that is just as important as money. I figured I’d provide the finances. You’d provide the knowledge.”

  “I do have experience with training horses for pulling wagons and buggies and such. The family that I grew up with did that,” Stefan reminded Ian.

  Ian nodded. “I remember that you have experience in that. It’s one of the reasons why I think this type of ranch would be successful.”

  “Is all of this based on whether Amanda and Luisa agree to marry us?” Stefan asked.

  Ian shook his head. “I think that I want to do this regardless of what they decide.”

  Stefan was glad to hear that. They spent the rest of the trip making plans about their new business. The more they talked and planned, the more excited Stefan began to feel.

  He could tell that Ian had been thinking about this idea much longer than just for a few days. Ian even had a plot of land in mind. A rancher who lived near Wilbourne and raised cattle was thinking of selling out and moving west to California. Ian didn’t want to purchase the land without Stefan’s input.

  But from the way Ian described it, Stefan knew it would be perfect. There was already a house and two large barns on the property, and at least half of the land was fenced.

  “Are you concerned about what Mr. McAdams is going to do if we both leave Thunder Valley Ranch?” Stefan asked at one point.

  Ian glanced at him. “I’ve been a bit concerned about that, to be honest. I’m not trying to sound conceited, but most of the reason why the ranch is doing so well with horse racing is because of you and me. I have to admit that Father has a talent for finding good racing horses and is always able to get a good price for them. But you and I are the ones who actually work and train these horses.”

  “Does he know that you want to move one?” Stefan asked.

  Ian nodded. “I let him know that I’ve been thinking about it, although I didn’t go into detail about what I wanted to do.”

  The two men were silent for a while. Stefan could tell that they were finally getting near Albertson by the way farms and small houses were getting closer together, indicating that a town was nearby.

  “It’s going to take some time to get our business going. We can make sure that there are good men to replace us before we actually leave,” Ian finally responded. “Of course, Father will likely have an opinion about who to hire.”

  Stefan nodded. He liked Ian’s decision. While he was excited about this new opportunity, he really didn’t want to leave Mr. McAdams in the lurch. It would be a tough decision either way. He wondered how much longer he would be working for Mr. McAdams, once the older man found out that he had fallen in love with the woman Ian was to have married.

  Chapter 28

  “There are two riders coming toward us,” Amanda said.

  Luisa looked up from her sewing. They were sitt
ing in the shade of Amanda’s porch, enjoying the summer day while trying to get some things done. Luisa was mending a pair of her father’s pants and Amanda was writing in her journal.

  Luisa stood and shaded her eyes with her hand. Amanda did the same and her breath caught in her throat. She could have sworn that one of the riders looked exactly like Stefan.

  But why would he be coming to Whispering Horse Ranch? She looked again, but then she began to turn away, sure that she was just seeing things. The last thing she expected was for Stefan to come to Albertson.

  “It’s Ian!” Luisa said, with hope in her voice.

  Amanda looked again. As they rode closer, she was able to see that, sure enough, the two riders were Stefan and Ian.

  She wanted to also feel excitement like Luisa seemed to be doing, but she did her best to keep her feelings inside. She wasn’t sure what she felt as she watched Stefan, but her heart did skip a beat or two. He looked so good on the back of Buster.

  The men must have seen them because both horses began to gallop towards them.

  “I wonder what they are doing here,” Luisa said.

  Amanda didn’t say anything, but she was wondering the same thing. Had they come to talk to her father about her role in switching identities with Luisa? If so, she would do her best to make sure that she took all the blame. She hoped that they’d be surprised that her father already knew what had happened.

  Stefan stopped his horse in front of her. Ian did the same with his horse, but in front of Luisa.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” Ian said with a grin.

  “Hello,” Luisa answered softly, her face flushing at Ian’s intense gaze.

  Amanda didn’t reply, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off Stefan. He looked more handsome than she remembered. He pulled off his cowboy hat and ran a hand through his hair before he grinned at her. “Aren’t you going to invite us to stay?”

  “Did you come all the way from Thunder Valley Ranch?” Amanda asked. Maybe they’d had horse business in a nearby town and were just stopping by.

  “Yep,” Stefan nodded. “We’d appreciate something cold to drink.”

  “Of course,” Amanda said, her mind immediately kicking into the hospitality she had been taught. She heard footsteps coming towards them and turned to see Clay, one of their hired hands, who had left the horse barn, wondering who the visitors were. “Can you take care of their horses, Clay?”

  “Sure thing, Miss Amanda,” Clay answered with a nod.

  Stefan got off his horse and Ian did the same. They gave the reins to Clay and then turned to Amanda and Luisa, expectation in their eyes.

  “Come into the house then, and you can tell us why you are here,” Amanda invited them. She was glad that her voice was calm, although she was shaking inside.

  She turned on her heel and led the way into her house, Luisa at her side.

  She could feel Stefan’s eyes on the back of her head, and it was all she could do to not turn around and make eye contact with him. But she knew that if she did so, she’d launch herself into his arms. Her heart was beating so loudly, she wondered if the others could hear it.

  She knew that she should be happy to see Stefan, but instead she felt very confused. She began to open the screen door, but Ian stopped her.

  “We are quite dusty. Maybe we should wait on the porch here,” Ian said.

  Amanda looked at him before nodding and slipped inside, doing her best to not look at Stefan again. Luisa didn’t follow her. She took a deep breath and then went to find the housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson, and ask for some refreshments to be served.

  She joined the two men and Luisa on the porch. “What brings you two by?” Amanda asked after they had all sat down on the wooden benches. She decided to act as if they had come for a short afternoon visit. Wilbourne was far enough away that they would need to leave soon if they wanted to make it back to the Thunder Valley Ranch before dark.

  “We would like to talk with both of your fathers,” Ian announced.

  Amanda looked at Stefan in shock before glancing at Luisa. Her friend was staring at Ian, equally surprised.

  “Why?” Amanda asked with suspicion.

  Stefan spoke up. “We’d like to talk to them before we tell you why we are here.”

  Luisa looked as confused as she felt. Mrs. Wilson stepped outside with a tray in her hands. She set it on a nearby table.

  “Thank you,” Amanda said to the housekeeper who smiled and then slipped back inside.

  Mrs. Wilson had provided four tall glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade with a variety of cookies on a plate. Amanda gave a glass to Stefan and Ian while Luisa took her own. “Help yourselves.” She waved a hand at the plate full of cookies.

  She watched as Stefan drank half the glass before picking up a cookie.

  “Why do you want to talk to our fathers?” Luisa asked.

  Stefan exchanged a glance with Ian. “We will tell you after we talk to them,” he said again.

  Amanda suddenly realized that she was trying hard not to feel anger towards Stefan.

  After the words he had said to her the last time they were together, she wondered if he thought he could just show up and pretend that everything was alright. How dare they both show up after what they did to them? She looked at Luisa, wondering if she was also feeling anger, but her friend seemed glad that Ian had shown up.

  She smiled shyly at Ian as he handed her a cookie from the plate. Amanda wanted to snort with disgust.

  She wanted to tell them that her father wasn’t available. She knew that he and Mr. Lopez were working with a horse that needed a lot of training that day, so she wouldn’t be just coming up with an excuse. She somehow knew that they were here to talk to them about their antics at the Thunder Valley Ranch.

  “Are they available?” Ian asked. “I’m sure that they are busy, but what we have to talk to them about won’t take very long.”

  “My father is working with a new horse he just purchased,” Amanda finally said. She might as well face the inevitable. They could talk to her father and Mr. Lopez and then be on their way within the hour.

  “My father is probably with Amanda’s father,” Luisa spoke up.

  Both men nodded. Things were silent between the four of them for a full five minutes while they drank their lemonade and ate cookies. Amanda was able to enjoy her lemonade but couldn’t make herself eat more than a few bites of a cookie.

  When they were finished with the refreshments, Amanda told them where they could find their fathers. She could feel Luisa’s gaze and she knew what she wondered why Amanda just didn’t take them to their fathers, but she wasn’t about to make their request easy for them.

  After the two men left, Amanda sat back in her chair. “I can’t believe that they just showed up like that.”

  “I know,” Luisa said. “I hope it means what I think it does.”

  “What do you think it means?” Amanda couldn’t help but ask sharply.

  “I think that they want to see if we can work things out with them.”

  Amanda looked at Luisa in confusion. Could she really be that naive?

  Luisa quickly added, “At least that’s what I hope Ian wants to do.”

  Amanda stared at Luisa. Was her friend really willing to give Ian another chance, after what had happened two weeks ago?