by Ava Winters
It was time to act like a man, not like a little boy who was afraid of his father.
Ian knew that his father would likely threaten him if he decided to go after Luisa, although he didn’t know what he’d try so as to keep control over him.
But he also knew that if he didn’t try to follow his heart, he would never be able to forgive himself. He wanted to pay a visit to Whispering Horse Ranch and have a talk with Luisa.
He wasn’t sure if she would be able to forgive him for not standing up for her, but he knew that he at least needed to try.
The first thing Ian decided to do was talk to Stefan. He wanted to see exactly where his friend stood and how he felt about what had happened.
When they finished working with their last horse of the day, Stefan immediately went to his quarters. Ian spent a few minutes puttering around the horse barn and then headed towards Stefan’s rooms. He wanted to talk to Stefan privately, and he figured that his quarters would be the best place to have the conversation.
He rapped on Stefan’s door and it immediately opened. Stefan didn’t look surprised to see him.
“Don’t we see enough of each other?” he joked as he stepped aside to let him in.
“I just have a few questions for you.”
“Have a seat.” Stefan waved towards a lone sofa that sat at the edge of his living room.
This was the first time Ian had been in Stefan’s quarters, and he felt shocked at how little furniture there was. Part of his salary should be a furnished home.
As he looked around, he could see that it had only been furnished with bare necessities. He saw a small table with two rickety chairs in the kitchen area. There was a small wood stove that Ian assumed was supposed to provide any heat as well as a cooking surface.
Ian couldn’t see the bedroom, but he assumed that there was only a bed in it and not much else. He realized that he had something else he needed to confront his father about. He made a mental note to check the quarters for their other employees.
Thunder Valley Ranch was very successful and could easily provide everything that their employees needed.
“What can I do for you?” Stefan asked as he crossed a leg over the other one.
“I want to know how you feel about Amanda.”
At his words, Stefan’s face went blank. Ian wondered if he should have eased into the conversation, but he had wanted to surprise his friend so that he could be honest about his feelings.
Ian hurried on before Stefan could say anything. “I am aware of what Amanda and Luisa did. And I know that Amanda told you what she did before she was sent back to her home. I’m assuming that her conversation with you didn’t go well. The two of them met with me right after she talked to you.”
Stefan still didn’t answer.
Ian continued, “I have to admit that I suspected that they had switched places from the very beginning.”
This time Stefan looked at him incredulously. “You knew and you didn’t warn me?”
“I was going to, but then I saw that you and Amanda were becoming close. I didn’t want to put a stop to that. It is the first time that you’ve allowed yourself to enjoy the company of a woman since you’ve arrived on this ranch.”
Stefan scowled but then he sighed. “To be honest, I wish that I had handled the last conversation with Amanda differently. But I was very upset. I felt like she saw me for a fool. I remember how you talked about her when you visited her ranch, how she flirted with every boy she met with. I tried to convince myself that she was doing the same thing with me.”
“Yes, but that was years ago. Did you see that type of behavior this time?”
Stefan shook his head with regret. “I was also very afraid that I was going to lose my job if word got out that I fell for a rich woman.”
Ian scoffed. “You wouldn’t have lost your job because of the actions of Amanda. And you won’t lose your job if you and Amanda decide to make your relationship permanent.”
“Mr. McAdams has definite opinions about keeping the ranch’s employees separate from the family.”
“Just because he feels that way, doesn’t mean I feel the same,” Ian replied.
“I know that now. And even if that did happen, it wouldn’t have mattered. I could have easily found another job. But I don’t come from her world. I have no idea how it could have ended up. And I’m sure that her father wouldn’t be pleased to find out that his little girl fell in love with a horse trainer.”
Ian decided that Stefan needed to know everything that had happened that day. “I’ve regretted how I handled things, too. I went with Luisa and Amanda to talk to my father. He grew very angry and made some harsh accusations towards both of them. As you know, he sent them away the next day. I wish I had stood up to him, but I didn’t.” Ian frowned. “I froze like a little boy. But I have decided to go to Albertson and talk to Luisa. And I’m not going to let my father stop me.”
“Good luck,” Stefan scoffed.
“I want to know if you want to go with me.”
Stefan didn’t answer and Ian allowed him the time he needed to think about what he really wanted. Finally, he slowly nodded his head. “I think we both know that neither of us will find peace if we don’t at least try to talk to them. Yes, I want to go with you.”
“Good.”
“When do you want to leave?” Stefan asked.
“I’m going to talk to my father, and then I’ll let you know when I can leave. I do have a few things that I need to finish up on the ranch since I’m assuming that we might be gone more than a few days.”
“Do you want me to go with you to talk to your father?”
Ian shook his head resolutely. “This is something that I need to do on my own.”
Stefan nodded, as if he understood what Ian wasn’t saying. “Even if it means that you might lose your place on this ranch?”
Ian nodded. “Even then. I’m not worried about being able to support a family. I have a trust fund that my maternal grandfather set up for me. My father can’t touch it. I might not be able to provide something like this ranch for Luisa, but I can give her a nice home. I also know that I probably won’t be able to be in the Thoroughbred business, but I can still train horses for other needs.” He stood and then clapped a hand on Stefan’s shoulder. “If it comes to that, plan on having a place with me.”
Stefan grinned and Ian was glad to see a smile on his face for the first time since the women had left. He wasn’t sure how things were going to end with either of them, but at least he would know that he had tried to make things right with Luisa.
***
Ian walked purposefully into his house and headed to his father’s office. It was the morning after his talk with Stefan. He hadn’t been able to find his father the day before.
Today, he decided that he would talk to his father right after breakfast. He knew without even asking that his father was in his office. Sure enough, when he arrived, he saw his father sitting behind his desk and bent over a stack of papers.
His father didn’t look up as he stood in the doorway, so after a few seconds, he rapped on the door to get his attention.
“Come in, Ian,” his father said, without looking up.
Ian frowned at his father’s obvious knowledge that he was standing there.
Would his father ever treat him like he deserved? It was then he realized that he needed to prove to his father that he could and would stand up to him. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that he needed to have with him, but there were things that needed to be said, whether his father liked it or not.
He sat down in his usual chair, but his father still didn’t look at him. Anger and frustration filled him. “Father!” he barked.
Patrick looked up, a look of shock on his face.
“I want to talk to you, and I know that whatever you are doing can wait. Can’t you give me the attention that you would give one of your visitors if they were sitting this chair?”
“What do
you want?” Patrick asked with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.
“I am informing you that I will be traveling to Albertson in a few days,” Ian said firmly.
“Whatever for?” Patrick asked with a frown. “What’s in Albertson?”
Ian almost didn’t answer the question. His father knew very well who lived in Albertson. “Luisa.”
“Absolutely not. I forbid it,” Patrick said firmly.
“I’m not asking for your permission, Father. I am telling you that I am going to Albertson to see Luisa.”
“Why?”
Ian hadn’t expected that question. He had expected his father to start uttering threats instead. “Because I love her.”
“Aw,” Patrick scoffed. “It doesn’t matter whether you love her or not. I forbid you to have anything to do with her.”
Ian sighed. What he wanted to do was get up and leave. He could quickly pack, let Stefan know that they were leaving in a few hours, and ask the ranch’s driver to take them into Wilbourne. But something made him stay seated. “Let me ask you something, Father. Did you love Mother?” It was the same question Amanda had asked him that fateful day.
“What kind of question is that?” Patrick scowled.
“It’s an honest question. I’d really like to know. Did you love Mother?”
Patrick sighed as he tossed a pen that he had been holding onto the desk. “That isn’t something that I need to tell you.”
Ian shrugged, again not surprised that his father had responded in that way.
“Well, I’m going to guess. I think you did love her. I have fond memories of when she was still alive. You were good to her. She was happy. You even helped her design that garden. You wouldn’t have kept it up after her death if you hadn’t loved her. But you changed after she died. You have become harsh and unforgiving. You are a good businessman, but you haven’t been a very good father. I’ve tried for years and have done everything I could think of to please you, but nothing is ever good enough. I have finally realized something. I will never be able to please you. There is only one person that I should please and that is God.” Ian grinned at him suddenly and relaxed in his chair. “And I want to say something else. I should actually be thanking you. If you hadn’t invited Miss Amanda to come and visit, with the idea of forcing us to marry, I never would have met Luisa.”
“I should have sent her back when they first arrived,” Patrick grumbled. “I didn’t like that Amanda had even brought Luisa with her.”
Ian laughed. “You would have actually sent Amanda back if you had done that, not Luisa. They had already switched by the time we met them at the stagecoach station.” He leaned forward earnestly. “Father, I want you to listen to something. What I am going to say next is very important.”
He waited for a moment to make sure Patrick really was listening. “I was wrong when the three of us sat in this office and explained to you what happened, that Amanda and Luisa had switched places. I should have admitted right then and there that I love Luisa. I should have had the courage to defend her honor in front of you.”
“Why didn’t you?” Patrick asked, scorn still in his voice.
“Because I have spent my entire life trying to win your approval. But I am starting to see that I will never do so. You will never accept me. I will always be just someone else to push around and do your bidding. Luisa accepted me for who I am. She fell in love with me, Ian McAdams, a man who loves her back. I’m not just a son of a Thoroughbred horse rancher to her.”
“You are foolish if you think that she wasn’t motivated by the fact that you have money and she doesn’t,” Patrick responded.
“I feel like I got to know her very well. Money isn’t important to her, not like you think it is. She doesn’t want to change a single thing about me.” He stood up. He had told his father what he wanted him to hear. Now it was time to take the next step in his plans. “I am going to Albertson and I will ask her to marry me whether you give us your blessing or not. Whatever happens after that, whether you still want me for a son, well I guess that rests entirely on your shoulders.”
Patrick stared at him as if in shock and Ian decided it was best to leave before he began to throw his verbal barbs. But then he paused at the doorway. “I do want to warn you. I do not ever want to see you treat Luisa like you did a few days ago in this office. If she agrees to marry me, she will be my wife, and I will not allow anyone to treat her harshly, for whatever reason.”
Ian left the office and for the first time in a long time, he felt good about himself. He didn’t know what he was going to do if his father made the decision that he couldn’t accept their marriage, but he would handle that issue if it ever happened. For now, he had a trip to prepare for.
Chapter 26
The next few weeks passed slowly for Amanda. She spent quite a bit of time by herself contemplating her future.
She reacquainted herself with the horses and even rode her favorite, a dark colored mare by the name of Prissy, around the ranch. Saturday arrived and she didn’t make arrangements for herself and Luisa to be driven into town for the weekly dance. She had no desire to attend them ever again.
She knew that she had changed inside, but she was aware that the young men she usually danced with wouldn’t recognize that. It was going to be a hard message to get across to everyone, that she wanted to change.
She spent time with Luisa and their friendship began to change for the better. She began to make an effort to get to know Luisa as her own person, and not just someone who was always there for her.
She discovered that Luisa loved to garden, although this was something that had recently developed since they returned from Thunder Valley Ranch. Luisa’s father gave her a small plot of land that she could do what she wished with. She immediately began to remove the dead brush and plants.
She formed a small path, that meandered throughout the plot, by lining it with small fist-sized rocks. She also started to transplant other plants into her new garden from the ranch and nearby hills. Luisa had explained to Amanda why she was doing this, as she described the beautiful garden Ian’s mother had designed.
She didn’t understand why Luisa would want to spend hours digging in the dry dirt and carrying multiple buckets away from the well to water her new plants, but Amanda was glad that she had found something she enjoyed doing.
One day, Amanda woke up feeling very depressed. She’d had a dream about Stefan during the night, one where he had no longer been angry with her.
They had gone riding to the hills that were near Thunder Valley Ranch and had a perfect time together. The dream ended just before Stefan bent to give her a kiss. She woke up in tears and ended up crying for a long time. She refused to get up for breakfast and spent most of the day in her room.
In the late afternoon, Hannah came through her door with a no-nonsense look on her face.
“I have been tasked with getting you out of this room,” Hannah announced with a determined grin.
“Oh, Hannah.” Amanda sighed. “You really don’t need to worry about me. I’m sure I’ll be feeling better tomorrow.”
“Are you ill?” Hannah asked as she touched Amanda’s face to feel for a fever.
Amanda pushed her hand away. “You know I’m not ill.”
“Except in your heart,” Hannah said softly.
With Hannah’s words, Amanda’s tears began for the third time that day.
