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“They’re in my car,” I nodded back toward the car. “I figured I’d just come and meet you guys first.” I hesitated. I didn’t want to say that I didn’t want to take my suitcases out just in case I had to make a quick getaway.
“Totally understandable, dear. Come on, come inside. I’ll make you some sweet tea, or would you like some lemonade?”
“Oh, lemonade would be great. Thanks.”
“I’d like some lemonade too, Amelia.”
“You’re not meant to be on the sugar. You know that, Ranger. But you can have some unsweetened tea.”
“I don’t want any unsweetened tea,” he sighed. “Forget about it.”
“Okay. Now, come on, dear. How was your flight?”
“Oh, it was fine, thank you. It’s quite beautiful here.”
“Isn’t it just?” Amelia said as she looked around. “We’ll have to take you on a tour of the ranch later on this afternoon. Won’t we, Ranger?”
“We’re going to take her or the boy is going to take her?”
“We’re going to take her, Ranger.” Amelia shook her head. “Now, would you like some cookies as well? I’ve got some homemade chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven.”
“Oh, that would be great, thank you.” I followed her into the wide kitchen. It was beautiful. There was a huge island in the middle with a Carrera marble countertop. To the right of that was a French door refrigerator and two gas stove ovens. They definitely had money. I recognized some of the brands of the appliances, and I knew that they didn’t come cheap.
“Have a seat, dear,” Amelia nodded to the bar stools next to the island. “Are you hungry? Would you like something more to eat than just cookies? I can whip you up a sandwich until dinner time.”
“No, no, that’s fine, thanks. I can wait till dinner time.”
“So … this is all a little bit different, isn’t it?” Amelia said as she handed me a glass.
“Yeah, you can say that again,” I laughed self-consciously. “I feel a little bit overwhelmed, to be honest.”
“Don’t be overwhelmed, dear. You’ll be fine,” she nodded. “Don’t you think so, Ranger?”
“I don’t know what the boys are going to say, Amelia.”
“You keep saying that, Ranger. What do you think the boys are going to say? They love their mama. They respect me. They won’t say anything.”
“They love you very dearly, but you’ve never done anything this crazy before.” He shook his head. “And Lucy, you are mighty pretty, I will admit that. But I don’t know that my boys want an arranged marriage. This is not the 1700s, Amelia. We’re not back in the Gold Rush days, you know that?”
“The Gold Rush was in the 1800s, honey.” Amelia shrugged. “I’m sure the boys will be happy.”
“Well, which boy is she for?”
“Which boy do you think, Ranger?”
“Oh gosh. You’re not saying Beau?”
So that was my future husband’s name, Beau. Interesting. I’d never imagined myself dating a guy called Beau. I didn’t even know how you would spell it. Was it B-O? Was it B-E-A-U? Was how he spelled his name really the most important thing I could be thinking about right now?
I giggled slightly to myself and then looked up as I saw Amelia and Ranger were both staring at me.
“What are you laughing at, honey?” Amelia said. “Don’t mind me and Ranger. We go back and forth all day. We squabble like newlyweds.”
“Oh no. I was just thinking to myself that I’ve never met a Beau before.”
“Oh, well I think you’ll like Beau. He’s our oldest.”
“Will I get to meet him soon?” I paused. “Exactly how are we going to handle this?” I looked down at my glass. If they hadn’t told their son that they had sent for me, how exactly was this going to go down?
