Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Miranda
Get What You Want
On Thursday evening Miranda stared at her empty suitcase and the items she’d brought out to pack. Although it was a short trip, there were several types of events from showing the horses, a cocktail party, the auction, and celebratory gala where she hoped to be after making some sales.
So far she had one suit, several blouses, riding gear, jeans, cowboy boots, and several dresses but could she fit it all into one suitcase?
But she needed to be ready for anything.
There was the breeders’ showcase events where each breeder would show off their horse’s agility, size, and beauty, but then buyers would often stop by breeders’ stables to get a better look at a horse they might be interested in.
Some buyers would make an offer to a breeder for exclusive rights before the auction ever took place.
Luckily Wes had confirmed the purchase of five acres, and already transferred the funds, which gave her enough to pay for the registration fees, and the repairs on the barn.
But she needed to make some connections and hopefully sales at this auction.
She hated to sell that much land, but it was better than having to sell everything.
And the Harts agreed to give her five years of rent back with an option to buy the acres back if she could.
She just needed to be successful with her Beautiful Beasts.
Which meant accepting Renn’s help, even though it was probably a bad idea because he was her biggest distraction right now.
After she ended her last idiotic engagement, she’d sworn off men, and then he showed up, all charming smiles, and muscles like he got paid to work out.
But they’d agreed on friendship and he didn’t really know much about her past. If he spent much more time in this town, he was going to find out she was bad news with an even worse reputation.
Maybe since he knew he wouldn’t be sticking around he wasn’t worried about her gold-digger reputation.
“Andy, Coach said since you won’t let me play on varsity, he was going to use me to warm the bench all season. Then he kept me after practice to clean the locker room,” Jeremy said storming into her room. “He said that was the only type of playing I would get on JV.”
“That son of a …”
“I’m going to ask Sheriff Hart to speak to him.”
“Jer, we can’t expect Wes to fight all our battles. It’s my responsibility. I’m really sorry your current coach is a vindictive, small-minded, selfish person, but it won’t always be this way.” Her heart broke for Jeremy when all he wanted to do was play football.
“I’m not mad at you—if anything Coach is proving how right you were. He doesn’t care about me, or my growth as a player. He just wanted to use me to win.”
“Oh.” The sting of proud tears had her pulling her little brother in for a hug.
“But I’m not going to take my coach talking smack about my family, or using any of us kids as free labor,” Jeremy said.
“Wait, what do you mean he was talking smack?”
Jeremy cringed. “He said you were too simple to realize I was your meal ticket.”
“That son of a …” Her face warmed with an embarrassed blush. Poor Jeremy didn’t deserve to get punished for his family’s reputation.
“Which is why I’m going to ask Wes to speak to him, man to man.”
Before she could argue Jeremy held up his hand to finish what he wanted to say.
“Look, I promised Renn I wouldn’t give you a hard time about not letting me play varsity, and I understand why now.
But the Coach doesn’t, and I hate to say it but his desire to win means he’s going to punish me now.
So, I need to have a man, with some alpha energy, to remind the coach that he can’t just push me around. ”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry Dad isn’t here to stand up for you.”
“I actually think you stand up for me more than Dad ever would have,” Jeremy said with a cocky smile.
“Okay, if you feel comfortable asking Wes to speak to your coach, I don’t mind. But if you want me to ask Wes I will.”
“I’ll do it. He told me to always be honest with him and never be too proud to ask for help. He said a real man is never afraid to ask for help.”
She gulped back another wave of emotion. Her baby brother was turning into a man right before her eyes and she was so proud of the type of man he was becoming.
“Dang, when did you get so grown up?” She pulled him in for another hug.
“I reserve the right to give Coach a piece of my mind when I see him, but I’m also happy to let Wes give him an earful.
And I’m tempted to send you to Tybee Beach High next year and let you play on their varsity team just to stick it to Coach. ”
Jeremy laughed. “I’m not opposed to that if he’s going to act like a…”
“Ah language.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m so proud of you. I’m in actual awe.”
“Thanks, I’ve been getting some extra practice in with Renn too. Did you know he played football in high school and college?”
“Huh, no I didn’t realize that.”
“Ya, he’s a cool guy. Maybe you should marry someone like him.”
“Alright no more marriage talk around here. For either of us.”
Jeremy laughed as he walked out of her room.
Renn was going to meet her the next morning, and she needed to remember this was a work trip. Nothing more. But the image of him on one knee was tough to beat.
*
At five in the morning, in fitted jeans, boots, and a worn gray T-shirt, Renn looked like a cowboy model of her dreams as he finished mucking out Beast’s stall.
“When I said to meet me at the crack of dawn, I didn’t mean you had to clean the stalls this morning. Jeremy was going to clean them out before we got back.”
“Figured I’d get them started while you slept in.”
“Ha ha, it’s five fifteen. Sunrise isn’t for another forty-five minutes.”
“I wanted to make sure I was early enough to help you hook up the trailer and load up the boys.”
“There you go again meeting my needs, before I even have a chance of wishing someone was around to help me out.”
Renn just stood with the pitchfork and smiled. It was dark out and he only had a few soft lights on in the barn. The smell of hay permeated the air between them. What would it be like to wake up to a man like Renn every day, helping her on the ranch and supporting her?
“Jeremy said you played football in college?” she said, clearing her throat and focusing on grabbing some gloves.
“Yep, he mentioned yesterday his coach is punishing him. Said he was going to ask Wes to talk to the man.”
“I just wish the coach wasn’t such a jerk.”
“Jeremy’s getting a real taste of the business side of sports. Coaches, boosters, scholarships—it can get really messy.”
“Too bad he’s not more interested in STEM or AI than football—maybe the robots aren’t as cutthroat.”
“You’re doing a great job. He’s a good kid. And Wes seems pretty good at the big-brother-quasi-dad stuff.”
“After their parents died, Wes moved home from Atlanta and Mrs. Hart moved in with Dalton and Levi. Mr. and Mrs. Hart were amazing parents. I was always running over there to escape the chaos at my house. They really loved their boys. There was a whole lotta heartache once they were gone, but Wes always seemed like the rock.”
Renn nodded.
“I’m sorry, I mean Mr. Hart was your dad too. Did you ever get a chance to know him?”
“No, but the one time I met him I saw all the family pictures in his office and got so mad I stormed out, because there wasn’t a single one of me. It was like I didn’t exist to him, so I decided he wouldn’t exist for me.”
She couldn’t help but be drawn to Renn. Before she knew what she was doing she put her arms around his waist and was hugging him tight.
He smelled like fresh soap, and his warmth enveloped her as his arms came around to hold her closer.
She couldn’t remember ever feeling so safe and cherished, which seemed crazy since they barely knew each other.
One of his hands rubbed her back while the other held on to her and his body began to sway a little.
All the tension and stress she’d been feeling felt like a tide headed back out to sea.
How could this man make her feel so much without even saying a word?
“Sorry,” she said, muffled into his chest but not ready to let go. “I think I was going to try to comfort you but now I feel like this hug was more for me.”
“Don’t apologize. If you’re giving out hugs, I’m definitely accepting.”
Leaning back, she looked up. “You don’t want to get mixed up with me. My life is a mess right now. If I’m honest, I’ve always been a mess.”
“Maybe I like messy,” he said, and his hand tipped her chin up so she couldn’t look away.
It was so tempting. All she had to do was stand up on her tiptoes and close the space between them. But as much as she wanted Renn, she wanted to prove to herself that she could put her dreams first. And this horse-breeding business was her dream. Keeping the family ranch afloat was her dream.
So instead of moving closer she pulled away and stepped out of Renn’s arms. “Maybe I don’t want to be messy anymore. And I need to stay focused on my goals to dig myself out of my mess.”
“So, let’s get that trailer hitched,” Renn said, walking away in a few big strides.
Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Thor and Beast who seemed to both be smiling as if they knew she was going to make another mess of her life at some point.
Maybe she should stop worrying about everyone else’s judgments and fix the way she saw herself.
She wasn’t destined to fail, she just needed to believe in herself more than the mess.
And she may not be able to indulge in Renn’s kisses, but she was going to accept his help for as long as he was offering.