Her Second Chance Cowboy: Brothers of Miller Ranch Book One

by Dean, Natalie

  “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  “Of course.” She closed her eyes in a very cheek-filled grin before pulling her hand back. “Well, I suppose I should go take inventory of the food pantry for our next big delivery run. I hope to see the two of you another day.” She gave a little bow of her head then wandered off.

  Maybe Chastity didn’t have to be as alone in this town as she thought.

  “Are you ready, dear?” her mother asked, cutting into Chastity’s introspection.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. I think I am.” She offered her arm, and her mother took it.

  Despite losing out on so much article time, Chastity was glad that she had done this. She felt like she’d had about a lifetime worth of epiphanies packed into a very short time and wanted to sort all of it out.

  Maybe, just maybe, if she thought long and hard enough about it, she would find a way for her and Ben to, at the very least, be friends.

  Wouldn’t that be something?

  25

  Chastity

  To say that the Parker routine changed slightly would be an understatement. A lot happened in the week following their fateful visit to church, and their lives seemed to be better for it.

  They went back to the church every single day. Perhaps it was just psychosomatic, but Chastity felt like it was making a big difference already. Her mother’s episodes were shorter, and she only had two in one week. Obviously, it was too soon to say anything definitive, but it certainly seemed like fellowship did indeed help strengthen her.

  As for Chastity, well she did a range of things. It turned out the church had Wi-Fi, so she could submit her articles and finish a couple of surveys during Bible studies and other meetups that her mother went to. Of course, she paid attention in the Sunday service she attended, but she didn’t think God would mind her still making money during their extracurricular visits.

  Once Keiko had found out that she was working, she showed Chastity an office she could use while her mother was doing her thing. Chastity was incredibly grateful for it and promised Keiko that they’d have to go out sometime together and enjoy the town outside of the church.

  If Chastity ever had the money to go out again.

  All in all, things were steadily improving, and the world seemed less like a hopeless, black pit of despair that could never be escaped—which was exactly what Chastity needed.

  But even with all those positives, guilt still weighed heavily on her heart about the whole Ben thing, and she dreaded running into a Miller. Although they both attended the same church, the Millers went to the much earlier service, while Chastity and her mother preferred the later one. That had kept them apart so far, but it was surely only a matter of time before their paths crossed again, and Chastity had no idea what she would say or do when it did.

  Ben hadn’t called or texted since the fight, which she took to mean that he was still mad and wanted nothing to do with her. She couldn’t blame him, considering that she had made it seem like getting away from him and everything else in this small town was all she wanted. But that wasn’t it at all. She just didn’t want to be a failure, like she felt her mother and father had always inadvertently called her. She knew they never approved of her being an independent woman, being an actress and moving to the Big Apple. She had lumped Ben in with all of that mess as well, when that wasn’t quite what was happening.

  It seemed they both needed to work on their listening skills. Who knew the lesson could be so simple?

  “Are you all right? You look like you’re thinking some deep thoughts.”

  Chastity blinked, coming out of her inner monologue to remember that Keiko was leading her to the office again. It was Monday, which meant that it was the Christian support group for the widows in town. Although sad that there had to be such a thing, Chastity was glad there was that resource available for her mother. If she had known about the meetings earlier, she certainly would have gotten her mother there ASAP.

  “Just thinking about life,” Chastity answered vaguely as Keiko unlocked the door with her set of keys. Apparently, she was like the right-hand man to the reverend, although she wasn’t related to him and wasn’t looking to go into theology herself. She just really seemed to love the church and the townspeople. Chastity wished she had that kind of kindness in her.

  “I see. Well, don’t think too hard. I see a sort of brightness ahead for you, Chastity. I think good things are coming your way.”

  “Really?” she answered with a wry grin. “That would certainly be a nice change of pace.”

  “Well, it is what I’ve been praying for.”

  Chastity couldn’t help but smile at that. There was such a genuine earnestness to Keiko. What wasn’t there to love? How the girl wasn’t snatched up and sporting a ring on her finger was beyond Chastity. “You’ve been praying for me?”

  “Of course. I pray for all my friends.”

  “Oh, so we’re friends now?”

  Keiko’s hazel eyes widened, as she gave her a surprised expression. “I had thought so. Was that too forward of me?”

  “No, not at all. It’s nice to hear it actually. Thank you, Keiko.”

  “You’re welcome, friend. I’ll see you in an hour or so?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Chastity headed into the office and got settled, opening her laptop and checking her notifications on the article site. She always liked to check her milestones first, it was like getting a mini-payday every time she logged on.

  Her eyes widened as she saw fifteen different messages she had waiting for her. The five-dollar milestone. The ten-dollar milestone. The twenty-dollar milestone. The fifty-dollar milestone!

  She had a total of twenty-one articles up, and between them she had managed to earn a hundred dollars in a single day. What was going on?

  She was nearly giddy as she went through them all, but she noticed she still had one more message from the admin in her inbox. Clicking on it, all color drained from her face and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  Dear Ms. Parker,

  Due to your excellent, consistent work with our site, we wanted to extend you an offer to become a verified contributor. This is a full-time position, although there is the flexibility to set your own hours.

  Please contact us at your earliest convenience with the best times to reach you to discuss the position.

  Regards,

  The Great Listicle Team

  Chastity read it again. And then again.

  She couldn’t believe it.

  They were offering her a full-time job?

  Not only a job, but one as a verified contributor? That was huge! When she had first started with the site, she had read over their whole structure, and it was possible for the most popular of their writers to earn a grand or two a week.

  Oh goodness.

  The things she could do with that kind of money!

  But she was getting ahead of herself. Quickly she sent off an email and gave them her cell phone number and let them know that she was only available for a phone call for the next couple of hours today. Then she finally allowed herself to jump out of her chair and squeal like a little school girl.

  Oh goodness! She wanted to tell the entire world. She didn’t know whether she should run out and find Keiko, or interrupt her mother’s group, or call Ben, or anything! Her mind was an anxious, mixed-up batch of happiness, and it was so foreign that she wasn’t sure how she was even going to function beyond the next breath.

  But before she could figure any of that out, her phone rang. She took a deep breath before answering the unfamiliar number and managed not to sound insane when she answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, is this Ms. Parker?”

  Ah! It was them, wasn’t it? She knew it. She could feel it in her gut.

  “This is she.”

  “Hi, this is Shyanne from Great Listicles. I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of you becoming one of our verified contributors.”

&nb
sp; “Yes! I see that you are on top of your emails. I answered that barely three minutes ago.”

  “Oh yes. It’s not every day we ask someone to join our team. I noticed that you actually haven’t been a part of our site for very long, so it’s pretty amazing to see that you’ve already reached this level of success in such a short amount of time.”

  “To be honest, I’ve been surprised by it myself. I just wrote about things I knew about, and people seem to like it.”

  “Well, it’s your tone. You have an informal, sort of almost-sarcastic way to introduce topics, but then when you explain the positive reasons why, they sound quite genuine. Readers notice that kind of thing.”

  “Oh, well thank you. I appreciate that insight.”

  “Of course. That’s what we’re here for.”

  She went on, explaining the position and what was expected of it. She would need to continue to write an average of at least one article a day per week, and no more than three. It would certainly cut down on her output, but apparently it was so they didn’t spam their followers or overwhelm them with featured articles by verified contributors. But the tradeoff was that she was paid a base amount every week as long as she hit a minimum, then she’d also receive better bonus milestones based on her click rate.

  If she did all right, she would still be making more than she did in her best week on the site. And if she did great… well goodness, that would really be lovely, wouldn’t it?

  In the end, their conversation lasted a good hour before it wrapped up and Chastity could happily accept the position. Her mother had come to fetch her, and Keiko had come to lock up, so both of them ended up standing at the door, watching her curiously as she paced and talked.

  Fortunately for her, they seemed to know that something important was happening, because they didn’t interrupt at all until she finally hung up and placed the phone on the desk.

  “What was that all about?” her mother asked, looking like she was almost afraid to know. Chastity couldn’t blame her for that. A lot of the surprises in their lives recently had been pretty terrible.

  “I got a job!” she cried, laughing like an absolute madwoman. “And I don’t have to work nearly as hard as I’ve been doing. I probably won’t even have to fill out any more surveys once I get started.”

  “Oh honey, that’s wonderful! Let’s go home and make something to celebrate. I think we have enough for a truly hearty meal.”

  “That sounds perfect,” Chastity said, beaming at her. “Looks like we’ll be able to hit the town a bit sooner than I thought, Keiko.”

  “I look forward to it. And congratulations, of course.”

  “Thanks. The timing is a bit uncanny, isn’t it?”

  There was the slightest hint of a smirk to her smile as she answered. “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”

  “You betcha.”

  They laughed, and the Parkers headed out while Keiko locked up the spare office and returned to her work. Chastity was on cloud nine the entire way back home, practically floating.

  Finally, it was like the skies were parting and there was a little bit of sun after so much doom and gloom. She couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, she was immensely relieved.

  They arrived home in good time, having laughed and giggled the entire way back. Chastity wondered if she could keep this good mood forever and never have to succumb to her normal pessimistic overthinking. Probably not, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t cherish it while it was available.

  Their mailbox was practically full as they walked up, and Chastity let go of her mother’s arms to grab it all. Heading in, she sorted the piles into bills, bills, more bills, and then medical stuff and junk mail.

  But this time, she wasn’t feeling overwhelmed as she stacked the envelopes. It would still take a bit to get on her feet—even if she started the full-time position right away. But she could do it. And she would be able to do it in time to keep them in the house.

  The good thing, however, was that now that she knew she would at least have a baseline to go off of, she could work out some semblance of a budget. Grabbing the top of the pile, she opened it up while pulling her calendar towards her.

  Looked like it was water first. Not a bad bill, and one that they were only a month behind on. But as she unfolded it and looked at the minimum due, she was surprised to see… nothing.

  Wait.

  What?

  She looked down the letter expecting to see past due reminders and a two-month past due bill, but instead there was nothing except the month of the bill and the amount listed as zero. “That’s impossible,” she whispered to herself.

  While that would have been nice, Chastity knew that now more than ever she needed the account balances to be correct. The last thing she wanted was to be presented with an even larger bill and more late penalties next month.

  She felt a smile cross her face. Just thinking how wonderful it would be if this were true. She pictured a large red stamp mark, angled across the bottom of the page reading “PAID IN FULL.”

  Her smile faded as quickly as it had appeared as reality returned. The past few years she had learned not to expect things to turn out good just because it appeared that they would. How many times had she and her friends celebrated a new job, a new part, a chance to be the first ones cast in a new show? She could still hear her agent’s words over the phone saying the contracts were being drawn up as they spoke. How many times had she woken up the next day to the reality that the movers and shakers in New York’s entertainment world could and did make last minute changes? Or maybe, she wondered many times, if she’d been given the right information at all. There never seemed to be a process that controlled these decisions but rather who was making the decision. And the who appeared to change on a weekly basis.

  One thing she did learn was that until you sign your name at the bottom of the page, there was no reason to celebrate. The last few years she had held to that way of thinking, and while she had been working somewhat steady, there had not been the breakthrough she had been striving for. She still felt the pull of the audience and she still felt the thrill of taking someone’s words and turning them into a walking talking piece of art. Just thinking about it now sent chill bumps up and down her arms. She would get there, she knew she would, but right now she was exactly where she needed to be.

  Looking back at the bill, she remembered that the amount had been somewhere around ninety dollars and that was with two late fees.

  She turned the bill over and found the customer service number. After calling the number, the recording gave her several options. She chose option number three for all bill inquiries. As it rang, she took a deep breath.

  “Thank you for calling, this is Karen, how may I help you today?” the lady asked like she had said it hundreds of times today already.

  “Yes ma’am. I received my bill today and am pretty sure the balance is not correct. Could you check that for me?”

  Chastity could hear tapping on a keyboard as they spoke.

  “Yes ma’am. What is your name and account number?”

  Chastity recited it to her just as it was written on the bill. “This is actually my mother’s account. My father passed away recently, and I am helping her with her bills until we can get them all current and back on schedule.”

  The customer service representative didn’t say anything in response to this information. Chastity suddenly felt very alone in dealing with these issues.

  “There isn’t a balance on the account. It’s all paid off,” she said, as if she was giving her good news.

  “But that can’t be right,” Chasity said, raising her voice. She caught herself quickly and took a deep breath. “I haven’t paid the amount due, and I need to get the correct balance.”

  The customer service rep was silent for a moment, as if wondering what to say. “Let me see if I can find out how this was paid,” she said. “Are you listed on the account as well?”

  “No,” Chastity an
swered. “But my mom has given me power of attorney to handle all of her finances. I am really trying to get them straight.”

  The rep got quiet, then said, “Ms. Parker can you hold one moment? I need to get an access code from my supervisor to get into the payment part of the account.”

  “Yes ma’am, anything you can do to help me I would really appreciate,” Chastity said, feeling hopeful that she might get some answers.

  After a few minutes she came back on the phone. “Do you have the password for this account?”

  Chastity quickly picked up a notebook where she had been jotting down as much information as she could find about each account. It had not been easy since her mother had not handled any of the bills. Now that her dad was gone, getting answers to simple questions had become a chore that required detective work. And she’d become painfully aware how bad off they were financially.

  She gave the password to the customer service rep.

  There was a long pause as she checked the account. Chastity started pacing back and forth now as she held the line. She began to think how she really needed to stay on top of these bills if she was ever going to get them paid down. It was so easy to assume that the companies didn’t make mistakes, just the customers. She would never have thought to question the bill before this.

  “I am looking at the payment history now, and it appears last week someone came to the main office and paid the bill in full. In the notes it states the payment was made in cash and a receipt was given to the person who paid.”

  Chastity froze. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t get her words out, and she didn’t want the rep to hang up.

  “But this is crazy. How can that be?” she finally said. She still didn’t think it was correct. She took a deep breath to calm herself and her head begin to clear. “If someone other than my mother or I came in to access the account, wouldn’t they need to provide you with an account number or a password?”

  “No Ma’am. If someone is making a payment, it’s not required. It would be required if someone wanted to get personal information about the account but not to make a payment. I am looking through the notes and I don’t see any information other than the account was paid in full with cash. The person who paid was given a receipt. It does have the person’s name who took the payment; would you like to speak to her?”