by Ava Winters
“I’m hoping that Mr. McAdams changed his mind and is allowing Ian to court me,” Luisa continued.
“Why?” Amanda asked.
“What do you mean?” Luisa looked confused at Amanda’s demanding question.
“Luisa, he didn’t stand up for you, remember?” Amanda still couldn’t let herself think about the harsh words Mr. McAdams had said to Luisa.
“I know, but maybe …” Luisa sighed, not finishing her sentence. “You weren’t around Ian much, Amanda. But he was very different than what you described. We were able to spend a lot of time together. I think Mr. McAdams enjoys putting people in their place. He likes to use his money and station to get what he wants. But Ian isn’t like that.” Luisa looked at Amanda as she set her empty glass down on the table. “He changed, just like you did. I think something happened that day, something that neither of us really understands.”
“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” Amanda said.
“I’ll do my best to not get hurt again. But I would like to know why he is here. And you have to admit, everything that happened in Mr. McAdams’ office happened because of our decision to switch places. We caused most of the problems. I am hoping that Ian is willing to let me make things right.”
“You don’t think that they are here to make sure our fathers are aware of what happened?”
Luisa shook her head. “No. I’m sure Ian knows his father sent that nasty letter. I really don’t think that is why they are here.”
“I hope that you’re right,” Amanda finally said.
“What do we do now?” Luisa asked.
“I guess we wait to see if they are able to talk to our fathers,” Amanda responded.
She still couldn’t understand why they wanted to talk to their fathers before they even talked to them. Luisa might be right, that they weren’t here to make sure that their fathers were aware of what happened., Yet she couldn’t think of another reason why they would talk to talk to their fathers before telling her and Luisa why they were even at Whispering Horse Ranch.
Her father had been treating her differently since she had returned from Wilbourne. She knew that he deeply regretted his role in trying to push her into a marriage that she didn’t want.
“I just want to see my girl happy,” he had said the evening before.
He supported her new desire of helping out at the orphanage. He also seemed pleased that she didn’t spend every Saturday evening at the dances Albertson provided. He had stopped bringing up the subject that she should start thinking about settling down.
They waited on the porch for quite a while before Luisa began to pace on the smooth wooden planks in agitation. Amanda almost wished that she could join her.
She felt like they were waiting for an eternity for Stefan and Ian to return. She wished that she could be a fly on the wall and hear what the men were talking about. She really didn’t think that Stefan had shown up to suggest that they give their friendship another chance.
What man wanted a woman who wasn’t honest with him?
She could easily see Ian forgiving Luisa for her role in the scheme. After all, it hadn’t even been her idea to begin with. She was aware that Luisa tended to do whatever she suggested, although that seemed to be stopping now that they had returned.
She thought of the time she had spent at the orphanage the day before. It had been her second day, and she had enjoyed it as much as the first. Little Hyrum had seemed to be adjusting, although he still wasn’t talking. Mrs. Reynolds had told her that he was eating better.
Amanda had again tried to get Luisa to come with her to the orphanage, but again her friend refused. She had been tempted to push her friend into going with her, but then had realized something. She needed to be okay with Luisa having her own life. They could still be good friends, even if they had different interests.
Luisa gave a huge sigh that showed her frustration. “I think I’m going to …” she started to say when they noticed that Stefan and Ian had left the barn and were walking towards them, their fathers following.
Again Amanda exchanged looks with Luisa. She suddenly wanted desperately to know what they had talked about, even though she still felt angry towards Stefan. Luisa looked at Ian as they walked towards them, not taking her eyes off him once.
Stefan grinned at Amanda before tipping his hat, and settled down in a chair on the porch. He was acting very confident, and Amanda wondered why. Ian joined him.
“Amanda, I’d like to talk with you for a moment,” her father informed her. Amanda nodded and followed him into her house. She glanced back just before the screen door shut and could see Luisa also following Mr. Lopez away from the porch.
“What’s going on, Father?” Amanda asked. “What did Stefan want to talk to you about?”
“Sit down, Amanda.” Mr. Wright waved a hand towards a chair in the parlor. Amanda wanted to refuse. She had been sitting too long as she waited to find out what Stefan was talking to her father about. But from the look on her father’s face, she knew that she would need to follow the request. She sat down and had to bite her tongue in order to not ask her father the same question again.
Mr. Wright took a chair across from her. “I just had quite an interesting talk with Stefan. He seemed like a fine young man.”
Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “What did he say?”
“I’m going to let him tell you that. I’m just going to tell you that I have agreed with what he wanted to talk with me about.”
She stared at her father for a moment, feeling very confused. “I have no idea what to say.”
“Sometimes it’s okay to not know everything that is going on around you, Amanda, and trust the people who care about you.”
That comment made no sense to Amanda and she wanted to let out a harsh groan. She refrained herself though, knowing that her father would expect her to act like a lady.
“I have invited Stefan to stay in the west wing for as long as he wants. Ian will also be staying with us.” Mr. Wright stood up and brushed his hands together before bending to give her a kiss on her cheek. He then started to walk out of the parlor.
Amanda looked at him in shock. Was he really going to leave? “Wait, Father …”
He turned and looked at her, his eyes twinkling. “You’ll know what is going on soon enough, my dear. Whatever happens next is up to you.”
What those confusing words, her father left the parlor. She could hear the screen door slam behind him. She stood up and watched as her father walked quickly back to the horse barn.
She parted the lacy curtains and noticed that Luisa was still talking to her own father some distance away from the house. Mr. Lopez put an arm around Luisa and pulled her close. Amanda couldn’t tell if Luisa was smiling or not.
Stefan and Ian were still on the porch. Stefan had moved his leg up over his other one and was leaning back in his chair, enjoying another cookie.
Ian didn’t look as relaxed, his eyes locked on Luisa and her father. Just then Stefan turned around, as if he sensed that Amanda was watching him from the window of the parlor, and looked straight at her. She quickly dropped the curtains, but not before seeing a grin spread across his face.
She stepped back and sighed. She had no idea what was going on. Why would her father allow Stefan to stay, after what had happened between them? She’d thought that her father would tell Stefan to leave immediately.
She quickly thought over the short but confusing conversation she’d just had with her father, trying to remember exactly what was said. She sighed again and then straightened her shoulders with sudden resolve. She knew that if she wanted any answers, she would need to talk to Stefan. She would find out what he wanted and then decide what to do next.
As she stepped outside, she saw Luisa give her father a quick hug and then walk back towards them. She wished that she could pull Luisa aside and find out what her father had told her.
Maybe it would give her a hint of what Stefan wanted. She could tell that Lui
sa wasn’t going to want to talk to her though, as she walked quickly towards Ian and smiled shyly at him.
Ian jumped to his feet and held out his hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Luisa nodded. “I have something to show you.”
Amanda watched as they walked off. She knew that Luisa was going to show Ian her new garden. After they disappeared behind her house, she turned her attention reluctantly to Stefan.
“Why are you here?” she asked again.
“I want to talk to you. Would you like to sit or should we go for a walk?” Stefan asked.
Amanda took a step away from him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to him, but it was obvious that whatever he had said had made an impression on her father. She might as well find out what he had to say. “Let’s walk.”
Stefan allowed her to walk down the stairs before following her. Amanda began to move in the opposite direction Luisa and Ian had gone. She didn’t want to run into them.
“I want to apologize,” Stefan began.
“What?” Amanda asked. It was the last thing she had expected him to say.
“I shouldn’t have let you go,” Stefan continued. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things since you left. I can understand why you felt like you needed to switch places. While I wish that you had been upfront with me right from the beginning, even if you felt like you needed to keep your identity a secret from Mr. McAdams, I do understand why you didn’t.”
“If I had told you right from the beginning who I really was, would have you given me a chance?” she asked. “Would you have wanted to spend time with me?”
Stefan didn’t answer for a moment. “I have to admit that I probably wouldn’t. I really didn’t believe that someone of your station would even look at me twice.”
Amanda grew frustrated. “I have never liked how we as a society have divided ourselves into stations. I told you that when I first met you. Even though I was pretending to be Luisa, I meant what I said. Just because I was born where I was doesn’t mean that I can’t interact with people who have less than I do.” She looked at Stefan. “I’m not your old girlfriend.”
“You have to admit that I have quite a bit less money than you have access to. I’ll never be able to provide for you like your father has. I don’t have a family. Part of my childhood was spent in an orphanage.”
“You’ve had the life you have because of choices you made, not because of where you were born,” Amanda said. “I’ve had the same choices. I don’t know if you can imagine what it’s like to hear that your father is trying to marry you off to someone you don’t like, just to make his finances and his ranch better.”
“I’m sure it’s not a pleasant feeling.”
“It’s not. I felt like my father was trying to sell me off like one of his horses.” Amanda stopped walking. “All I could think about was to do whatever I could to get myself out of that situation.” She sighed. “I do realize that what I did was wrong, but I felt desperate.”
“And then when we started to get close, what did you think?”
“Luisa seemed very happy with Ian. She is a much better choice for him than I am. I didn’t want to ruin things for her before I had to. Besides, I also enjoyed getting to know you. I wasn’t pretending that part of it, Stefan.”
“I now know that you weren’t,” Stefan replied.
“What did you want to talk to my father about?”
“Ian came to me a few days ago and we decided that we wanted to come and visit and see where things might lead, between you and me, and between him and Luisa.”
“Mr. McAdams actually agreed to that?” Amanda asked with surprise.
“No, he didn’t. But Ian told him that he either needs to accept Luisa, or he is going to move on.”
“Really? He actually told Mr. McAdams that?” Again, she found herself wishing she had been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
“Yes.” Stefan reached out and took her hand. “Amanda, I’d like to spend a few days here, if you agree.”
“You still haven’t told me what you talked to my father about.”
“For the time being, what I talked to your father about will be between him and me. I need you to trust me.”
“Why should I trust you? You pushed me away,” Amanda said. Tears started to form in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. She didn’t want Stefan to see her distress.
“I could say that we both made some pretty major mistakes, don’t you think? Let’s spend some time together. Let’s see if we can develop that trust back between us.”
Amanda didn’t answer. She turned and began to walk again, and Stefan followed. He seemed content to let her think about what she wanted to do.
She finally nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay, what? I want to know exactly what we are agreeing to.”
“Okay, I am willing to give us another chance,” Amanda said slowly.
A large grin spread across his face, letting her know that he was very happy with her decision. For the first time since he showed up on her ranch, she admitted to herself that she was glad to see him. But was it possible they could recover trust after such large mistakes?
Chapter 29
Stefan reached out and took Amanda’s hand in his. Her hand was stiff, and she didn’t curl her fingers around his, but she didn’t pull away either. He knew that it would likely take a while to gain her trust, but he was willing to do whatever it took.
He wasn’t sure what was going to happen with his future.
Ian had told him that even if Luisa didn’t want to marry him, he was still going to go forward with his plans to purchase his own place for retired racehorses. Stefan knew that Ian wanted him to be a part of his plans, but Stefan couldn’t totally agree to it, not until he knew that Amanda would also be by his side.
He could almost immediately tell, after they arrived on Whispering Horse Ranch, that Luisa wasn’t going to have a problem forgiving Ian. But part of him still wondered, would Amanda be willing to give up the lifestyle she grew up in, for him? He would never be able to build anything like Mr. Wright had been able to, even with Ian’s help.
But he also knew that he would be able to provide Amanda with any needs that she had.
“Tell me what you’ve been doing since you’ve left the Thunder Valley Ranch.” Stefan invited her, hoping to get her mind off the struggles of their relationship, at least for the moment.
He noticed her eyes light up at his question. “I’ve been spending some time at the orphanage in town.”
Stefan almost changed the subject. The last thing he wanted to hear was about another orphanage. He still had bad memories of the time he’d spent in one as a child.
He wondered if the orphanage in Albertson was as bad as the one he had spent three years in. He remembered sleeping on smelly mattresses, wearing clothing that was either worn with many small holes in the fabric or was too small, and going to sleep hungry almost every night.
He still had nightmares of a few of the older boys who liked to pound on younger children, just for the fun of it.
But Stefan looked at her again and his heart melted at the pure smile on her face, the first one he had seen since he arrived at Whispering Horse Ranch.
“Tell me about it,” he finally said.
He listened as she talked about the ten boys she had been helping to care for. The more she talked, the more animated she became. He could tell that she really did enjoy helping the boys she had been assigned to. And he agreed to go with her the next time she wanted to go and help out.