Finding His Heart (Cottonwood Ranch Book 4)

by Jaclyn Hardy

  “I don’t know. Sports, music, FFA.” Adam looked around for her. “When are we supposed to meet with them anyway?”

  Thomas checked the time. “We have another hour. Okay, here’s what you do. We make sure you two are sitting by each other at the rodeo. You offer to buy her a churro, or something—”

  “A churro?” Adam snorted. “She doesn’t like churros. Or anything fried.”

  “Fine. Offer to buy her a burger and a drink. Anyway, you need to talk, but don’t talk too much. Find out more about her. Offer to help with basketball or whatever if she feels like she’s not going to make the team. Things like that.”

  Adam glanced up at him. “You’ve done this before.”

  “What? Dated? Yeah, a few times.” Thomas waved to Eric and Bethany and headed toward them.

  “No, you’ve set people up.” Adam had to jog to catch up with Thomas.

  Thomas nodded. “That’s how Laura and Justin ended up together. Well, I mean, we helped. I’m sure they would have hooked up eventually. They were perfect for each other.”

  “Do you think . . . What about Hailey and me?” Adam said it quietly as they got closer to Eric.

  “Yes. I do.” Thomas clapped him on the back and sat next to Eric. “We lost you back there.”

  Eric smirked. “You two seemed like you were on a mission, so we held back. Did you find whatever it was you were looking for?”

  “Yep. Hey, we’re going to go look at some of the colleges. That was the part you wanted to look at, right? We can go do that until it’s time to meet up with the girls.”

  Eric stood. “Right. I was. Let’s go.”

  They wandered over to the other part of the vendor area and wandered through, stopping when they found a college or organizations they were interested in. They grabbed a few brochures and wrote their information down at a few other booths before it was time to go. The hour past quicker than they’d expected.

  Adam shook the hand of one of the dairy farm chairmen and took the card they handed him. “Thank you for your time.”

  “You’re so welcome. And we hope to be hearing from you in the next year or two.” The man beamed and moved on to the next group of people who came by.

  Thomas sent a text to Hailey and Hannah to tell them to meet by the main entrance. It took longer than he’d hoped since everyone else seemed to be leaving at the same time, but they finally saw the girls up ahead.

  “Remember, be friendly and play it cool. Just be me.” Thomas grinned.

  Adam rolled his eyes. “Got it. Do you think we could run our things out to the bus? I’d rather not have this in my bag all night.”

  Thomas took it from him. “I’ll run it back to the hotel. Find Mr. Hunter and stick with him and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Adam handed him the bag, and Thomas took the bags from the other three as well so they wouldn’t get suspicious.

  The hotel wasn’t too far from the center, so if he ran, he could get back in time for the rodeo. Of course, if he ran, people would think he stole the four bags in his hands. He hefted them on his shoulders and half jogged, have walked to the hotel. He didn’t know what the girls had in their bags, but he wouldn’t have been surprised to find a few dozen bricks. Since he didn’t have keys to their rooms, he put everything in his and grabbed a drink of water.

  On his way back, he sent a quick text to Mandy to see if she made it home safely. When she responded with a thumbs-up, he had to laugh. Usually she talked a lot more, so either she was stuck in a meeting, or was just getting on or off the plane.

  Once Thomas got into the arena, he grabbed himself a burger, drink, and some fries and went to find his group. Hailey sat with Adam and Hannah was with another guy from a different group. Eric was most likely with Bethany somewhere.

  Thomas sat next to Mr. Hunter and set his drink down. “Anything exciting happen yet?”

  “Nope. Where were you?”

  “Dropping bags off at the hotel. They bought a few things that they didn’t want to break so I offered to take them back.” Thomas took a bite of his burger and then popped a fry in his mouth. “How’d your kids do?”

  Mr. Hunter shrugged. “A few of them placed. They lost the debate in the first round. Yours?”

  “They won. The whole thing.” Thomas took another bite of his burger, trying not to show a smug look at Mr. Hunter. After all the garbage Mr. Hunter had thrown at him, it was nice to beat him at something.

  “Well done. I’m impressed.” Except he didn’t look impressed.

  Thomas sighed and continued to eat. It would be a miracle if he ever proved himself, but he didn’t care. He’d worked hard to get these kids trained and it had paid off. That’s what counted. And it looked like things were going well between Adam and Hailey, so that was even better. He checked his phone again, but Mandy still hadn’t texted anything else.

  Two more days left and then he could go home. Harvest would almost be over, which meant that he could start working on clearing his land and getting power and everything else out to his lot. That’s what mattered now. Well, that and attempting to get a job at the school. If that didn’t happen, maybe he could just offer work to those who wanted it and he could help them out that way. He wanted to be the same good influence that his uncle had been on him, even if it meant going around someone like Mr. Hunter and doing it in his own way.

  Mandy walked back and forth between the mannequins in front of her, making sure that all of the outfits looked just like she wanted them to. Her meeting with the boss was in just a few minutes, and this was the first time she’d really been the lead on a line of clothing before. She’d helped, yes, but not done one herself.

  “You’re stressing me out just watching you.” Emily grabbed her arm. “Stay still, please. I have one more tweak and then we’re done.”

  “Fine.” Mandy dropped to a chair and smiled at the view in front of her. She’d done it. Having her boss like it was a whole other story, but she wouldn’t concentrate on that right now. She had a backup plan just in case it didn’t work out. It was insane, crazy, bonkers, and she almost hoped she could run with it. And if she did, she already knew a couple of high school girls in Idaho who would be willing to work with her.

  It was probably a bad thing to hope she failed, but at that point, she didn’t care. It had been three weeks since she’d seen Thomas and every single day she wanted to text him to see how things were. She wanted to go out to dinner with him just so they could talk. But they were across the country from each other. And neither of them had texted since he’d checked to make sure she got home okay.

  But texting would hurt. It would just be a way of dragging something out that would probably never happen. Maybe. Today would make her decision for her.

  “Mandy? We’re ready for you. Did you want to meet in here?” Dawn, Mandy’s boss, asked.

  “Yes, please.” Mandy stood up and straightened her skirt, then took a deep breath. She could do this.

  Dawn and a few members of the board that helped run Walker Apparel filed in and took their seats in the mismatched chairs throughout the room. Emily stood to one side, ready to jump in when Mandy needed her help.

  The outfits on the mannequins were only part of the presentation. Models walked out one by one so that the board could actually see them on people. They took notes as Mandy explained the make of the material, the types of dye that were used, and her vision of where they’d be sold. Dawn nodded with each one, but gave nothing away in her expression. Mandy did her best not to let it get to her because her boss was just that way.

  When the presentation ended, Dawn stood and held her hand out for Mandy to shake. “Well done. We’ll talk it over and get back to you by the end of the day. In the meantime, why don’t you go over the Ellis account? Their wedding line is behind and could use some help. Emily, why don’t you come with me?”

  Mandy stood there telling herself that things were going to be all right, but she knew it wasn’t. All of her energy had gone
into making this happen. She’d left Thomas to come back because her boss said she liked the idea. Mandy blinked back the tears that threatened to flow as she packed up the clothes she’d worked so hard on. They’d go back to her apartment and then on to Idaho with her.

  Emily came into the room when Mandy had the last skirt in her hands to fold. She gestured toward the mannequins. “Uh, what just happened here?”

  “They didn’t like it. I can already tell. So, I figured I’d get it out of their way and then I can use it when I have my own company someday.”

  Emily tipped her head to the side, her blue eyes troubled. “What are you talking about? I saw their expressions. Most of them seemed impressed.”

  “Most. But not enough to make it happen.” Mandy took a deep breath trying to control her emotions. This was ridiculous. “What am I doing here, Emily? What was I thinking?”

  Emily pulled her into a hug. “You were thinking you’re one of the best designers out there who earned her chance to work here. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Even if this one doesn’t sell, the next one will.”

  Mandy stepped back and shook her head. “Did you hear what she told me to do? I’m going back to just being an assistant to someone else. That doesn’t tell me there’s a chance for me here.”

  “This isn’t about that, is it?” Emily searched Mandy’s eyes. “You changed. Before you were all fiery and spunky, and ready to defeat the world. What’s changed?”

  Blue eyes, a smile that could melt anyone’s heart, and a ranch in the middle of a sage-brush covered plot of nothing. Mandy laughed and wiped her tears and dropped the skirt into the last box.

  “Remember how I always wanted my own company?” Never mind that she’d just said it two minutes before. “Remember my dreams of Paris runways?”

  “Yeah?” Emily raised an eyebrow. “You’re thinking of running off to Paris?”

  That just made Mandy laugh even harder. “No. That dream changed. Big time. Now I see myself in a small town in Idaho, selling my clothing to ranchers and farmers.”

  Emily blinked. “Wha—wait. I knew it. You are in love with that boy. Thomas?”

  “Yes. Well, maybe not in love. Not yet anyway. I haven’t been around him enough to know. But I do miss that little tiny town. I miss the wide open space. And I just want to know if we can make something work out.”

  “Mandy? Oh good, you’re still here. We’d like to see you in the boardroom.” Dawn left the room, leaving confused silence in her wake.

  Mandy gulped. “What if they actually liked it?”

  “Then Paris will happen before you expected it.” Emily nudged Mandy toward the door. “Better not keep them waiting.”

  Emotions warred within her. This was her dream on the line right here. Two, really. She stepped into the conference room and folded her hands in front of her so she wouldn’t fidget. The board finished whispering and turned to her.

  “You’ve worked here for what, a year now?” Dawn smiled.

  “Two, act—”

  “We have many interns and employees come through here, hoping to have their careers take off. And no doubt, you want that same thing. We liked the basic style of what you came up with, but we had a few things we wanted to change.”

  Mandy kept her clenched hands in her skirts so Dawn wouldn’t see them. It was normal for designs to be altered slightly. She’d changed them a couple of times herself. She could do this. “Shoot.”

  Dawn scooted the folder over that the board had been discussing when she walked in. Mandy glanced at them before opening it. With each picture, Mandy’s heart clenched just a little more and it became harder to control her emotions. These weren’t small changes. Skirts were slashed to way up past the knee, necklines plunged enough that it made her blush. The colors had been crossed out and changed to patterns that she would never use. These were no longer her styles.

  “We’d like to use your designs with these changes in mind. Congratulations.” Dawn smiled, and it took every ounce of control Mandy had not to scream.

  Instead, Mandy forced her own smile as she picked up the pages and held them to her chest. “No thanks.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, no thanks. You’ve destroyed what I came up with. Consider this my resignation effective immediately. I’ll leave my new address with Emily so you can send me my last check.”

  Dawn stood. “You’re making a huge mistake.”

  This time Mandy’s smile was genuine. “No, I believe I’m doing exactly what needs to be done. Next time you decide you want to use someone’s designs, use them how they were meant to be, not how you want them to be.”

  Mandy walked out of the room and stopped long enough to shred what they’d come up with. She’d have Emily delete any copies off of Dawn’s computer later that night just in case. Her heart was light as she punched the button to the elevator. By the time she reached her car, she was practically bouncing. The boxes of clothing sat in her backseat, ready for the long trek across the country.

  It would have been easier to decide to move to Idaho with Laura two years ago, but it took a little longer for Mandy to realize she was living the wrong dream.

  It wasn’t until Iowa that the realization of what Mandy had just done set in. She’d just walked away from New York City to run a small town shop. For a guy. She was tempted to stop at every exit she came to, but then she’d see another ranch, and then another. It kept her going.

  Laura didn’t know she was coming, and Mandy wanted to keep it that way. Emily called a few times to make sure things were okay and to let Mandy know what was up with work. Dawn had gone on a tirade when she discovered the patterns were gone.

  Mandy’s designs had meant a lot more to her than she was willing to admit, apparently. Her father’s real estate friend had been looking for a shop to buy in the area, but nothing had come up so far. There was already a small western store in town so either Mandy could try to work for them, or she could switch up her plans a little and start a different type of clothing store. Something dressier for when they had dances or other events.

  When she did have to stop, it was long enough to get a little sleep, some food and possibly a shower, and then she was back on the road. It took three days, but the moment she passed the Idaho state sign, she cheered. She’d done it.

  The last hour of the trip as she rounded the mountain and headed for Cottonwood Creek seemed to take an eternity. She wanted to go straight to Laura and Justin’s house, but the need for a shower sent her to the hotel first.

  The wind was bitter cold as she climbed out of the car to stare up at the hotel where she’d started her adventures here in Idaho. It looked the same, but it was decorated for Thanksgiving instead of the fourth of July like the last few times she’d been here. Mandy grabbed her suitcase and trudged up the steps to the hotel.

  Rachel brightened when she saw Mandy come in through the front door. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Neither did I. Please tell me you have a room available.” Mandy leaned against the counter so she could stay upright. She’d had too little sleep and too much caffeine.

  “Let’s see . . . yes. You can take the first room on the right once you get up the stairs. Do you need help with your bags?” Rachel handed her a key.

  Mandy generally said no, but as she could barely stay standing, she agreed to the help. It was all she could do to take a quick shower before climbing into bed. Laura would still be there that night. Mandy sent a quick text to Emily to let her know she’d gotten there safely, then to her dad to tell him as well. The rest could wait a few hours.

  Mandy was pretty sure the sun wasn’t supposed to be shining in her window that late at night. She rolled over and checked her phone for the time. It was seven . . . the next morning. So much for sleeping for a couple of hours.

  She stood and stretched, telling herself not to crawl back into bed. She really needed to ask Rachel what mattress she used for her bedrooms because she hadn’t slept
that well for a long time.

  The smells of sausage and eggs wafted up to her room as she opened the door. She closed it again to change into sweats, then went down to breakfast.

  “There you are. I was about to send a search party for you.” Rachel smiled. “By the way, you left your doors open to your car last night. I hope you don’t mind that I had Patrick close them and lock up.”

  “Oh boy. I was more tired than I thought. Which makes sense since I just slept for sixteen hours.” Mandy waved at Rachel and continued into the dining area. Families sat together as they ate. Mandy recognized a few of the waiters and waved at them before taking a seat.

  A few minutes later, Patrick set a plate in front of Mandy piled high with eggs, sausage, and pancakes. “Rachel told me you finally woke up. She wanted me to make sure you had enough to eat.”

  “Thank you.” She speared a piece of sausage with her fork and took a bite. Perfection as always. She’d been all over the world and no one could beat the hospitality she got while she was here.

  Once she was done, Mandy ran back up to her room to find a coat and boots. It was colder here than when she’d left New York, and she was sure snow wasn’t too far off. Not the best time to be starting a new life here, but here she was.

  The day before she hadn’t been able to enjoy the scenery as much as she did now. The green of the fields she’d been used to was now gone, the fields barren and gray. The trees along the road to the ranch were bare except for the few red and yellow leaves that had managed to hold on.

  Mandy pulled into the ranch, and her small BMW clashed with all of the trucks the ranchers drove. She’d hoped to catch Laura somewhere else so that Thomas wouldn’t see her yet, but she’d just have to be super sneaky. She knocked on the front door and put her fingers to her lips when Rachel’s mom answered the door.

  Mrs. Poulton grinned and moved out of the way so that Mandy could come in. She leaned forward. “She’s in the living room reading to Rachel’s little boy.”

  “Wait, Rachel’s little boy? Have I been gone that long?” Mandy could hear Laura laughing from the other room.