Beauty and The Beastly Rancher

Her cheeks flamed.

“Julie, did you bring your storybook? But remember, Mrs. Crawford may not be able to read it to you.” She hoped it distracted Joe.

“I bet she will, Julie. That’s something my mom likes better than anything. She made sure we all loved to read, too,” Joe said.

“Do you have a favorite book?” Julie asked, her eyes wide. “I didn’t know Daddies could read.”

Joe appeared a bit surprised by Julie’s comment. “What?”

“Of course some daddies read, honey. It was just that your daddy was busy.”

“What is your favorite storybook?” Julie repeated.

“Peter Pan,” Joe said. “I always wanted to fly.”

“Me, too!” Julie agreed. “But—but it scared me a little. I didn’t want to leave Mommy behind.”

“I know what you mean,” Joe said, which made Julie happy. It worried Anna. It wouldn’t take long for Julie to grow attached to Joe. The poor baby hadn’t spent time with her father.

Joe turned off the road to the drive that led to the Crawford homestead. The house was big and well tended.

Before the car stopped, a little boy came out on the front porch.

“Who’s that?” Julie asked.

“That’s my nephew, Drew. Remember? He’s four, too. And he has a little sister about Henry’s age.”

“A girl baby?”

“Yep. The best kind,” Joe assured her.

“Stop trying to charm my little girl,” Anna muttered.

Again Joe looked surprised. She said nothing else, unbuckling Henry’s carrier.

Mrs. Crawford joined Drew on the porch. Then she stepped down and came toward the truck. “Hello, Anna. Welcome.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Crawford. I appreciate your looking after my children this afternoon, but I can take them with me if it will be too much.”

“Why no, child. We’ll be fine. Drew and Alexandra came over to play with them. We’re going to make cookies.”

Julie clapped her hands and smiled. “I like cookies.”

“I’m glad you do. Come along and I’ll introduce you to Drew.”

Anna stood there holding her breath, but Julie took Mrs. Crawford’s hand and skipped along beside her. The little boy didn’t seem nearly as pleased about their plans.

“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine,” Joe whispered in her ear, startling her.

“Come on. I’ll carry Henry into the house,” he said, grabbing the diaper bag, too.

When they were back in the truck, heading for town, Joe reminded her of her tension. “Why are you so worried about Julie? She’s well behaved.”

“She’s just not used to playing with other children.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t—I don’t have any friends with little kids.”

“Your friends don’t believe in marriage and children?”

“When I moved here, it was after I married Derek. He didn’t run around with married men. So I never met any wives.”

“I see.”

“I know she’ll be fine,” she said quietly.

They reached town and Joe took Anna to his lawyer’s office. After she signed it, the man said he would copy the agreement and mail her copy. Then, much to her relief, they took the two checks to her bank. She still couldn’t believe Joe had made the deposit possible.

“Thank you again, Joe. This is such a relief.”

“Good. Oh, my sister and sister-in-law asked us to stop by their store. Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” How could she object after all he’d done for her?

When he parked on the main street in front of a big store with the name Oklahoma Chic, she offered to wait in the truck.

“Heck, no. It’s you they want to meet, not me. Come on. I won’t make you buy anything.”

She hoped she could stop herself from shopping. It had been so long since she’d even been in a nice store, much less purchased anything.

When Joe opened the door, cool air conditioning enveloped them. Even though it was only April, Oklahoma warmed up early. There were three ladies in the store, two of them about her age, beautifully dressed, with every hair in place. The other woman was older.

Anna tucked a strand of hair back, hoping she looked even half as nice as those two. She figured they were Joe’s sister and sister-in-law.

Joe called to them. “Lindsay, Kelly.”

“Joe, you came!” The blond rushed across the store to kiss her brother’s cheek, followed by the brunette.

“Lindsay, Kelly, I want you to meet Anna Pointer. She’s the one Pete and I are renting land from.”

Both ladies smiled, and Kelly offered a hand.

“Come in, Anna. Welcome.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, feeling awkward. She’d avoided social situations for so long, she’d almost forgotten how to act. “Your store is lovely.”

“Well, it’s a lot bigger than when we first started,” Kelly said.