With her head down and her eyes fixed on the ground, she walked out of the barn. Then without any warning, she collided with what felt like solid steel. The impact of the hit had caused Loren to lose her balance and she fell backwards. Her backside hit the dirt with a hard thud, causing dust to fill the air.
Before she could take in what had actually happened, Sam reached out a hand to help her up and asked, “Are you okay?” He had that stupid, I won the “Kentucky Derby,” grin plastered on his face again.
Loren nodded and reached out like she meant to take his hand, but instead grabbed his ankle, pulling hard, causing him to lose his own balance. She had caught him off guard, which is exactly what she had intended to do.
He fell forward and landed on the ground, face first in the dirt beside her. The look on his face was priceless. She began to laugh so hard that she felt tears spring to her eyes.
“So, you think that was funny?” he said, pushing himself to a sitting position.
“You would too, if you saw the look on your face,” she answered. Loren wiped at the tears of laughter that had escaped her eye lids. “Maybe next time you will think twice before you push someone down.”
“What? Push you down? I did not push you down, little missy. You are the one who was not paying attention to where you were going,” he spat back at her.
She was beginning to get under his skin again. You would think that she would be thankful that he had just saved her from being eaten by a ferocious mountain lion, but instead she had him wondering why he had even cared in the first place. Josh and Amy, that was why, he reminded himself. There was no other reason.
“Well, you had to see me coming. Why didn’t you just move out of the way? You could have avoided me if you had wanted to.” She hauled herself up and stood over him.
Sam could still see the light of laughter dancing in her eyes when she looked down at him. He pulled himself up off the ground and made an attempt to dust off his pants.
Then a thought occurred to him. If she wanted humor, he would give her humor. Before she could protest, he picked her up, tossing her over his left shoulder and headed for the watering trough outside the barn.
It didn’t take long for Loren to realize what he had in mind. “Oh, no you don’t,” she said kicking and squirming as hard as she could, trying to break his hold on her. It was not working; he was strong as an ox.
“It looks as if someone is a little dirty and in need of a bath,” he said dumping her into the cold icy water.
Although the day had warmed considerably, the water chilled her to the bone. She came up sputtering, finding it hard to believe that she had just been dumped into a watering trough full of cold water.
“Now who’s laughing?” he asked, flashing a pearly white smile at her.
The only response he got from her was a cold stare. Feeling satisfied with himself, he walked to the hitching post and retrieved his horse gear. Just before he reached the barn entrance he turned and said, “I have already put the horses out to pasture, so if you will meet me back here around one o’clock we will head into town.” It sounded more like an order than a request.
She watched him disappear into the barn before she climbed out of the watering trough. Her wet clothes were molded to her body, making her soft curves more visible. Loren didn’t want to give him something more to stare at. She pulled her wet jacket a little tighter around her to cover her almost exposed breast and headed for the main house. It was a short walk, but seemed like a mile in her wet clothes.
Chapter 6
Once inside the privacy of the cabin, Loren closed the door and leaned back against the solid wood structure. She was chilled to the bone and began to shiver from her wet clothing.
Sam had better hope that she didn’t catch cold from this little joke of his. If she did, the joke would be on him because she would make him wait on her hand and foot until she felt better. Maybe that would teach him a lesson or two.
Just the mere thought of him having to play nursemaid to her, was making her feel better already. After all, she was the owner of this ranch and he was her employee. Well, sort of. He really worked for her father, but that was really just the same as working for her.
Leaving her spiteful mind behind, Loren headed up the stairs. She needed to get changed into some dry clothes before she really did catch a cold.
She began rummaging through her overnight bag looking for her light pink button down. It was her favorite shirt. A little worn, but it was still her favorite. She donned the shirt along with a faded pair of wranglers. Then grabbed her old but comfortable boots and pulled them on. They were just going into town for a few groceries so there was no need to look too spiffy. She blow dried her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail braid, letting it fall over her shoulder.
Loren had about forty-five more minutes to kill before meeting Sam back at the barn. She should probably finish unpacking, but that could wait until later.
Right now she was missing her mom so much it made her heart ache. Loren was close to both her parents, but her mother was by far her best friend. She understood the matters of the heart, where as her dad thought everything was like riding a horse, if it bucks you off, get back on and try again.
Picking up the phone that sat on a nearby coffee table she dialed their home number. After a few short rings, to her disappointment, the answering machine came on. “This is Amy and Josh; we are unable to come to the phone at this time, so please leave a message at the beep.”
To her dismay, her mother had changed the message on the answering machine. Why should it bother her that her name was no longer a part of their message? She had her own place now, but it still made her feel left out and all alone.
In a choked up voice, she left a message. “Mom it’s me, Loren. I just wanted to hear your voice. Give Dad a kiss for me. I love and miss you both.”
Loren replaced the phone on the table and walked into the kitchen. She swung the refrigerator door open just to be reminded that there were no sodas, just beer in the fridge. At least that would change soon.
Feeling that now would be a good time to look around the rest of the cabin, she walked to the rear of the kitchen where there was a small mudroom. She would have to start making good use of that instead of always using the front door.
She wandered about the house taking in the detail of each room. The ground floor existed of the living room, a half bath, kitchen with the adjoining mudroom, and a study.
The study ended up being her favorite room in the entire house. One whole wall was lined with books. Loren loved to read, so she mentally planned to spend a lot of time in this room. It seemed so private. It made her feel like she was shut out from the rest of the world, safe from harm and safe from the feelings that were starting to stir within her when she thought about Sam.
Loren’s heart warned her that she shouldn’t allow herself to fall for Sam. He would be gone in a few months and she would be left with a broken heart. However, she feared that it might be too late for that.
She had never really had boyfriends in school or in college. Sure boys had liked her, but there had never really been time for it. When she wasn’t in school, most of her spare time had been spent with her horse or with her mom and dad.
These strange feelings that seemed to pop up whenever she saw Sam were all new to her. She hoped that in time they would just go away.
There were two bedrooms and a guest bath up on the second floor. The master bedroom with a private bath which she had already explored was down the hall to the left. The guest bathroom was directly in front of the stair case landing, leaving the guest bedroom off to the right at the end of the hall.
She opened the door softly to peer inside, as if she was afraid of disturbing someone. She was not surprised to see a log bed almost identical to the one in her own room.
The quilt on the bed was a pink and white patchwork pattern. Wondering if Elizabeth had made this quilt as well, Loren walked over to the bed and turned up the corner to look
for her initials. Sure enough she had. It was marked with the same initials as the other one.
It appeared that all of the furniture inside and outside of the cabin was made of cedar logs. She wondered where it had been purchased or if Martin had made it. Each piece pretty much had the same style, indicating that it had probably came from the same crafter.
This room also had a small fireplace in the corner. On the mantle sat a small cream-colored teddy bear. Loren supposed this had been meant to be her room. She walked over and picked up the bear and held it close to her, fighting to hold back the tears. She wondered if they would be proud of her. She liked to think that they would be. Feeling the threat of tears stinging her eyes again and the hard lump in her throat, she reached up to put the teddy bear back in its place.
Changing her mind, she pulled it back to her chest and walked out of the room closing the door behind her in the hopes of shutting out a different kind of sadness that had suddenly flooded into her heart.
She carried the teddy bear to her room and laid it softly on the bed. “Don’t worry little teddy, I will be back later to keep you company,” she said. Loren walked out of the room and softly pulled the door closed.
Back out in the hall she looked out over the railing and peered down into the living room. This was her home now, a small cabin with a wrap-around porch, sitting on one hundred acres. Why did it feel so lonely? Maybe she should sell out and move back to Atlanta with her parents.
Looking at her watch, she realized it was one fifteen. Sam was probably pacing by now wondering where she was. She flew down the stairs and through the kitchen, heading for the back door. Sam stood in the doorway about to knock when she swung the door open.
“Are you ready?” he asked, letting his arm fall back to his side and stepping back a little to avoid being trampled on.
“Sure.” Loren stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind her.
Chapter 7
The ride into town was a quite one, other than the humming of an old country song about broken hearts playing on the radio.
Loren pretended to be watching the scenery pass by out the window on the passenger side of the truck. When she thought Sam wasn’t looking, she had stolen a few glances at him, admiring his masculine form sitting behind the wheel.
It was hard to not look at him. It was even harder trying to keep her thoughts in check. Every time that she looked at him, she could imagine him holding her in those muscular arms, while exploring her mouth with those magnificent lips, while caressing her soft body with those large calloused hands.
Sam’s gruff voice caused her to jump and loose her train of thought. “Hello, earth to Loren! Is anybody home?”
She had been so lost in her own day dreaming that she hadn’t realized that Sam had already pulled into a parking space in front of the towns local feed and seed.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about how much I miss my mom and dad,” she said, smiling at him. So what if she was telling a big fat lie? He didn’t have to know that.
Cutting off the engine, Sam got out of the truck and started walking towards the entrance door. Loren jumped out and quickly followed in hot pursuit. He sure did fill out the back side of those jeans.
“Hey, Hal,” she heard Sam call out as she entered the door behind him.
“How have you been doing Sam?” Hal looked around Sam to get a better look at Loren. “And who is this pretty little Philly tagging along behind you?” he asked.
Hal thought she looked to be about nineteen or twenty in age. A young one, that was for sure. He wandered where Sam picked this one up and what kind of connection he had with her.
He had known Sam since High School and knew for a fact that he had not dated much after Stephanie had left town. Hal and his wife, Missy had tried to set him up a few times, but Sam had always refused the invitations. Hell, he didn’t even hang out with his old buddies any more. Yep, this sure did raise some questions in Hal’s mind.
Sam turned to look at Loren and made the introductions. “Hal, this is Loren Randolph. Loren this is Hal Brown, a long-time friend of mine and the proud owner of Brown’s feed and seed. He has good quality feed at a fair price,” he added.
Hal looked to be about the same age as Sam. Not quite as handsome as Sam, but handsome all the same. He had the same muscular build, but was not quite as tall. He had dark hair, chocolate brown eyes and olive skin. Loren took note that he had a wedding band on his left hand.
“Nice to meet you Hal,” Loren said, extending her hand to him. “I have just inherited MG Ranch and Sam here, has agreed to help me out and show me around the area. I just moved here from Atlanta.”
“Is that right?” Hal said, rubbing his chin. He shot Sam a questioning look.
Before he could ask anything more, Sam said, “I will be staying with Loren at the Ranch for a short while to help her out until she is ready to take full control of the Ranch.”
“And about how long do you suppose that is going to take?” Hal said with raised eyebrows.
“My Dad has made arrangements for Sam to stay with me for a few months, maybe longer if needed,” Loren replied in a matter of fact tone.
She had no idea that she was just giving Hal more reason to ask questions. Why couldn’t she just be quite and let him handle this?
“You don‘t say?” Hal let the words out slowly with a sneaky grin aimed right at Sam.
“I am staying in the bunkhouse at the barn.” Sam directed his answer back at Hal with a look to let him know that he was barking up the wrong tree.
Hal wasn’t totally convinced that nothing was going on between the two. He could see the sparks flying like daggers, each time they looked at one another.
“Don’t let me hold you folks up. I will be at the front of the store when you are ready for checkout.” Hal walked away leaving them to tend to their business. He didn’t want to rile Sam any more than he already had. He had learned years ago what it was like to be on the wrong side of Sam and had no desire to do it again.
“We will be getting one bag of Whole oats today. You can just put it on my tab and I will be back at the end of the week to settle up,” Sam said to Hal’s retreating back.
After they had walked some distance away, Sam turned to face Loren. “In a few days Hal will have everyone informed about the new Philly residing at MG.”
“What’s so bad about that?” she asked. “I have to meet people around here sooner or later.”
“What’s so bad about it is that there will be a few more rumors tacked on every time it gets passed on.” He replied to her question, rolling his eyes. Was she really that naive?
“Oh. Well, I guess we will just have to set them straight then won’t we. I sure don’t want people around here thinking that we are a couple. Best to let them know up front that this pretty little Philly hasn’t been roped yet!” She put a little emphasis on the word yet.
Sam had a look of surprise on his face, but he didn’t dare say another word. He was afraid that the words would come out all wrong and then Loren would get the idea that he might be jealous. Was he?
Lifting up the fifty-pound bag of oats and tossing it over his left shoulder, Sam began to move towards the front. Hal was on the phone and motioned for Sam to hold up before he made it out the door.
Hal hung up the phone. “Hey man, I was just talking to Missy and I kind of let it slip about Loren being the new owner of MG and all.” A sly grin occupied his face. “Anyway, she wants the two of you to come over for dinner on Friday night.”
Sam immediately shook his head from left to right. “Thanks for the invite, but ---
“We would love to come,” Loren said before Sam could finish his sentence. She gave him an award-winning smile. “Isn’t that right, Sam?” Now she was the one wearing the, I won the Kentucky Derby smile.
“I guess we will be seeing you on Friday then.” Sam said. He was not smiling when he said it. The look that he sent Loren gave her the impression that she might ha
ve stepped over the line just a little bit. On the other hand, Hal seemed to be pleased.
“Good, I well let Missy know that you have accepted. We will expect you, say around seven?”
“Okay, see you then.” Loren chirped. It was obvious that Sam had no intention of saying another word. He walked out of the store, tossed the oats onto the flat bed of his truck and proceeded with climbing in behind the wheel.
Hal thought he noticed some friction between the two. At least it appeared to be that way on Sam’s behalf anyway. Missy could pry the horns off a Billy goat, so he felt certain that she would get to the true bottom of the current situation going on over at the MG Ranch.
Loren jumped in the truck and shut the door just as Sam started the ignition. The look on his face confirmed that he was a little miffed with her, so she kept her tongue silent.
But on the inside she was just about to bubble over with excitement. She couldn’t wait for Friday night. She hoped that she would get along well with Hal’s wife, Missy. She liked the thought of making new friends.
Sam pulled into the parking lot of a nearby supermarket. He switched off the ignition, and then turned to look at her.
“Try not to get us invited to dinner again while we are shopping for groceries.” There was no mistaking the sound of disgust in his voice.
She opened her mouth to make a reply and Sam held up his hand to silence her.
“Don’t say anything more, I am not in the mood to hear anything else you have to say,” he said, getting out of the truck and slamming the door behind him.
Loren got out of the truck and followed him into the supermarket, wondering what was eating at him. Why would he be so upset about having dinner with his friends? Hal seemed very nice and she thought that Missy probably was too. Otherwise how could they stand to be married to each other?
Once inside the store, they split up to make their selections. Walking down the aisles, Loren added some sodas, fruits and veggies, and two nice round steaks to her basket. Maybe if she cooked dinner for Sam, he would be in a better mood. She hadn’t meant to rile his feathers, again.
SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH Page 4