When Elizabeth left the store with her order in hand, she didn’t even look his way. He made sure she would see him when he walked to the counter and stayed behind it until after she left, but she gave him the cold shoulder.
His sister came over and sighed. “She’s never going to forgive you. You know that, right?”
He hung his head. “I know. I was so stupid. I wish she would give me a chance to at least talk to her and apologize.”
Leah screwed up her lips and considered a moment before speaking. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but everyone in town already knows, so it’s not like it’s a secret, but Max is the first guy she’s dated since you dumped her. She hasn’t been able to trust any guy. I don’t think she even dated in college. You did a number on her.”
Logan hung his head even lower. “I know, and I feel awful about it. I haven’t had more than a handful of dates myself since making the biggest mistake of my life. Instead, I focused on school and work. I had to learn to be the best at what I did so I could come back here one day and help the business move to the next level.”
His sister patted his shoulder. “I know. But you ripped her heart into shreds and she’s never recovered. I think”—she tapped her chin—“no, I know that if you give her time and don’t try to have an actual conversation with her, you will get her attention. Give her time to warm up to the idea of being around you again. I doubt she’ll ever go out with you. Max is pretty hot. All the girls around town want him. A few have even tried to steal him from Elizabeth.” She chuckled and walked away when another customer entered the front door.
Elizabeth had never been so happy for church to end. She sat in the back pew, away from her family, who typically sat close to Logan’s family. They had done so most of her life. However, Elizabeth couldn’t handle Logan watching her like he did in the store the other day. So instead, she arrived late and sat in the back. The second the preacher was done with the invitation, she ran out. In fact, she didn’t speak to more than two people the entire time she was there. And they only received her attention during the welcome and shaking hands part of the service. She stood stock still in her pew and refused to look at Logan.
Now it was Monday, and Max would be back soon from his latest trip. She knew once he arrived she’d feel better. Logan had to know she was dating, but she doubted he had met Max yet. Once he saw her with Max, she hoped he would leave her alone.
Too many memories were popping up in her mind whenever she saw Logan or thought of him. It made her heart hurt even more. The only really bad memory she had of her time with Logan was when he broke up with her. They had spent their lives together. First as childhood friends, and then as they grew up, it morphed into a romantic relationship that everyone spoke about. Their love was the talk of the town.
She would bet big money that the town was talking about them again, probably taking bets on when they would get back together again. And she wanted nothing to do with it. Why couldn’t people leave her and Logan alone? She was with Max.
Max, the man the entire town had googly-eyes over, was a much better match for her than Logan ever was.
Max was very respectful; he even called her every night he was out of town. Or at least he texted, if nothing else. While they weren’t in love or headed down the aisle any time soon, he was a good boyfriend.
Later that day, Elizabeth met Max for dinner at the local diner. They tried not to eat at each other’s homes unless there was a chaperone, or another couple. So they ate out a lot when they wanted to share a meal.
Elizabeth wanted to wait for marriage before sharing a bed with a man. Max wasn’t too happy, but he respected her and said he wouldn’t push. She very much appreciated his support and understanding. But she knew he hadn’t waited, and therefore she didn’t want to put herself in a situation where he might push things further than what she wanted. Her ideas about marriage and sex might have been a little bit antiquated, but she believed what the Bible said about sex being something reserved only for a man and his wife.
Even if she never married, she would follow the Bible. When it was just the two of them, staying clear of his apartment or her house helped keep them both in line.
Monday night was a standing date night at the local diner, when Max was in town.
“Max, I missed you.” Elizabeth kissed Max’s cheek and hugged him.
He smiled at her, but said nothing.
Once they were seated and had their menus, he said, “I heard you went to Bozeman and got into some trouble the other day.” His tone was calm and neutral, but his eyes were blazing with fire.
Was that anger? Or was he just happy to see her?
She wasn’t exactly sure how he felt, but she could tell he was holding in strong feelings—probably anger. What she did was a bit crazy. But she’d had to defend herself and her friends. You never backed down from bullies or they just kept coming after you. Everyone knew that. Maybe the physical altercation was a bit much, but again, she had to defend herself and her friends.
Wait, why was she feeling so defensive? All he’d asked was a simple question. He wasn’t accusing her or saying she was stupid to do it. He just wanted to know what went down, that was all. Right?
She nodded her head as she scanned the menu. “Yup, a group of us went to help the homeless. We brought them a bag of essentials. Some socks, a t-shirt, and a couple gift cards to the local fast food joint. It wasn’t much, but we were also able to help a woman who had been beaten by a local thug get into a shelter.”
His nostrils flared, and he glared daggers at her when she looked up from her menu.
Not wanting to let him think he could make her feel bad, she sat up straight and put her menu on the table and waited for him to respond.
He looked around, making sure no one was watching them. “What do you think you were doing? I thought you knew better than to slum it like that. You could have been hurt.”
“But I wasn’t. God was with us. He protected us. I believe He led us there at the right time to help that woman.” Elizabeth sighed and slouched a bit in her squeaky pleather diner booth seat. “What upsets you more? That me and a few other girls gave out gift bags to homeless women in the middle of the day, or that I spent time talking with one of them and helped her get into a shelter?”
He raised his hand and snorted. “Both. But that’s not all. I heard you got into a fight with men, not women. Were you going to tell me about that?”
She blinked, and her mouth opened and closed. “How’d you hear about that?”
“When I came home earlier today, I stopped in here for a coffee. The Diner Divas were more than happy to tell me about your little excursion. Did you really fight with a street thug? Really?” He shook his head in disgust.
Instead of asking if she was alright, he was angry with her, and she was shocked that he was so upset.
“Wait, how did they hear about it? I haven’t even told my parents or my brothers.” She shivered at the thought of her brothers hearing about the street fight. They would not take too kindly to any man putting a hand on their sisters. Even though they had fought their entire childhood, it was different. No one touched their sisters and got away with it.
“Well, it looks like some of the other girls in your party weren’t so careful with keeping their mouths shut. Word is probably all over town by now. Why would you do it?”
“Because they attacked us. I had to fight back. Did you expect me to just take their assault lying down? Really?” She looked at him incredulously.
“No, that I totally expected. I could never expect you not to defend yourself. What were you thinking, going to the homeless and interacting with them? It’s dangerous, even in the middle of the day. As evidenced by your experience on Friday.” He raised an eyebrow, and his lips formed a tight, thin line as he waited for her to apologize for being so stupid.
She put her hand up in front of her. “Wait, you’re mad at me for helping others? Really? That’s what has you so fired up?�
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“Yes. I told you that night we went out to dinner in Bozeman and the woman came up begging for money that you shouldn’t help them. It never benefits you to help the homeless. They’re on the streets for a reason. They could get jobs if they wanted, and then an apartment, but they’re too lazy to work. People giving them handouts just keeps them from doing anything with their lives.” His whispered words struck her heart, and Elizabeth was sure she had no clue who the man in front of her was.
He had always been one of the first to volunteer to help the church when they had church cleaning days, or to help the school when they set up for the carnival. His generous spirit was one of the things that had attracted her to him in the first place. Well, that and his Hollywood good looks. Who was this man in front of her? Surely he was just upset because she almost got hurt. That had to be what had caused him to react this way. She couldn’t believe he had such a cold heart.
“You mean to tell me you’ve never helped the homeless? And you truly believe they’re just lazy? Really?” She shook her head, not able to bring the words out that she really wanted to say. How could he believe those things?
He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to her. “Homeless people are…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Judy the waitress came up to their table. “Hi sweeties. Will it be your usual? Or are you finally going to try the special of the day?”
She looked between the two of them and took a step back. “Maybe you need some more time? I’ll bring you both a glass of water.” Judy walked away as quickly as she could.
Elizabeth watched her walk straight to the Diner Divas sitting at the counter and begin to speak to them. She knew that before they were even done, the entire town would know that she and Max had had an argument. By tomorrow, the rumor would probably be that they broke up. It was always that way. The divas would gossip, and it would get twisted around to be as salacious as possible.
And with Logan in town, it would most likely include him. That was the last thing she needed.
“The divas are already leaving to spread their gossip. We should eat dinner and talk about this later. Put a smile on your face. Don’t let anyone know anything is wrong.” Elizabeth plastered a fake smile on her face and sat back in a more relaxed pose. She wasn’t going to make it easy for the town gossip mill to make this out to be more than it was.
After a quiet dinner with fake smiles and nods to people as they entered, Max and Elizabeth finally left the diner and headed to her place so they could talk.
“I think you should come in so no one sees us arguing outside.” Elizabeth let herself out of Max’s truck without waiting for him to open her door. She went up on her porch and waited for him to join her.
“Are you sure? We made a deal—no being alone in a house.” He smirked, knowing there was no way she would be tempted into anything romantic, but still wanting to get in a jab. He hated that she wouldn’t be alone with him in either of their homes, as though he was nothing more than a hormonal teenage boy who couldn’t control himself.
Just as he closed the door to her house, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and put up a finger. “Hi, Milton. What’s up?”
She sighed when she hung up. “You aren’t going to believe it, but Milton is sick and can’t go out on a call. He needs me to head out to the Miller ranch. They have several heads of cattle that might need to be put down. I have to examine them and see if it’s contagious or just bad luck.” Elizabeth grabbed her bag and walked them outside. “I guess it’s a good thing I rarely wear dresses outside of church.” The sardonic smile on her face was anything but happy.
“I want to continue this conversation tomorrow night,” Max said as they walked down the steps. “Maybe we could just meet up for coffee and go for a walk along the creek?”
She nodded. “Yeah, sure. Call me tomorrow afternoon.”
Chapter 7
The cattle at the Miller ranch needed her and Milton’s full attention for the next few days. They had to sort through all the cattle that showed signs of illness and separate them from the rest of the herd. Elizabeth wasn’t sure if it would infect the entire herd or if just a few were infected. Mr. Miller had recently purchased one hundred head of calves, and it seemed the majority of those sick were the new ones.
She suspected it was shipping fever, but couldn’t be certain until she had quarantined them for the week. If no others came down with the respiratory symptoms, then she knew she at least had it contained. She immediately focused on testing the animals for the most common illnesses and treating them.
She and Max weren’t able to finish their conversation from Monday night because he had to take another short trip later that week. They had only seen each other twice, and Elizabeth was too tired to argue. They discussed their schedules and agreed that they would continue their discussion when he returned home the following week.
All week, the town was agog about the argument between Max and Elizabeth. Some speculated Max left town because of their fight, while others realized he did travel for work a lot. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at most of the garbage going around.
That is, until Logan’s name entered the gossip mill.
On Wednesday, Elizabeth entered the diner to get a cup of coffee to go. She had to head back out to the Miller ranch and check on the cattle again. But when she entered, she overheard the Diner Divas discussing her and Max. She was going to ignore them until she heard his name.
“You know they only fought because Logan’s back,” Lou Ann Dobbs exclaimed in her southern drawl. “Everyone knows this, Cindy.”
“Well, of course, Lou Ann. But do you know exactly what the issue was?” Cindy paused for effect. “Max is jealous! I saw Elizabeth chatting with Logan in his store the other day as though they were old friends.” Cindy Macon’s large pink pouf of hair bounced as she bobbed her head with her storytelling.
“No, you’re telling it all wrong, Cindy. They were flirting! You know those two should be together.” Martha Stanhope shook her head and sat up tall in her seat at the diner counter.
All four of the divas were sitting in their usual seats at the counter, where they held court each day and discussed everyone’s lives in town as though they were the queens of Beacon Creek and everyone else their subjects to gossip and prattle on about.
“Well of course they were flirting. They are violently in love. I always told you they would get back together. Poor Max. Do you think my Lola Belle would help him get over his broken heart?” Goldie Walters had been trying to get Max and her granddaughter together since the day Max stepped into town. Not that Max had even noticed Lola Belle, but that didn’t stop Goldie.
The grandmother wanted her twenty-three-year-old granddaughter settled already. Lola Belle was pretty, but not gorgeous. She was sweet and quiet, the complete opposite of her grandmother, but she was a bookworm. Lola was going to start her second year of a master’s in library science in the fall. She wanted nothing more than to be a librarian. Most men in town hadn’t given more than a passing thought when it came to the quiet and bookish girl.
Too bad Goldie never asked her granddaughter what she thought about Max. Then maybe, just maybe, she would have stopped dropping hints as giant as boulders on Max’s step. Lola Belle was probably the only woman in town who didn’t care for Max.
“Hi ladies. What’s today’s gossip?” Elizabeth asked. “Did you hear about old man Tom Addison? How did his surgery go?” She wanted them to stop talking about her.
Walking in on them discussing her love life wouldn’t get them to stop—she knew that from experience. The only way to get the divas to move on was to introduce a new topic. Not that Elizabeth wanted to gossip, but maybe if the old biddies spoke about someone who’d just had surgery, they would inspire someone to go and check on him, maybe even get a group of people to make some meals to take over for his recovery period.
“Has anyone started the prayer chain for him? Or what about meals? Who’s scheduling thos
e? I’d like to sign up and bring him dinner one night.” Elizabeth really did want to help the old postman. He always had a smile on his face whenever he delivered a letter or package to her at the ranch while she was growing up. He had retired a couple years ago, and the new mail person wasn’t as nice. She missed seeing his crooked smile.
Cindy raised her hands and whooped. “Oh yes, dear me. That’s my job. Thank you for the reminder. I have a list here somewhere.” The woman had gone all gray years ago, but now she had pink-tinted hair.
She must have gone to the Blow-n-Style down the street that day, as not a single strand of hair was out of place, even after all her head bobbing. The new stylist liked her hairspray a bit too much, Elizabeth thought.
“Yes, Cindy. I need to sign up as well.” Goldie, who had been sitting on the end, stood up and walked behind her friend and took the sheet out of her hand. “I’ll sign up for tomorrow.” She began to write her name down and stopped. “Does he have any dietary restrictions?”
While the ladies discussed what they thought Tom Addison should and should not eat, Elizabeth smiled and went to get her cup of coffee to go. She’d sign up later. Right now, she needed the Diner Divas to forget about her and focus on someone else for the rest of the day.
While Max was gone, Elizabeth took the time to think about their relationship and what he had said. She was convinced he was only stressed about what might have happened to her, and he really didn’t believe what he’d said. How could he? Only a heartless moron would believe the garbage he’d spewed Monday night. No, it had to be fear that drove him to speak that way. Taking this week apart would do him good.
Sunday came much faster than Elizabeth was prepared for. While she loved her church and everyone who attended, she was leery about seeing Logan.
She had decided to sit in the back of the church again, but her twin sister grabbed her arm before she could sit down. “Elizabeth, what are you doing? Come up front with the rest of the family.”
Second Chance Ranch Page 5