by Amanda Renee
“You look fine.” Jesse snatched the napkin from her hands. “And you’re going to need a big breakfast to get through today.”
Miranda slumped backward in the booth. Every so often, someone would turn and stare at her.
“What are they all looking at?” Miranda said between clenched teeth.
“The person who stole my ranch. I told you. All of Ramblewood was behind me on this.”
While Jesse appreciated the support he received from the townsfolk, he wasn’t prepared for all the glaring and whispering he was seeing before him. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“Well, they don’t have to be so rude about it.” Miranda’s voice rose.
“Would you pipe down?” He reached for her hands across the top of the table.
“I will not pipe down!” she shouted. “Who do you think you are bossing me around every ten seconds? I’m really getting tired of it.”
Embarrassed, Jesse squeezed Miranda’s hands in his and tried to soothe her.
“I’m sorry. Please, calm down.”
Jesse wanted nothing more than to leave the luncheonette. He had more than his fill of this mouthy northerner for one morning. Bringing her here was a mistake.
“Is it true you bought Double Trouble so you could turn it into a housing development?”
Jesse hung his head. This couldn’t have come at a worse time. Why had he ever told Charlotte Hargrove what he thought the new owner’s plans were?
Because you know she has a big mouth and would tell the whole town.
Miranda slowly scanned the prim woman standing before her. Jesse held his breath sensing a major blowout was about to take place.
“What did you ask me?” Miranda released herself from Jesse’s grasp.
Miranda’s words were slow and deliberate. Jesse watched the heat rise in her face and her pupils dilate. Ready to do battle.
“The way I hear it, you’re turning Double Trouble into a housing development.”
The entire room grew quiet. All eyes focused on Miranda.
“Look, I don’t know who you are—”
“Charlotte,” Jesse interrupted. “I don’t think now is the time to discuss this.”
“No! I want to hear what she has to say.” Miranda eyed Jesse warily. “Tell me...Charlotte, is it? What else have you heard?”
“You’re going to ruin a century’s worth of history by tearing apart Double Trouble.”
“Now, I wonder where you could have heard that from.” Miranda slid out of the booth.
“Miranda, please sit down.” Jesse tried to grab her hand but she snatched it away.
“May I have your attention please?” Miranda addressed the luncheonette. “As if I don’t already.”
Jesse crossed his arms in front of him on the table and lowered his head. His plan backfired. Breakfast was supposed to relax her. To prepare her for the day ahead. He even wanted to learn a little more about her. It wasn’t supposed to be a free-for-all in the middle of town.
“Not that my plans are any of your concern, but I would like to set the record straight.”
Brace yourself. This is going to be a doozy.
Everyone in The Magpie hung on Miranda’s every word.
“I didn’t buy Double Trouble to build a housing development. I bought it to live on,” Miranda said in a calm, steady voice. “And if any of you have a problem with that, deal with it!”
So much for calm.
Jesse glared at Miranda when she sat down. He couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. The entire town would catch wind of it in a half hour flat.
“I hope you realize you succeeded in making a first-class fool of yourself.”
“Me?” Miranda snarled. “You, sir, succeeded in making a fool out of me long before I came to town.”
Bridgett approached with plates of food. She stood at the edge of the table, uncertain whether to place them down or retreat to the kitchen.
“Regardless, you could have handled the situation with tact instead of acting like a spoiled rotten child.”
“Spoiled? You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough to see you blew into town and knocked me right off a ranch I had worked hard for.”
“Once and for all, it was not my fault. You should have bid higher.”
“I didn’t have the money!” Jesse stood up, threw some bills on the table. Bridgett stepped aside to avoid toppling her plates. “I don’t need this.”
Miranda stood, causing Bridgett to step in the opposite direction, almost dropping everything this time.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Miranda chased after him as he walked through the door.
“Away from you!” Jesse yelled over his shoulder as he threw her the truck keys. “Have fun finding your way back to the ranch.”
On the sidewalk, Miranda turned to see everyone in the luncheonette watching her through the window.
“What are you looking at?” she yelled, and motioned them away with her arms. “You’ll pay for this, Mr. Langtry!”
Chapter Four
Clouds of dust rose behind Miranda’s pickup truck as she barreled down the ranch road full throttle. She skidded to a stop beside the back porch, just in time to hear her furniture slide forward with an incredible bang.
“Shoot!”
When the dust settled, three stunned faces appeared on the porch stairs. Mable, Beau Bradley and someone else Miranda assumed to be Aaron stood midstep, with her new buffet in hand.
Wonderful! Another audience.
She had no intention of making a scene after the one she’d made at The Magpie. While keeping a calm and level head was never her forte, the least she could do was smile pretty and be a gracious host to her guests. Especially when they were kind enough to drop off the remainder of her wares from the yard sale.
“Howdy, folks!” Miranda waved as she hopped down from the truck. “Don’t mind me. I was just antiquing the furniture here. I want it to have an old, worn look to it.”
As if frozen in time, they continued to stare, jaws dropped. Mable was the first to break the ice brigade.
“I heard you had quite a morning at The Magpie.”
Oh, geez! It wasn’t even a half hour ago! “Where’d you hear that?”
“Beau told me.” Pity filled Mable’s eyes. “Word travels fast in these parts, dear. Ever heard the phrase, ‘faster than small town gossip’?”
It seems The Magpie lived up to its name, Miranda thought.
“But... Oh, who cares.” She climbed the stairs so she could hold the door open for them. “Those people don’t mean a thing to me. Let them think whatever they want.”
Miranda stopped shy of the screen door and turned around.
“You know what gets me?” Miranda asked, not giving them a chance to answer. “What did I do so wrong to be treated this bad?”
After Beau introduced her to his grandson, Aaron, Miranda filled them in on The Magpie details. Full disclosure. From worrying about someone stealing her furniture to storming out of the luncheonette. Mable served a pitcher full of homemade pink lemonade and a plate full of hot cross buns while Miranda ranted about Jesse. By the time she was through, everyone agreed Jesse had been out of line. They also collectively agreed she could have maintained a little more maturity in the luncheonette.
People here sure didn’t beat around the bush. At least they were honest. “Do you know I haven’t
even seen the entire ranch yet?” Miranda asked, changing the subject. “I don’t know what those buildings are over there or where my property ends and the next one begins.”
Aaron offered to show her around while Beau returned the rental trailer to the local drop-off center. Even though she was embarrassed one of her neighbors had to give her the grand tour of her own ranch, she accepted.
Aaron surprised her with the empathy he had regarding her earlier incident. His jet-black hair and steel-blue eyes conveyed a bad boy image, yet he was as sweet as stolen honey.
“I knew Jesse would get himself into a heap of trouble shooting his mouth off the way he was,” Aaron said. “I asked to see his fortune-telling license since he swore he knew what was going to happen to this ranch before ever meeting you.”
“I think you’re the exception, Aaron,” Miranda said. “How many people will give me the benefit of the doubt? The damage has already been done.”
“Aw, you just got off to a bad start, sweetheart.” Aaron wrapped an arm around Miranda’s shoulder and gave her a friendly squeeze. “Not everyone’s like Bat Lady Hargrove.”
Miranda almost choked on her lemonade at his reference to her incident with Charlotte. “Bat Lady?”
“We’ve called her Bat Lady for as long as I can remember. On account of her really having bats in her belfry. My uncle works for animal control and removes bats from her attic on a regular basis.”
Aaron picked up where Mable left off the night before regarding Double Trouble’s history. He told her all about the Fourth of July picnic the Carters hosted every year and how much the town would miss the tradition. He hinted she throw her own picnic and invite everyone, but Miranda would have none of it. She couldn’t afford a party of that magnitude, and after the way she was treated in town today, their opinions meant nothing to her.
During their walk, Aaron explained the various outbuildings for the horses and other livestock. The chicken coop was in need of expansion. The old silo hadn’t been in use for the past fifty years, could stand to come down in his opinion. The foreman’s house and bunkhouse were last.
“Why that little—” Miranda bit her tongue to keep from saying more. Leave it to Jesse to make things harder on her than they needed to be. Seven cots lined the bunkhouse wall. One of which would have made a soft bed to sleep on the night before. Yet, Jesse never mentioned a single word about them being here.
Max hopped in the truck and sat between them as they drove through the upper and lower pastures. Aaron explained where her property line ran in relation to the barbed wire and mesquite fencing. From this far out on the ranch, her house was the size of a postage stamp. She knew the acreage from the closing papers, but it never meant anything to her until now. While there wasn’t an abundance of farm animals, there were enough to cause her to worry about how she would manage the ranch alone.
Aaron continued the tour while Miranda sent text messages to Jonathan begging him to call her. The ranch excited her on one hand and overwhelmed her on the other. When she told Aaron her plans of opening a small boutique in town, he suggested she either hire a foreman to replace Jesse or sell the animals outright. There was no feasible way she would be able to handle the ranch and manage a store at the same time.
After she weighed her options, selling off livestock was the best thing to do. A foreman didn’t quite fit into her budget or her plans. Jesse expected to be paid and she still didn’t know if she could afford Mable. The sooner the animals were gone, the sooner she could rid herself of Jesse Langtry.
Miranda was delighted she had a new friend in Aaron. People here aren’t half-bad, after all. When he dropped her off, she tried to reach Jonathan once again. His secretary still maintained he was out of town on business. Even more reason for him to answer his cell phone. Never the one for mysteries, her patience was wearing thin with her old friend. She wanted to know why he’d kept so much from her. And did she have any other surprises coming?
* * *
“HOLD IT,” MABLE CALLED OUT. “I have a few things to say to you.”
“If you’re about to give me an earful, don’t waste your breath. I just got one from Beau.” Jesse picked a coil of white cotton lead rope and a can of hoof dressing out from the bed of his truck. “He laid into me at the feed and grain after he dropped off Miranda’s trailer.”
“I know what you’re up to,” Mable snapped. “You’ve done enough damage. Now you’re planning to make her life miserable until she’s had enough and packs it in.”
Jesse couldn’t believe his ears. How could Mable side with a woman she hardly knew?
“We know nothing about her. For all we’re concerned, she did have plans to turn Double Trouble into a housing development.”
“You’ve got a ten-gallon mouth, you know that? Miranda’s an instant outcast, no thanks to you.”
“But, Mable—”
“No buts. You know better than this. I’ve known your momma and daddy all my life and they didn’t raise you to act like no boll weevil,” Mable said as she walked away. “Infecting doom and gloom around town and on the poor girl. I’ll have no part of your little game and if I catch you spreading any more rumors, I’ll tan your hide myself. And don’t think you’re too big for it, either.”
Jesse’s mouth hung open as Mable continued to berate him on her way to the house.
* * *
OUT ON THE FRONT PORCH, Miranda sat in one of her new-used rocking chairs. She ran her hands over the well-worn arms and wondered how many people had rocked in it before her. It would be perfect for lulling a child to sleep.
By this point in her life, she figured she would have had children. Five was always the number she always dreamed of. A house full of children and laughter. The dream was all but shattered when Ethan broke off their engagement two months ago.
She’d thought she loved him. Maybe at one time she did. The last thing she’d wanted to do was plan a wedding so soon after her mother’s death. When she’d asked for some distance to sort her life out, instead of trying to understand, he’d criticized her for grieving over a mother who never once treated her like a daughter.
Ethan felt she should move on with her life. Leave the past in the past. A part of her knew he was right. The other part knew he wasn’t the right man for her.
The breakup came as a shock at first and then a wave of relief swept over her. She drove out to her mother’s grave, in Maryland, on the anniversary of her death. On the way to her apartment, she bought a lottery ticket and to her astonishment, she won. To Miranda, it was a sign from her mother to move on and start a completely new life.
Ethan returned the instant he got wind of her winning the lottery. Miranda knew he was only after her money and told him to get lost for the final time. She felt empowered. When Jonathan called and told her about the house, Miranda took it as fate and signed the papers the instant they arrived.
Something drew Miranda to Ramblewood. Yet, she hadn’t quite been able to put her finger on it. Maybe it was the small town atmosphere Jonathan spoke of. Maybe it was the excitement of living somewhere new. Maybe it was the need to escape the guilt over the relief she felt when her mother died. Whatever it was, she was here now and determined to make her dreams come true.
This was her home now and she was going to do her best and make it last forever. She had no one to take care of this time except herself.
Despite the disaster at The Magpie, Miranda was rather fond of Ramblewood. The old brick buildin
gs on Main Street reminded her of an old movie. A place where time stood still and everyone knew everyone else. A town steeped in tradition and pride. She couldn’t help but fall in love with it.
Once she settled in, Miranda hoped she would find someone to share it all with. Someone to spend the rest of her life with and raise a family together. But that wasn’t going to happen until she found a way to fit in. From the glares she received today, Miranda could only imagine the extent of the wreckage she once called her reputation.
Prioritize, Miranda. Animals, then reputation.
To start, she needed to sell off what livestock she had. Since Jesse made it clear he already had another job waiting for him, there was no sense dragging it out any longer. She was certain he would be able to find good homes for all of the animals. Even though she dreaded the sight of him right now, the sooner she rid herself of them, the better.
Miranda swallowed her pride, marched to the foreman’s house and knocked on the door. No answer. She opened the door and peeked inside.
“Jesse?” The room was dark except for the light filtering in through the side window. “Jesse, are you in here?”
Miranda reached in and felt around for a light switch.
“Looking for something?”
Miranda’s heart rose to her throat as she spun around against the doorjamb. She braced herself for the onslaught she was about to receive.
“You scared me half to death!”
“What do you want?” His jaw clenched so tight she could see it pulsate. Even though his Stetson shaded his eyes, she could feel his piercing cold stare. He reached behind her and shut the door.
“I need to talk to you about the livestock.”
Miranda attempted to move away from the door and into the sunlight, but Jesse’s hulking form wouldn’t budge an inch. Her chest brushed his as she slid between him and the wall. The smell of sweat and horse sent her mind off in another direction. She despised this man for what he did to her, yet she was drawn to him every time he was near.