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“Well, I reckon your car isn’t too happy about being here either. Don’t worry. I can take a look and see what’s going on.”
“Fine. I suppose I have no other choice.”
Nope. Her eyes weren’t like the sea. They were the color of the endless Texas sky. And I wanted to know everything they'd seen.
I tore my eyes away from hers, and smirked to hide the tingles they made me feel.
I approached the vehicle, eyeing the engine. The car was a rental. I didn’t need to ask Anna questions to know I was right. She’d driven rentals to Marfa when she was eighteen and nineteen, then never came back again.
It was a stick shift, too. For some reason, Anna had always thought that was the type of car that fitted Marfa. She’d claimed it was more adventurous to use the manual transmission.
“These rentals can be unpredictable,” I said to keep the conversation flowing.
“They sure can,” she muttered, stepping back to allow me space.
In that second, her light and floral perfume teased my nostrils.
I peered at the engine and quickly assessed the situation. It didn’t take long to discover that the battery was the culprit. It had died, and there was no way it would start again without a replacement.
I called to my ranch hand.
“Joe, fetch me the new battery in the garage, will ya?”
He immediately took off to retrieve it.
Now that we were standing side by side, I used the opportunity to study Anna.
She wasn’t the girl I’d left behind. No. Her body had grown to have gentle curves that gave her a womanly allure. Her eyes, once bright and unguarded, now held depths of resilience and unspoken strength.
Gone was the shy girl I remembered from our teenage years. This Anna was more assertive, more independent. Her aura radiated strength and confidence. She’d transformed into a woman with undeniable power and beauty.
It was disconcerting yet magnetic.
It dawned on me then that the attraction I’d once felt towards her was a flickering flame. Presently, it had intensified into a blazing inferno.
Anna had unknowingly snared my heart once again.
Not wanting to dwell on how I was still attracted to her, I started disconnecting the battery.
Yet, frustration knotted within me. I wanted the Harrington Ranch more than my attraction for Anna. I needed to make it mine.
Regret formed a lump in my throat. I had made a colossal mistake by leaving Anna for the rodeo. At the time, I’d been young and foolish. I’d chased dreams that had ultimately led to nowhere and avoided actions I should have faced head-on.
Now that I saw her again, I wondered what could have been if I’d stayed. One thing was sure, if I hadn’t left Anna years ago, she would be solidly mine and there wouldn't be a question about who would own the ranch.
But I quickly brushed that thought aside. My primary goal was to acquire the Harrington Ranch, her grandpa’s ranch.
I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. Especially not when Anna was standing in my way.
“I heard about your grandpa,” I said.
It was a lie.
I knew about Grandpa William Harrington II.
The man had practically become a grandfather to me the last few years of his life, even though he refused to sell the ranch to me. I’d held him in my arms the day he’d died calling Anna’s name.
Her eyes were fixed on me. I coughed, trying to find the right words.
