by Naomi Niles
“I’ll always want Sam to carry me,” she insisted.
“Yeah – p don’t try and break our deal, Mia,” Sam told me sternly.
I held up my hands and backed away from their agreement. “Okay, I’ll stay out of it,” I said in amusement.
“You and the girls are heading out tonight, huh?” Sam asked Renni.
“Yup,” she nodded.
“Well, there’s one more person that’s going to be joining you girls tonight,” he said.
Vanessa stood from the bed and adjusted her dress. “Who is that?” she asked.
“Jessica.”
“Jessica?” I asked startled. “She and Alan are on their honeymoon. I thought they were coming down next week.”
Sam smiled. “That’s just what they told us. I think they wanted to surprise everyone.”
“Yea,” Renni crowed. “Did they bring presents from Paris?”
“I’m pretty sure they did,” Sam nodded and Renni beamed with anticipation. “Aunt Jessica said she had something special for you.”
I shook my head at her. “It seems everyone’s spoiling you.”
“I agree,” Vanessa said, putting her hands on her hips. “And to be frank, I resent the competition. I used to be your number one favorite aunt.”
“You still are,” Renni insisted.
Vanessa threw her a shrewd look. “And where are your other aunts on the list?”
She smiled. “They’re number one, too.”
“You’re a cheeky little girl,” Vanessa said as she grabbed Renni from Sam’s arms, threw her down on the bed, and started tickling her. As Renni screamed with laughter, Sam turned to me and pulled me into his arms.
“Are you ready for our romantic night?”
“All set,” I nodded. “I should go and say hi to Jessica and Alan first, though… I know it’s only been a month since the wedding, but I feel as though I haven’t spoken to them in ages.”
“You’ll see them tomorrow,” he said dismissively. “Tonight is our night.”
I smiled and nodded, allowing him to lead me to the door. We blew Renni kisses and then we were off to start our romantic night together. The atmosphere in Vegas was electric, or maybe it was just my mood. Either way, it was great to be out and about in a new dress with a handsome man on my arm. I noticed the appreciative looks Sam and I got, and it made me feel young and beautiful.
The restaurant we were heading towards resided in one of Vegas’ oldest and most beautiful hotels. And it was just a stone’s throw away from our own hotel. We walked hand in hand, enjoying the cool night air before we stepped into the beautiful lobby of the Charlton. It was a smaller hotel, but its interior was spectacular, and I had no doubts it’s restaurant would be, too.
“The restaurant we want is on the third floor,” Sam told me.
I followed him without question as he led me through the third floor. “Hold on,” I said, as I pulled Sam to a stop in front of a huge area of floor to ceiling glass windows. “Let’s take a moment to appreciate that view.”
The city was lit up like a gem. It was so bright and bursting with color that I had to avert my eyes after a moment. I found my gaze shifting to Sam’s perfect profile. He noticed me watching him after a moment and he smiled.
“Like what you see?” he teased.
“Always,” I nodded.
He turned to me and kissed me slowly, passionately. I felt my right leg flick up in an old world gesture of romance. “I didn’t expect to like Vegas this much,” I admitted, when we broke apart at last.
Sam smiled. “It’s not Vegas,” he said.
“It’s not?” I asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course not,” he replied. “It’s us… It’s being with each other that makes the magic. I feel this way every single day I’m with you and Renni. We take the magic with us wherever we go.”
“Wow,” I smiled. “You could have been a poet.”
“I can take up poetry when I retire from fire fighting,” he laughed.
“I look forward to that day,” I said, joining in his laughter.
“Hey,” he said, his eyes falling on a point passed me.
“What?”
“A ballroom,” he said, taking me hand and pulled me along behind him.
“A ballroom?” I repeated. “What about it?”
Sam pushed open the huge brass doors and peeked in. “Wow… It’s amazing in there. Let’s sneak in.”
Before I could protest, he had pulled me through the doors and into the breathtaking ballroom. It was lit up as though in anticipation of some special event. Dainty arrangements of flowers lined the circular tilt of the room and the chandelier above us glittered with the strength of a million diamonds.
“Wow,” I said, staring up at the ceiling.
The ceiling was filled with paintings of angels, cherubs, and a number of other fantastical creatures. I was so caught up in the stories on the ceiling that I didn’t even notice the music start to play until Sam had pulled me into his arms for a dance.
“We’re dancing,” I said, looking at him in surprise.
“We’re dancing,” he nodded, twirling me underneath his arm. “This is practically a scene from Beauty and the Beast .”
I laughed at that. “Renni would love to see this,” I said. “She would have really appreciated the similarities.”
“Hmm…maybe we should go and get her then,” Sam suggested.
“I thought this night was just about us?”
“Since when has ‘us’ not included Renni? She is a part of us.”
I smiled. “I love how much you love her,” I said as we danced around the empty ballroom.
“I love her like she’s my own,” he said sincerely, and I saw the truth of that in her eyes.
“I know you do,” I said. “You can’t know how much that means to me.”
“I think I have an idea,” Sam replied.
Then he stopped abruptly and dropped his hands from my waist. I frowned, wondering what had happened. Then I saw him nod at someone behind me and I whirled around to see who he was looking at.
I stopped short when I saw Renni standing there, only a few feet from us. “Renni?”
The smile on her face was huge. She took a step forward and drew out a little box from the pocket of her dress. “Hi, Mommy,” she said. “I have something for you.”
I stared at the box in her hand. “Renni…what is that?”
Her answer was to open the box and reveal the small but beautiful diamond sitting in the center of a midnight blue cushion. I sucked in my breath and turned towards Sam. I stopped short when I realized he was on one knee, staring up at me with stars in his eyes.
“Sam…”
“Mia,” he whispered. “I’ve thought about a million ways to do this over the past few months. I knew I had to do it someplace special, with Renni at my side.”
Renni came to stand by Sam’s shoulder. He gave her a small wink, took the ring from her hands and then turned back to me. “Mia, you are the first woman I’ve ever loved ,and I want you to be the last. I want you to be my wife, and I want your daughter to be my daughter. Will you marry me?”
I could only stare at him for a moment, completely taken back, completely touched and completely overwhelmed by the unexpected moment.
“Say yes, Mommy,” Renni prompted, her little earnest voice cutting through my emotional thoughts.
And really, that was all the encouragement I needed. A tear slipped from my eye as I laughed. “Yes,” I said. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
Renni gave a scream of delight as Sam rose to his feet and lifted me off mine. I felt Renni barrel into us, and I reached down to touch the silky softness of her hair. Just at that moment, the door to the ballroom opened and Sam’s family trooped in, screaming and cheering and yelling their congratulations.
“You planned this,” I breathed, looking into Sam’s hazel eyes.
“I did,” he nodded, smiling hugely.
He to
ok my hand and we turned together to our bright new future.
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CHISELED
By Naomi Niles
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Naomi Niles
Chapter One
Bethany
"Where the hell am I?"
I looked around at the endless acres of green pastures with herds of cattle lowing in the distance and sighed. There wasn't a street sign or a building in sight, and I was feeling more than frustrated.
Maybe I should just turn around and go back to the town I'd just passed through , I thought. Riverbend was small and quaint, with a population of just under 1,800 people. It was the kind of place where everybody probably knew everyone else, and I was sure they could tell me how to find the Hutchinson Ranch.
When I'd stopped to buy gas for my Prius, the owner of the gas station had seemed friendly enough and had insisted on pumping my gas himself. He was an elderly gentleman with grease stains all over his apron. When he took it off, he revealed a denim shirt with the name Earl embroidered on the pocket.
"Chicago? You've come a long way," Earl commented as I watched the numbers on the gas pump scroll upwards.
"Yeah," I said, not used to chatting with strangers. The people who ran the Quick Mart where I lived would never have taken the time to pump my gas, let alone chitchat, but Earl obviously had all day.
"Your bumper sticker says SAIC. What's that?"
"It's the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I just graduated from there last week;" The pride came through in my voice. I tried to stay humble, but I was the first member of my family to go to college, and I'd worked damn hard, too.
My mother made no secret that she thought art was a waste of time, and getting a degree in it was an even bigger waste of money. Apparently, my blonde hair and blue eyes were the only things I had inherited from her.
My creativity must have come from my father, but I had no way of knowing for sure since he'd left when I was still just a baby. Mother told me all the time that I would be a loser just like him, but art was my passion and I was determined to prove to her that I could make something of myself with it. Now that I'd gotten my degree, I was one step closer to that ultimate goal.
"What brings you to Riverbend? Ain't no museums or galleries here," Earl drawled.
"I'm doing some artwork for a local rancher." I tucked my shoulder-length hair behind one ear and wished he would hurry up.
I handed him my debit card, but he just stared at it. "You'll have to take that inside," he said.
Reluctantly, I followed him into the station where he had an ATM and drew out the cash. I was dressed in a flowing skirt, white tank top, and sandals, accented with beaded jewelry around my neck and wrists. It was a simple summer outfit designed for comfort, but here in the sticks, I felt like an out-of-place hipster.
"Tell me which one, and I'll tell you how to find it. The roads can get kind of confusing once you get out town. Mostly dirt roads carved by repetitive use.”
"No need. I've got a map app on my phone. I'll be fine." I snatched my change from the counter, turned on my heel, and headed for the door.
If I'd known then what I know now, I would have taken him up on his offer, but at the time, I'd spent enough time chatting with that curious old man, and I was anxious to get going.
There was someone I needed to find. Someone I'd been searching for a long time and was supposed to be living in this small town somewhere. Working out at the Hutchinson Ranch was the perfect excuse to look for him, but not if he found out.
So, I had jumped in my car and took off on the highway, feeling nervous and excited about my first real job as an artist, not to mention being one step closer to finding Frank Hill.
The scenery soon turned to green pastures and the smell of cow manure filled the air. I passed the occasional dirt road running between the fields, but none of them had any road signs, and there was no way to know if I was heading in the right direction or lost completely. It was a far cry from the streets of Chicago, and my app was useless. Still, I kept going forward.
I’d been told I couldn't miss it, but I was beginning to think that was all just a load of cow manure. Maybe my mother was right: I wasn't capable of making it on my own. Look at me, if I couldn't even find the location of my first job on a road with no side streets, how would I ever find a missing man in a strange town? I was a failure before I even began. At the next dirt road I came to, I was going to turn around and head back home.
Then, suddenly, there it was. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I saw the big wooden sign with lettering burned into the oak with a branding iron. "Hutchinson Ranch." It was held high in the air by two gigantic logs and looked worn by weather and time.
I drove through the wooden entranceway and down the dusty dirt road, which ended at a sprawling ranch house, surrounded by smaller structures. There was a small office, an old red barn, and right next to it, a stable for horses. An array of beat-up trucks and farming equipment was scattered about, with men walking to and fro between them. A shepherd collie napped on the porch, and I felt like I'd been transported into an old episode of Bonanza or The Waltons .
The house was beautiful, painted red with white shutters that matched the wrap-around porch. It was obvious that this was a home built with love and maintained for generations. A home with history and heart – just like the kind I'd always longed for as a child, living in a single room apartment in Chicago with my mother.
As I sat in my car, staring at the magnificent ranch house, a young man approached me with a swagger in his step. He looked to be about my age, twenty-two, with light brown hair, a dazzling smile, and golden eyes that flashed with mischief.
"Hello, miss. What can I do for you?" He leaned against the open window of my car and flashed his grin at me. His bicep flexed as he tipped his cowboy hat back, and his left eyebrow rose appreciatively as he took in the sight of me. He was quite handsome, but entirely too aware of it, and I found his cocky flirtation more amusing than seductive.
"I'm looking for Margie Hutchinson," I stated, trying to sound like I'd done this before and not like this was my first job.
"No, you don't want her. You're looking for a much younger member of the Hutchinson family," he winked at me. "I'm Brett. Happy to be at your service."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Bethany Foster." I shook his hand awkwardly through the car door, thankful for the metal body of my hybrid protecting me from being in too close of contact with this randy young man.
"Get out of the way and stop pestering her. Let the poor thing at least get out of her car," a gutsy female voice called out. Suddenly, a pair of careworn hands grabbed Brett from behind and yanked him back by the arm.
"I was just seeing who had pulled up the driveway, Mama, and welcoming Miss Foster to the ranch." Brett took off his cowboy hat and cast his eye down towards his boots sheepishly as the woman glared at him with her hands on her hips.
She had gray hair peppered with strands of ebony and her warm, chocolate-brown eyes were dancing with merriment. She turned to me with a smile and said, "Don't mind Brett. He has an eye for the ladies, but he knows to mind me or I'll still take a switch to him. He won't bother you again. You must be Bethany. I'm Margie. Welcome to the Hutchinson Ranch."
I stepped out of the car as she introduced herself, but instead of shaking my hand, she embraced me in a motherly hug. I liked her instantly and guessed correct
ly that she'd never taken a switch to any of her children even once.
"Come inside and let me show you around," Margie insisted, and I followed up the steps of the porch and into the grand ranch house. It was even more beautiful inside than out, with hardwood floors, hand-carved furnishings, and stained glass decor. High ceilings and an open floor plan made the place feel spacious and airy, while hand-stitched quilts and the smell of food cooking made it feel homey and warm.
She chatted amicably during the entire tour, showing me knick-knacks and telling me tales.
"That's my bedroom through there. You just knock on my door any time of the night if you ever need anything: another blanket, you hear a coyote howling, or even if you just want girl talk. Anything."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hutchinson." I stifled a smile. My own mother had yelled at me to leave her alone when I asked to climb in her bed after a nightmare or during a thunderstorm, and this sweet stranger was inviting to knock on her door even I was just lonely.
"It's Margie, not Mrs. Hutchinson. Or even better, Mama. That's what everyone calls me."
"How many children do you have?" I asked casually. There were many pictures hanging on the walls, and she talked about them constantly.
"I have five grown boys. No grandchildren yet, or daughters-in-law. They're all still single and living here on the ranch with me, but I make them work for it. No freeloaders in my house."
"Five sons and they all still live here with you?" I couldn't believe it. I'd left my mother's house the day I turned eighteen. Why would anyone choose to live at home after they'd grown? Of course, Margie was much different than my mother had been. Maybe with a mother like her, things would have been different for me, too.
"Yes. You'll meet them tonight at dinner. In fact, it's almost time, so we'd better get going." Margie glanced at a clock on the wall and quickened her pace through the house.