He appreciated Sarah Ashley and her classic beauty, but found himself scanning the back for someone else. He had a longing to search the warehouse for the straight-haired blonde with wise green eyes behind wide frames who’d probably be stocking fertilizer and chewing her lip as she calculated the month-end report in her head.
The one that made him smile.
The one that settled him with only a touch of her hand. The one he wanted to tell his secrets to. Although he’d never admit any of that out loud to anyone, especially Sarah Ashley.
“Grace had to run down to the post office to pick up a special delivery.” Sarah Ashley dabbed her brush into the brown paint and turned to her milk can, but not before Ethan saw her knowing grin.
“I came to see you, not Grace.” His voice came out stiff and sharp as if she’d caught him sneaking into the cookie jar. But he refused to admit to Sarah Ashley that she was right. He had been looking forward to seeing Grace.
“That’s new. You haven’t come to Brewster’s to see me in a long time.” Sarah Ashley dabbed the paintbrush against the canvas. “Even in high school. I always suspected you came here because my mother gave you whatever she’d baked that day, not because you really wanted to see me.”
“You were never at the store.” Ethan jammed his hands into his jeans pockets as if he needed to hide the candy he’d swiped from the jar.
“Yet you spent more time here in high school than with me on our dates,” she challenged.
She was right again, of course. But he hadn’t come here to hash out their past relationship errors. She’d moved on, married and had a new life. And he...he only thought of Sarah Ashley as a friend. Had thought of her like that for a long time if he was honest.
He ground his boot heels into the pavement to keep his balance. He owed Sarah Ashley an apology, but he wanted to thank her for introducing Grace to his world. He suddenly wished Grace was beside him.
What was happening to him? He’d been content alone. Until recently. “High school boys pretty much only think about girls and food. I had the girl. I needed more food.”
Sarah Ashley laughed and looked at him. “I only cared about clothes and boys. I had the boy and spent my time worrying about updating my wardrobe. Do you think it’ll ever be that simple again?”
“No.” Ethan should know, he had a baby coming and no income to support the child. “The real world isn’t simple, but I think we appreciate everything more now that we have to work harder for what we want.”
“Do you know what you want?” Sarah Ashley asked him.
He searched her face, wondering what her game was. The Sarah Ashley he knew always had an agenda. Always. But her smile was genuine, her voice sincere as if she’d asked him if he’d figured out his life and would he kindly share his secret with her. As if they were two friends discussing life’s journey, nothing more.
What did he want? He wanted a job he loved. To get out of debt. Grace. He kicked at the gravel and pebbles flew, but thoughts of Grace stuck. His heart squeezed. He crammed his fists farther into his pockets, refusing to tap his chest, as if to confirm only his heart beat inside there. Love wasn’t part of any plan, or any of his thoughts. Ever.
He cleared his throat and cleared his head. Time to focus on what mattered. “I’d like you to help me book more rooms at the guest ranch. I’d appreciate it if you would bring it up to your large network of friends. If they’re coming to stay this summer, they should consider the ranch.”
“That’s rather specific.” Now she watched him as if she didn’t know him.
“You asked what I wanted. That’s it.”
“I asked if you knew what you wanted.”
“And I told you.” Ethan stepped closer to the back porch. “Will you help me?”
“This is new.” Sarah Ashley set her brush on the tray. “I’m quite sure no one has ever sought out my help before.”
He wouldn’t beg. He’d find reservations for the guest ranch with or without Sarah Ashley’s assistance. But that would take more time. Time he didn’t have. A payment on his college loan was due when the Zigler party arrived. Soon his baby arrived.
“I wouldn’t ask, but it’s important. The ranch won’t survive without more bookings.”
“I would never have thought the ranch’s survival would matter much to you.” That shrewd look in her blue eyes hadn’t dulled without her makeup. “I lost count at how many times you swore you were never coming home. And here you are.”
“This is about family.” Family mattered to him. Always had. Always would. “I won’t walk away from them.”
Sarah Ashley paused, her gaze fixed on him. She seemed to be working something out. He wouldn’t ask, fairly certain she was deciding what she’d ask in return for this favor. Sarah Ashley’s help would come with conditions. He’d accept her terms if she filled the guesthouse.
Finally, she blinked and nodded as if she’d finished an internal debate. Pulling out her phone, she asked, “When do your next guests arrive?”
“Two weeks from tomorrow.”
She swiped a manicured nail across the screen as if that six-inch device revealed the answers to all of his problems. “You need to add more about the amenities on the Blackcreek Guest Ranch website. That will give my friends something to read about when they research the ranch.”
He hadn’t expected her to say that. Ethan backtracked. He wasn’t dealing with technology and websites too. “Are you sure we need to do this?”
“Yes, and you need to follow through on whatever you write down. And add videos and photos.” She aimed the phone screen at him, looking more like a marketing executive than the pampered princess she claimed to like being. “You make promises on this web page and you have to deliver if you want to be fully booked through the summer.”
The ranch needed to be busy every second of the summer to turn a profit and put it in the best position to sell. The ranch had to be full so that Ethan could leave without worrying and begin his search in person for a veterinary practice. “What do you have in mind?”
Sarah Ashley tucked her phone into her shirt pocket and picked up her brush as if she’d picked up a pointer for her PowerPoint presentation on the top ten best strategies to capture a new market. “My friends will have specific expectations.”
“It’s a working ranch just like the website promises.” That certainly set his expectations. Ethan held out his hands, basically asking what more could they expect.
Sarah Ashley waved her brush in the air as if covering his words. “They’ll want that ranch experience along with the amenities of a five-star spa.”
“Meaning?” Something like fear coiled through him. The very same sensation when he’d stumbled upon a rattlesnake, disturbed by his rambling in the woods. He’d retreated slowly that day, never breaking eye contact with the snake, poised to strike, until he’d moved far enough away. He wondered how far he’d need to retreat now to escape Sarah Ashley’s requirements for a five-star experience. He’d regretted disrupting that rattlesnake. Would he regret seeking out Sarah Ashley’s help now?
“They’ll expect the usual—extra-plush towels, Egyptian cotton sheets, bubble bath supplies and a detailed agenda for their approval so they don’t ruin their shoes.” Sarah Ashley swirled her brush in brown paint and looked up at him. “I almost forgot, mani-pedis and in-room massages.”
Ethan watched the bristles disappear into the brown paint and wondered if he’d fallen into a vast pit of quicksand himself. “There’s a petting zoo.”
“That’s quite adorable.” Sarah Ashley curved the brush around the bottom of the milk can. “And I suppose fitting.”
Ethan swallowed against that quicksand now leeching into his mouth. His voice sounded mud-coated and dull. “It’s a ranch.”
“I’m aware of that.” Sarah Ashley dropped her brush in the water jug beside her and frowned at E
than. “Do you want my friends, or not?”
He had to have her friends book rooms. He forced the gloom out of his voice. “Well, could you make me a list of what I need to add to the guest rooms?”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll put some things together and Grace can bring everything up to you tonight.” Sarah Ashley stood up and checked her watch. “That’s the end of my lunch break. I need to get back to work.”
Ethan had to get back to work too. No doubt Katie had more tasks for him as everything on the ranch seemed to shift sideways daily. But he stayed where he was, once again knocked off balance by his own thoughts. The ones about how much he liked the idea of Grace being at the ranch again and not only so that she could explain the ranch accounts. He just wanted to be with Grace.
Ethan rubbed his forehead, wondering if the sweet tea he’d bought at White Buffalo Grocers had been tainted. “Grace? At the ranch tonight?”
“I just assumed. Grace mentioned your project was important and she’s been up there the last few nights.” Sarah Ashley fixed her flannel shirt as if she wanted to look her best in her Brewster’s uniform. “Mom doubled her stew recipe, which I assumed was for everyone at the ranch. You know cooking for a crowd is my mother’s real calling.”
“Grace and I are working on a big project.” His sweet tea had definitely been spiked. He couldn’t seem to think straight.
“Then I’ll get everything ready.” Sarah Ashley held open the door that led into the supply area. “I’ll leave it all with Grace along with instructions.”
Ethan stopped her before she disappeared inside. “Sarah Ashley?”
She turned around and smiled. There was something different about Sarah Ashley, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what. Other than she hadn’t asked for anything in return for this favor. That was very un-Sarah-Ashley-like. Ethan rubbed his stomach and considered dropping into South Corner to get antacids for his sudden indigestion. Grace’s soup diet might be the way to go. The entire Gardner family had him questioning everything he thought he knew about them and had his stomach in knots. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” Sarah Ashley waved toward the warehouse. “I have to go help Dad sort horse feed.”
Pops strolled around the corner, leading Sunshine and Lucky, both wearing bright pink leashes. He smacked Ethan on the shoulder. “Better come out to the front porch and sit down, boy, before you trip on your own surprise.”
“Sarah Ashley just told me that she was going to sort horse feed with Frank.”
Pops grinned, causing his forehead to wrinkle even more. “I learned never to question a Gardner girl’s heart. Once something gets inside there, it gets stuck for good.”
Except Ethan had never known Sarah Ashley’s heart to be in the family business. He glanced over at the milk can and studied the quaint scene Sarah Ashley had been painting. The vintage farmhouse beside a field of sunflowers reminded him of Grace: bright, cheerful, but grounded. Why that was important, he had no idea. He only knew that everything for him seemed to circle back to Grace, even when he didn’t mean it to.
He shook his head and followed Pops and the dogs. One quick game of chess with the old man and he’d be on his way. And if he was fortunate enough to be on the porch when Grace returned from the post office, all the better. He’d confirm the time when he could expect her at the ranch. And he’d insist she sit and relax while she told him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ETHAN HANDED THE first box to Grace and took the second one from her car trunk. “I can’t believe your sister put all this together in the last few hours.”
“I don’t even think it took her that long.” Grace adjusted the box in her arms and walked beside him toward the guest lodge.
Katie intercepted them, extending her streak of interrupting Ethan hourly. “I’m now giving out your cell phone number to everyone that calls the ranch—guests and owners of patients alike.”
“I’m not practicing.” He squeezed the cardboard box. “I don’t have a clinic, remember?”
Katie whistled, calling Hip to her side. “That hasn’t stopped you from making house calls all over town.”
“Those were special circumstances.” No big deal. He tried to keep his voice detached.
“Well, special or not, the locals all over town have been talking about their vet’s excellent, hands-on care of their pets.” Katie peered into Grace’s box and frowned. She picked up the lemongrass bodywash, opened it and smelled the gel. “Now, you’re in even more demand.”
Ethan took the bottle from Katie, snapped the lid closed and stuffed it into the box he held. He wanted to stuff his degree in there too. Perhaps then the locals would stop referring to him as their vet. “I’m not practicing.”
“Well, call those people back and tell them that. I’m not your secretary.” Katie picked up a bottle of vanilla-lavender lotion from Grace’s box, sniffed, then sniffed again before reading the label. “What is all this?”
“Sarah Ashley’s contribution to the ranch.” Grace moved beside Ethan, cradling the box in her arms. Her smile lengthened as if she was trying to match the forced enthusiasm in her voice.
Katie looked between Grace and Ethan. “We need paying guests, not lotions and shower gels.”
“Sarah Ashley has lots of well-connected friends,” Ethan said.
Katie stared at him blankly as if he’d spoken in French.
“Friends who’ll pay to stay here if we provide certain amenities.” Grace lifted her box as if she were offering a toast to Katie.
“This is a working ranch. W-o-r-k-i-n-g.” Katie stretched out the word, as if Ethan and Grace had both lost their ability to understand. “Not a spa.”
“It’s a ranch that needs capital if it wants to continue w-o-r-k-i-n-g.” Katie couldn’t challenge that. No one could. The truth stared back at him in the financials Grace had put together.
Grace nodded beside him. He sighed his thanks at the look of resignation on her face that said, Sorry, but it’s true.
Katie pointed at the bottles and tins. “You’re trying to tell me that this stuff is going to fill all the rooms in the guesthouse and the cabins.”
“Sarah Ashley thinks so.” Positivity lightened Grace’s voice.
“She wants the guests coming in to have special and unexpected features that they can mention in their reviews.” Ethan plowed ahead, repeating Sarah Ashley’s statement with his own surge of confidence. “The guest ranch will offer a balance of the rustic and refined and that will book new guests.”
Katie wasn’t buying any of it. Doubt filled Ethan too. But he’d started this. He’d see it through. He was more desperate now that vet calls seemed to outpace reservation calls. “Sarah Ashley wants to show her friends the updated website.”
“Great idea.” Grace bumped Ethan’s elbow.
Something bumped inside Ethan too. He liked her support. He liked her a little too much. He should move away from Grace. He’d be on his way out of town soon. He could not get used to Grace standing beside him. But if he convinced her to leave with him... He edged closer to her, keeping up the contact.
He hadn’t given the idea merit until now. Would she leave her family and her roots to be with him? To build new roots? Maybe if he had a stable job at a respectable clinic. Maybe if he had something real to offer her.
Katie aimed the shampoo bottle at his chest and pinned him in place. “You’re the one collecting these testimonials and putting them up on the website, right?”
“That’s the plan.” Nothing could be simpler, or so he’d kept telling himself. Though he was beginning to reconsider his use of the word plan. Every time he spoke of his plans, they never turned out like the actual plans.
“This one is all on you guys.” Katie pointed first at Grace and then at Ethan with the shampoo bottle. “You’re Sarah Ashley’s sister. And you’re her ex. And I have real, hones
t to goodness ranch work to do.” Katie grabbed several bottles of the vanilla-lavender lotion and green tea shampoo. “I’m only testing these. We want to know if this stuff gives you a rash before we put it in a guest’s bathroom.”
Ethan and Grace looked at each other and busted out laughing. Even Katie grinned on her way toward the barn.
Ethan strode over to the guest lodge and used his boot to prop the door open for Grace.
She walked into the entryway and set her box on the hand-carved side table and frowned at the supplies inside the box. “I hate to say it, but I’m sort of with Katie on this one.”
“But you agreed with Sarah Ashley earlier.” Ethan kicked the door shut.
“I didn’t want to seem disloyal to my sister.” Grace said the words easily as if that explained everything.
He wondered where having a baby with your sister’s ex-boyfriend landed on the disloyalty scale. Then there was falling for your ex’s little sister. Not that he’d fallen for Grace. He didn’t allow his heart to fall. The damage could be irreparable.
“You have something against scented lotions and bath salts?” Ethan set his box next to Grace’s and pulled out several bottles, opening, sniffing and closing each one like Katie. “Most women are supposed to love this stuff.”
“It’s overpriced soap.” Grace tugged a bottle of mint-infused hand lotion from him and pointed at the price. “The bars you buy in bulk from the big-box stores clean your skin just the same. I also feel the need to add that the bulk soaps are friendlier on the budget.”
“But will the bulk soap book more rooms?”
“I’m not sure smelling like cucumber and mint will work either,” Grace said.
“Not a fan of cucumbers,” Ethan teased.
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