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“Well, I have a plan, you see.” Amelia’s eyes were twinkling. I noticed that her eyes were bright green. She was beautiful even though she was older. I could tell that she had been the belle of the ball in her days. And as I looked over at Ranger, I could tell that he was very handsome as well. If their sons had got any of their looks, then I was going to be one lucky woman. I really hoped that Beau took after his dad because that would mean he would grow into a very distinguished-looking man.
“They’re all out on the ranch right now if that’s what you’re wondering,” Ranger said, looking at me.
“Oh no, I just mean …” I paused. “You know, how is this going to work?”
“I wish I knew, but I guess Amelia’s got that all figured out. Don’t you, my love?” He kissed her on the cheek and she pushed him away.
“Ranger, do not patronize me. As it happens, I do have a plan.” She looked towards me. “Now, you know this is a highly unusual situation. And I know you’re a good sport, Amelia. And I hate to bring you into a complicated situation, but I think it will be best to just introduce you as a family friend at dinner, and then we’ll get into the arrangements.”
“Okay,” I said, sipping on the drink. “So, Beau is not going to have any idea that I’m here to marry him? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, he’ll have an idea because we’ll sit you next to him and we’ll have him take you into town later to get you any things that you need.”
“Oh, I don’t need anything, thank you.” I thought about my dwindling bank account. I was not about to go shopping even if it would help me get closer to Beau.
“Well, maybe you don’t need to go shopping then. Maybe you’ll get some ice cream.” Amelia smiled to herself. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. They can get some ice cream.”
“Amelia, that’s not a good idea. All the boys are going to want to go for ice cream then. I thought you wanted Beau and Lucy to be together alone so that they can get to know each other better and see if there’s any chemistry.”
“Why, Ranger, of course there’s going to be chemistry. Look at her, she’s beautiful. Beau’s never seen a girl like this before.”
“She is mighty fine, but you know our son.”
“I know.” She sighed as she looked at me. “You’ll see, Lucy, that all of our boys are very attractive. So, in case you’re worried that that’s the reason why they haven’t found wives, you don’t have to worry. They’re very good-looking. I think you’ll find that Beau is a mighty handsome young man. But they just don’t want to seem to settle down. They’ve had girlfriends and they’ve brought women home, here and there, you know? But nobody stuck.”
Ranger’s eyes narrowed. “Amelia, they’ve never brought any girlfriends home.”
“Yes, they have. Didn’t Wyatt bring that one girl home?”
“Amelia, are you talking about Sadie Johnson?”
“Yeah, he brings Sadie Johnson over all the time.”
“That’s because Sadie Johnson is his best friend, and they’ve been best friends since kindergarten.”
“Well, I know they’ve been best friends since kindergarten, Ranger. But are you blind?”
“What do you mean, am I blind? Blind to what?”
“Those two are surely in love. She should be his girlfriend, but he’s too blind to see it.”
“Now, Amelia, don’t you go messing with their friendship.”
“I’m not messing with their friendship, Ranger. I’m just telling you they should have been married a long time ago. But you know what? Wyatt’s going to mess up and she’s going to find someone else, and then he’s going to realize he loved her all along.”
“Oh, Amelia.” Ranger raised his eyes to the ceiling as if praying for patience and looked back at me. “Sorry. Wyatt’s our youngest son. Him and his best friend Sadie have been like this for a long time.” He held his two fingers together and up in the air. “And me and Amelia been wondering when they’re going to get together, and they just don’t seem to. I guess they’ll just be friends forever.”
“They’re not going to be friends forever, Ranger.” Amelia pouted. “You know that Sadie Johnson, she’s going to find herself a man and Wyatt’s going to be heartbroken.”
I watched the two as they went back and forth and withheld a smile. I felt like I was in the middle of some country-western TV show. It felt kind of nice. And even though I had no idea who Wyatt or Sadie was, it seemed cute. I would have loved to have had a best guy friend since kindergarten was my soulmate. It felt like it would have been a movie or something. But at least I had Olivia. She and I had been best friends forever. And even though I didn’t swing that way, I knew she’d always be there for me. And well, I guess I didn’t really need a best friend to become a lover because now I had Beau … Sort of, even though I didn’t know what he looked like.
“So how many sons do you guys have?” I spoke up. “I didn’t realize you had such a large family.”
“We got seven boys,” Ranger said with a laugh.
“Yes,” Amelia said, sighing. “So now you know why I’m so happy to have another woman in the house.”
“Seven boys! That’s a lot.” I grinned. “Good for you.”
