The Grumpy Rancher’s Baby (Spurs and Sweethearts #4)

ANNA

“As soon as humanly possible,” her boss, Olivia Castro, answered. “The shoot’s on a tight timeline. The stars are busy and only available for a specific window. I told the director I had just the person, someone completely devoted, who would get a location secured within days. What do you say?”

Olivia’s voice betrayed her smile. “See, I knew I could rely on you. So, I can tell the director you’re in?”

“One hundred percent. I’m looking at flights to Texas right now.”

“How do you know where to start?” Olivia asked.

“Are you kidding? Texas Sunrise is my cousin’s favorite book.

She talks about it all the time.” It wasn’t a lie.

Nearly every time Anna texted her favorite cousin to ask how life was, Ellie would ask whether she’d read the book yet and sound deeply disappointed when the answer was no.

“She’ll be absolutely thrilled to hear I’m working on the film. ”

The fact that Texas Sunrise had gotten a movie deal was hardly a surprise. It wasn’t just her cousin’s favorite romance novel; half the readers of the genre were borderline obsessed with it. The movie was going to be a smash hit no matter what.

After the call ended, Anna hit the buy button for a ticket to Houston and started rummaging through her suitcase for something to wear.

She’d just gotten back from a job in Mexico last night, and her bags were still stacked up in the corner of her room.

Honestly, why did she even bother to pay rent for an apartment?

She could just as easily rent a storage locker and pay for a few nights in a hotel between jobs.

It would probably be cheaper in the long run.

She found a slim pencil skirt and white blouse she thought would be comfortable enough to fly in while still looking professional.

She didn’t bother with a jacket, knowing how warm Texas weather was, even in the springtime.

It took her minutes to shower, slick her blond hair back into a low bun, and add a touch of makeup.

Anna was good at many things, improvisation being one of them.

Her life was chaos in motion, but Anna always made it look like everything was going exactly according to plan.

Somehow, she had fallen into something adjacent to her childhood dream job.

She was a location scout for movies rather than a movie star, but she wasn’t going to complain.

Movie stars had to deal with the pitfalls of fame, and Anna got to work behind the scenes, making all the magic happen with none of the downside. That’s how she saw it, anyway.

Anna had been to Texas before—she’d lived there for over a year as a child—but this would be her first job there and the first time she was seeing the state as an adult.

Her bags were already packed. Her apartment was already set up to be vacant.

As soon as she was dressed, she called for a ride and gathered everything she needed for travel, everything she had just set down.

She was out the door less than an hour later.

Once at the airport, she had time to wait. Rather than sit in the lounge, she headed to a café, ordered an iced Americano, and then made her way to the airport bookstore.

Anna never needed to ask where anything was when she traveled.

Airports were all like second homes to her.

Even when she was a kid, she traveled too much to put down roots—well, her parents did, but she went where they went, which was pretty much everywhere.

There was a time in her life when she was bitter about it, but she’d outgrown the bitterness.

And, as an adult, she found being used to travel helped her in her career.

No matter where they wanted to send her, she was always ready to go.

She always had a passport and suitcase in arm’s reach.

It didn’t take her long to find the paperback she was looking for on the shelves. She grabbed it and took it up to the counter to pay.

“Ooh, my mother loves this book!” the cashier said. She was young, probably fresh out of college. “She keeps telling me to read it, but I can never find the time.”

“Me neither,” Anna said as the cashier printed out her receipt. “But I figured a flight’s the perfect time to catch up.”

“Hope you enjoy it.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will.” Anna didn’t mention she was reading it for work.

Sometimes she liked to let people believe she was normal, that she wasn’t some kind of obsessive workaholic.

But her job was her life, and she wasn’t even mad about it.

Who in their right mind would be? She got paid to read romance novels and travel to amazing places. Absolute dream job.

She sat down just outside her gate and pulled out her book to wait for boarding.

She turned it over in her hands and examined the cover first. You could tell a lot about a book from just the cover.

This one had two people in tall grass with a golden sunset behind them.

The man was tipping his cowboy hat at the woman, who was half-sitting on an old wooden fence.

It was the kind of fence with posts and two horizontal wooden pieces between them.

Anna had always wondered how those fences kept anything in or out, but they did look nice.

The fence was broken in one spot right where the sun shone through.

The cover left a strong visual impression. It was memorable, and she was sure she’d recognize it anywhere now. “If they don’t recreate this for the movie poster, they’re nuts,” she murmured to herself.

They called her to board, and she picked up her carry-on and made her way onto the plane. The cool, dry air of the cabin smelled more like home than her own apartment did. She pulled the book back out before shoving her carry-on under the seat in front of her.

An older woman next to her stopped her. “Before you get too cozy, I was going to ask if you wanted to switch seats,” the woman asked.

“You don’t want the window seat?”

“I’ve got a tiny bladder.” The woman shrugged and laughed. “I like to be able to get in and out of my seat easily. If you like the window seat, it’ll be a win for both of us.”

Anna smiled and pulled her bag back out from under the seat in front of her. “I guess that’s a win, then. Thank you, and you’re welcome.”

After Anna had buckled into her new seat, her neighbor finally introduced herself. “I’m Joan,” she said.

“I’m Anna.” Anna offered her hand. “Thanks again for the seat.”

Joan nodded, and then her eyes fell on the book in Anna’s lap. “Are you reading Texas Sunrise?”

Anna nodded. “I just picked it up at the airport. Believe it or not, I have to read it for work.”

“Oh, you’re in for a treat!” Joan said. “It’s one of my all-time favorites.

” She looked like she was in her mid-fifties, salt-and-pepper hair cut short and curled.

She had what looked like reading glasses hanging around her neck, resting against her purple sweater.

Anna could tell she was a real reader. “Tell me, what kind of job do you have where you get to read romance novels for work?”

“I’m a location scout for movies.” Anna held up the book to illustrate. “This one’s going to be a beauty.”

Joan gasped. “Texas Sunrise is getting a movie?” Her whole face lit up when she asked.

She was clearly the exact type of fan Texas Sunrise’s production company was counting on.

“I can’t wait!” Anna could tell her row neighbor was resisting the urge to grab and hug her.

“Who’s going to star in it? Wait. Don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.”

“I’ll leave you comfortably in the dark, then.” Anna smiled as she cracked open her book and began to read.

Usually, whenever Anna sat in a window seat, she took the time to watch the takeoff and the landscape as it grew smaller and smaller below them.

But the book had such a wonderful hook, she couldn’t seem to look away from the page.

She kept covering her mouth and laughing to herself with every funny line she came across.

Sometimes Joan would look over, and Anna would point out the line that had tickled her funny bone.

Then Joan would read it and laugh along with her.

Anna had begun the flight alone, but before it was over, the woman beside her was like a close friend.

This was another area where Anna excelled.

She could make friends anywhere with anyone.

It was keeping friends that was the problem.

The struggle was so real that Anna couldn’t name a friend she had currently, despite having made many over the years.

People standing next to her in line, stopping to chat with her at the park, even delivering pizza to her front door—they all seemed to love her, but no one really stuck around.

If Anna was ever in a crisis, she had no idea who she would turn to.

Partway through their flight, Joan handed Anna a little scrap of paper. “My number,” she explained, “in case you ever need an extra on set or anything.” Her tone was unserious, but Anna could tell she kind of meant it.

“Of course.” Anna took the scrap of paper with a wink, knowing she would probably never reach out.

In her experience, people didn’t stick around.

Well, she didn’t really stick around was probably the more accurate way to say it.

Either way, most people only wanted a friend who could be there for them in person, and that was never going to be Anna.

No, it was better to keep fostering her pseudo, long-distance relationships than to put the work into a close friendship, only to lose the person when she inevitably moved away.

Anna used her receipt as a bookmark and took a picture of the book with her phone. Then she sent it to her cousin with the text, Getting in some light reading during my flight.

After a few minutes, Ellie responded, OMG! You’re finally reading it! Tell me when you’re done so I can finally gush about it without spoiling.

Anna smiled to herself. Now, this was the kind of relationship she could manage—one without meetups or brunches, one without obligations she couldn’t fulfill.

Everything was done over text, and every obligation was fulfilled easily.

Just a photo here and an emoji there with nothing too heavy or serious.

Ellie was good for that kind of interaction.

Truth be told, everyone in the Lafferty family managed their relationships pretty much the same way.

It was just natural. And no matter how badly Anna might have wanted to try for something more, she knew she was unlikely to succeed.