Betting on Texas

by Amanda Renee

  Bingo!

  “Really? You’ll stay?” Miranda saw a slight glimmer of hope. “That would be great!”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself, I’m only here temporarily. What’s your name?”

  “Miranda. Miranda Archer,” she said, eagerly holding out her hand.

  He took her hand in his and turned her palm over once again. “It’s not too bad. The sting will go away in a few minutes.”

  The gentleness of his touch sent her mind in the opposite direction of pain. Maybe I can find out if cowboys really do roll in the hay. Heat rose in her cheeks at the thought.

  “Well, Miranda. Come on.” Jesse motioned to her. “We’ve got plenty of work to do.”

  “Work?” Miranda glanced at the pile of her belongings packed into the truck. “I just got here. I haven’t even had a chance to see inside my house.”

  She didn’t wait for a response. Miranda retrieved a few bags and headed up the porch stairs. Jesse bounded ahead of her.

  “Not now.” He took the bags from her and dropped them on the porch. “Until you hire a new foreman you need to learn how to take care of these animals. Like I said, I’m not staying long.”

  He couldn’t leave! What would she do?

  “Show me around later.” Miranda shooed him away.

  She really was desperate to see the house and wasn’t about to wait a minute longer. The house had played a major part in her move to Ramblewood. From the listing information the Realtor had emailed her, it had a great deal of charm and a homey quality. Ever since, Miranda pictured herself there, with a husband and a houseful of children. The fact it was a thousand miles away from Washington, D.C., was an added bonus.

  “Let’s get a few things straight, Miranda. I’m not your personal tour guide.” Jesse took her arm and steered her down the stairs. “You can see the house on your own time. The sooner I show you what to do around here, the sooner I can be on my way.”

  He walked ahead to the stable entrance and waited for her. Miranda was torn. It was probably wise to pacify the cowboy for the time being. After buying the house and the truck, she only had enough money left to tide her over for a year. She not only needed help with the ranch, she needed a friend in town. Not an enemy.

  “Oh, well, I’m sure this won’t take long.”

  Inside, the pungent smell of hay assaulted her senses, causing her to sneeze. Jesse took a pair of leather gloves from his back pocket and gave them to her. He grabbed another pair from a shelf and put them on as he walked to the last stall.

  “Do you have sneakers or work boots to put on?” he asked. “What am I asking? You wouldn’t even know what work boots look like.”

  Miranda narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s wrong with these?” She stuck out one foot, proud of her new red-and-turquoise leather cowboy boots. They sure were pretty.

  “They haven’t even been broken in yet. Those are meant for riding, not walking. You’ll regret wearing them in five minutes flat.”

  “I’ll be fine, thank you.” She pushed a few long strands of hair behind her ears as she strutted past him.

  “Suit yourself.” Jesse unlatched the stall door and stepped in to stand beside a large gray horse. “Tell me. Do all rich city girls buy property without seeing it?”

  Again with the insults?

  “You don’t quit do you?” Miranda tried to think of the shortest way to explain her situation. “My best friend is from San Antonio and he thought the Hill Country would be a perfect place for me to start over.”

  “What was so horrible you had to run away? I know! You ran out of places to shop.”

  Miranda chastised herself. This was her one shot at a new beginning. The citizens of Ramblewood didn’t need to know what her life had been like before she arrived.

  When she didn’t respond, Jesse laughed as he adjusted a harness over the horse’s head. He led the horse down the long corridor and outside, double-checking to make sure Miranda followed.

  “Never walk close to the back end of a horse,” Jesse said over his shoulder. “It’s a surefire way to get kicked.”

  Miranda quickened her steps to put the equine’s business end behind her.

  “Surely I wasn’t the only one who could have outbid you. Why take this out on me?”

  Jesse ignored her and turned the horse loose in the corral with the others. Miranda rested her arms on the top rail of the fence while he returned to the stables. Fresh, clean air filled her lungs. She couldn’t believe she was here, in Texas. On her land.

  He reappeared with another horse. She fumbled with the latch as she tried to open the gate for him. With the flick of his thumb, Jesse swung it open, grinning at her.

  Miranda closed the gate with Jesse still in the corral. He eyed her warily, stepped up on a fence rail and hopped over it, landing less than a foot in front of her. For a moment, Miranda thought he’d end up on top of her.

  “You were the only other bidder,” he said as he headed inside.

  Why would that be? If he didn’t want to expand on that information, she’d drag it out of him.

  “There was no guarantee no one else would bid.” Miranda was on his heels when he turned to face her.

  “Everyone in Ramblewood knew I wanted this place,” he snapped. “You don’t get it, do you? They all knew this was my ranch.”

  Miranda held her ground. His intimidation tactics were not going to scare her this time.

  “How was I supposed to know? And it’s not your ranch. It’s mine.”

  “I deserved Double Trouble!” he shouted.

  “And you’re about to get it if you shout at me one more time!”

  Jesse flinched at her retort. This wasn’t quite how she imagined her first day in Texas. She figured she’d see her house, walk around the property, maybe drive into town and have a bite to eat. Anything but this.

  “Some welcoming committee you are,” Miranda huffed.

  “Sugar, if you’re looking for a warm welcome, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “To think, I drove all the way here for this. I’m starting to regret it.”

  “Oh, goody.” Jesse clasped his hands together in mock glee. “Does that mean you’ll leave?”

  “Not on your life.” Miranda didn’t appreciate his sarcasm. This was her home now. She wasn’t about to let some cowboy chase her away.

  As she opened her mouth to tell him where he could go, a horse neighed from inside the stables. Her mouth snapped shut.

  What was she thinking? She couldn’t send him away. He was the only one who could help her now. At least until Jonathan cleared up this mess.

  From where she stood, the ranch seemed endless. It was a magnificent piece of land—the photographs hadn’t done it justice. There was a small cottage behind the house, nestled amongst dogwoods. From beyond the white pasture fencing, fields of wildflowers faded into a copse of trees. A couple of bungalows stood alongside a dirt road that ran through the pastures, toward the hills. The ranch seemed to roll with the landscape. She understood why Jesse was so protective of someone turning it into a housing development. The Hill Country was all she dreamed of and more.

  Jesse stood beside her as he took in the same view. When Miranda turned to face him she noticed his features darkened by sadness. She found herself stumbling for words to comfort him in some small way.

  “It really is beautiful here,” she said.

  The wall between them needed to come down so th
ey could work together. Miranda thought their mutual admiration for the land was a good start.

  “Yes, it is. As long as you don’t ruin it.”

  So much for that idea.

  “Once again, I’m not going to ruin it. Give me a break, will you? I came here for some peace of mind.”

  “Peace of mind? What’s been stressing you out, sugar?” Jesse eyed her top to bottom. “Your shopping sprees? Bet you’re still using Daddy’s credit cards to buy everything. You wouldn’t know the meaning of an honest day’s work if it bit you on the—”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Don’t beg, sugar. It doesn’t become you. Now come on, we have work to do.”

  Miranda went with him, willingly this time, toward the stables. He removed a wheelbarrow and shovel from a storage room and pushed it toward her.

  “Start with the first stall and work your way around. Shovel it completely out, down to the floor. Old bedding goes in the large green container out back for composting. We use the last stall on the left to store fresh bedding. Open five bags in the stall and spread it around till you have about a two-inch depth. I’ll check in on you later and show you how to wet the bedding to fluff it up. Good luck. You’ll need it.”

  * * *

  JESSE KEPT HIS LAUGHTER in check until he’d turned the last horse out in the corral. He’d never seen a woman so rip-roaring mad in all his life. After her hissy fit, she’d settled down and got to work mucking the stalls. She had to learn the ropes somehow.

  He had to admit, even with all the aggravation she caused him, he sure did enjoy the sway of her hips when she walked and the way her hair fell free, to the middle of her back. She was a looker. There was no doubt about it.

  Jesse knew the instant Miranda climbed from her truck, the name Double Trouble finally rung true. She was shapelier than a Coke bottle and had green eyes the color of spring leaves. A woman like her could only make a man’s life difficult. And she’d proven to be no exception so far.

  Not only had he lost everything, he’d lost it to a beautiful blonde. But there was something different about her. She possessed such a deep self-confidence yet her face reflected a loneliness that reminded him of a child on the first day of a new school.

  When Fran Carter’s sister put the ranch up for sale, Jesse was livid. He’d offered Caroline more than a fair price for the place. Nevertheless, she had been determined to get all she could for it.

  It didn’t matter one iota that Fran and Ed Carter had spoken at great length about their intentions to sell Double Trouble to Jesse. They treated him like a son and Jesse considered himself blessed to have a second family. While the Carters enjoyed the ranch, the house had needed more and more repairs. They were tired and wanted a stress-free retirement in a smaller house near town. Then tragedy had struck.

  Though Caroline had been devastated by her sister’s and brother-in-law’s deaths, when it came to the ranch all Caroline could see were dollar signs. From her Seattle home, she’d arranged the sale of the antiques and most of the furniture only two days after Fran’s funeral. Assuming the ranch would run itself she didn’t realize half of what Jesse brought in training horses was his to keep. Combined with the vet and feed bills, Double Trouble cut into her bottom line. Thanks to Jesse spreading the word around town not to buy the horses and cattle, she gave up and left them to the new owner.

  After Jesse had forgone his father’s offer to work on his family’s ranch when he graduated high school, the Carters had hired him. Despite the fact he loved his family and respected his brothers’ decisions to work there, he didn’t want anything handed to him.

  Bridle Dance was his great-grandfather’s legacy. And while he was proud of his family, Jesse wanted a legacy of his own. Now fifteen years later, he had to walk away from what he believed would have been his.

  Just when he thought his time on Double Trouble was over, he had to contend with Miranda. The sight of her stepping out of that new truck made his blood boil. The woman didn’t know one end of a bull from the other. Now she owned his ranch. The last thing he wanted was to witness the destruction of the place he loved.

  Common decency told him to show her enough to get by. Help her hire a foreman and then be on his way. Another part told him to stay in case she floundered and decided to hotfoot it back home.

  If her expensive jeans and new boots were any indication, there was no way she could handle running a ranch. If his instincts were right, maybe Double Trouble would be his after all.

  A girl like her wasn’t used to this type of life but she was about to learn the gritty details. And maybe, just maybe, she would realize this was not for her.

  A few hours later, Jesse checked in on Miranda. He expected to see one, maybe two stalls mucked. Instead, he was amazed to see every stall clean and freshly bedded.

  He gave her credit. It couldn’t have been easy for her, but she accomplished it anyway. Jesse had to admire her tenacity.

  Jesse found Miranda behind the stables, rubbing her feet through the leather of her boots. His dog, Max, who was apparently not man’s best friend, was wagging his tail as he sat beside her. Traitor. He hurried inside before she saw him. He whistled a Western tune to warn her he was around the corner.

  “Here you are,” Jesse said as Miranda wobbled to her feet. “I see you met Max. For the record, he doesn’t come with the ranch.”

  “It’s all finished.” Wisps of hair fell from her makeshift ponytail. Dust and sweat covered her chest and arms. She looked as though she was ready to drop. On the other hand, maybe it was the guaranteed blisters on her feet that were making her face scrunch up as it did. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to see my house.”

  Jesse let her get halfway to the porch before he called to her.

  “You best be careful where you wander off to.” Jesse warned. “You never know who or what might be prowling around here.”

  Miranda spun around, her eyes wide.

  “Don’t look so surprised.” Jesse feigned concern. “This is Texas, after all. We have snakes and all sorts of wild animals around these parts. Never mind what the livestock will do if provoked.”

  Miranda eyed him warily as he walked toward her.

  “Remember the old saying,” he whispered in her hair as he brushed past her. “You mess with the bull, and you’re going to get horned.”

  The corner of her mouth rose in a sly smile.

  “Be careful, cowboy,” she said as she continued to her house. “You just may be the one to get horned.”

  Jesse caught her elbow before she could go inside.

  “Listen, little girl.” He encircled her waist and drew her close. “Watch it before you get yourself in a whole heap of trouble.”

  Miranda didn’t break her gaze, she matched it. Tiny droplets formed above her lip. He’d gamble those lips tasted salty right about now. Before he lost complete control, Jesse stepped aside.

  She attempted a smile, but fatigue won out. Jesse hadn’t considered how long she had driven to get here. From the looks of her, all night. He felt like a heel. He bossed her around for half the day and didn’t even allow her to see her house.

  “Are there any more chores or may I be excused?” Miranda stood with a look of defiance he had never seen before.

  Except maybe in a mirror.

  “Go in and see your new house.” Jesse kicked at some hay. “Get yourself settled and grab something to eat. I’ll finish up out here.”

  Miranda didn’t prote
st. She limped past him, toward the porch.

  The urge was too great for him to resist. “I told you those new boots were going to be a killer.”

  Miranda stopped. He half expected her to give him another tongue-lashing. Instead, she hesitated briefly then continued on walking.

  It was time to get back to work while he still had duties here at the ranch. “She’s something else,” he said to General Lee as Jesse led him out of the corral.

  The horse nodded his head as if he understood. Jesse watched Miranda hobble up the porch stairs. Each step was a well-calculated movement.

  “I almost feel sorry for her.” Jesse latched the stall door once the horse was inside. “It must be rough. A new town, a new home and a jackass who pushes her around.”

  General Lee’s muzzle smacked Jesse’s head into one of the stall posts.

  “Watch it!” Jesse rubbed the side of his head. “What’s gotten into you today? If you’re trying to knock some sense into me, you can forget it. She’s trouble with a capital T and I don’t give a damn what happens to her.”

  The gelding turned in his stall and presented Jesse with a rear view.

  “Thanks, pal.” He stormed off to the stable office. He knew he needed to apologize to Miranda for the way he’d treated her. More important, he needed to find a way to convince her to sell him the ranch. If he played his cards right, he could do it all with the help of one person and nobody would be the wiser.

  Jesse picked up the phone and dialed.

  Chapter Two

  Miranda sat in the kitchen, soaking her feet in a small aluminum tub she found in the pantry. They were covered in blisters and ached more than they ever had in her life.

  Note to self: wear sneakers next time. Score one for the cowboy.