More Than a Rancher

“And has Brent started circling yet? Now that he knows you’re single?”

Jenna smiled. “You mean with his ‘I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go’ speech? Not quite yet, but knowing my luck, he will soon.”

“What would happen if you ever dated him again? I mean, it was sweet and romantic when you were in love and dance partners....” The dreamy look was back. Now that Samantha was engaged, she wanted everyone to have their own happily-ever-after.

“He’d probably last about two weeks before he started looking over my shoulder for his next conquest. He just likes the chase. He isn’t and never was in love with me. Maybe I’m his backup plan for when he’s done playing the field.”

“Well, either way, he’s an idiot, too,” Samantha declared.

“It’s okay. He’s a good dance partner. And I’m not in love with him, either, anymore.” But she had been—very much so. The decision to keep working with him after he’d broken her heart was one of the hardest she’d ever made, but the smartest for her career. They really were good together and had two national championships to prove it.

A deep weariness hit Jenna in a crushing wave. She didn’t want to talk about Jeff or Brent or any other guy who’d left her. “Let’s get outside so you can show me this ranch of yours. Can I see your grandmother’s house? Where it all began?” Samantha had inherited her grandparents’ ranch last year, which was how she’d met Jack and fallen in love, leaving San Francisco to be with him.

Samantha giggled. “Where it all began. I like that. Maybe we should apply to make it a historical landmark.”

Jenna felt relieved that her subject change had worked. “It should be! The site where the extremely urban Samantha Rylant fell in love with mountains and a cowboy. It is kind of historic!”

They headed downstairs. Once outside, they walked down a narrow, rocky path that took them to the old ranch house. Its weathered white paint and sagging porch made it the complete opposite of Jack’s stone-and-glass modern home. Samantha took out a key. “We’re using it as my office and a guest house for friends and family.” She showed Jenna through the old rooms with their high ceilings and quaint wainscoting. Her office was so perfectly organized that it looked like one of those catalog photos of a home office, complete with neatly labeled baskets.

Jenna had never understood how Samantha had been able to live out here in the old, empty farmhouse by herself for days at a time. It seemed spooky to be alone in a house that had been closed up for years and was situated so far from everything. But now she got it. There was a cozy, comfortable feeling in the old home, such an air of happy history that Jenna couldn’t imagine not wanting to stay there.

Samantha locked the front door behind them and they started back up the path. Maybe the clean alpine air was exactly what Jenna needed. She inhaled huge lungfuls as they wandered through the ranch, trying to take in the purity of it and exhale all her anger. She just didn’t want to feel it anymore. Beyond the barn, they passed a few smaller corrals and started up a gravel road to the upper pastures, closer to the mountains.

Without a flat tire to worry about, the weathered ranch buildings and quiet pastures inspired serenity. The age-old mountains with their miles and miles of wilderness put her soap-opera troubles into perspective.

Samantha stopped by the wooden pasture fence. “Maybe we just need to set up some guidelines. You know, parameters to make sure you weed out the bad ones.”

“When you say weed, you’re not talking about plants, are you?” Jenna quipped.

“Men, of course!” Samantha had a look in her eye that Jenna recognized. It was her friend’s let-me-organize-your-life look.

Jenna leaned back against the fence to face her well-meaning friend, mourning the tenuous peace she’d found right before Samantha had spoken. “Did you really need help with wedding planning?” she asked. “Or did you get me out here because you wanted to fix things for me?”

Samantha laughed. “I do need help with the planning! But guess I did have a feeling, when we talked on the phone, that things weren’t going well. You always get hyper-cheerful when things are bad. Like you’re trying your hardest to pretend they don’t exist. So I figured I’d steal you away from your troubles for a weekend.”

“I don’t know if you can truly steal me from my troubles, Sam. They’re in my genes, I think! I mean, my mom puts up with my dad’s cheating. I’m a natural hereditary magnet for infidelity.”

“That’s ridiculous. Maybe you’re just too nice. You tend to believe the best about everyone.”

Jenna smiled ruefully. “You are very kind. But that’s the old Jenna. The post-Jeff version of Jenna is going to make sure to believe the worst.”

“No!” Samantha said laughingly. “I like my sweet friend. Don’t let one flaky musician change you.”

“Well, I have to do something different,” Jenna said. “Obviously my old ways aren’t working.”

“So let’s think of a plan that will keep you safe from cheaters.” Samantha was all business now. “Okay, this is the first guideline—no one who has been unfaithful. What do you think?”

Jenna smiled reluctantly. “That seems pretty obvious, so yeah.”

“And maybe you should rule out musicians. All those groupies are just too tempting.”

“Okay, no musicians,” Jenna agreed. After Jeff she had no problem giving up that particular category of men.

“You know,” Samantha said, “you do seem to go for these artsy types. Which makes sense because you’re an artist, too. But what about trying something different? San Francisco is full of all kinds of high-tech semi-nerdy, semi-creative types these days, right?”

“Well, yeah.” Jenna could feel the resentment in her stomach. “They make tons of money and they’re driving up the rents on all the apartments like you wouldn’t believe!”

“But that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. Someone like that might be perfect for you. Maybe another guideline should be—”

Jenna didn’t mean to cut off her friend, but the scrutiny of her love life was too much. Maybe she was just too raw after Jeff. Maybe it was a little too close to the advice her parents insisted on handing out at every opportunity. So she interrupted. “Okay, so no cheaters, musicians or artsy types. But mostly, I think I’m just going to take a break from being in a relationship.”

“But—” Samantha began.

“Sam, you’re in love. And it’s amazing! You found an awesome guy and you two will live happily ever after. And I know you want me to have the same thing. And who knows? Maybe I will someday. But right now I think this whole thing with Jeff was a sign.”

“A sign?” Jenna could see Samantha trying not to laugh. “You think everything is some kind of sign!”

“Not everything. But Jeff’s cheating is clearly a sign that I shouldn’t be in a relationship right now. I need to focus on my work and my dancing—without worrying about men.”

“Okay, okay.” Samantha bit her lip and studied Jenna closely, characteristically unsatisfied with her inability to make everything better. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.” She turned to look at the horses. “I’m just happy, Jen,” she said quietly. “And I want you to be, too.”

“I am happy,” Jenna said, moving so she stood next to Samantha. She looked at the horses grazing and the mountains unfolding behind them. The sun had sunk below the peaks and just the crags at the very top were lit up golden. A breeze shuffled through, chilling her skin. “When I’m dancing, I’m happy.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. You dance a lot, so that means you’re happy a lot.” Samantha must have felt the chill, too, because she shivered. “Let’s go in. I forgot to tell you, Jack has something really amazing planned for dinner.”

With one last look at the peaceful pasture, Jenna turned to follow her friend back to the house. For the first time in a week, she felt as if she was walking on solid ground. It might be hard to help plan a wedding right now, but Jenna was glad she was in this beautiful place, with the love and support of her best friend. There was comfort here, and she was grateful for any scrap of it she could get.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_58edca48-79e6-5201-8a58-a221291988f2)

“JACK’S OPENING A RESTAURANT?” Jenna stood in front of the mirror in the elegant guest bathroom, staring at the dark circles under her eyes. She took another sip of the cappuccino she’d begged Jack to make her.

“Investing in it.” Samantha looked up from her exploration of Jenna’s makeup bag. “You always have the best stuff. Sparkly mascara? And look at this eye shadow—it’s turquoise!”

“Well, you know how ballroom dancers are. We love our makeup. The more outrageous, the better!” Jenna yawned, trying to cover it with her arm. She picked up her lip liner and repaired her ruby-red lips. She rarely went anywhere without makeup, and bright red lipstick was one of her essentials. It made her feel like a 1940s movie star.

Samantha set the bag down. “Anyway, his friend, who’s going to be the co-owner and chef, wants to come cook us all dinner and try out some stuff for the menu. But I think you’re too tired. I’ll tell Jack to reschedule.”

“No, don’t,” Jenna said quickly. “I don’t want to cause a hassle when you guys have set this up already.”

“We can do it another night.”

“The poor chef has probably been prepping food all day.” Jenna dabbed some concealer under her eyes. “There. I’ll just cover up the evidence and be good as new.”

“If you’re sure,” Samantha said. “I promise that tomorrow we’ll spend the entire day in our pajamas. You can sleep in, we’ll look at magazines and then we’ll go to bed as early as you want.”

“Deal,” Jenna said, adding on a little blush before turning around. “So let’s go down to dinner. Here I was, thinking life on the ranch would involve some barbecue at best, and you’ve got a fancy chef coming!” Jenna laughed. “Your life is never dull, Sam.”

“Jack keeps it interesting, always.” Samantha smiled as she spoke.