SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH (5 page)

Chapter 7

The ride into town was a quite one, other than the humming of an old country song about broken hearts playing on the radio.

Loren pretended to be watching the scenery pass by out the window on the passenger side of the truck. When she thought Sam wasn’t looking, she had stolen a few glances at him, admiring his masculine form sitting behind the wheel.

It was hard to not look at him.
It was even harder trying to keep her thoughts in check. Every time that she looked at him, she could imagine him holding her in those muscular arms, while exploring her mouth with those magnificent lips, while caressing her soft body with those large calloused hands.

Sam’s gruff voice caused her to jump and loose her train of thought. “Hello,
earth to Loren! Is anybody home?”

She had been so lost in her own day dreaming that she had
n’t realized that Sam had already pulled into a parking space in front of the towns local feed and seed.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how much I miss my
mom and dad,” she said, smiling at him. So what if she was telling a big fat lie? He didn’t have to know that.

Cutting off the engine, Sam got out of the truck and started walking towards the entrance door.
Loren jumped out and quickly followed in hot pursuit.  He sure did fill out the back side of those jeans.

“Hey, Hal,” she heard Sam call out as she entered the door behind him.

“How have you been doing Sam?” Hal looked around Sam to get a better look at Loren. “And who is this pretty little Philly tagging along behind you?” he asked.

Hal thought she looked to be about nineteen or twenty in age.
A young one, that was for sure. He wandered where Sam picked this one up and what kind of connection he had with her.

He had known Sam since High School and knew for a fact that he had not dated
much after Stephanie had left town.  Hal and his wife, Missy had tried to set him up a few times, but Sam had always refused the invitations. Hell, he didn’t even hang out with his old buddies any more. Yep, this sure did raise some questions in Hal’s mind.

Sam turned to look at Loren and made the introductions.
“Hal, this is Loren Randolph. Loren this is Hal Brown, a long-time friend of mine and the proud owner of Brown’s feed and seed. He has good quality feed at a fair price,” he added.

Hal looked to be about the same age as Sam.
Not quite as handsome as Sam, but handsome all the same. He had the same muscular build, but was not quite as tall. He had dark hair, chocolate brown eyes and olive skin. Loren took note that he had a wedding band on his left hand.

“Nice to meet you Hal,” Loren said, extending her hand to him.
“I have just inherited MG Ranch and Sam here, has agreed to help me out and show me around the area. I just moved here from Atlanta.”

“Is that right?
” Hal said, rubbing his chin. He shot Sam a questioning look.

Before he could ask anything more, Sam said, “I will be staying with Loren at the Ranch for a
short while to help her out until she is ready to take full control of the Ranch.”

“And about how long do you suppose that is going to take?” Hal said with raised eyebrows.

“My Dad has made arrangements for Sam to stay with me for a few months, maybe longer if needed,” Loren replied in a matter of fact tone.

She had no idea that she was just giving Hal more reason to ask questions.
Why couldn’t she just be quite and let him handle this?

“You don‘t say?”
Hal let the words out slowly with a sneaky grin aimed right at Sam.

“I am staying in the bunkhouse at the
barn.” Sam directed his answer back at Hal with a look to let him know that he was barking up the wrong tree.

Hal wasn’t totally convinced that
nothing
was going on between the two. He could see the sparks flying like daggers, each time they looked at one another.

“Don’t let me hold you folks up.
I will be at the front of the store when you are ready for checkout.” Hal walked away leaving them to tend to their business. He didn’t want to rile Sam any more than he already had. He had learned years ago what it was like to be on the wrong side of Sam and had no desire to do it again.

“We will be getting one bag of Whole oats today.
You can just put it on my tab and I will be back at the end of the week to settle up,” Sam said to Hal’s retreating back.

After they had walked some distance away, Sam turned to face Loren.
“In a few days Hal will have everyone informed about the new Philly residing at MG.”

“What’s so bad about that?” she asked.
“I have to meet people around here sooner or later.”

“What’s so bad about it is that there will be a few more rumors tacked on every time it gets passed on.
” He replied to her question, rolling his eyes. Was she really that naive?

“Oh. Well, I guess we will just have to set them straight then won’t we.
I sure don’t want people around here thinking that we are a couple. Best to let them know up front that this pretty little Philly hasn’t been roped yet!”  She put a little emphasis on the word yet.

Sam had a look of surprise on his face, but he didn’t dare say another word.
He was afraid that the words would come out all wrong and then Loren would get the idea that he might be jealous. Was he?

Lifting up the fifty-pound bag of oats and tossing it over his left shoulder, Sam began to move towards the front.
Hal was on the phone and motioned for Sam to hold up before he made it out the door.

Hal hung up the phone.
“Hey man, I was just talking to Missy and I kind of let it slip about Loren being the new owner of MG and all.”  A sly grin occupied his face.  “Anyway, she wants the two of you to come over for dinner on Friday night.”

Sam immediately shook his head from left to right.
  “Thanks for the invite, but ---

“We would love to come,” Loren said before Sam could finish his sentence.
She gave him an award-winning smile.  “Isn’t that right, Sam?” Now she was the one wearing the,
I won the Kentucky Derby smile.

“I guess we will be seeing you on Friday then.” Sam said.
He was not smiling when he said it. The look that he sent Loren gave her the impression that she might have stepped over the line just a little bit.  On the other hand, Hal seemed to be pleased.

“Good, I well let Missy know that you have accepted.
We will expect you, say around seven?”

“Okay, see you then.” Loren chirped.
It was obvious that Sam had no intention of saying another word. He walked out of the store, tossed the oats onto the flat bed of his truck and proceeded with climbing in behind the wheel.

Hal
thought he noticed some friction between the two. At least it appeared to be that way on Sam’s behalf anyway. Missy could pry the horns off a Billy goat, so he felt certain that she would get to the true bottom of the current situation going on over at the MG Ranch.

Loren jumped in
the truck and shut the door just as Sam started the ignition. The look on his face confirmed that he was a little miffed with her, so she kept her tongue silent.

But on the inside she was just about to bubble over with excitement. She couldn’t wait for Friday night.
She hoped that she would get along well with Hal’s wife, Missy. She liked the thought of making new friends.

Sam pulled into the parking lot of a nearby supermarket.
  He switched off the ignition, and then turned to look at her.

“Try not to get us invited to dinner again while we are shopping for groceries.”
  There was no mistaking the sound of disgust in his voice.

She opened her mouth to make a reply and Sam held up his hand to silence her.

“Don’t say anything more, I am not in the mood to hear anything else you have to say,” he said, getting out of the truck and slamming the door behind him.

Loren got out of the truck and followed him into the supermarket, wondering what was eating at him.
Why would he be so upset about having dinner with his friends? Hal seemed very nice and she thought that Missy probably was too. Otherwise how could they stand to be married to each other?

Once inside the store, they split up to make their selections. Walking down the aisles, Loren added some sodas, fruits and veggies, and two nice round steaks to her basket.
Maybe if she cooked dinner for Sam, he would be in a better mood. She hadn’t meant to rile his feathers, again.

She added a few more basic staples to her basket, milk, eggs, butter, cheese and dry cereal.
That should do her until she could get away to make another trip into town.

Sam was already checking out when she reached the front.
She got in line behind him, but he didn’t say anything until he had paid the clerk. “I will be waiting in the truck,” he said, glancing back at her.

“Okay.” Loren replied.
She noticed that the clerk raised her eyebrows at Sam’s comment.

The clerk waited until Sam had left the store before she said anything.
“So you are with Sam?” she asked in a surprised tone.

“Yes, I am.
”  The clerk had a funny look on her face in response to Loren’s answer.  “Is something wrong with that?”

“Well, no.
It’s just that he has never come in with a girl before. Well, at least not since I have been working here. Rumor has it that he still pines after Mr. Woodrow’s daughter.”

“Who, did you say?” Loren asked.
She wasn’t sure why she wanted to know more, but she did.

“Mr. Woodrow, you know the owner of this
grocery store.”

“No, I mean whom did you say he was pining after?”

“Stephanie Woodrow.” The girl said it as if she expected Loren to know exactly who this Stephanie was.

When Loren didn’t respond, the clerk continued
on with her idle chatter.

“You know, his
high school sweetheart. They had planned to be married soon after their graduation, and well, she just up and ran off to Paris with her friends. Snagged her some rich Frenchman is what folk’s around here say.”

The clerk paused long enough to take a short breath and rattled on as if she were talking to herself.
“Of course last I heard she divorced him and plans to move back to Georgia. I don’t suppose Sam knows that yet or he wouldn’t be riding you around all over town, showing you off.”

Well, that sure explained why he wasn’t married.
Loren’s heart ached at the pain that Sam must have felt when the one girl that he had loved so much had run off to Paris, leaving him behind.

Not really knowing what else to say, Loren paid for her groceries and quickly walked towards the exit door
.

“Wait Miss, your change,” the clerk called out after her.
   Loren either didn’t hear her or didn’t care, she disappeared out the door.

Chapter 8

Sam picked up on Loren’s quite demeanor on the way home.  She was unusually quiet. He got the feeling that something was bothering her or weighing heavy on her mind. When he pulled into the drive, she jumped out of the truck before he could even get the ignition cut off.

Once her feet hit the ground, she made a bee line for the back door. She had been in such a hurry to get away from him that she hadn’t even remembered to get her groceries.

Maybe he had been a little too rough on her, but on the other hand, she had deserved it, so he wasn’t going to allow himself to feel guilty about it.  He grabbed her bags and hopped out of the truck.

Letting himself into the back door, he carried her groceries in and put them on the table.
He didn’t see her lurking around in the kitchen, so he called out to her. “Loren, where are you? You forgot your bags in the truck.”

There was
still no answer. “Loren, are you okay?” he asked.

Sam heard her walk around the corner into the kitchen as he was putting the perishables in the fridge.

“So what do you have planned for these?”  He held up the pack of steaks, displaying them in front of his chest.

“I thought I would cook dinner for you tonight.” 
Was that a look of surprise that crossed his face?     “What? You don’t’ think I can cook?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well no, not really,” he admitted.
“You look a little wet behind the ears to me about a lot of things,” he commented.

  And what in the devil did he mean by that? “I guess I will just have to prove you wrong then,” she said, keeping her tone even.

She walked over and practically snatched the
pack of steaks from his hands. Thanks for bringing in my bags, but I can take if from here.”  It was all she could do to keep her tongue in cheek and not yell the words at him.

Sam took th
e dismissal as it was intended, and tipped his hat to her on his way out the back door. He had chores that needed tending to anyway. He couldn’t let this place go, just because there was a female around to shake things up a bit.  A beautiful desirable woman he reminded himself, and one that thinks she can cook. The thought of her smoking up the kitchen from charred steaks, brought a smirked grin to his face.

“Dinner will be ready around seven,” she
called out to his retreating back. His smirking grin had not gone unnoticed. She would just have to show him that all the smirking in the world would not change the fact that she was a great cook. With that thought in mind, Loren set to the task of marinating the steaks. She was determined that this would be the best steak that he would ever have the pleasure of putting into his mouth.

And as promised, Loren had dinner ready and served at seven p.m. sharp.
The night air was cool, but comfortable, making it a nice evening to have dinner served outside on the back deck.

Sam had to admit, he was impressed.
“Well, it all looks good, but let’s see how well it taste,” he said, trying to add a hint of sarcasm to his words.

Loren knew sarcasm when she heard it, but just smiled and motioned him to a chair.
He removed his hat and sat down. The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t had a meal like this cooked for him in so long, he wasn’t even sure where to begin. The aroma was making his stomach growl.

The steaks were grilled to perfection.
The salad was crisp and fresh; the baked potato was baked to a fluffy softness. He popped a piece of the steak into his mouth and began to chew.  Mesquite flavor exploded into his mouth with each grind of his teeth.

“So, what do you think?”
She was tapping her foot waiting for an answer.

Amy had been determined that Loren would learn to cook.
She had stayed persistent over the years, telling Loren that she would be grateful one day. Well, that one-day was finally here. Proving Sam wrong would be her trophy.

“It is heavenly, where on earth did you learn to cook like that?” Sam replied in between chewing.

“My mom was a great teacher.” Her answer came with a feeling of satisfaction. It pleased her that he liked it, and it made her feel all bubbly inside. “But now that you know I can actually cook; don’t be expecting it all the time. Tonight was just a peace offering for getting under your skin all day.”

He couldn’t argue with that.
She had gotten under his skin all day and he was beginning to think this day was never going to end, but now he wasn’t sure that he even wanted it to.

He hadn’t realized it until now, but he missed the company of a woman.
He tried to recall the image of Stephanie’s face, but it wouldn’t come to mind. He was just distracted, that’s all.

Loren sat down across from him and began to spoon lots of butter onto her potato.
She knew it wasn’t really healthy for you, but she didn’t really care at the moment. It wasn’t worth eating without loads of butter and salt. She might regret it one day when it settled on her hips, but for now she was just enjoying every savory bite.

Sam washed his last bite
of steak down with a swish of sweet tea. “Thank you Loren. That is by far the best meal that I have had in a very long time.”

“Wait a minute.  Is that a compliment that just
accidentally escaped your mouth?”  Her smile was beaming from one side of her face to the other.

“Yes, I believe it was
, but it was no accident.  I meant it.” Sam’s voice sounded sincere.

Without thinking, he reached out and laid his hand on top of hers, causing her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink.
She was blushing again.

“Then you are welcome.
I am glad that you liked it,” she stammered.

She wasn’t sure if his words or the warm sensation of his hand on
top of hers was responsible for the pinkness in her cheeks. She fought the urge to pull her hand away from his.

With each minute that his hand lingered on hers, her skin was becoming warmer.  It was starting to feel like his skin was going to catch hers on fire.

Suddenly without warning the sky opened up and let loose a fountain of rain. Big fat rain drops began to fall; pelting down on them, as the dark clouds came rolling in. They were both soaked before they reached the door.

Loren paused with her hand on the doorknob.
“Have you ever danced in the rain, Sam?”

“No, I don’t believe that I have.
Hurry and open the door. In case you haven’t noticed, we are getting soaked out here,” he said impatiently.

“What do you mean that you don’t believe that you have?
Have you, or have you not danced in the rain before,” Loren said with her hand still on the doorknob.

“No, I have not.
I am sure that I would remember it, if I had. Now open the door,” he said, growing more impatient with every minute that passed.

“We are already soaked.
Dance with me?” she asked, holding out her hand to him.

“Are you crazy?
We are likely to catch phenomena out here in this mess.”

The warmth of her hand earlier had ignited a spark in him.
He was afraid that if he touched her again, he might start a fire that he couldn’t put out.

“Please,” she pleaded softly
, while still holding her hand out to him.

Without giving it another thought, Sam took her hand and swept her into his arms.
They were in a world of their own as he held her close, going through the dance motions.

He could feel the warmth of her body through their wet clothes
, as she pressed her body close to his. Her head lay against his chest, her arms encircling his waist. Her hair smelled like fresh cherry blossoms. His nostrils were filled with the sweet sent, causing another spark to ignite within him. Sam felt like he was catching on fire as his blood began to race through his veins.

He cupped her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes.
God she was beautiful. He wanted to kiss her, but knew that he shouldn’t.

Going against his better judgment, he lightly caressed her bottom lip with his thumb until she parted them.
It was his undoing. He bent low and touched his mouth softly to hers, tasting the sweetness.

Loren moved her arms upward to wrap them around his neck while he continued to softly explore her mouth.
Sam could feel the surging fire begin to grow stronger inside him. The hot flames of desire were urging him on with each new spark. He wasn’t sure how far Loren would let things go and he didn’t trust himself to stop if she didn’t ask him to. He knew that he needed to break the kiss, before things went way too far; before he couldn’t stop himself.

Suddenly,
Sam ended the kiss and gently pushed her away from him, holding her at arms-length. She looked up at him, confused.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he told her, releasing his hold on her. He watched the look on her face change from confusion to embarrassment.
“I’m sorry.”  His mind had just gone blank.  He didn’t know what else to say.

Loren lifted her h
and and softly touched his lips.  “Don’t be.”  Turning away from him, she opened the back door and walked inside.  He was left standing alone on the deck in the pouring rain.

He just stood there staring at the door for a moment, trying to clear his thoughts.
What had just happened? He had not intended to kiss her, but the honest truth was that he wasn’t sorry that he had. Loren had awakened a fire within him and it was still burning.

He tugged at his Stetson and pulled it lower
on his head before heading in the direction of the barn. He glanced back once as if he hoped Loren would be standing in the open door calling for him to come back.

He was half relived that she wasn’t because he felt sure that he would have returned to take her into his arms again and this time he wouldn’t push her away.
He wouldn’t end their kiss until he had his fill of her. Lord help him, this was going to be a rough few months.