3. Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time
Istepped into the barn and drew in a deep breath. Many people didn’t appreciate the smells of hay mixed with manure mixed with the scent of animals, but it was a comforting scent to me. Especially when the smells of horses and hay overpowered that of the manure.
“Hey, Ella!”
I turned to find Brianna Washington hanging up a shovel. “Happy birthday!”
“Thanks!” I looked around. “It looks amazing in here.” Then I paused. “But aren’t you two supposed to be off by now?”
Derrick, Brianna’s father, appeared at the other end of the barn. “Yes, but I happened to know that it’s your birthday.”
Brianna flipped her braids out of her face. “We wanted to finish cleaning out the stalls before leaving.”
I threw my arms around Brianna, then Derrick, my throat so tight I could barely speak. “Thank you,” I whispered. “That means so much.”
And it did. Because it meant that I would probably have an hour less of work to do after the camp was done tonight. Maybe I’d get to at least crack open my birthday books after all.
Derrick was more of an uncle to me than a ranch employee. He’d been my dad’s best friend since before I’d been born, and he’d been working at the ranch for almost as long. And the day Brianna had turned fifteen, she’d joined him. They were as much a part of the ranch as the horses.
“Would you like for us to stay for the camp?” Brianna asked. “We’d be happy to help.”
Before I could answer, footsteps sounded outside the barn. I turned to see Casey walk in.
“You’re both off the clock now,” she said with a smile. “Go have fun. Ella and I will handle it from here.”
Brianna took one look at my stepmother’s business attire, and her dark eyes flashed.
“You really did so much already,” I said quickly. “Finishing up tonight will be a lot easier. Thank you!” I pulled Brianna in for another hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” I whispered.
When I let go of her, Brianna didn’t look like she was convinced, but Derrick gave me a hug as well, then gently pushed her toward the door. “Let’s go see what your mother is making for dinner.”
As soon as they were gone, Casey whirled around to face me. “Did you promise them extra hours? Ella, you know we can’t afford–”
“I didn’t!” I protested. “They stayed longer to help since they knew it was my birthday.”
Casey huffed. “That’s kind of them. But what if one of them got hurt off the clock? I might still get stuck paying for some sort of work injury claim.”
“They just–” I began again, but Casey held her hand up to cut me off.
“I know they’re your friends. And I haven’t forgotten that he was your father’s friend too.
Honestly, it’s why I’ve kept them on so long, even though the ranch isn’t turning a profit.
But if things don’t turn around, I’m afraid we’ll have to let them go, too.
” She narrowed her eyes at me. “So think about that the next time you’re in a mood to give away extra hours. ”
Something inside me boiled over. “And take care of the horses how, Casey? Even with them here, we can barely handle the workload as it is! How could we possibly keep up with all the work that needs to get done around here with you jet-setting off to whatever the next expensive conference is, or refusing to make Harper help out? Or–”
“Or what?” Casey stalked back to me, the click of her stilettos sharp against the concrete.
I glared up at her. “Casey, as much as I love these horses, I cannot run this ranch by myself!”
Casey glared down at me for a long moment before her expression morphed into a smirk.
“There are a lot of things we can do that we think we can’t,” she said.
“A lot of choices we have to make.” Then she turned and began to walk back toward the barn door.
“Like taking classes where we get Bs instead of keeping your parents’ beloved ranch alive. ”
If I hadn’t known we had riders set to arrive soon, I would have saddled my own horse and taken her for a long, long ride.
Our little town in the upper part of the Colorado Rockies was the perfect place for casual riding.
It was one of the reasons my father had chosen the town to start his ranch.
Not only could he offer horses, lessons, and trail rides, but he could also stable other people’s horses as well.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have several hours for a good ride. So I said a prayer for patience and did my best to let off steam by saddling the horses as well as I could, focusing on perfectionism rather than escape. And by the time the camp riders began to show up, my mood had already begun to lift.
They were a sassy bunch, which was one of the reasons I loved them.
Pearl, Betty Lou, Mazy, Johann, and Bill were all over the age of seventy, and as such, didn’t give a hoot (Mazy’s words, not mine) about what others thought of them.
According to Pearl, they were there to get their joints moving and to have a good time.
“Saw you going into the bookstore today,” Pearl said as I walked beside her horse around the main outdoor arena. “And you came out with books! What’s the occasion?”
“Pearl,” Bill grumbled from across the arena. “She doesn’t have to have a reason to buy books! Leave the girl alone!”
“Well, I happened to notice that while you were in there,” Pearl continued as if Bill hadn’t spoken, “a handsome young man in uniform walked in as well!”
I laughed. “It’s my birthday. I always go to the bookstore on my birthday.”
“It’s your birthday?” Betty Lou exclaimed. “And we didn’t bring you candles or anything!”
I laughed again. “You’re not supposed to bring candles to a horse ranch. Now, Johann, it’s your turn. Ready? Let’s try sitting up a little straighter this time.”
But that wouldn’t do. By this time, I’d lost control of the entire group, and they wouldn’t let me continue with anything until they’d all sung me happy birthday.
“But you did come out with books!” Pearl protested loudly as I began to lead Johann and his horse around the arena. “Did you buy yourself some?”
“Miss Margaret gave me a book for my birthday,” I said evasively. “It was a gift.”
“But you had two books in that bag!” Pearl insisted. “I could tell from how heavy it was!”
“Pearl, you’re such a busybody!” Mazy insisted. Then she turned to me. “What about the other book?”
“It was a gift from a friend,” I said. “Bill, it’s your turn now.”
Mazy sighed. “I was hoping you would have said that handsome young man had bought it for you.”
I did my best to keep my face neutral as I directed Bill while he climbed up the steps and onto the horse.
Little did she know her wish had been granted.
But there was no way I was telling them that.
If I did, it would be all over the gossip chain by the next morning.
Asher, if he were still in town, would probably be embarrassed, and Casey would use it as another excuse to tell me I wasn’t doing enough around the ranch.
No thank you.
By the time the hour was over, I felt much lighter than I had since coming home. The seniors had kept me in stitches, and the sunshine had done its magic, calming me with a heavy dose of vitamin D.
Unfortunately, I still had lots of work to do, unsaddling the horses and getting them back in their stalls.
Casey never appeared again, and neither Harper nor Jaelyne came to help either.
But, I told myself, that just meant I got to crank my favorite music up in the barn and sing to my heart’s content.
After all, the horses never complained that I played my country music too loud.
By the time I finished putting the horses away and tidying up, it was nearly nine at night, and I was ravenous. In my annoyance at Casey, I’d forgotten to eat, and the cupcake I’d eaten on the way home from the bookstore was long gone.
But the fridge held little relief. Casey hadn’t gone shopping yet, and I hadn’t had the time.
And though Casey had spoken the truth, and there was a miniature Funfetti Happy Birthday cake on the top shelf, three-quarters of it had been eaten.
A streak of rebellion shot through me, and I did something I hadn’t done in years.
It was my twenty-third birthday, darn it. And I was going to eat my cake in peace. Cake for dinner it would be.
Snatching the last tiny piece of cake, I headed back to my bedroom.
I would pay for it tomorrow when I had to wake up at the crack of dawn, but right now, I didn’t care.
So I took an Epsom salt bath, changed into my favorite fuzzy pajamas, and plopped down on my bed with my cake and my new books beside me.
In search of escape, I started with the regency book Asher had bought me. But to my annoyance, I couldn’t focus on the plot or even the words on the page. Instead, I found myself thinking over and over again about the man who had bought it for me.
He was an officer in the Air Force, and I was pretty sure he was in his mid-twenties.
Twenty-six or seven, maybe? It made sense that he would visit now that he was stationed in Utah.
But what did his dad do? Buying the chalet couldn’t have been cheap.
The place was gigantic. So the man had to have money.
I could only assume he was going to start the resort up again, but there was no way to know for sure.
After trying three times to read the same page, I gave up on the Regency and put it on my bookstand, determined to enjoy it later when I wasn’t so tired.
I would need to go to bed soon, as the horses would need tending again in the morning.
But first, I decided to peek at the book Miss Margaret had given me as well.
It would just be a quick look, I promised myself.
When I lugged the giant leather tome onto my bed, I was hit once more by the sheer size of the thing.
And by its age. The book smelled deliciously old.
Upon first glance, it looked like a traditional fairy tale book.
It even had a blond girl on the front page wearing some sort of medieval dress.
She was standing with two people I assumed were her parents.
There was intricate filigree at the corner of each page, and a beautiful painted background of a green countryside with an ancient manor behind the characters.
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ella. She was the child of a wealthy merchant, living with her parents in their house in the countryside. Ella had a happy life, playing in the fields by day and listening to stories her mother told the family at night.
I smiled. Miss Margaret had known just what kind of comfort read I needed. But then again, I wasn’t surprised. She just knew these kinds of things.
Sadly, Ella’s mother took sick one day and died not long after. Her father, desirous of finding a mother to raise his poor child, remarried a wealthy woman who had two daughters of her own. But not long after the marriage took place, he died as well.
My throat grew thick as I read these words.
They weren’t new. Cinderella had been my favorite story since I was a child.
At first, I had loved it simply because I shared the heroine’s name.
But since my own parents had died, it had become even more special–a beacon of hope, in a way, for the life I was living.
I turned the page to read the second chapter. But to my surprise, the page was…
Blank.
There were no pictures. No words. Not even filigree in the corners. Just… nothing.
Confused, I went back to the page before and tried to see whether the pages had stuck together. But it wasn’t that either.
I thought back to when Miss Margaret had given it to me. What was it that she had said? Something about loaning the book out to people who needed it.
Who needed to borrow a nearly blank book with a single chapter?
A knock sounded at my door, startling me as my stepsister walked in.
“Harper.” I shut the book. “What’s up?” I glanced at the wall. “It’s kind of late.”
She frowned at the dirty plate on my bed. “Did you eat the rest of the cake?”
I blinked at her. “There was only one piece left.”
She put her hands on her hips. “And you ate it?”
“Your mom said it was for my birthday.” I sat up. “I thought you’d already had some.”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Jaelyne must have eaten my piece. Look, Mom said to tell you that she emailed you the specs for that horse she wants to buy. She wants you to look at it. Let her know what you think.”
She wanted to buy another horse? We could barely feed the ones we had. Was the woman insane? Of course, I kept these thoughts to myself.
“Oh, and don’t forget. You’ll be doing pony rides tomorrow at the farmers market while Jaelyne and I pass out fliers. So you’ve got to have the horses up and in the trailer by seven.” And with that, she walked out.
Of course. The farmers market. How had I forgotten?
The farmers market the town held in the summer was often too hot for horses, so we didn’t attend.
But tomorrow was the beginning of the seasonal autumn market, which would last for about six weeks, and it was one of our best events all year.
Which meant I couldn’t lose any more sleep than I already had.
Carefully, I put Miss Margaret’s book inside the drawer of my bedside table so Jaelyne couldn’t spill anything on it if she came to hang out in my room. I would apparently have to solve the mystery of the two-page fairy tale another day.