“That’s it.” Blanche pounded her cane against the ground, but because it was dirt covered with a bed of hay, the tip of the cane didn’t make a sound. It was probably not the dramatic impact Blanche had been going for. Simon’s eyes met Miranda’s and her lips quirked in amusement—at least until Blanche’s next words.
“I’ve made up my mind. I’m calling animal control.”
“You do that,” Simon said, his voice an octave lower than usual.
He had had about enough of Blanche Stanton. His nerves snapped along his skin and a fire raged in his chest, but the only outward indication of his annoyance was the way his fingers kept twitching into a fist. He couldn’t speak to his expression. He forced himself to relax his muscles and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his blue jeans, rocking back on the heels of his boots as if to put more distance between them.
“Now, if there’s nothing else,” he said through gritted teeth, “you know your way out. And I suggest you take it.”
Blanche shook a finger under his nose. It took every ounce of his self-control not to brush her hand away. He stood stock-still, not even allowing air to enter his lungs. He’d probably breathe fire out of his mouth like a dragon if he so much as exhaled.
“This isn’t over,” she warned.
“I didn’t think it was,” he snapped back.
He knew as soon as he spoke that he shouldn’t have taken the bait. A brief glance at Miranda’s wide eyes confirmed that, even if he hadn’t created the scene, he was at least an unwilling participant. All he was doing was playing right into the old woman’s hands. He knew better than that.
Do not engage.
And yet he had.
It was hard to consider any other way than the way he knew, the defense mechanisms that sometimes rose before he could stop them.
Should he be turning the other cheek here, or was it okay for him to defend his home and his dogs?
Unfortunately, Simon knew all too well that this was only the beginning of his problems with his new neighbor. That Miranda had been there to witness the whole sorry scene only made him feel worse.
How humiliating.
Blanche turned away and stomped a couple of feet toward the door—or at least as much of a stomp as she could make with a limp and a cane—and then slowly turned back to address Miranda, rudely pointing her finger directly at her.
“You’d do well to avoid this one,” Blanche warned, nodding her head toward Simon and sniffing loudly.
He stiffened. The nerve of the woman. Not that he and Miranda had a personal connection, but it wasn’t any of Blanche’s business if they did. No one had called her in to be judge and jury of his character, especially because she continued to malign him for no good reason.
What if Blanche put doubt in Miranda’s mind? Enough to make her reconsider about him spending time with the twins?
He swallowed the gall that rose to his throat at the thought.
Miranda merely lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Simon couldn’t tell, either by her expression or the inflection in the tone of her voice, whether Miranda was agreeing with Blanche or merely humoring the old woman, but Blanche seemed content with the answer and made her exit.
“Okay, then,” Miranda said as soon as Blanche was gone. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
* * *
Miranda’s naturally empathetic nature—even to a man who tended to be a bully and had issues trusting her—kicked in despite her best efforts to the contrary.
Poor Simon’s face had turned a distressing shade of red, followed by an unhealthy yellowish-green color, as if he was about to be sick.
She could see no reason why the strange old woman had gone off on Simon the way she had.
Over a litter of puppies? What was with that?
Practically all of Wildhorn was working ranch land. Horses. Cows. Pigs. Chickens. Llamas.
Simon’s endeavors might veer slightly away from the typical cattle ranch, but he was offering a much-needed product—if you could call a well-bred and well-trained cattle dog a product, or maybe a service—to grateful ranchers in Wildhorn and beyond.
Now that the elderly busybody was gone, Miranda stood and plunked the wriggling twins back onto the quilt in a demonstrative display of rebellion.
Take that, Blanche Stanton.
How dare the woman render judgment on her choices where the twins were concerned? The old lady didn’t even know the first thing about her. And anyway, it wasn’t any of her business if the kids were lying on a quilt in a barn.
Then again, Blanche might be right.
Simon might be right.
Maybe she wasn’t good mother material. But she was bound and determined to do her very best.
Simon sighed in frustration and picked off his hat, scrubbing his fingers through his thick blond curls.
“Yeah. I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
“Who is she?”
“My next-door neighbor. Or one of them, anyway. There’s a small housing development and retirement community along the south border of my land. That woman, Blanche Stanton, moved in a couple of months ago, and she’s causing me all sorts of trouble—as you witnessed today.”
“Yeah. What is with that?”
“Evidently, she really, really doesn’t like dogs.”
“What kind of person doesn’t like dogs?” Miranda asked, realizing even as she spoke the words that, although she didn’t exactly dislike dogs, it would never have occurred to her to keep one of her own.
“Cat people,” Simon joked drily, one side of his mouth kicking up.
“She’s probably one of those old ladies who has a hundred cats living in her house. That’s why the idea of a dog upsets her so much.”
He chuckled. “Maybe.”
“I still don’t see how it’s any business of hers what happens on your property, as long as it doesn’t directly affect her. I can’t imagine that you allow your dogs to run wild. Or do you secretly let them out on her lawn?”
Simon snorted. “Now there’s a thought. But truthfully, I don’t give her any reason to complain about me or my dogs. My property is well fenced, and I almost always ride along to supervise when the dogs go out for their runs.”
Simon crouched before Shadow’s whelping box and checked her out, then stood and scooped Harper into his arms. It was oddly comforting, watching the big man holding the infant against his broad chest.
“Come on. I want to show you something.” He started toward the barn door and then looked back to see if she was following.
She quickly bundled Hudson into her arms. “Should I leave the quilt?”
He glanced at Shadow and nodded. “Yes. We’ll be back shortly to attend to the puppies. But there’s something I’d like you to see back at my house.”
Curiosity swelled within her as she caught up with Simon and walked side by side with him up a small incline to where his ranch house stood. They passed by several dog kennels built underneath a lean-to, but all of them were empty.
When he reached the door, he slid her another glance. “This is, I believe, the real reason Blanche is kicking up such a fuss.”
She could already hear what sounded like a dozen