“Oh, what else did you bring?” Elizabeth followed her outside and helped to carry in a couple bags.
“Found some small first-aid kits in the back of the clinic from one of the fairs they did, and asked if I could take a couple bags of them to hand out. The clinic administrator thought it was a great idea. So we can hand these out to the women, and hopefully they can at least have a few bandages and first-aid salve should they get any scrapes.” Chloe grabbed a couple bags and began to walk into her sister’s house.
Without missing a beat, Elizabeth continued on, “This makes me think we might want to get a collection going from all the businesses in town.” She picked up the rest of the bags.
“I wonder if we could even ask some of the ranch owners to make up sandwiches and treats to hand out? You know, get a circle going? Maybe once a month we do this, and each month a different ranch or business can sponsor the effort? We might even be able to get more people to join us.” Elizabeth was getting very excited about her ideas to help those in need.
God had blessed her and her family so much, and she wanted to give back and help others. Something in her very being was waking up and speaking to her about this endeavor, and she knew it was from God himself.
Her twin bit her lower lip. “I have a little bit of bad news, though.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “What’s up? Did anyone cancel on us?”
Chloe nodded. “Yup, our brothers did. But don’t worry.” She moved all the bags into her right hand and held up her left hand, almost dropping the bags she was holding. “I have five cowboys who confirmed today that they’re ready and willing to go with us tomorrow. We’ll have more than enough muscle with us.” She chuckled.
Elizabeth shook her head and knew that Chloe had no trouble getting men to join in on her crazy schemes. She only worried about what her sister had told them they were getting into. Sometimes she wasn’t totally upfront with her requests. “Do they know what they’re in for?”
Aghast, Chloe took a step back. “Of course they do. I wouldn’t wrangle cowboys for something like this without telling them.” She wasn’t about to explain that it was really Logan who had told them. As long as they knew what was coming, it didn’t really matter who did the explaining, did it?
By the time all the girls were at her place, Elizabeth was feeling relaxed and ready to enjoy a night with the girls, chatting about men and what they might experience the next day.
Harper was also excited. “I heard Jonathan is coming tomorrow. Is it true?” The dreamy look in her eyes told Elizabeth all she needed to know.
Her friend Harper wasn’t quite ready to settle down yet. She enjoyed dating a guy a few times and then moving on before either one of them could get too attached. One of these days, Elizabeth hoped, a good man would come along and earn her trust. Then Harper would settle down and start having the babies she’d always wanted.
Chloe’s eyes brightened, and she gushed her news to Harper. “Yes, and he’s very excited to join us.” She winked conspiratorially at her friends. “I think all the men are excited to join us tomorrow. Something tells me they’re more interested in us then they are the actual work we’ll be doing, but I’m hoping they’ll get into it once we’re there.”
All the women in the room laughed, and they began chatting about who was going and who was cute, and who had the biggest muscles. Elizabeth sighed and chuckled at her friends’ antics. “Sometimes it’s nice having a steady boyfriend.”
Chloe smirked. She hadn’t given up hope of having Logan as her brother-in-law. Not yet, anyway. Under her breath, she whispered, “We’ll see about that steady boyfriend after tomorrow.”
Chapter 13
A bright, sunny day dawned, and Elizabeth excitedly got ready for the big day. While she was a bit nervous, she also knew God was on their side, and he would deliver them from any harm that day.
When she arrived at the front of the general store to meet up with everyone, she knew she might see Logan, but she wasn’t expecting him to be outside with the rest of the cowboys who were going with them to Bozeman. Although, most of them were friends with Logan, so she shouldn’t have been surprised that he would step out of his store to chat with them, something she was so not ready to do. Not after that forced confinement with him the previous week.
Since that horrible day, Elizabeth had successfully avoided the general store and the entire family who owned and operated it. When Chloe said that they would be meeting up with the guys there, she should have suggested a different place. The only problem with meeting somewhere else was that most places didn’t have enough parking to hold everyone’s trucks. The church would have worked, but it was on the opposite side of town from where they needed to be. The general store was the most central location, with Main Street leading to the highway that would take them to Bozeman. So she’d kept quiet. This morning she was regretting it.
Seeing him there in his cowboy boots, hat, and jeans that fit him like a glove, she was brought back to a moment in high school when he’d declared his love for her for the first time. She had known he loved her by all the wonderful things he had done for her and the flowers and gifts he had given her for years, but to have him say it out loud for the first time made everything real for her.
Now, those memories which had been locked away for so long came rushing back and caused her heart to ache for the love she’d once had. She had never doubted his love for her until that summer she graduated high school. The idiot had never even told her why he was breaking up with her. He just gave her some sort of stupid reply when she asked. “You’ll be much happier as a single girl when you get to college. These will be your years to date and experience all sorts of things you wouldn’t get to if we stay together.”
She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes as she recalled that day. When she turned back to her truck, pretending as though she were looking for something, she wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks and sniffed.
When she felt a presence next to her, she stiffened and hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was. His scent enveloped her—sandalwood, pine, and man. Logan’s scent was all his. She had never met a man whose scent caused her skin to prickle like it did when he was near.
While she didn’t miss him, she did miss his scent. It had always been home to her. One time while in college, she went to the local department store and tried to find his scent among all the cologne bottles, but nothing came even close to Logan. She hadn’t sniffed another sample of men’s cologne since then. When she got back to her dorm room, she’d felt foolish and chided herself for looking for him.
“Here.” Logan handed her a handkerchief—one of those she had embroidered herself and given to him as a Christmas present in her sophomore year of high school.
“You still use these?” She took it and blotted at her eyes before blowing her nose. She hoped he thought it was anything at all besides tears from crying. She wasn’t going to lie, but she would be mortified if he even suspected she was crying over him.
“Of course. I only have two left—the others have been washed so much they began to fall apart. But I still carry real handkerchiefs, and these are my favorite.”
A tiny smile formed on her lips, and she pocketed the small piece of white cloth. “I’ll wash it and return it to you later.” It was the least she could do, since she had soiled it.
“No worries. I always keep a spare on me.” He nudged her shoulder. “You never know when you might come upon a damsel who needs it.” He had actually begun carrying a second one when he had a rotten bout of allergies and went through two handkerchiefs a day.
Elizabeth remembered the testing he went through that year and almost cringed at the memory of all the needles that went into his back. Turned out he was allergic to her perfume. She changed it out for something else, and his allergies went away.
“Thanks. Well, we’d better get going, and I’m sure you need to get back into your store. Have a nice day, Logan.” She closed the door on
her truck and moved back toward the group. “Alright, we have two SUVs. Who’s riding with whom?”
A tall man stood at her back. He leaned over and said, “I’m riding with you.”
Elizabeth jumped and turned around, shocked to see Logan standing there. “But… I thought… What are you doing?”
“I’m Team Muscle.” He flexed his biceps, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but look.
“Oh look, Martha. It’s Elizabeth and Logan. Don’t they just make the cutest couple?” Cindy Macon and her pink pouf were right in front of Elizabeth and Logan on the sidewalk.
Goldie Walters clapped her hands and smiled warmly at them both. “It’s so good to see you two together again after all these years. It just warms my heart.” She put a hand over her chest.
Elizabeth’s heart stopped beating, and her face felt warm. She really hoped she wasn’t blushing. She looked between the two Diner Divas and tried to stop their gossip in its tracks. “No, we aren’t together.”
Logan chuckled and put his hand around her shoulders. “We are still great friends.” And he winked at them.
Elizabeth dug her elbow into his side. She knew she couldn’t make a big display, but she had to drive home her point. “I’m dating Max, remember?” Her brows lifted, and she began to feel anger boiling up. Not at Max, but at the entire situation she’d found herself in.
Cindy swiped a hand in front of her face. “Phooey, you’re standing here with Logan. The two of you look perfect together.”
Elizabeth sighed. She knew where this was heading, and there was nothing she could do about it. “Cindy, one of these days God is going to call you to account for your gossiping ways. Just keep that mind.” She turned and walked away from the two gossipmongers.
The older ladies giggled and walked away, already discussing how great Elizabeth and Logan looked together and how cute their babies would be.
Elizabeth ran a hand over her forehead. “Who’s going to watch the store today?”
Logan chuckled. “Leah has it well in hand. Saturdays aren’t very busy right now, and Buck will be coming in shortly to help.”
“Oh,” was all she could think to say. With her heart beating so fast, she wasn’t sure if she could even talk, let alone come up with something smart to say.
Not only was Logan going to spend the entire day with her, but by the time they came back, the whole town would think she and Max had broken up because she wanted to get back with Logan. While she knew she needed to do damage control, she also knew she didn’t have the time to do it. She and Max would have to go out on a date that night to prove the Diner Divas’ gossip wrong.
Chloe called out, “Alright ladies and gentlemen, pick an SUV and get yourselves loaded. We have a lot of work to do today, and it’s going to be hot and humid, so the sooner we get started the better it will be for us all.”
The forecast had called for seventy-six percent humidity with a high of eighty-seven for Bozeman. None of them would want to be out in the city past noon if they could help it. At least, not in the direct sunshine. Although, even in the shade it would be sweltering with that level of humidity. Summer was making its final notes felt, and fall couldn’t come soon enough for anyone.
Elizabeth had no desire to ride with Logan; she didn’t even want him on this trip, no matter how much he could help. So she watched to see which vehicle Logan chose, and then she chose the other one. It was the only way she could focus on the task at hand. Today was supposed to be about helping the homeless women of Bozeman, not trying to hide from Logan.
Logan knew Elizabeth was uncomfortable with his decision to join them. But he wasn’t expecting her to be so upset with his decision to come and help. He only wanted to protect her and maybe do a little good while he was at it. When he heard about what had happened to Elizabeth and her friends on her last trip to Bozeman, he was angry at Max for not going along with them. He was also proud of Elizabeth and the girls for wanting to help those women and not backing down from a bully. While Bart was definitely more dangerous than your average bully, Logan wasn’t going to back down from the sorry excuse for a man if he bothered them.
When Logan noticed Elizabeth waiting to choose a vehicle, he decided to pick one so she could feel comfortable in choosing to ride in a different car. He noticed that Chloe chose to ride with Harper, and that was when he chose the other vehicle. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to ride with Chloe and Harper; he just knew that Elizabeth would want to ride with her twin and her best friend.
His conscience was niggling at him for going along.
Once he realized that Chloe had plenty of male volunteers, he should have backed out. He knew that Elizabeth wouldn’t be happy with him coming along, but he also still felt very protective of the only woman he’d ever loved. Even if she never forgave him for breaking her heart, he wasn’t going to let her get hurt. He would take a bullet for the cute cowgirl who wore her heart on her sleeve.
And he wanted nothing more than to get her friendship back… Well, maybe a little bit more. But he would be very content if he could have his oldest friend in the world back in his life.
For some strange reason, it ended up being boys vs. girls. All the girls rode in one SUV, and the guys all piled into the other one. He didn’t care as long as they didn’t lose the girls.
Logan sat in the front passenger seat and turned around to look at his fellow muscles. “Does anyone know exactly where we’re going? What if we lose them on the highway?”
Drake smiled and nodded. “Yup, we’re meeting them in the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Bozeman. They’re going to give us some tracks with their phone number and address on it to add to the goody bags.”
Logan nodded and turned back around to face front as they headed out.
It wasn’t a long ride, and the guys chatted the entire way. Logan learned more than he wanted about this group of cowboys, most of whom were old high school buddies of his. It seemed Jonathan had gotten over his feelings for Chloe, but still found her attractive, or hot, as he called her. But it seemed he might also have a thing for Harper.
The man couldn’t stop talking about the sweet-as-pie nurse. Logan would have to keep an eye out and see if Harper returned his friend’s feelings. He hoped so; they would make a good couple. And if she didn’t, well…he’d just have to make sure Jonathan didn’t fall too hard for Harper.
He hadn’t been to Bozeman in years, and as they approached the city, he noticed it had grown, but it still held the look and feel of the small Montana country town he remembered from his childhood. While it wasn’t more than a one-horse town compared to Los Angeles, it was a big city to him when he was growing up.
As he exited the SUV in the parking lot, the smile on his face felt good. He hadn’t had much to smile about since coming home, and he knew he’d made the right decision to join Chloe today.
He took a deep breath and was very grateful for the clean air of Montana. While living in LA he’d tried hard not to breathe too deeply. When he first arrived he’d tried taking a deep breath, only to start coughing from all the exhaust fumes around him. Until that day, he’d never understood why the Asians always wore masks, even years after SARS went away. Now he understood.
Something in his heart stirred and told him to pay attention. Yes, Lord.
Even in LA he had known when the Lord spoke to him. So when he felt the stirring in his heart, he was glad he hadn’t declined to join the group, even though he saw the distress in Elizabeth’s eyes before they left.
There may not be any problems at all today, but he was going to stay vigilant and do whatever he could to help keep his friends safe, as well as the homeless women they were about to meet.
A tall, lanky man with a brown Stetson, blue jeans, and tan boots approached them. “Hi, I’m Pastor Langdon. I’m so glad your group reached out to us.”
“Thank you,” Harper said. “We’re really excited to be here and hope that we can do something to help the women who need it most.” She
reached out and shook the pastor’s hand.
“What can you tell us about Big Bart?” If the pastor had been working with the local homeless, he’d be the best person to speak with about the Bart issue. Elizabeth was anxious to learn as much as she possibly could about this current situation. He might even know how to avoid him, or better yet, why the local sheriff hadn’t stopped the criminal.
“We’ve been working with a few of the local homeless women, but Big Bart always seems to stop the women from joining us on Sundays.” Langdon shook his head. “He seems to own our homeless population. Just this past week I spoke with the sheriff about it, and he’s looking into the issue.”
“Why has it taken so long for the sheriff to do anything about this criminal?” Elizabeth stood next to her sister with her arms crossed over her chest.
The pastor took his hat off and scratched his head. “Well, Miss…?”
“Sorry, I’m Elizabeth Manning. Nice to meet you, Pastor.” Elizabeth took three steps and shook the pastor’s hand.
“It seems Big Bart is new to our fair city. As far as I can gather, he’s only been here a few months. In fact, our local homeless population wasn’t very large until Bart showed up. Which has me thinking he might be bringing some of them here from other parts.” Langdon put his thumbs through the front belt loops on his jeans.
Jonathan interjected, “Do you think your crime rate has increased since Bart moved to town?”
Logan had wondered the exact same thing. If Big Bart was importing homeless people, there had to be a reason for it. Why would he want a collection of homeless here in Bozeman that he controlled? He had to be up to something.
The pastor grabbed the back of his neck and considered Jonathan’s question. “I can’t be sure…they’ve only been here since spring…but it does seem like local crime has increased. Although, it usually does when the weather is better. I’d say that’s a question for the sheriff. But I do know that two ranchers who regularly attend my church have complained about missing tack, and another rancher said one of his prize stallions has been stolen.”
Second Chance Ranch Page 10