Beauty and The Beastly Rancher

“That’s because we’ve added children’s clothes,” Lindsay said with a chuckle. “That way we can buy our kids’ clothes at wholesale.”

Anna smiled. “That’s a good thing, since they go through them so quickly.”

Lindsay nodded and added, “We do consignment here, too. That way you can buy good secondhand clothes at a reduced rate. It saves a lot of money.” She led the way to the area where the children’s clothes were displayed.

“Some of these clothes come in looking like they’ve never been worn. I can assure you they’re not Drew’s,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I told him to be a gentleman today.”

Anna frowned. “Julie’s not used to playing with other children.”

Kelly patted her arm. “Don’t worry. I talked to Mother Crawford half an hour ago. They’re getting along wonderfully well. She’s just now putting them down for a nap, so she said don’t come back for two hours. We thought maybe you’d join us for lunch.”

Anna was startled by Mrs. Crawford’s message. “I—I couldn’t leave them that long.”

Lindsay asked, “Doesn’t Julie take a nap every day?”

“Well, yes, of course, but…”

Joe stepped forward. “Anna, if Mom said don’t come back for two hours, I’m not brave enough to take you back any sooner. Let’s go have lunch.”

“We’ll just go to the pizza place across the street,” Lindsay said.

“But can you leave the store?”

“Oh, we didn’t introduce you to Mrs. Carter. She’s our manager, and she lives upstairs.”

After they performed the introductions, they headed across the street, leaving Mrs. Carter in charge of the store.

Anna couldn’t believe what was happening. Her genie had worked another miracle. She hadn’t been out to eat with anyone since her marriage. And not anywhere without the kids. One day with Joe, and here she was.