Betting on Texas. Amanda Renee

about someone stealing her furniture to storming out of the luncheonette. Mable served a pitcher full of homemade pink lemonade and a plate full of hot cross buns while Miranda ranted about Jesse. By the time she was through, everyone agreed Jesse had been out of line. They also collectively agreed she could have maintained a little more maturity in the luncheonette.

      People here sure didn’t beat around the bush. At least they were honest. “Do you know I haven’t even seen the entire ranch yet?” Miranda asked, changing the subject. “I don’t know what those buildings are over there or where my property ends and the next one begins.”

      Aaron offered to show her around while Beau returned the rental trailer to the local drop-off center. Even though she was embarrassed one of her neighbors had to give her the grand tour of her own ranch, she accepted.

      Aaron surprised her with the empathy he had regarding her earlier incident. His jet-black hair and steel-blue eyes conveyed a bad boy image, yet he was as sweet as stolen honey.

      “I knew Jesse would get himself into a heap of trouble shooting his mouth off the way he was,” Aaron said. “I asked to see his fortune-telling license since he swore he knew what was going to happen to this ranch before ever meeting you.”

      “I think you’re the exception, Aaron,” Miranda said. “How many people will give me the benefit of the doubt? The damage has already been done.”

      “Aw, you just got off to a bad start, sweetheart.” Aaron wrapped an arm around Miranda’s shoulder and gave her a friendly squeeze. “Not everyone’s like Bat Lady Hargrove.”

      Miranda almost choked on her lemonade at his reference to her incident with Charlotte. “Bat Lady?”

      “We’ve called her Bat Lady for as long as I can remember. On account of her really having bats in her belfry. My uncle works for animal control and removes bats from her attic on a regular basis.”

      Aaron picked up where Mable left off the night before regarding Double Trouble’s history. He told her all about the Fourth of July picnic the Carters hosted every year and how much the town would miss the tradition. He hinted she throw her own picnic and invite everyone, but Miranda would have none of it. She couldn’t afford a party of that magnitude, and after the way she was treated in town today, their opinions meant nothing to her.

      During their walk, Aaron explained the various outbuildings for the horses and other livestock. The chicken coop was in need of expansion. The old silo hadn’t been in use for the past fifty years, could stand to come down in his opinion. The foreman’s house and bunkhouse were last.

      “Why that little—” Miranda bit her tongue to keep from saying more. Leave it to Jesse to make things harder on her than they needed to be. Seven cots lined the bunkhouse wall. One of which would have made a soft bed to sleep on the night before. Yet, Jesse never mentioned a single word about them being here.

      Max hopped in the truck and sat between them as they drove through the upper and lower pastures. Aaron explained where her property line ran in relation to the barbed wire and mesquite fencing. From this far out on the ranch, her house was the size of a postage stamp. She knew the acreage from the closing papers, but it never meant anything to her until now. While there wasn’t an abundance of farm animals, there were enough to cause her to worry about how she would manage the ranch alone.

      Aaron continued the tour while Miranda sent text messages to Jonathan begging him to call her. The ranch excited her on one hand and overwhelmed her on the other. When she told Aaron her plans of opening a small boutique in town, he suggested she either hire a foreman to replace Jesse or sell the animals outright. There was no feasible way she would be able to handle the ranch and manage a store at the same time.

      After she weighed her options, selling off livestock was the best thing to do. A foreman didn’t quite fit into her budget or her plans. Jesse expected to be paid and she still didn’t know if she could afford Mable. The sooner the animals were gone, the sooner she could rid herself of Jesse Langtry.

      Miranda was delighted she had a new friend in Aaron. People here aren’t half-bad, after all. When he dropped her off, she tried to reach Jonathan once again. His secretary still maintained he was out of town on business. Even more reason for him to answer his cell phone. Never the one for mysteries, her patience was wearing thin with her old friend. She wanted to know why he’d kept so much from her. And did she have any other surprises coming?

      * * *

      “HOLD IT,” MABLE CALLED OUT. “I have a few things to say to you.”

      “If you’re about to give me an earful, don’t waste your breath. I just got one from Beau.” Jesse picked a coil of white cotton lead rope and a can of hoof dressing out from the bed of his truck. “He laid into me at the feed and grain after he dropped off Miranda’s trailer.”

      “I know what you’re up to,” Mable snapped. “You’ve done enough damage. Now you’re planning to make her life miserable until she’s had enough and packs it in.”

      Jesse couldn’t believe his ears. How could Mable side with a woman she hardly knew?

      “We know nothing about her. For all we’re concerned, she did have plans to turn Double Trouble into a housing development.”

      “You’ve got a ten-gallon mouth, you know that? Miranda’s an instant outcast, no thanks to you.”

      “But, Mable—”

      “No buts. You know better than this. I’ve known your momma and daddy all my life and they didn’t raise you to act like no boll weevil,” Mable said as she walked away. “Infecting doom and gloom around town and on the poor girl. I’ll have no part of your little game and if I catch you spreading any more rumors, I’ll tan your hide myself. And don’t think you’re too big for it, either.”

      Jesse’s mouth hung open as Mable continued to berate him on her way to the house.

      * * *

      OUT ON THE FRONT PORCH, Miranda sat in one of her new-used rocking chairs. She ran her hands over the well-worn arms and wondered how many people had rocked in it before her. It would be perfect for lulling a child to sleep.

      By this point in her life, she figured she would have had children. Five was always the number she always dreamed of. A house full of children and laughter. The dream was all but shattered when Ethan broke off their engagement two months ago.

      She’d thought she loved him. Maybe at one time she did. The last thing she’d wanted to do was plan a wedding so soon after her mother’s death. When she’d asked for some distance to sort her life out, instead of trying to understand, he’d criticized her for grieving over a mother who never once treated her like a daughter.

      Ethan felt she should move on with her life. Leave the past in the past. A part of her knew he was right. The other part knew he wasn’t the right man for her.

      The breakup came as a shock at first and then a wave of relief swept over her. She drove out to her mother’s grave, in Maryland, on the anniversary of her death. On the way to her apartment, she bought a lottery ticket and to her astonishment, she won. To Miranda, it was a sign from her mother to move on and start a completely new life.