by Ava Winters
***
“What do you think about Stefan and Ian showing up?” Amanda asked Luisa later that evening.
They had spent the rest of the day together, all four of them. Dinner was fun and enjoyable. They played word games in the parlor. Now, Ian and Stefan had gone with her father to the horse barn to make sure all was well for the night.
“I have to admit, I was very happy to see him.” Luisa grinned.
“I could tell. You aren’t upset with him then?” Amanda tried to ask nonchalantly.
“I know I probably should be, but what happened wasn’t his fault. If I hadn’t agreed to switch places with you, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“But if we hadn’t, you would have never been able to spend as much time with Ian as you did.”
Luisa nodded. “He told me that he deeply regrets not having the courage to stand up to his father as he should have. He knew what his heart was telling him, but he didn’t listen. He said that what his father said to me was unforgivable, but he hoped that I’d at least forgive him.”
Amanda could tell that Luisa had easily forgiven Ian. She wondered why it was so hard for her to forgive Stefan. It was obvious that Stefan was willing to forgive her part in everything. She was beginning to feel like an awful person.
“What happens next then?” she asked Luisa, trying to get her mind off the subject of forgiveness.
“Ian said that he’s going to spend the next week here. Your father offered to let him stay in the west wing of your house.” Luisa looked at her. “Is Stefan going to stay, too?”
Amanda nodded slowly, still not sure how she felt about that. She didn’t think a week was going to make a difference between her and Stefan. “He agreed to come with me to help at the orphanage tomorrow.”
Luisa’s eyes lit up. “That’s great.”
Amanda studied her friend for a moment and then decided to ask the question she had been wondering about all evening. “Did Ian explain why he didn’t tell his father that he had fallen in love with you?”
Luisa nodded, but didn’t say anything. Amanda suddenly felt ashamed.
“I’m sorry, Luisa. I shouldn’t have asked that question. It’s none of my business,” Amanda said softly.
“No, it’s not, but I don’t think it will hurt to tell you. He explained that he has been dealing with an issue ever since he was a child. Whenever Mr. McAdams got upset at Ian, for whatever reason, he trained himself to stop thinking so whatever his father said to him didn’t hurt as badly. He would eventually automatically freeze every time his father yelled at him.”
Luisa sighed. “It’s hard to explain what was really happening.”
“I think I know what you mean,” Amanda said.
From the little she had worked with the children at the orphanage, she was aware that some children pulled into themselves as a way of protection. Others would act out with anger. It seemed like Ian had learned to protect himself in his own way.
Luisa sighed. “I actually saw him do it a few times while we were visiting. It only happened when Mr. McAdams was around. He’s aware of the problem and has been trying to deal with it, train himself to not brain freeze.” She gave a small laugh. “Those were his words.”
“It kind of makes sense,” Amanda admitted. “We all deal with stressful situations differently. When I’m in a situation I don’t like, I get angry and lash out.”
Luisa nodded. “And I get very quiet and have to think through everything before I can deal with it.”
“Ian taught himself to pull inward,” Amanda added.
“What does Stefan do?” Luisa asked.
Amanda studied her friend for a moment. “That’s a good question. Maybe he needs to think through things for a while, like you do.”
Luisa shrugged. “Ian did talk to his father before he came here. He was able to tell Mr. McAdams exactly what he thought about how you and I were treated. Ian informed his father that he did love me and was going to come here to visit.”
“It looks like Ian is learning how to stand up to his father,” Amanda commented.
Amanda left Luisa at the front door a while later. Her friend went to her house while Amanda went to her room. She had a lot of thinking to do. She was learning that not everything was black and white in her world.
***
A few days after the two men had arrived, Stefan went with Amanda to the orphanage. This was the second time he had gone. Mrs. Reynolds was thrilled to see Stefan again since they were again short on help.
Amanda was starting to wonder if there was something she could do to help with the volunteer problem the orphanage was having. She knew that the problem was relying on people who volunteered their time and were not paid. Because of that, they didn’t feel the same responsibility that they would feel if they were being paid.
The day went by quickly. Stefan was actually very good with the boys. Even the three boys who expressed their dislike of the people who always volunteered had immediately liked Stefan.
It wasn’t a school day, so they spent quite a bit of time outside. Stefan taught them a few games which they enjoyed. Hyrum didn’t join in the games, but he stayed by Amanda’s side most of the day.
He was starting to talk, but he only said a few words at a time, showing that he was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that his parents were gone and that his uncle didn’t want to care for him.
During the dinner hour, one of the boys kicked Hyrum under the table. When Hyrum bent his head to look under the table to see who kicked him, the boy quickly swiped his dessert, a small piece of delicious spiced cake.
Evidently, every Saturday night, all of the children received some type of dessert. It was the only day of the week that they had any sweets. When Hyrum found out that his cake was missing, he broke down in tears.
Amanda didn’t see what had happened since she was helping to serve all the children, but she did hear his loud sobbing. The boy who had taken the cake had immediately returned it to Hyrum, but the boy continued to cry.
She hurried towards Hyrum, but Stefan got to him first. He pulled the child onto his lap as he continued to cry. When he didn’t settle down after a few minutes, Stefan stood, keeping Hyrum in his arms and left the dining room. Amanda quickly picked up the spice cake and hurried after them, but not before chastising the boy who had caused the problem in the first place.
When she was out in the hallway, she looked for Stefan, but couldn’t find him.
Figuring that he probably went into one of the empty school rooms, she began to search, and it took only a few seconds to find them. She let herself into the room and carefully closed the door. Stefan looked at her as she approached and gave her a small smile.
Hyrum was still in his arms and he was still crying, but he was beginning to settle down. She set the cake down near them and then sat down.
“You know, there are always going to be boys like Luke,” Stefan began to speak.
Hyrum shrugged. “He’s always bugging me.”
Amanda wanted to jump up and have a long talk with Luke. He was at least two years older than Hyrum and seemed to like teasing the young boy. She hadn’t realized that the teasing was getting out of control.
“I miss my pa and ma,” Hyrum said as the tears began to fall again.
Stefan talked softly to the boy about anything that he could think of. He talked about the games that they had played that day, and the books that Hyrum liked to look at.
He then began to talk about his work with horses and Hyrum settled down again. Amanda could tell that he was listening intently to Stefan as he described Buster and some of the racehorses he worked with.
He even told the story of Gladiator and how he had bitten Amanda on her wrist, turning the event into a funny anecdote.
While they talked, Amanda could hear all the children walk past their closed door and she knew that dinner was over. Finally, Stefan was able to get Hyrum to smile and then he started to eat the spiced cake.
; Amanda hadn’t said a word during this entire time. Instead, she watched Stefan and how well he had handled the situation. She was very impressed. He seemed to know exactly what to say.
And she realized that she was falling in love with Stefan all over again.
***
After Stefan helped the boys get into their pajamas, another volunteer showed up to put them to bed. Hyrum seemed to be doing much better since the issue of the stolen cake at dinner.
He seemed happier and Stefan kept the boy beside him. He noticed that Amanda had a short talk with Luke, but he knew that it wasn’t going to help. There were always going to be boys who liked to pick on children who were smaller or weaker than they were.
He remembered the scenario well from his own childhood. The trick was to learn how to deal with the conflict properly.
Jimmy was waiting in the buggy in front of the orphanage when Stefan and Amanda were finally able to leave. He helped Amanda into the buggy and then slid in beside her. They were mostly silent on the way back to Whispering Horse Ranch. After they arrived, Stefan helped Amanda out and then tucked her arm into his.
“Let’s walk for a while,” he suggested.
Amanda looked at him with a question in her eyes before nodding.
“You did a great job with Hyrum,” Amanda said, breaking the silence between them.
“I can tell that you’ve really bonded with the boy,” Stefan commented.
Amanda nodded. “For some reason, he has really moved into my heart. He’s a sweet boy.”
“That he is,” Stefan agreed.
“I’m afraid he’s going to get lost in that orphanage. I wish that there was a family out there that would want to take him in.”
“It would be better if there was a family out there that would want to adopt him,” Stefan said firmly.
“Of course, that was what I meant.” Amanda looked at him with surprise at his tone of voice.
Stefan shook his head at himself and changed the subject. “Would you like to go for a ride tomorrow? Maybe you could show me around your ranch.”
“I’d like that,” Amanda said with a smile.
“Good.”
They stopped at the edge of the yard. If they walked any further, they would be wandering in a field. Amanda leaned against the fence and looked up at the sky.
“I love the summer sky,” Amanda murmured as she leaned her head back and took in the dark night with the twinkling starlight. A sliver of moon hung just above them.
“It is beautiful,” Stefan commented.
But he wasn’t looking at the sky but at the young woman in front of him. He had only been at Whispering Horse Ranch for a few days, but he could already see a change in Amanda.
She seemed to have settled down, different from the woman he’d first met at Thunder Valley Ranch. He enjoyed watching her interact with the boys at the orphanage, especially with Hyrum. He knew that she had a hard time believing the fact that he wanted to see if they could learn to trust each other again.
In her words, she had a hard time being compared to Elaine. But she also admitted that she should have handled the entire issue of her father wanting her to marry Ian differently.
Stefan reached out and brushed a strand of her dark brown hair away from her face. The Texas wind gently blew the hair back. He began to brush it away again when Amanda’s hand reached up to do the same thing. Their fingers touched and Amanda froze and looked at him.
Stefan wrapped his fingers around Amanda’s before using his other hand to tip her chin. He studied her for a moment, testing to see if she would be comfortable if he moved closer.
He heard her catch her breath and something flashed in her eyes. He slowly placed his lips to hers. He felt her freeze for a moment before she wrapped her free hand around his neck, pulling them closer together.
He kissed her again before taking a careful step away, but he kept her hand in his. Amanda gave a long sigh.
“I’ve missed that,” she admitted with a grin.
Stefan threw his head back and laughed before pulling her into his arms again. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her, that he yearned to say to her. Instead, he instinctively knew that nothing needed to be said.
Chapter 30
Ian pulled Pepper to a stop in front of Amanda’s house. He slid off his horse and was walking the gelding towards the barn so that he could remove the saddle when Stefan appeared at his side.
“You have a visitor,” Stefan said the moment Ian looked at him, a question in his eyes. He was wondering why Stefan wasn’t with Amanda.
“A visitor?” Ian narrowed his eyes. “Who is it?”
Stefan gave a sigh. “I’m not sure if he wanted me to tell you, but I’m going to. It’s your father.”
Ian was so shocked that for a moment he couldn’t think of a thing to say.
He had only been gone from Thunder Valley Ranch for a little over a week, but so much had happened, he felt like he had been gone for a lifetime.
“I wonder what he’s doing here,” Ian muttered.
“I guess you should go and find out. He’s waiting inside the house. I’ll take care of Pepper for you.”
Ian nodded his thanks and began to walk towards the house before Stefan spoke up again.
“I guess I should tell you that he and Mr. Wright have been talking all morning.”
“Good to know,” Ian answered with a wave of his hand.
The last thing he wanted to do was talk to his father and he could only hope that there wouldn’t be a scene. He would find out what he wanted and then send him back to Thunder Valley Ranch as soon as he could. He wasn’t going to let his father mess up what was developing with Luisa.
He stepped into the house and walked purposefully towards the parlor, not caring that he might be spreading dust in the air from his ride with Pepper. When he entered the parlor, his father was sitting on a sofa, but he stood up when he saw Ian.
“What are you doing here?” Ian asked, not even bothering to greet his father. He looked at Patrick closely and noticed that he seemed pale. He wondered if his father was ill, but that didn’t make sense. If he was ill, why had he traveled all the way to Albertson?
“Hello, son,” Patrick greeted him with a somber look that Ian couldn’t interpret. “Come and sit down. I’ve been waiting for you and would like to talk to you.”
Ian hesitated as he tried to read what his father was thinking. Patrick didn’t look upset, as Ian had expected him to be because Ian had left the ranch so quickly the week before. But he also didn’t look content. He seemed to be kind of resigned and sad.
Ian quickly took a seat across from his father. “Is everything alright? Why are you here?” he asked again.
Patrick gave a huge sigh. “I’ve had a lot of time to think since you left. And I can see that I’ve done you a huge disservice.”
Ian was so shocked at his words, that he didn’t know what to say or how to answer.
“I decided that I needed to come and talk to you. I know that you don’t need to listen to what I have to say, but I hope that you will at least hear me out.”
