Switched Hearts: A Western Historical Romance Novel

by Ava Winters

  Chapter 9

  At precisely seven o’clock, Luisa walked down the stairs and towards the dining room, Amanda moving a few steps behind her, like a dutiful servant. Luisa paused at the entrance to an elegant dining room.

  Amanda peered over her shoulder and she could see that Mr. McAdams and Ian were already there, both of them sipping out of small glasses of what she assumed, from its dark color, was whiskey.

  When Luisa stepped inside, Amanda immediately noticed that Ian’s face lit up when he saw her before he glanced at his father and carefully masked his emotions.

  “Good evening,” Ian said formally as the two women walked towards them.

  Mr. McAdams turned around at his son’s greeting. Amanda could instantly tell that he wasn’t pleased that she was with Luisa. Frustration flooded through her. Luisa had insisted that she stay with her. What did Mr. McAdams expect her to do for dinner?

  Luisa must have immediately picked up Mr. Adams’ displeasure for she began to speak. “I do hope that it’s okay that I brought Luisa with me. As I said earlier, we are very close. Besides, she does need to eat, too.”

  He looked at them both before giving a short nod, and turned to a young man who suddenly appeared at his side. “Please bring another place setting for Miss Luisa. It seems that she will be dining with us this evening.”

  “Very good, sir.” The young man nodded and left, but not before giving Amanda a questioning glance.

  Once the young man left, Mr. McAdams asked them if they wanted a drink, but Luisa declined for both of them. A few minutes later, another place setting was added to the long table and the four of them sat down.

  The meal was delicious, just as Amanda expected it would be. They were served roast beef, creamy mashed potatoes, and gravy, with a side of green beans, and large fluffy rolls. Amanda had to bite her tongue many times in an effort to remind herself to not join in the conversation that Ian and Mr. McAdams were having.

  Just as she had remembered, the two men spent most of the meal talking about ranch business. It effectively left Luisa and Amanda out.

  Halfway through the meal, Ian must have noticed the social faux pas, for he turned his attention to Luisa. He began to ask her many questions about her life in Albertson, as well as her school years. Amanda was pleased with how easily Luisa was able to answer each question. It showed her just how much Luisa knew about her.

  She wondered if, had Ian begun to ask her questions, as she pretended to be Luisa, she would have been able to answer them just as easily. The thought troubled her and made her realize that the friendship she had with Luisa was at times very one-sided. It was something that she knew that she should change when they returned home.

  Dinner seemed to last forever. Even after the last dish was taken away, Mr. McAdams continued to talk business with his son. Luisa finally interrupted their conversation.

  “Luisa and I are both very tired, so I think that we will retire now.”

  Mr. McAdams looked surprised at her obvious attempt to direct his attention to them.

  “Of course,” Ian said before Mr. Adams could say anything. “I’m sorry that we have monopolized the conversation this evening.”

  He stood to his feet as Amanda and Luisa pushed their chairs back.

  “Dinner was very good,” Luisa said. “Please thank your cook for me.”

  ***

  Ian felt embarrassed at the way his father was acting towards Luisa and Amanda.

  They usually spent their evenings going over the business end of things, but he felt that since Amanda was now there, they could easily talk of other things that would include her and Luisa. They could talk about the business of the ranch after dinner when the ladies retreated to their rooms.

  He had even tried to move the conversation away from the ranch business and asked Amanda some questions, but his father had only allowed that for a few minutes before interrupting with a question about one of the racehorses Stefan had worked with that day.

  Ian sometimes didn’t understand his father very well at all. He had been the one to invite Amanda into their home. Why was he treating her like she was a second-class citizen?

  When he realized that Amanda was going to be leaving the room, he knew that he needed to stop her.

  “Miss Amanda, can I have a word with you for a few moments?” he asked.

  Luisa glanced at Amanda, and she gave a small smile and then left the dining room.. His father excused himself a moment later.

  “Did you want something?” Amanda asked Ian. He noticed that she suddenly seemed shy when she realized that she was alone with him.

  “I was wondering if you would like a tour of the ranch tomorrow right after breakfast.”

  “That would be nice,” Amanda said, delight in her voice. “From what I’ve seen so far, it is similar to my own ranch in Albertson, but I would love to see it through your eyes.”

  Ian felt encouraged. “Maybe we can go on a ride later in the morning,”

  “I’d enjoy that,” she agreed.

  “Luisa is also invited,” Ian continued.

  “I’m sure that she will enjoy the tour as well,” Amanda answered.

  They stared at each other for a long moment before Amanda took a careful step away from him.

  “I know that you are tired, so I will bid you goodnight,” Ian told her, giving her a slight bow.

  “Good night,” she answered before turning away.

  He watched as she left the room. Once he was alone, he sat back down in his chair. He hadn’t been at all happy about the arrangement his father had made with Amanda’s father. All he could see was the way he had remembered her four years ago, but it seemed that she had grown up and matured. She was nothing like the Amanda he remembered.

  She was polite and respectful to his father, but she also wasn’t afraid to hold her ground, especially when it came to how Luisa was treated.

  He knew that his father never gave a thought as to how he saw and treated the people who worked for them. They were paid well, so in his mind, they were to do their job perfectly or there were immediate consequences of being let go. He only spoke to them when he needed them to do something.

  He never thanked them, like Amanda had done a few minutes before. He could tell that his father had been flabbergasted that she had wanted him to thank the cook for the delicious dinner.

  In Ian’s mind, the meal the cook had prepared was as good and as delicious as every other meal. It had never occurred to him to thank the people who helped keep the ranch running smoothly. It was something that he’d never been taught to do.

  “It’s something to think about,” he muttered.

  He stood to his feet and headed outside. He still had some chores that needed to be done before nightfall. But before he left, he was going to find the cook and thank her for the delicious meal.

  ***

  Once they said their good nights, Luisa slowly walked back up the stairs and to her assigned room.

  When she went inside, she could see that Amanda had already changed into her nightgown and was sitting at the dressing table, brushing her long dark hair. Luisa knew that Amanda wouldn’t leave the table until she had given her hair one hundred brush strokes. She also noticed that she was using the fancy silver brush that had been placed on the dressing table.

  “What did Ian want?” Amanda asked curiously.

  “He invited me, or I guess us, on a tour of the ranch,” Luisa responded. “We’ll also go on a horseback ride.”

  “Oh,” Amanda groaned. “Maybe I’ll stay behind. This ranch is just like Papa’s, only much bigger. I have no interest to tour it.”

  “Ian did invite you, and I accepted for both of us,” Luisa argued.

  She wanted to go on the tour, but she didn’t want to be alone with Ian, not quite yet. She was still so afraid that she was going to make a mistake and mess up their careful plans.

  She already almost had a few times since they arrived. She knew that she couldn’t keep Amanda ne
xt to her all the time over the next month, but she didn’t feel quite ready to do this charade on her own yet.

  Amanda didn’t say anything for a long moment as she continued to brush her long dark hair. “Okay, I’ll come, but then I want to spend time in the library. I want to find some books that might be at least a little bit interesting to read, since I am supposed to pretend that I love to read, you know.”

  Luisa flushed. She knew Amanda was referring to how Luisa had talked, at dinner that evening, about how much her companion enjoyed reading at dinner that evening. Ian had immediately offered the use of their library, although Luisa could tell that Mr. McAdams wasn’t at all happy about that. It was obvious that servants did not use his library for entertainment.

  The two of them were silent while Amanda gave her hair the last few strokes and then set the silver brush carefully on the table.

  Luisa allowed Amanda to undo the buttons of her dress and then helped her to remove it. After hanging it up, she slipped into one of Amanda’s nightgowns. She tried not to groan in delight at the softness of the fabric as it touched her skin.

  She was determined to enjoy these little experiences with Amanda’s clothing as long as she could. She had always worn flannel nightgowns. In fact, it was what Amanda was wearing right then. She started to ask Amanda what she thought about having to wear her boring, simple clothing, but then decided against it.

  She suddenly discovered that she simply didn’t want to know. As she began to drift off to sleep, she couldn’t help but wonder if Ian was looking forward to the tour he would be giving them of the ranch as much as she was.

  She was smart enough to not voice that thought to Amanda, though.

  Chapter 10

  Amanda woke up early the next morning. She lay in the large bed and listened to Luisa’s soft breathing. She hadn’t slept well at all. Once she did finally fall asleep, she had nightmares that Mr.

  McAdams had somehow figured out that she had switched places with Luisa. In her dream, he had been livid and hateful.

  Ian had fallen in love with Luisa, as she pretended to be Amanda, and he had been very upset and disappointed that he couldn’t marry Luisa because of who she really was, just a lowly servant.

  Mr. McAdams had been so angry, he had grabbed her wrist and threatened to drag her into Welbourne and demand that she be thrown into jail because of her deception. She woke up just as the click of the jail door sounded in her sleep.

  Amanda tossed and turned after that dream, but now, as the sun began to lighten the room, she was even more determined to do what she could to make sure her plan worked.

  She recognized that she was a bit afraid of Mr. McAdams and she wasn’t going to put herself in a position to be treated like she was a woman who didn’t have a thought in her head.

  She was sure that Ian would eventually treat her the same way and do what his father wanted. After all, it was the way he had acted when he visited Whispering Horse Ranch four years ago. She didn’t believe that someone could change so drastically in just a few years.

  Luisa began to stir and soon they both rose and dressed. Amanda actually didn’t mind that she had to wear Luisa’s simple dresses.

  She was glad that it wasn’t expected of her to wear her corset since she was acting as a servant. She absolutely hated the devices. Her previous maid at home had sometimes tied them so tightly that she almost fainted from shortness of breath.

  She hated that she couldn’t loosen them on her own or even put them on by herself. To her, it was just another way men controlled women’s lives. She was sure that the male species were the ones who came up with the idea of corsets.

  If it had been up to women, they wouldn’t have even been invented.

  Now, as she pretended to be Luisa, it was one social rule she didn’t need to follow. She did feel bad that Luisa had to wear her corset. She helped Luisa into it and was careful to not tie it too tightly. She even made Luisa take a deep breath and expand her lungs as much as she could before she laced up the last ribbons of the corset.

  When they were finally ready to face the day, they walked down the stairs and into the dining room, but no one was there. A maid suddenly appeared and informed them that breakfast was to be served in the breakfast room.

  Luisa looked at her wryly as if saying, of course breakfast could only be served in the breakfast room. It was very obvious that things were much more formal here on Thunder Valley Ranch than it was at her own.

  Mr. McAdams didn’t appear for breakfast, which Amanda was very glad about.

  In the breakfast room, a long table had been set up against a wall and a variety of foods to choose from had been placed in pans and bowls. Luisa began to fill her plate and Amanda did the same. They sat down at a much smaller table that was in the dining room and talked quietly about the day.

  Luisa also seemed quieter than usual and Amanda wondered if she had also had a hard time sleeping. She made a mental note to remind Luisa to not be so quiet around either of the McAdams.

  When they were almost done eating, Ian appeared. His face seemed red from exertion and Amanda wondered if he had already been out working with the horses, even though it was only eight in the morning.

  “Good morning, ladies,” he greeted them with a smile.

  “Hi,” Luisa said, returning his greeting.

  Amanda decided to ignore him. She didn’t have to talk to him. After all, she was only the companion.

  “Are you ready for the grand tour of Thunder Valley Ranch?” he asked.

  “We sure are, aren’t we, Luisa?” Luisa responded with a careful look towards Amanda.

  “I’m sure that the ranch isn’t much different than … your father’s,” Amanda replied in a bored tone.

  She still wasn’t happy that she was going to be spending her entire morning touring the ranch. She didn’t want to spend any time with Ian even if his focus would be on Luisa, pretending to be herself.

  “I’m very excited to see everything. I hope that you tell us all the interesting facts about your ranch,” Luisa gushed.

  Amanda stared at Luisa, wondering what she was trying to do. Didn’t she remember that she wasn’t to be so happy to be spending time with him? Amanda noticed a flush spread across Luisa’s face as Ian looked at her, as if he was also trying to figure her out.

  “I’ve already had breakfast, so I’ll meet you both on the front porch, as soon as you are ready,” Ian informed them.

  “We should be ready in about thirty minutes,” Luisa responded happily.

  When Ian left, Amanda looked at Luisa. “You need to stop flirting with him.”

  “What are you talking about?” Luisa asked with surprise. “Flirting with Ian?”

  “Yes, with Ian,” Amanda answered with a roll of her eyes. “It’s disgusting.”

  Luisa stared at her for a long moment. “Aren’t I supposed to be you?”

  Amanda gave a slow nod.

  “Since I am supposed to be you, and you enjoy flirting with any single male that is within the sound of your voice, don’t you think that I should at least be friendly with Ian?”

  Amanda scowled, but she knew what her friend was trying to say. This was how Amanda acted all the time around single men. She suddenly found that she didn’t like how the tables were being turned on her.