Beauty and The Beastly Rancher. Judy Christenberry
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land, honey, and that money will help us out. So everything is going to be better.” She lifted Julie in her arms and danced around the table.
“Mommy! I like it when you’re happy!” Julie exclaimed with a joyful laugh.
Again Anna felt guilty. She’d been letting their situation drag her down, but she hadn’t realized how aware of everything Julie was.
“Everything is going to be better, baby. You’ll see.”
“Is Mr. Crawford going to stay for lunch?” Julie asked.
“No, we have to do business today. You and Henry are going to stay with his mother while we go into town.”
“His mommy? He has a mommy?”
“Why, yes, he has a mommy. Why wouldn’t he?”
“‘Cause he’s so big,” Julie said with a look of wonder.
Anna laughed again. “Come to the table, sweetie and start on your cake. I’ll pour you a glass of milk.”
“Are you going to eat cake, too, Mommy?”
Anna stopped in surprise. With a smile, she said, “You bet I am.”
While Pete was signing the lease papers, he said, “If I remember right, Anna Pointer is a good-looking blonde.”
Joe grunted and looked at Kelly, Pete’s wife.
“How’s the store doing?” he asked, deliberately trying to change the topic.
“It’s doing great, Joe. Stop by and visit some day,” Kelly invited, smiling at her brother-in-law. “We don’t see you often enough.”
“I’m not usually in town as much as Pete.”
“I don’t remember ever seeing Anna Pointer either. Doesn’t she ever come to town?”
Joe doubled his hands and slid them into his pockets. “Nope. She has little kids.”
“So do I,” Kelly said with a laugh.
“I think I hear one now,” Joe said, looking up the stairs visible from the kitchen table. In no time, a fouryear-old boy came running down the stairs. “Uncle Joe! Uncle Joe, hi! I didn’t know you was coming!”
“Were coming, son,” Kelly said.
Ignoring his mother, the boy continued. “Why are you here? Are you going to give me a ride?”
Joe grinned. Drew was his favorite nephew, mainly because he was the only one old enough to play. He loved it when Joe swung him up on his shoulders and galloped around with him.
Kelly intervened. “No, he’s not. But he does have a treat for you,” she assured her son.
“What?” Drew asked.
“Uncle Joe is going to drop you off at Granny’s house and let you play with a little girl who’s coming over. And I want you to be sweet to her.”
“A girl? No, Mom, I don’t want—”
“Drew?” Pete said quietly.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Be a gentleman.”
“Yes, sir. But girls can’t play.”
“What do you mean?” Joe asked, curious.
“All Alexandra does is sleep and eat.”
Kelly laughed quietly. “That’s because she’s a baby. She’ll do more as she gets older. This little girl is four years old, just like you.”
“Okay. Will Granny make cookies?”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she will. She always does.”
“Yeah. She’s a good granny,” Drew said in satisfaction.
“Go put on a clean shirt.” He started to protest, but his mother said, “I know you got that shirt out of the dirty clothes. It still has peanut butter on it.”
With a disgusted look, he trudged back up the stairs. “I’ll be right back, Uncle Joe. Don’t leave without me.”
“No, I won’t.”
Kelly sighed. “At least the tornado has passed for a few minutes. He keeps getting more and more energy.”
“Yeah. How’s Alex doing? Prettier than ever?”
“Of course,” Kelly agreed.
“You need kids of your own,” Pete said with a frown.
“Don’t start, Pete. I’m fine. It gives me time to be a good uncle to Drew.”
“I’m not complaining about that, of course, but you’re older than me. Don’t wait much longer.”
Joe shrugged his shoulders and picked up the check and signed lease. “Okay, I’m taking this over to Mrs. Pointer and then driving her into town. I think the payment is due right away.”
“And it’s okay if I start working the land today?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks for lining this up for me, Joe. It will be helpful.”
“For me, too. But Anna—that is, Mrs. Pointer, thinks we’re giving her charity. I had to talk a little while to convince her I wasn’t.”
“Good for you,” Pete said, watching his brother closely.
“Stop looking at me that way,” Joe protested.
“What way?”
“You know what I mean. This is business, that’s all.”
“Right,” Pete said.
“Joe, why don’t you bring her by the store and introduce her to us. Lindsay will want to meet her, too.”
Joe paused. Then he said, “I might do that. I don’t think she has many friends.”
“Good. We’ll look forward to meeting her.”
“Hey, wait a minute. How come you get to meet her and I don’t?” Pete demanded of his wife.
She leaned over and kissed him. “Because you have to work today.”
Joe laughed at the look on his brother’s face. But he wasn’t worried. Kelly spoiled Pete, as he spoiled her. They had a good marriage that made Joe envious if he thought about it too long.
His sister, Lindsay, had a good marriage, too. Her husband, Gil Daniels, trained horses and was making quite a name for himself. At least two out of six wasn’t bad for his parents. Well, he had to make it three out of six because Logan had married his boss, Abby. A beautiful woman, who talked ranching with the best of them. Logan had learned that the hard way. She was a strong woman who resented being pampered as if she were weak.
But Anna…he thought she might need some pampering. Not that he would be the one to take care of her. He was her temporary protector. Maybe he’d look around for a good man for Anna. He could push her in that direction when he found someone good enough for her. That was a good idea. In town on Saturday, he’d make sure she was introduced around and see who he could find.
In the meantime, he’d think about his friends. Surely he had nice friends who would be interested. Well, not really. Most of his friends were married already. He scratched his head again. There was Dr. Patrick Wilson. He was actually a friend of Pete’s. He and Pete had become friends when Kelly took Drew to see him. Joe couldn’t hold back a chuckle. They hadn’t started out friends. Pete had been too jealous. But he’d delivered Alex and had become a trusted friend. Would Anna—Mrs. Pointer be interested in a doctor? Most women were, he thought with a shrug.
How about Bill Quigley? His wife had died last year. He had a couple of kids too. Anna seemed like a good mom. Maybe that