LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Two

      “Want to tell me what’s on your mind, chickpea?”

      Robin clipped up the front of Butterfly’s rug and then patted the gray mare on the neck. She glanced sideways and saw her father, Cliff, staring at her. “Nothing,” she said as she left the stall and closed the stable door. “And don’t you think I’m a little old to still be called that?”

      Cliff chuckled. “You’ll always be my little girl, no matter how old you are. That’s the thing with daughters,” he said and grinned. “They’re way more important than sons.”

      “Don’t let Reece and Evan hear you say that,” she said and laughed, thinking of her two older brothers. “And I’m twenty-four, Dad...hardly a little girl.”

      He grinned again in that familiar way she loved, his mouth only partially twisting thanks to a stroke he’d suffered a couple of years earlier. “Boys aren’t good for much of anything. They leave home and forget about their parents.”

      Robin gently met her father’s gaze. “They’re successful lawyers, Dad,” she reminded him, thinking about how proud her parents actually were that her brothers were partners at an Austin firm. “And neither of them wanted to be ranchers.”

      “Just as well we have you, chickpea.”

      “I’m only a part-time rancher,” she said and hooked the hay net onto a peg by the stable door. “But you know I’m always going to be here to help you and Mom.”

      “Until you get married and leave,” he said and moved across the stables, using the walking stick he resented, before resting on a couple of straw bales. “Mind you, if you’d married Trey, you would’ve stayed here, since he owns the ranch next door.”

      “His parents own the ranch next door,” she corrected. “And first, I was never engaged to Trey. Second, he’s on the rodeo circuit so much I don’t think he’ll ever settle down.”

      Her father visibly winced. “Sorry, chickpea... I didn’t mean to bring up old hurts.”

      Robin shrugged. Everyone who lived within twenty miles of the ranch knew that Robin had caught Trey Hammond, her boyfriend of two years, pants down in a hotel room with two buckle bunnies. Robin had driven to Dallas to surprise him after he’d been on the road for two weeks competing in the bull-riding events at several rodeos. But she was the one who got the big surprise.

      Looking back, she couldn’t believe how foolishly naive she’d been. Trey was a good-looking, charming flirt—everyone said so. She’d been warned off getting involved with him for years before they’d actually begun dating. But she hadn’t listened. She’d allowed her heart to do her thinking and eventually paid a whopping price for loving him. The biggest price of her life, as it had turned out. But dwelling on their broken relationship and everything that went with it wasn’t her style. She’d made a promise to herself that she would never get bogged down in grief or regret.

      One day she would fall in love again. She would find a nice, sensible man she could honor and trust. Not a good-looking womanizer who couldn’t keep his manhood in his jeans for longer than a couple of weeks.

      She checked her watch and made a sharp sound. “Jeez, I have to get to work.”

      Her father was regarding her gently. “You work too hard. With everything you do around here and the hours you put in at the fancy ranch of Kate Fortune’s...it’s no wonder you look so tired.”

      She smiled at her father’s words. “Thanks, Dad, love you, too.”

      “Don’t ever doubt it,” he said and smiled. “Your mom and I are very proud of you.”

      Her throat tightened. “I know. And I’ve got to run. You gonna be okay?”

      “Fine,” he said and waved a hand. “I can finish up here. You go.”

      Robin gave him a quick hug and then hightailed it back to her cabin, which was down a track through the small orchard and behind the main house her parents shared. She’d moved into the cabin when she was seventeen, citing a need for privacy in a family who loved her dearly, though they could be stifling en masse. But they’d always loved and supported her, despite her tendency to do things her own way.

      She took a quick shower, dressed in jeans and a dark T-shirt, grabbed her jacket and shoved her feet into her favorite boots before she got into her truck and headed east. The drive to Sterling’s Fortune took less than fifteen minutes, but she loathed being late and was pleased to see she’d pulled up outside the greenhouse at five minutes to eight.

      Robin adored her job. Working for Kate Fortune was a dream come true. As the master landscaper and gardener at the ranch, she spent her day doing what she loved most. Kate was fair and supportive of all of Robin’s landscaping concepts and sought her advice on plants and flowers for her own private garden. She’d landed the job a couple of years earlier after finishing technical college, when she’d been working at a nursery in Austin and was at the Fortune ranch delivering Kate’s new topiaries.

      She knew who Kate was, of course. Everyone knew the iconic Kate Fortune. But she was surprised how genuine and down-to-earth the other woman was. They had talked for close to an hour about the ranch and Robin’s job, and the following day Kate called to offer her a position as the head groundskeeper. It was a no-brainer to accept the job—better salary, great working conditions and the opportunity to showcase her skills as a landscape designer. Working for Kate was a dream come true and Robin liked the older woman and her sweet-natured husband, Sterling Foster, immensely.

      “Got a call from O’Neill’s this morning,” Otis said the moment she dropped her bag in the small room she used as an office in the back of the greenhouse. “They said that fancy fertilizer you wanted is back in stock.”

      Otis Duke, in his midseventies, had a bad leg and back, but he knew more about roses and camellias than anyone she knew. She’d known him for years, ever since she was a fifth grader, in fact. Back then he was younger and fitter and had worked as a groundskeeper for the elementary school. When he was laid off due to restructuring, he’d found it impossible to get another job because of his age. But Robin wasn’t fazed and had offered him a part-time position the moment Kate hired her. Otis was her right hand and a good friend. She also had two other staff who worked a rotating schedule.

      Robin dropped her keys in the bowl on her makeshift desk and turned to face Otis. “Great, thanks. I’ll head into town to pick it up later.” She grabbed the clipboard hanging on a hook by the door. “We have to pull up the three flower beds around the rotunda today so we can plant them out with the pansies that arrive tomorrow. I drew a quick sketch of the design,” she said and pointed to the outlines. “We can use Swiss chard here, and I thought we could try using ornamental cabbage around the edge for something a little different this year.”

      Otis nodded. “Good choice. You certainly have an eye for this stuff. Mrs. Fortune stands a good chance of taking a prize this year.”

      Robin was certain that Otis cared more about the annual prizes awarded by the local arbor society than either Kate or Sterling, but she nodded agreeably and gave him a copy of the plans. They had a busy day scheduled and needed to get started. And this time, Robin thought as she walked through the greenhouse and headed for the toolshed, she wouldn’t get waylaid by any kind of dazzling Frenchman.

      Of course, her dreams had been plagued by images of Amersen Beaudin and his brilliant blue eyes. And broad shoulders. And hot body. But she supposed the man couldn’t help it if he was sex on legs. It was pure genetics that made him so damned attractive. And, she

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