“Or someone?” Logan slowed down for the stop sign at the edge of town.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Ana shrugged and looked down at her hands.
No one said anything for a few heartbeats.
Elizabeth contemplated what Ana was trying to say. “Did my brothers say or do anything to frighten you?”
Ana gulped and looked at Elizabeth with her one good eye. The other one was still swollen shut with black and blue bruising all around it. “Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?” Elizabeth tried to stay calm. If one of her brothers said or did anything to frighten Ana, she’d skin them alive.
Ana clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.
Logan put his hand on Elizabeth’s knee, which caused her to close her mouth before saying anything else. Even though it had been a decade since they’d been together, she still knew his cues, and he still instinctively knew what she was about to do.
He looked at the frightened girl through the rearview mirror. “Ana, we’re on your side. Just because the boys are Elizabeth’s brothers doesn’t mean she won’t kick their butts to kingdom come for you. You can tell us what happened. I promise we will protect you.”
He wasn’t sure what had happened, but something did. The boys had lied the previous night, and Logan was going to get to the bottom of it.
Instead of answering, Ana looked out the window. Worry lines developed across her forehead, and she stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Just like she had the first time they took her out of Bozeman.
Logan was furious by the time they arrived at the Triple J Ranch. He wasn’t even sure it was safe for Ana. The way she had reacted had him believing one of the boys did or said something to seriously scare or injure the poor girl. It was bad enough that she’d thought going back to Bart, who regularly abused those who were supposed to be under his care, was a better choice than staying in Beacon Creek.
He knew he had to get his temper under control, so he did the only thing he could…he prayed. Lord, please help me to find out what happened here and do what you would have me to do in order to help Ana. She’s had such a hard life. Is there anything I can do to help her feel safe again?
By the time he got out of his truck and made his way around to the side closest to the ranch house door, a sense of peace had overtaken him. He was still upset with the Manning boys, but he also knew God was in control. Logan trusted God to make sure everything worked out the way He ordained it.
“Ana! I’m so happy you’re back home. I’ve got your room all set up and ready for you. Do you need to nap?” Mrs. Manning was in mother-hen mode, and took the girl’s arm and led her inside the house.
Mr. Manning and Matthew Manning were the only ones inside waiting.
The situation made Logan think that there must be something more going on than he was led to believe at supper last night.
Elizabeth was sad the rest of her brothers weren’t present, but she figured it was a good thing. It just might help Ana to feel more comfortable, as well as help to keep her from feeling overwhelmed with well wishes.
Ana smiled shyly at her hosts and thanked them for letting her come back. “I do think I would like to take a nap before helping with lunch.”
Mrs. Manning shook her head. “Sweetie, I’ve already been informed that you are to go back to lying around for the next week or so. No helping around the house. You need your rest.”
“But that’s so boring.” Ana sighed and hunched her shoulders.
“I know, but it’s what needs to happen in order for you to heal. Please follow the doctor’s orders. If you like, you can sit at the kitchen table after you nap and we can chat while I prepare the roast for supper.” Mrs. Manning smiled indulgently at her young charge and patted her shoulder. “Now, upstairs with you. I’ll bring you some tea if you like.”
“No thanks. I think I’ll just sleep.” Ana headed to the stairs leading up to where her room was located.
“Sleep tight, Ana. I’ll be back later to check in on you.” Elizabeth waved to the girl as she climbed the stairs.
Once Ana was no longer in listening range, the group sat around the kitchen table with coffee.
“Did she tell you anything?” Mr. Manning inquired.
Elizabeth shook her head. “Not really.”
Logan lifted his hand. “I think she did. She left because she didn’t feel safe here. One of the boys said or did something to scare her off.”
Matthew frowned and put the coffee mug down before he could take a sip. “Did she say that?”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and stared at Logan. “No, she did not say those words.”
Logan stood up and began to pace the small area around the dining room table. “She didn’t say it in so many words, but she implied that the boys said or did something to scare her off.”
Exasperated, Elizabeth put her hands in the air. “No, she didn’t. When I asked her if the boys said or did anything to hurt her, she said ‘not exactly.’ How is that her saying they did something?”
Logan turned to face Elizabeth, and lines creased his forehead. “How is that saying they didn’t do something to hurt or scare her?”
Mr. Manning stood up. “All right, you two. No arguing. It sounds like Ana got scared by something but doesn’t want to say yet what it was. Making assumptions will do no good. I’ve raised my boys to respect women, but if they do something to hurt Ana, they won’t get away with it. I will find out what happened.”
Everyone in the room was quiet. Mrs. Manning cleared her throat. “Alright, I think it’s time everyone got back to work.” She looked to Logan. “We will find out what caused Ana to run away, don’t worry.”
Logan was fairly confident Mr. and Mrs. Manning would get to the bottom of things, but he still didn’t like Ana being there if one of the boys had scared her off. “Should she come home with me instead?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“No, I think it’s best she stays here with us. We have plenty of room, and I’ll keep a closer eye on her when the boys are around.” Mrs. Manning stood to clear the table of the coffee mugs.
“And I’ll have a talk with them when I get back outside. I know my brothers can be pranksters, so maybe it was something as simple as a snake in her bed.” Matthew didn’t know what happened, but he was beginning to think something went down. Most likely one of his brothers didn’t realize he had done something wrong. He was confident they wouldn’t do anything to intentionally harm or upset Ana, or any woman for that matter. They had all been brought up to be gentlemen.
“Alright, I’ll be back out later for supper. See you all then.” Elizabeth walked out, expecting Logan to follow her.
He did, but when he went to open her door for her, she brushed him aside and got in without looking at him.
Once they were on the road, he glanced at Elizabeth. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you.” It was a statement, not a question.
She nodded once.
“Why?” He wasn’t exactly sure what he had done to get her so mad at him, again. They had just made up and were starting to get close again. The last thing he wanted was to make Lizzie mad at him.
She turned in her seat to look at him. “You really don’t know? Seriously?”
He wanted to shrug, but at the last second changed tack. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” Logan kept his eyes on the road, but he wanted to desperately to look at the woman sitting next to him. He’d bet his lucky belt buckle steam was coming from her head.
“Pft. Men. You’re all alike, you know that?” She shook her head but said nothing more.
He sat there, driving under the speed limit back to town and weighing his options. He wasn’t very experienced with women, but he did have a long history with Lizzie. The one thing he did know for sure was that she needed time to cool down. Whatever he’d said, she would eventually let him know and he would apologize.
When they reached her truck, she still wouldn’t talk to him. She g
ot out of his truck and slammed the door behind her and trudged over to her truck. Elizabeth needed to get to work, he knew that. But he couldn’t let her leave mad.
“Lizzie, please. What did I do to upset you?” he pleaded with her after he’d jumped out of his truck and followed her to her driver’s side door.
She spun around with fire in her eyes. “What did you do? I’ll tell you what you did.”
“Shh, people are watching.” Logan pasted on a smile and almost cringed when he saw the Diner Divas watching them.
She looked around and sighed. “Great, just what I need—more gossip.”
Logan put a hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezed. “Please, tell me what I did wrong. I don’t want you to be upset with me again. I couldn’t take losing your friendship again.”
She shook her head. “You won’t lose my friendship. I’ll get over it, but you should know that accusing my brothers of wrongdoing in front of me and my parents isn’t going to get you another supper invite.”
“Wait, that’s what has you mad? Ana basically said they did something. We have to find out.” He eyed her closely and rubbed the back of his neck as though he was trying to rub out a kink in his neck. “You do want to find out the truth, don’t you? Even if your brothers did something wrong?”
She sighed. “Of course I do. Don’t be an idiot. I just don’t think it’s smart to put words into Ana’s mouth.” Elizabeth stopped and looked around. With eyes still on them, she shook her head lightly. “I don’t want to argue, especially here in front of everyone. Just don’t jump to conclusions yet, okay?”
“Of course. I’ll try to keep an open mind and wait to see what Ana says.” He lifted his hand to touch her again, but thought better of it with everyone watching, and Lizzie most likely still upset with him. “I’ll see you later. Please let me know if Ana says anything, alright?”
Elizabeth nodded and got inside her truck and took off to her office.
Logan ran a hand through his hair and wished he had kept his cool earlier. Elizabeth was right: Ana hadn’t actually said the boys did anything. He was just so worried about the girl and wanted so badly to know what had happened. He needed to keep his cool and be patient. Sadly, patience wasn’t something one prayed for. God usually gave you patience by testing your limits. That was one thing he didn’t want.
He was going to have to work on it himself.
Chapter 26
When Elizabeth entered her office, she had a message waiting for her. One of the ranches she normally handled had called and wanted to move their regular checkup to that day. The ranch owner, Mike Montgomery, was afraid that two of his heifers might be sick.
She wasn’t surprised ranchers were still a little hesitant since word had gotten out about the Williams’ ranch having shipping fever. The disease hadn’t spread to anyone else, but the local ranchers were still nervous. Milton said he had seen it before and thought that everyone would calm down once the cattle had all been sold at market that year. Until then, they were going to be busy with extra calls out.
Elizabeth was happy to head out to the Montgomery ranch. It would take her mind off what went down that morning with Logan.
They had just begun to be friends again, and he had to go and accuse her brothers of hurting Ana without any proof. For her part, she thought Matthew may have been right. The boys should have seen Ana as a sister. And as one who was a Manning sister, she could attest to their penchant for practical jokes. A snake in the bed was one of their favorites when they were teenagers. The boys never chose a dangerous snake. They didn’t need to. The thought of a creepy crawly thing in her bed made Elizabeth shiver. She hated snakes.
Turned out, Elizabeth had to make two more ranch calls. Nothing was wrong with any of the cattle, but it was getting colder, and the cows were more sluggish. Totally normal behavior when the seasons changed.
Instead of heading back to town, she went straight to her family ranch for supper. Elizabeth hoped Ana would be feeling better and be up for telling her, if not her mother, what had happened.
What she saw when she entered the family home stopped her in her tracks. Sitting at the dining room table were all of her brothers and Ana. They were all playing cards and laughing.
It made no sense at all.
If one of her brothers had done something to upset Ana, Elizabeth was confused as to why they were all acting as though nothing had happened.
She looked to her mother and noticed the slight nod directing her to the kitchen. Elizabeth said hi to everyone and gave her dad a hug before heading into the kitchen to see what her mother had to say.
“What happened?” Elizabeth whispered.
Mrs. Manning sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes, I swear boys are just stupid.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “I could have told you that.”
“Yes, well. It turns out the McHenry girl is also named Ana, and John and Luke were arguing over who was going to get the girl. Our Ana overheard part of the conversation and thought they were arguing over who was going to get her. Like she was some sort of kewpie doll to win at a carnival.” Mrs. Manning wiped down the kitchen counter near the stove and tsked.
Elizabeth leaned back against the pantry door and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She shook herself and tried again. “Are you saying that Ana overreacted to something that didn’t even have to do with her?”
Her mother stopped her nervous cleaning and looked at her daughter. “Yes. Once it came out, the boys profusely apologized to her and to your father. They know better than to talk about girls as though they were prizes to be won.”
“I take it Ana doesn’t have brothers?” Elizabeth knew not to take what her younger brothers said with any importance when they were trying to up each other. Boys were dumb, and very competitive. Especially her brothers.
“I think it best not to make a fuss. Ana is mortified over her reaction. She promised she would come to me if anything else bothered her. Now, the boys are just trying to treat her like they would you or Chloe.”
Elizabeth held up a hand. “Please tell me Pa told them no creepy crawly things in her bed? Or slithering beasts?” She shuddered at the thought of what Ana might find in her bed the next day.
Mrs. Manning laughed. “Oh dear me, no. Your father had a long talk with the boys, and while they might try pulling some jokes, it won’t be anything that will scare her. Well, at least until Halloween. Then I think your father and I will have our hands full. You know how they get with Halloween.”
Elizabeth laughed, remembering one year when they all dressed up as zombies and came after her and Chloe saying, “Brains, brains, mmmmm.” She and her sister had a hard time getting to sleep that night. It didn’t help matters that they had just done a The Walking Dead marathon earlier that day. Both girls decided never again would they watch a scary TV show or movie with their brothers.
“So, everything is fine now? No one’s upset with anyone?” Elizabeth bit her lip, realizing that while Logan wasn’t exactly right, he wasn’t totally wrong, either. She’d have to go and apologize to him and let him know exactly what happened.
Her mother smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “All’s as it should be. Ana is here for good, and the boys see her as a sister. She’s on the mend and promises to never run away again. I think once she’s healed up, she’s going to make a fine addition to the family.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile. She and Chloe had always wanted another sister—someone to help even out the testosterone swarming their ranch. With five burly brothers, the twins had always been inundated with maleness.
With Chloe moving soon, it would be wonderful to have another woman around the house.
“Speaking of sisters, has Chloe said anything?” Elizabeth wasn’t sure how much her twin had divulged to their parents. She didn’t want to be the one to tell her mother that one of her children was moving away; Chloe needed to be the one who did that.
Her mother looked away. “Yes, she
told me.”
“Do you know when she’s leaving?” That was the one thing Chloe hadn’t been open about—when she was moving away.
“I think she’s leaving November 1.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “But that’s only a few weeks away. And right before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Will she be home for Christmas?”
Her mother shook her head. “I’m not sure. She only told me earlier today. There was some confusion about her start date, and then it seemed like she wasn’t going to get the job, so she didn’t say anything until she found out for sure today.” Her mother dabbed her eye and looked away. “I hope we see her over the Christmas holiday, at least. It’s only a four-hour drive to Frenchtown. She could come home for a weekend, at least, right?”
Elizabeth walked to her mother’s side and wrapped her in her arms. “I’m sure Chloe will come home as much as she can. But we have to remember that she’s moving to a new town. She’s going to need to establish friends and find the right church for herself. However, I can’t imagine she would want to spend Christmas anywhere else but here on the family ranch.”
Her mother held her tight and did her best not to sob. A few errant tears leaked out, but other than that she stayed strong.
“Ma, don’t worry. Chloe isn’t very far. And even if she can’t come back here for a weekend, you could always drive out to see her. The roads do go both ways, you know.” Elizabeth would have to keep that in mind. She spent a lot of time on call, but she knew that she could get a weekend here and there to go and visit her sister.
“I know, you’re right.” Mrs. Manning stood tall and cleared her throat. “Alright, it’s time to serve supper. Help me get the plates on the dining room table.”
Elizabeth laughed. “You know if they aren’t done with their card game, none of them will want to stop.”
“Then tell them that they won’t get any of my famous pot roast. Or any of the peach cobbler I have for dessert.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Elizabeth gave her mother a two-finger salute and walked with purpose into the dining room, where everyone was still playing cards and ignoring her.
Second Chance Ranch Page 20