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Liv was a freshman in high school when they moved to Colorado twenty-six years ago. She left briefly when she and Scott married. Now she considered it home and never planned to leave.
Micah wound his way through the heavily-treed trail without much coaxing from Liv. Once they reached the top of the short incline, they came to a clearing and a wide-open meadow where he could run fast and hard.
“Ready, boy?” she asked, giving him a little kick, and Micah took off like a rocket. This was freedom. No worries, just her and her horse. She was thankful every day that her father bought this ranch.
Her parents died within a couple of years of each other. Her dad went first, ten years ago, followed by her mom. Liv still missed them. She had been an only child and very close to both her parents. Renie was the light of all their lives. Once her mom and dad passed away, the house was too quiet.
The ranch had no mortgage, and her parents left her a generous sum of money. Liv never had to worry about how she’d support herself and her daughter. But between the two of them, they decided to take in boarded horses anyway. It provided a bit of an income, but more, it provided company when the people boarding came to ride.
One of the neighboring ranches was owned by a couple who had become a second family to Liv. The Pattersons had been leasing Liv’s ranch land for cattle since before Liv’s father owned it. It added income like boarding did, provided for the care and maintenance of the land, and it also gave them a little excitement.
Calving season and branding gave her and Renie life experiences they wouldn’t have otherwise known. Liv wasn’t much of a ranch hand herself, but she would dish out a hot meal for the cowboys and wranglers at busy times of the year. Her pies became the dessert mainstay of Patterson Ranch barbecues.
She tied up Micah near the Patterson’s barn and walked in the back door.
“Hey-o, anybody here?” Liv never knocked first. Dottie would’ve been insulted if she had.
“In here, honey,” Dottie answered from the kitchen.
Liv walked into the kitchen, and let herself be surrounded by a hug like no one else gave but Dottie. Her eyes filled with tears.
“What’s this?” Dottie asked, holding Liv at arm’s length. “Sit down and tell me why you’re crying.”
Liv told Dottie about Ben Rice, including the part about her not having sex since Scott died.
“Bill and I hoped one of the cowboys who worked our ranch would turn your head, but year after year it never happened. Not for lack of trying on their part, either.”
“What are you talking about? Whose part?”
“Well now…there have been a slew of ’em trying for years to get your attention.”
“Who?”
“Billy Junior, but he gave up years ago, honey. You wouldn’t even look in his direction. The Morehouse boy, what was his name?”
“Brandon.”
“That’s right, Brandon. He had a fierce crush on you. There were others.”
Liv was stunned. She’d never known this.
“Are you sure you aren’t talking about someone else?”
“No, I’m not talking about someone else. I’m talking about you, Olivia. You’ve never been aware of your own beauty. That’s one of the things that makes you so irresistible. And from the day she was born, you’ve been wrapped up in being the best mama to Renie. But sweetie, we’ve worried about you not realizing there’s more to life.”
“I hope I wasn’t rude to anyone.”
Dottie laughed. “A little. It made them want to follow you around all the more.”
Liv hadn’t been that interested in dating in high school, she’d already decided Scott was the only man for her. She supposed guys flirted with her, but she never paid attention.
“I didn’t know.”
“That was clear.” Dottie chuckled again. “It’s that way, isn’t it? The girls who do the chasin’, the boys don’t want. The girls who don’t know boys exist, the boys can’t get enough of.”
Dottie put her palm on Liv’s cheek. “Open your heart a little. Let him in, honey.”
“Who? Ben? He doesn’t want in, Dottie. I’d be surprised if I heard from him again.”
