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The door swung open.
Chapter Five
“Why, hello there.” A handsome older man with silver-grey hair and sparkling blue eyes opened the door. He looked curiously at me. “Can I help you?” He had a slight accent, but I wasn’t sure what it was from. Maybe it was just a Montana accent. It sounded slightly Canadian, but maybe that was because we were so close to the border.
“Hi. Yeah, I’m Lucy. I’m here to see Amelia and Ranger.”
“Well, hello, Lucy,” he nodded and looked a bit confused. “I’m Ranger Hamilton. Can I help you?”
“Yeah. I’m Lucy from New York.” I gave him my biggest and best smile.
“Okay, Lucy from New York. You’re going to have to give me a bit more information than that.” He smiled, polite but quizzical.
My legs were beginning to shake. “I’ve been emailing back and forth with your wife about …” I suddenly realized that he had no idea who I was or why I was there. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
“I’m afraid not,” he shook his head. “I thought you might’ve been here for one of my sons, but you’re here to see my wife?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Is she available?”
“Hold on. Why don’t you come inside, Miss Lucy?” He opened the door wider.
“Um, actually if you don’t mind, I’ll stay here.” My brain was racing. What if there was no Amelia? What if this had been a trick? I could feel myself growing hot. Oh dear God, why had I come here? It was obvious to me that he had no idea who I was. What if I hadn’t even been talking to Amelia and Ranger Hamilton whatsoever? All sorts of thoughts were crossing my mind. “I’m here about marrying one of your sons,” I blurted out.
Something must have clicked. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “I told Amelia not to go messing around with other people’s business,” he sighed. “Sorry.” He held out his hand. “I’m Ranger Hamilton, Amelia’s long-suffering husband.” He gave me a wry smile. “I think I know why you’re here now.”
“You do?” I asked hesitantly. Was he a good actor or was he being real?
“Yes. My wife has been wanting our sons to get married for a long time. None of them actually want to get married, and so she had this idea, and I told her not to go through with it. But does she listen to me? Does she ever listen to me? No, she does not.” He paused. “Sorry. I can understand your hesitancy about not wanting to come inside, so let me go and get my wife. I will leave the door open so you can see there’s nothing crazy going on in here. The dogs might come and say hello to you. Don’t mind them, they’re friendly. And you might see one or two of my sons, though I think they’re all out on the ranch right now.”
“Okay. Sure.” I just nodded and stood on the front porch.
“Let me go and get Amelia.” He walked back inside. “Amelia! Amelia!” He was shouting through the house and I peeked inside curiously. There was a spiral staircase to the right of the door and a grand piano to the left. I wondered who played. Maybe it was my new husband. Maybe he’d compose and sing me a song. Now, that would be kind of romantic. I grabbed my phone in my hand and pulled it out of my handbag. I needed it easily accessible so that if I had to call the police or Olivia, I could do it quickly.
My long blonde hair hung down my shoulders. I’d thought about putting it up in a bun, but I had told myself that I wanted to make the best first impression possible and that’s why I’d left it down. I squeezed the phone for a couple of seconds wondering what I should do. Maybe I should just leave. I could get a hotel or a motel somewhere and then catch a flight back home. Hopefully, there’d be enough credit on my credit card.
“Oh, Ranger, stop fussing.”
I looked and saw a tall, beautiful older woman heading towards me with a wide smile on her face. “Why, you must be Lucy Kensington.” She smiled as she looked me up and down. “Well, you’re even more beautiful than I thought you would be!”
“Thank you.” I smiled back. “I’m guessing you’re Amelia Hamilton.”
“Yes, I am,” she smiled. “Don’t mind my husband. He knew that you were coming. I told him.”
“You didn’t tell me anything, Amelia,” Ranger grumbled.
“I’ve told you several times, Ranger. Why do you think I’ve been getting the house ready?”
“I don’t know. You’re always fussing here, there, and everywhere.”
“You just don’t listen to me, Ranger. That’s the problem.”
“I’m always listening to you, Amelia. But you’ve got to stop with these plans. Does the boy even know she’s here?”
“Well, of course not. I couldn’t tell him!” She looked back at me. “Sorry about that. Once you’ve been married for 40 years, you’ll understand what it means to be going back and forth with your husband. Come in, dear. Come in.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you not have any suitcases with you?” She looked at my empty hands.
