Chapter Seven
Victoria looked at her reflection, turning this way and that.
She was wearing a white lacy skirt that swept the top of the brown cowboy boots she’d had for years, a pink sleeveless top, and a lightweight white sleeved sweater over it.
She left her hair down, parted in the middle, and even curled the ends.
She added a light coating of makeup, a necklace, and earrings.
She had been looking forward to this for days. She had to admit she wasn’t thrilled to be around a large group of people she didn’t know. But she wanted to spend time with her friend, so she would deal with a little discomfort.
Victoria strode into the bar and stepped off to the side to get her bearings before wading through the people and tables while she tried to find Trisha.
The place was packed with people. Even on tiptoe, she couldn’t see over people’s shoulders, so she started to work her way around the room.
She had to apologize several times when she bumped into someone.
“There you are,” Trisha yelled off to the side. She reached through a group of people and pulled Victoria next to her. “Ben, this is Victoria.”
Victoria caught her breath, smiled, and held her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Ben. And Happy Birthday.”
Trisha snorted beside her. “Do you remember her now, babe? You couldn’t have forgotten that smile.”
Ben laughed. “Yeah, I remember. You were both spastic nymphs that drove me crazy.”
Victoria laughed when Trisha gasped in outrage.
“You’re not remembering right. You were so mean to us,” Trisha said tersely and stomped her foot.
Ben rolled his eyes. “Here we go again.”
Trisha crossed her arms. “Well, you hurt our tender feelings more than once.” She turned to Victoria and nudged her with her elbow. “Right?”
Victoria started to feel a little panicky when both their gazes locked on her. “Ah, um. Let me think. I’m not quite sure...”
Trisha frowned at her. “You wimp.” She twisted her lips and tried to talk out the side of her mouth. “Remember you’re always supposed to take my side,” she said in an exaggerated whisper that people a foot away heard.
“Yes, you’re right.” She turned to Trisha’s husband and tried not to smile. “She’s right.”
His eyebrows came down into a scowl. “Now, that’s not fair to gang up on me. It’s two to one here, and it’s my birthday.”
Victoria laughed at Ben trying to pout. He wasn’t good at it at all and turned back to Trisha.
“He’s right, Ishy.”
Trisha snorted and rolled her eyes. “You can’t take both sides, Icky.”
Ben threw back his head and laughed. “I forgot about the weird nicknames you gave each other.”
Trisha rolled her eyes again before she scowled at her husband. “Ben, this might be a good time to go and get us a couple of beers.” She turned to Victoria. “Beer okay with you?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.” Victoria watched a little enviously as Ben bent and gave his wife a hard kiss and whispered his love for her before moving off.
“While he does that, I’ll introduce you to people.” She twined her arm through Victoria’s. “And I bet we can find you a friend to play with, if you know what I mean.”
Victoria sputtered out a laugh. “I know exactly what you mean, and I don’t have any time for a relationship.”
Trisha wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “Who said anything about a relationship?”
Victoria looked up at her suspiciously. “Oh, Lord. You’re going to get us into trouble again, aren’t you?”
Trisha gasped and pressed her hand to her chest, her expression one of mock innocence. “Are you talking about me?”
Victoria chuckled. “You know very well I’m talking about you. Your husband must be pretty energetic to keep up with you.”
A beer came over Victoria’s shoulder.
“You have no idea,” Ben said behind her.
Victoria laughed as the couple started in again, playfully bickering back and forth. She felt a slight pain in her chest. She wanted this one day. She wanted to have a man who stood beside her and helped her get through the tough times. She’d never had that before.
Trisha tried to ignore her husband as she pulled Victoria over to a small group of men.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet Victoria. She’s kind of new around here.”
“What do you mean, kind of?” one of the men asked.
“She used to come visit her uncle a few times a year. She’s Lester Robertson’s niece. That’s how we met and became friends.”
Each man held out his hand and introduced himself. All three were real cowboys, from their dusty boots to their cowboy hats. Victoria thought each one was appealing in their own way. All three were handsome, well-built, and looked very nice.
“Guys, can you take care of her for a bit? My husband’s calling for me.”
“Absolutely. It would be our pleasure.”
“What are you going to do with the ranch, Victoria?” the tall blond man who looked a little like Robert Redford asked.
Victoria glanced around nervously. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention, much less surrounded by three large, good-looking men.
“I’m going to run it.”
All three looked at each other. Another man spoke. “Are you sure you want to try that? It can be extremely dangerous for a man, let alone a little thing like you?”
Victoria would have been insulted if she hadn’t seen the genuine concern on their faces.
“I won’t try the heavy-duty jobs because I know I can’t handle them, but I can keep up the yard and take care of the chickens and goats. If we get a motherless calf, I’ll take care of it, so the men don’t have to.”
They still looked worried.
“Chicken can peck at you and break the skin and very easily get infected, even a calf can kick hard, and goats bite and will butt you with their heads.”
“I’m careful.”
“Why don’t you have a man to help?”
She still didn’t feel insulted, although many of the women she knew would have been. She’d found out the men down South tended to have the need to protect women, and frankly, she liked being treated like a woman.
“I just moved here, and I’ve been so busy with the ranch, I haven’t had time to socialize.”
The man with kind eyes smiled. “Well, I’m glad you came tonight.”
Victoria smiled. “I am, too.”