by R. C. Ryan
“Yay.” She pumped a fist in the air before polishing off the glass of juice.
Vanessa, who had watched and listened in silence, broke into laughter before explaining. “The first time I tasted Yancy’s orange juice, I sounded just like you, Lily. The only juice I’d ever had came from a plastic jug from my grocery store. I couldn’t believe there were people who actually squeezed their own juice.”
“And now she does the same for me,” Matt said with a wink.
Luke and Reed put their hands to their throats in a gesture of gagging.
“Hey,” Matt added. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“Having your juice served by a gorgeous woman?” Reed asked.
“Marriage.” Matt chuckled at the looks that passed between his two brothers.
“But thank you both for referring to me as gorgeous.” Vanessa dimpled.
“No question, Nessa. You haven’t changed.” Reed pointed. “It’s my brother I’m worried about. Who is this mellow, old, married man? And what have you done with my wild brother, Matt?”
Matt simply chuckled. “These days, I leave all the wild stuff for Luke.”
“Which is just the way I like it,” Luke muttered.
“Breakfast is ready,” Yancy announced.
The family gathered around the table and began passing platters of scrambled eggs, thick slices of ham, biscuits warm from the oven, and stacks of pancakes with maple syrup.
“Going to be a good day for chores,” Colin announced. “The rain blew over, and the sun’s coming out.”
“What did you have in mind?” Burke cupped his coffee mug in his hands before drinking.
“Heading up to the hills to check on the herds.” Colin helped himself to several pancakes and smothered them in syrup. After his first taste, he looked over at Mick. “Hey. These are good.”
“Thanks.” The old cowboy grinned. “I told Yancy I’m not in his league, but the few things I can make never get complaints from my girls.”
“Or from me.” Colin dug in while the others began outlining plans for the day.
After breakfast, Burke and the men headed toward the barn, ready to pack up the trucks before heading to the highlands.
Luke paused beside Ingrid. “Would you and Lily want to ride with us?”
At her hesitation, Grace remarked casually, “I was hoping I might have the girls to myself.” She glanced at Nessa, Ingrid, and Lily. “Most days I’m outnumbered around here, and I thought it might be fun to take a day off from ranch chores and just have a girls’ day.”
Luke grinned before dropping an arm around his grandmother’s waist and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I’d say a girls’ day is long overdue, Gram Gracie. Enjoy.”
He turned to Yancy and Mick. “Care to ride along? Maybe you could bring enough supplies to surprise the wranglers with a barbecue.”
The two men grew animated as they decided what to pack for the hills. An hour later the men were heading out in a caravan of trucks.
Ingrid watched Luke go, feeling a moment’s indecision. She wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable spending a day with women she didn’t know. But since she was accepting the hospitality of this family, she thought it would have been rude to refuse. She would simply get through this as best she could.
Nessa seemed delighted at Grace’s words. “Does this mean we might get a chance to visit your studio?”
“Oh.” Grace gave an embarrassed laugh. “I can’t imagine anything more boring than a visit to my studio. It’s so crowded with stuff, I can barely move in there half the time.”
“Now you’re being modest.” Nessa turned to Ingrid and Lily. “I’ll bet the two of you are as excited as I am about seeing where Gram Gracie works.”
“I…” Ingrid tried not to show her ignorance. “I’d love to see it.”
“Well then.” Grace started toward the mudroom. “We’ll need boots and jackets. We’ve a bit of a walk to the barn.”
Intrigued, Ingrid trailed along, while Lily caught Gracie’s hand and skipped beside her.
Once outside, they passed the first barn and walked toward the second, smaller barn. As Grace shoved open the doors and switched on the overhead lights, Ingrid simply stared in silence.
The back wall of the building had been replaced with floor-to-ceiling windows, where sunlight streamed in, allowing a spectacular view of the hills and meadows outside. The rest of the walls were lined with tall shelves holding an assortment of photographs of every size and shape. Some were wrapped for shipping. Some were framed. Most were simply loose, stacked in piles on the floor and on tables.
Ingrid took her time circling the cavernous room, studying the photos, before she turned to Grace with a look of awe. “Oh my goodness. I can’t believe I’m really in your studio and able to actually see your work up close. I’ve seen your photographs of mustangs since I was Lily’s age. They’re my absolute favorites. But I never dreamed I’d ever get to meet the famous photographer.”
Grace beamed with pleasure. “Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoy my photos. The mustangs that live in our hills are the great loves of my life. After,” she added with a smile, “my sweet Frankie, of course.”
Nessa dropped an arm around Ingrid’s shoulders and kept her voice low. “I felt the same way the first time I was in her presence. And now, even though I’m still in awe of her talent, I think of her more than ever as Luke’s grandmother.”
“Luke was so casual about her.”
“It’s such a guy thing.” Nessa laughed. “And such a Malloy thing. They figure everybody in the world already knows about their famous grandmother and great-grandfather, so they don’t need to say a word.”
“I guess I should have known that the Great One’s daughter would find a way to express herself as beautifully as he did.”
Overhearing, Grace nodded. “My father wasn’t happy when I switched my college major from film studies to photography. But even then he believed that in time I’d use my love of photography to enhance a career in film. It never occurred to the great Nelson LaRou that a child of his could be anything other than a clone of the famous father.”
Ingrid was clearly intrigued. “Luke told us that your father didn’t approve of you living on a ranch in Montana.”
“Oh, he was horrified. The thought of his beautiful, talented daughter throwing her life away on some cowboy in the middle of nowhere had him fit to be tied. Then, when his grandsons were born, he thought he might grace us with a visit. But he still wasn’t sold on the idea of actually living on a ranch, until the day he had to make the critical decision to leave all that he loved in Hollywood and Connecticut to come and live with us permanently.”
Ingrid’s eyes went wide. “How long did it take for him to fall in love with this lifestyle?”
“Ha.” Gracie laughed aloud. “I guess someday he’ll let us know. In the meantime, he makes do, thanks to Yancy’s excellent martinis and”—she turned to Lily with a grin—“fancy-schmancy meals.”
The little girl joined in the laughter.
Ingrid crossed the room to a row of photographs of mustangs. “Do you mind if I look at these?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Grace said simply. “Look all you’d like.”
“Oh.” Ingrid moved slowly along the rows of shelves, sighing over the spectacular photos. “I swear I can see them moving and hear the thundering of their hooves. You and your camera make them so alive. So real.”
“Thank you.” Grace stepped up beside her. “That’s the nicest compliment you can give me.”
Lily pointed to a smoke-gray mare, forelegs in the air, ears flattened. “I think I’ve seen her in our hills, Gram Gracie.”
Grace nodded. “I’m sure you have. They come down from the hills in search of grass when the highlands are covered with snow. But often, in the summer, they graze for miles on the lush grass around the lower meadows.”
“Ingrid and I always stop to watch whenever a herd of mustangs crosses our
path.” Lily’s eyes took on a dreamy look. “I always think it would be fun to climb on the back of one of them and just race across a meadow like the wind.”
“It’s fun to think about.” Ingrid tousled her sister’s hair. “But it wouldn’t be any fun to be tossed off one of those skittish animals. If they decided to trample you, you wouldn’t have a chance to defend yourself.”
Grace nodded. “It’s taken me years to earn their trust. And some of them simply refuse to allow me to get close. But those that do are worth the effort.” She pointed to a photo of a pure white stallion standing still as a statue on a distant hill, with snow swirling about him. “I snapped this picture more than two years ago, and I’ve never spotted him since. How I yearn to get close enough to study him and his herd, and to photograph him in all his many moods. I think he would prove a spectacular model.”
Ingrid was studying the photo with interest. “I can’t be certain, but I think…”
She let the words die, but not before Grace looked over at her. “You think what?”
Ingrid shrugged. “Just thinking out loud. I may have seen him not far from my ranch.”
Grace’s smile was radiant. “I know where my next photographic safari will take me.”
An hour later they stepped out of Gracie’s studio.
Grace adjusted her sunglasses. “Since the men will be gone the better part of the day, I think we’d be smart to head to town. We can shop a bit if you’d like and then have some lunch.” She drew an arm around Lily. “And afterward, maybe we’ll stop at I’s Cream.”
“Oh boy.” Lily’s eyes went wide. “Does that mean ice cream?”
“It does. Ivy has every flavor known to mankind. And a few nobody has ever heard of.”
They climbed into one of the ranch trucks. With Grace at the wheel, they took off in a cloud of dust and laughed and chatted all the way to Glacier Ridge.
Chapter Sixteen
As the ranch truck rolled along the main street, Grace kept up a running commentary on the shops and their owners.
“That’s D & B’s Diner. That stands for Dot and Barb Parker. Twin sisters, though Dot claims to be older by four minutes, which she says makes her the boss.”
Ingrid and Lily stared with interest at the pretty little white building, sporting black shutters and white polka dots.
“Oh,” Ingrid said as a fact dawned. “The dots are for Dot?”
“Exactly.” Grace and Vanessa shared a laugh. “Folks around here can tell the sisters apart because Dot’s favorite clothes have polka dots. That’s all she wears. But nobody complains about her choice of wardrobe, as silly as it sometimes looks, because she and her sister serve cowboy-sized burgers big enough that they boast nobody can eat more than one and the hottest chili in town.”
Vanessa pointed to a pair of buildings across the street. “Matt told me this was originally a barbershop, and then the owner’s wife added a women’s beauty shop when she couldn’t find any in town. Then they got the idea to add a spa.”
“A spa?” Ingrid’s brows shot up. “Does anybody from around here actually go there?”
Vanessa shrugged. “Not much call for a spa around here, but folks are intrigued by the idea. I’ve heard business is picking up since they added therapeutic massages to their menu. A lot of ranchers come in with aching backs and shoulder muscles and such, from all the tough ranch chores, and Dr. Anita at the medical clinic has begun writing prescriptions for massages, so it’s considered medical instead of just vanity.”
“Sounds reasonable to me.” Ingrid pointed to the clinic. “You have a doctor here in town?”
“We do.” Gracie nodded toward the medical clinic. “Actually two doctors. Old Dr. Cross has been thinking of cutting back on his practice, so he invited his niece Anita from Boston to come and share the workload. I understand she worked in the ER of one of Boston’s biggest hospitals, and she was considered one of their best.”
Vanessa added softly, “Dr. Anita happens to be not only a very good doctor, but also very pretty. A fact that hasn’t escaped Colin’s notice.”
Grace swiveled her head to study her grandson’s wife. “Has he said so?”
“Not a word. But I’ve seen the way he lights up whenever he sees her.”
Grace put a hand to her heart. “Oh, now wouldn’t that be grand? With all Colin’s responsibilities since his brother Patrick died, I’d just about given up hope that he would ever find someone to settle down with.”
“Oh, I don’t think they’re anywhere near that point, Gram Gracie. I doubt they’ve even said more than a dozen words to one another. But”—Nessa shook her head—“there’s just a look that comes into Colin’s eyes when he’s around her that I’ve never seen when he’s with anybody else. I may be reading too much into it, but I just have a hunch about it.”
Grace smiled and patted her hand. “That’s enough to give me hope, Nessa. And for that, I thank you.”
They drove slowly until Grace pulled up to the curb outside a pretty little shop sporting a red-and-white-striped awning. The sign announced ANYTHING GOES.
“If you girls don’t mind waiting,” Grace called, “I need a new shirt.” She touched a hand to the shirt she was wearing with her ankle-skimming denim skirt as she stepped from the truck. “Something along these lines, practical but with a feminine touch to it. Want to browse while I shop?”
They all climbed out and entered the shop, setting off a bell. A pretty young woman walked out of a back room, her face wreathed in smiles.
“Hello, Miss Grace. How nice to see you.”
“Hello, Trudy. You know Matt’s wife, Vanessa.”
“I do. Hello again, Nessa.”
The two shook hands.
“Trudy Evans, these are friends visiting the ranch. Ingrid and Lily Larsen.”
“Hello. Welcome to my shop. Is there anything special I can show you?”
They shook their heads. Grace said with a laugh, “We’re going to browse, Trudy. Which means we intend to see everything before we’re finished here.”
“Well then, please make yourselves at home and let me know if I can help.”
Grace made her way to a line of hangers displaying women’s shirts. Within minutes she’d chosen a pale blue long-sleeved shirt with a delicate rose embroidered on the pocket.
While Vanessa stood in front of a mirror trying on wide-brimmed hats, Ingrid stopped at a display of baggy sweatshirts, and Lily crossed the room to stare at the array of girls’ denim pants and jackets and an assortment of fancy boots.
Grace walked up behind the little girl. “See anything you like?”
Lily looked away. “No. I was just looking.”
Grace held up a pair of jeans. “These look to be about your size. Why don’t you try them on?”
“Oh, I don’t think…”
The older woman was already rummaging through a stack of T-shirts. “Oh, look. You really have to try this on, too.” It was pink, with vivid purple letters that read INDEPENDENT WOMAN. “Reed will be impressed, since he’s the one who called you that.”
The two of them laughed before Grace caught Lily’s arm and led her toward the rear of the shop where a curtain hid a dressing room.
Minutes later Lily emerged in the jeans and T-shirt.
“Oh, they fit you perfectly,” Grace called.
Ingrid walked over to study her little sister. “I have to admit they look a whole lot better than those old things you were wearing.” She dug into her pocket to count her money.
Grace touched a hand to her arm. “You’re not allowed to pay for a thing, Ingrid. This is my treat. In fact,” she added, lowering her voice, “this entire day is really Frankie’s treat. He insisted. He even gave me his credit card, with firm orders to spend his money.”
Nessa ambled over, modeling a wide-brimmed hat in charcoal felt that perfectly matched the fitted charcoal denim jacket she was wearing. She managed to look both city-chic and country-casual at the same time. “What do you think?�
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The others nodded their approval.
“It’s too pretty to pass up,” Grace called, while sifting through denim jackets in girls’ sizes. She held one up. “Why don’t you see if this fits, Lily?”
With a look of pure happiness, the little girl took it into the fitting room.
“Look, Ingrid.” Nessa held up a pretty tee in deep teal. “This would look so great with your fair skin and hair. Want to give it a try?”
“No, thank you.” Ingrid was actually backing away.
“Why not?” Nessa gave her an encouraging smile. “At least try it on.”
“I’m more comfortable in…slouchy things.”
“I’ve noticed.” Nessa’s smile grew and she thrust it into Ingrid’s hand. “It’s just a T-shirt.”
Ingrid reluctantly walked to the fitting room just as Lily walked out, ready to model her entire outfit.
“Oh, Lily.” Ingrid stopped in her tracks. “That’s just perfect. You’re going to be the prettiest girl in town.”
Lily’s eyes rounded. “You mean I can keep them?”
Ingrid couldn’t hold back her smile. “Those clothes were made for you, honey. And since Gram Gracie insisted…”
“Oh boy.” Lily danced around the shop, modeling her outfit for Grace and Vanessa.
Minutes later Ingrid pulled open the curtain to show off the tee. She actually crossed her arms over her chest and stared pointedly at the floor.
Nessa exchanged a look with Grace. “Who knew there was such a fantastic body beneath that baggy shirt?” She turned to Ingrid. “You really have to have that.”
Ingrid stepped past the curtain, looking completely flustered. “Don’t you think it’s too”—she huffed out a breath—“too tight and revealing?”
“The only thing it reveals is the fact that you’re a lovely young woman.” Grace touched a hand to her arm. “Please let me buy it for you. The color is fantastic on you.”
Ingrid caught sight of her reflection in a mirror across the room and felt her heart do a little dance. “It is awfully pretty, but…”
“And you deserve to feel pretty in it.” Grace turned to the shop’s owner. “Trudy, I think we’ve found what we came for.”