Mirror Image Bride

“You never knew about Darcy, and I never knew about Violet or Jack or Belle.”

“True. But that’s all,” he said quickly.

Maddie knew he didn’t like her—was it because she reminded him of his ex-wife?

Was he against all people who lived in cities? That would be dumb.

“I like it here,” she said simply.

His jaw clenched. “For now,” he countered.

She stood up and faced him. He put his foot on the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He stood several inches taller than she did and when he narrowed his eyes, as he was doing now, he could be very intimidating. However, she’d caught a hint of vulnerability a couple of times, which gave her courage to say,

“I’m not Darcy’s mother. You can’t judge me by what happened between you two. Maybe I was raised in the city, but I like it here fine. If I thought I could fit in, I might consider staying.”

“No one’s asked you to,” he said.

Maddie nodded. There was that. And her recent work history was on a magazine, hardly conducive to working on a ranch.

“Still, don’t judge me by her.”

“Early days yet.”

“You are the most stubborn man, you know that?”

A glimmer of amusement showed in his eyes. “So I’ve been told,” he replied.

Maddie was captivated by that glimmer. So he did have a sense of humor. She never would have thought insulting him would almost result in a smile.

He cleared his throat. “Darcy’s mother hated the routine of ranching, the constant need to care for the animals. Even the weather. Mostly she hated the idea of being isolated,” he explained.

Maddie was longing to ask questions about his marriage, but refrained. It was not any business of hers. She knew enough—they’d had a child Ty had not known about. And now his ex-wife was dead. Too young to die.

But then her own mother had been too young to die. And she’d been too young to lose her mother.

She couldn’t bear to think Darcy might become alone in the world if something happened to her father. Of course she’d heard mention of grandparents. Surely they’d step in if needed.

“Take Darcy into town tomorrow and buy her some suitable clothes,” Ty said.

Maddie looked at him again. “You’ll need to come as well.”

“I don’t do shopping.”

She smiled. “Obviously you do or there’d be no food in the house or clothes on your back. We won’t be long, but you’ll know what she needs better than I will. And you can tell me what to get for me as well. We’ll have a shopping spree,” she said with a wide smile. She loved shopping.

He stared at her as if she’d lost her marbles.

Maddie giggled. “It’ll be fun. Think of it as a bonding experience with your daughter.”

“Put it that way, I’ll go. But we only need to stop at the Feed and Grain. They have all we’ll need.”

“Works for me.” Her heart beat faster thinking about spending time with Ty tomorrow. And Darcy, of course. He’d surprised her by agreeing to go. Still, she knew he was making a serious effort to get to know his daughter and applauded him for it.

“I’m going now. What time should I be here in the morning?” she asked.

“I’d like an early start on chores—especially if I’m leaving for part of the day. Six?”

She nodded, wishing she could sleep in a little later. But she was out to prove to this man that she could do the job. “Six’ll be fine. See you then.”

She walked slowly back to the main house, thinking about Ty. He was definitely a competent ranch foreman, but she could see he was lost when dealing with Darcy. She hoped she could help them both.

Violet sat in the living room, leafing through a magazine when Maddie entered.

“So how was the first day on the job? I missed you at dinner,” Violet said, patting the sofa next to her in silent invitation.

“Things went okay. I’ll probably be eating most of my meals there with Darcy. Which is fine with me. It gives me a chance to cook.” Maddie crossed to the sofa and sat beside her twin. “Where’s Landon?”

“On some phone call he couldn’t miss.”

Since Landon and Violet had become engaged, he split his time between the ranch and Fort Worth, where he worked. He was currently overseeing plans to remodel the guesthouse on the ranch and talked about moving his company here permanently after they were married. At one time, it was odd for Maddie to imagine Landon living away from the hustle and bustle of Fort Worth. But he’d changed since falling in love with her sister. She prayed everything would work out for the best for them both.

“What can you tell me about Ty that would help me?” she asked.

When Violet had introduced her to all the ranch hands her first few days visiting, she’d said he’d worked for them for eight years. She had to know more than Maddie did.

“He’s a good worker. Has a quick mind and is practical. Gets on with the men.”

“That doesn’t tell me a lot. I could have guessed that by his position. I mean, tell me more about him as Darcy’s dad so I know how to help with his daughter.”

Violet thought a moment. “I don’t know a lot about him, outside of how he works around the ranch. He used to ride rodeos, but got hurt and stopped. He keeps to himself a lot. He became a Christian shortly after starting work here. I don’t ever remember hearing he was dating anyone.” She shrugged. “I think you should check with Jack—he knows him better. A guy thing, I guess.”

Maddie wasn’t as comfortable around Jack as she was around Violet. Still, this was for Darcy’s benefit. Maybe she could catch him in a talkative mood one of these days. If he hung around the ranch for longer than a day at a time.

Jack had been gone frequently since she’d arrived. He used the fact that he was doing construction work on one of the parcels of the ranch a distance away from here as an excuse for being MIA.

But she knew there was more to it than that. Clearly, the change wasn’t any easier on him than on her.

“Ty and I’ll be taking Darcy into town tomorrow to buy clothes more suitable for a ranch. I thought I’d pick up some for myself while I’m there,” Maddie said.

“You know you’re welcome to borrow anything of mine you like,” Violet said.

Maddie had already borrowed jeans and old boots the few times she’d ventured out on a horse. She liked her clothes better, but they were very impractical on the dusty ranch.

“I know, thanks. But it’s time to get some of my own.”

“Stop in at the Simmons Coffee Shop for lunch. Darcy’ll like that. Then try the feed store. It carries a lot of Western clothes and boots and hats. All sizes and the prices are reasonable. Otherwise, if you shop at Campbells, the other clothing store in town, you’ll find the prices higher than really warranted.”

“Want to go in with us?” It would make things easier with Ty if she had a buffer.