Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Miranda
The Fall
The next day Miranda woke up at the crack of dawn from a dream about Renn.
Spending the day with him had been completely unexpected and more fun than she’d had in a long time.
Not to mention he’d rebuilt her fence, saving her hours of frustration and likely a lot of tears.
Her body hummed with awareness as she thought about how he’d touched her in the waves and when he’d buried himself inside her up on the shore under the hot sun.
She had never remembered feeling so connected to someone.
But the truth was he didn’t know anything about her, and she didn’t know a thing about him.
So, for now she was going to push her thoughts of him out of her mind and get started on her chores.
She heard a ranch a county over was recently foreclosed on, and they had a dozen or so horses they needed to unload.
She was hoping she could get there in time and see if she could pick up any for a good price.
After almost two hours in the barn checking on all the horses, letting them get a good morning stretch and getting them fed, she made her way back into her favorite room in the house.
The kitchen—it was the one room her daddy never bothered with, and she’d always been in charge of it.
She was sure it was no coincidence that Jeremy and Sara gravitated to the same room, and they often spent evenings there playing cards and talking.
“Are you still planning to go to that auction over in Liberty county today?” Sara asked when she walked into the sunlit room with light wood floors and navy blue cabinets that she’d painted a few years back.
“Yes, I’ll just have to be more careful with how much I bid on any mares that look good. That new fence wasn’t too bad, but the side of the barn will definitely cut into the budget.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go by yourself.”
“I don’t mind—you know I love snooping around other people’s things,” Miranda said on her way to the stairs that separated the kitchen from the living room.
But the sound of the doorbell rang, and she turned back to open the front door to find Shelby there with a cooler.
“Hey, thought I’d tag along with you, maybe get some new ideas for my next book.”
Miranda looked over her shoulder to see Sara with a big smile as she pushed her walker into the sitting room.
“Is that right, and how did you know where I was headed today?”
“Oh, I’m sure you mentioned it. Ready? I’ve got snacks,” she said holding up the cooler.
“Go ahead and load up the truck. I’ll be out in five,” Miranda said.
“Great, have a nice afternoon, Ms. Sara,” Shelby called then headed down the porch to the truck.
“Nice move,” Miranda said pointing to her stepmom but unable not to smile.
“I don’t know what you mean, honey, but enjoy your afternoon,” Sara said.
Once she filled up two travel coffee mugs and changed into a fresh shirt and clean boots she hopped in the driver’s seat of her truck. Shelby sat in the passenger seat with her laptop and notebook already out. She was a writer and always carried at least one way to write wherever she went.
“I’m actually really glad you’re coming today. You can help me remember not to spend more than ten thousand.”
“You got it, just think of me as accounting. But if you see something you really want, I can be an investor,” Shelby said.
“No handouts and we both know you already have more horses than you can ride.”
“But they’re so pretty.”
“Tell that to Sheriff Hart.”
“Alright, then we’ll have to police each other today. You just worry about the road, and I’ll play DJ.”
It would be about a two-hour-drive roundtrip, and with the trailer she’d have to be more careful.
But the further she got away from the ranch the freer she felt.
She’d spent every day of her teenage years wishing and plotting to get out of this town for good.
But something always seemed to pull her back.
Now two years after her father had died, she’d managed to breed Beast, an Arabian stud with two Standardbred mares, and both were heavily pregnant.
She planned to train them and show them at auctions as her proof of concept, but if the price was right, she could sell at least one.
Her Beautiful Beasts were bred for racing or horse lovers who wanted a mount they could ride and show off to friends.
As it turned out, it wasn’t a small market.
There were dozens of riding schools, equestrian programs, and private owners on the lookout for a beautiful horse.
Breaking into the market was the hard part.
She needed to convince a few buyers or ranches to take a chance on her, and in order to do that she needed to produce quality horses and train them to be gentle and obedient.
Most of her hopes were hung on Beast and his pedigree as a Triple Crown winner, one of the most prestigious accomplishments a racing horse could earn.
She had several other older studs, each with varying success levels in racing.
But her only other stud she planned to breed was Thor, an equally impressive American quarter horse she’d purchased at an estate sale two years ago and trained herself.
Some women liked to shop at department stores, or antique shops, but she liked to buy underappreciated horses at dirt-cheap prices and build them into beautiful beasts to be cherished.
“So have you heard from any tall, dark, handsome strangers lately?”
“Shelby,” Miranda warned, already knowing what was coming.
“I noticed the fence was fixed and a little birdy told me there was a big black truck parked out by your barn yesterday.”
“Oh my word, are you and Sara spying on me?”
“Actually, it was Mrs. Hart who told me about the truck. But thank you for confirming the information. What is going on?”
“He just saw me getting the fence material at the hardware store and offered to help.”
“Did he also offer to roll around in the hay with you?”
She couldn’t help but laugh and blush, which basically told Shelby everything she needed to know.
“Wow, he did. Oh, man, you are just like Ava and Brice.”
“Who?”
“The couple in my draft.”
“I thought you wrote young-adult adventure books.”
“I do but the funniest thing happened, after I got home from chatting with you. It was like my characters just had a mind of their own and decided they’re going to be each other’s first loves.”
“So, it’ll end tragically and one or both of them will have their hearts broken while they save the world in your pirates meets outer space series?”
“Not so tragic since they’re only fourteen and I can’t include much beyond flirtation, but they are both dead ringers for you and Renn. Now tell me about yesterday!”
“Well, it was kinda romantic. He helped me load lumber into the back of my truck, pull the old post from the ground, dig a hole, and put the new post in. Then after the cement cured, we nailed in the siding.”
“Uh I feel like you’re leaving some very scintillating details out?”
“And we may or may not have gone for a swim and gotten sand in places we shouldn’t while we waited for the cement to cure.”
“Sex on the beach in the middle of the day. That is so hot, and I bet your tan looks great.”
Miranda couldn’t help but laugh.
“When are you going to see him again?”
“Shelby, we are not playing matchmaker with the Harts’ long lost brother, whom we know almost nothing about.”
“But we …” Shelby started.
“No, I don’t have any time in my life to get distracted by some hot stranger passing through town. And I don’t exactly have a great track record.”
“Oh, who cares what some judgmental idiots say. What if Renn is your the one?”
“No. Please. He’s not. But I promise once I have this business up and running, I’ll let you play matchmaker. As long as the man is not from this town.”
Shelby sat up straight. “Okay you can bet it’ll be a double date with us, and you and I know just the man.”
“Good grief. Until then, why don’t you tell me about this new book.”
The next hour Miranda was forced to imagine a young Renn saving the damsel who mysteriously resembled her from one disaster after another, until Miranda was strong enough to save them both from some unknown enemy.
They made good time getting to the estate sale, and there weren’t any other serious bidders, so she ended up with not one but two, one-year-old colts.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to fall in love with the idea of just having horses out on their land, but never taking the time to train them to be ridden.
Then at the end of the auction there was one more horse led out to the circle and Miranda nearly fell out of her seat.
“Did you mean not to let you spend more than ten thousand per horse, or total,” Shelby whispered as Miranda bid on the year-old Mustang with beautiful white and brown patches.
“I can’t pass this beauty up. He’s too perfect for BB.”
“Okay.” Shelby just crossed her arms while Miranda spent fifteen thousand on three new members of the BB stock.
Once they had all the paperwork and the horses loaded up Miranda laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You make a great shopping partner, and now I’m going to have to take you on every estate sale because you brought me such great luck.”
Shelby grinned. “Well, you know what they say.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.” Miranda said.
“Let’s see, ‘You gotta play to win. You only live once—work hard, play hard.’ I’ll take all of those.
Now I just have a little bit shorter timeline on when I need the sales to start rolling in, or I’ll be as bad as my daddy.
Betting on horses and in a pile of debt. ”
“The only thing you got from your daddy was your beautiful blonde hair and green eyes. Now let’s hit the road. I’ve got a date with my laptop.”
Once they got back to the ranch it was after dark.
Shelby helped Miranda unload the horses and then had to head home.
Miranda spent the next two hours making sure they were all fed and had fresh water.
By the time she went inside the house it was quiet and most of the lights were off.
Sara and Jeremy had texted to let her know they’d had dinner and left her a plate in the fridge.
After a quick shower she sat in bed reviewing the bank balance and estimates for all their household bills, and care for the horses.
She still didn’t know what the barn repair was going to cost her, but she had thought up an idea on how to pay for it.
The first auction was in a week, and she needed to make as many appointments to breed Beast as possible.
But she was strongly considering selling Thor.
Although he was the first horse she’d ever purchased and trained, the reality was he could bring in enough money to keep them flush for at least six months.
And although her entire day was spent looking at horses and planning out her business, when she closed her eyes all she saw was Renn and his mischievous, gorgeous smile.