Page 75 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“Hi there,” she said from the sink. She was scrubbing the dishes to put into the dishwasher.

“So, my best friend, Olivia, actually got a ticket already. I hope that’s okay?”

“Oh, of course, dear. The more the merrier. When will she be here?”

“In a couple of days. If you can’t go to the airport, I can just get a taxi and pick her up. Oh, I still have my rental car.” I slapped my hand to my mouth as I remembered. “Oh gosh, I need to return that. They’re charging me per day, and I haven’t even been using it.”

“So here’s what we’ll do, dear,” she said. “I’ll have Ranger drive me in one car, and then I’ll have Beau drive your rental back to the airport, and then we’ll drop off your rental, and then all of us can drive back in the Escalade.”

“Are you sure? And I don’t want to put Beau out. I don’t even know if he knows that Olivia is coming.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fine, dear. I’m very excited to meet your friend.”

“Thanks, Amelia.” I smiled at her warmly. “You’re amazing. I really don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Oh, my darling, I’ve done nothing for you. You have just done so much for me.”

I started to feel guilty then because, well, I hadn’t actually done anything, and it didn’t look like she was going to her dreams coming true. I wasn’t interested in being with Beau, and I didn’t think Beau was interested in being with me either.

“Amelia, I know you sent for me because you hoped that Beau and I would make a connection, but,” I paused, looking for the words, “I—”

“Oh, give it time, dear. You two have just met. It’s overwhelming. I know my sons and … Well, let’s just say that I know that you’re made for one of them. I can already see you as a part of the family, my dear Lucy.”

“Oh, well thank you, Amelia, but Beau and I—”

“Don’t worry about Beau, my dear. Whatever’s to be will be. True love will find its way in the end.” She turned back around and smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Now, you want to go down to the stables and feed the horses?”

“Um, I can. I don’t really know how.”

“There’re some ranch hands down there. They’ll show you the way.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Have a great day, Lucy, and I’ll see you for lunch.”

“Okay. Bye, Amelia. Thanks again.”

I walked towards the stables. I was actually excited to do more on the ranch. I was excited to learn the ropes, and as I saw two of the ranch hands shoveling manure, I knew that I didn’t have to be an expert to get my hands dirty. I could shovel. I could feed horses. That was easy.

I thought about Amelia’s words, that true love would find its way. I felt like she was really, really hopeful that Beau and I were going to get together. But I just wasn’t interested in him in that way. He was a nice guy. He’d be a good friend, but romantically? I didn’t want to kiss him. I didn’t want to touch him, and I’d already kissed his brother. Shit, I’d fallen for his brother before I’d even reached the ranch. I knew that sounded crazy, but it was kind of true. That kiss in the bar had knocked me off my feet, and now I found myself in a very complicated situation.

As we pulled up to the bar, I realized that it was the same bar I’d gone to the first day I’d arrived. I only hoped that Chip wasn’t there. I really didn’t want him making any comments about me and Austin. As soon as Beau parked, Sadie and Wyatt jumped out of an old Chevy pickup truck parked nearby and headed towards us.

“Hey, Lucy. So good to see you,” Sadie said with a huge smile as she walked up to me.

“Hi, good to see you, as well.”

“I’m so excited to show you to the bar. It’s so cool here.”

“I’ve actually been here before,” I told her, hoping she didn’t ask me too much information.

“Oh, really? When? I didn’t know you guys had gone to the bar.” She looked back at Wyatt. “Wyatt, why didn’t you tell me you guys headed to the bar”?

“We didn’t head to the bar. At least she didn’t head with me.” He looked at Beau, “Did you guys go to the bar?”

“No, we didn’t. You stopped by here on your first day, right?” Beau looked at me.

“Yeah. I came because … this is so embarrassing … but I lost the address, and I was hoping that someone at the bar would know where Horseshoe Ranch was.”

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