Accidental Mail Order Bride by J. S. Cooper

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Lucy, oh, wow. You look beautiful!”Olivia ran towards me with a squeal, her long brown hair flying behind her. My heart leaped when I saw her, and I could feel tears of happiness welling up in my eyes. Olivia felt like home. She felt like a piece of my heart. And I realized how much I missed seeing her every day. While being in the city without my mother made me sad, I had a lot of fond memories as well. There were so many places that Olivia and my mom and I had all gone together.

“Oh, Olivia, I’ve missed you so much.” I hugged her close and then held her face in my hands and studied her eyes. “You okay?” I asked her softly. There was a tinge of sadness there. I hadn’t noticed it before.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’ve just missed you. It’s been really lonely in the city without you, Lucy.”

“I know.” It suddenly struck me how selfish I’d been. I was Olivia’s best friend. We’d done everything together and I just left the city without even thinking about her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered “I—”

“So you must be the infamous Olivia!” Beau interrupted. “Nice to meet you.” He gave her a warm smile and I stepped back so he could shake her hand. I noticed Olivia’s face brightening as she studied him.

“Hi, you must be Lucy’s fiancé.” Olivia giggled, and I glared at her. “Sorry. I couldn’t stop myself.” She shot me an apologetic look.

“No worries.” Beau chuckled. “I’m still single, to be honest.” Beau was studying her face and looking her up and down. “How about you?”

“I’m single.” She blushed and looked away. There was an awkward silence for a moment. And then she cleared her throat. “I just brought one suitcase with me, Lucy. I hope I have enough stuff.”

“You don’t need many clothes on the ranch.” Beau grabbed her suitcase. “Let’s head out. My parents have the car outside, so they’ll give us a ride home. My brother Wyatt and his best friend stayed here at the ranch, getting a barbecue ready. My mom wanted you to feel at home when you got to Horseshoe Ranch.”

“That sounds really amazing.” Olivia beamed. “That was so nice of your parents.”

“Oh, they’re happy to put you up and treat you like family,” Beau said with a smile and started walking a few steps in front of us. Olivia pointed at his back before whispering to me.

“Oh my gosh, Lucy. He’s gorgeous. How do you keep your hands off of him?”

I made a face and laughed. “He’s definitely handsome,” I whispered back.

“So how’s it going between you guys?” She was speaking too nonchalantly, and it made me wonder exactly what she was thinking about him.

“You mean, is it still weird and awkward?” I replied. “Yes. It’s still weird. Though we have good banter. I think we would get on. And his family is absolutely lovely.”

“And what about Austin?” she asked, still keeping her voice low.

“He’s been at the log cabin.” I shrugged looking away. “I haven’t seen him in days.”

I tried to pretend that it didn’t matter. I tried to pretend that I didn’t care. That I hadn’t been counting the hours since he’d been gone. I missed him. I missed chatting with him. I missed arguing with him. I missed just being around him, and I missed kissing him more than anything. Not that I would tell anyone that.

“He’s still at the log cabin?”

“Yeah. I think he knows his mom thinks that Beau and I are a perfect fit. And that she knows best. And so, he’s gone to give his brother and me time to get to know each other better.”

“But don’t you like Austin?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled and then pressed my lips together. I didn’t know how to tell Olivia just how close we’d become. How much he meant to me. “Oh, look, that’s Amelia and Ranger.” I pointed out their SUV. “That’s Austin and Beau’s parents.” I waved at Amelia who was waving and smiling at us. “Let’s finish this conversation later, okay?”

“Okay.” Olivia gave me a curious look and I knew she was going to have a lot of questions later that night.

“Hi, you must be Olivia.” Amelia jumped out of the car and walked over to Olivia. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Amelia Hamilton, and that’s my husband, Ranger, in the driver’s seat.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Olivia smiled at her and waved at Ranger. “Thank you so much for picking me up and thank you so much for letting me stay. I know it’s a bit of an inconvenience, but—”

“Oh, of course not, dear.” Amelia shook her head as she studied Olivia’s face. “It’s not an inconvenience at all.”

“Well, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“My mom loves having company. The more, the merrier,” Beau chuckled as he stared at Olivia. And for a moment, I saw something in his face that made me think that perhaps he was attracted to her as well. I noticed that Amelia was also staring at her son before looking at Olivia and then issuing them both a sort of sweet, private smile. She then looked back at me and grabbed my hand.

“Come on, Lucy. Let’s go back home. I’m sure you must be starving.”

“I am. I’m really excited for the barbecue. I can’t wait.”

“Then come on, folks. Don’t want to keep anyone waiting for food. You know, that’s not how we do it in the Hamilton family.”

“We know, Mom,” Beau groaned, and opened the car door for Olivia. Olivia thanked him, and I saw him smiling as she got into the car. He kept the door open and then paused as he looked at me and then at the middle seat.

“I can sit bench if you want.” He looked at Olivia and then he looked at me again. “I mean, unless you want to sit next to Olivia.”

“It’s okay. You can go in the middle.” I said, studying his face thoughtfully. Well, this was interesting, if Beau was interested in Olivia and Olivia was interested in Beau, where did that leave me? And would Amelia want me to leave if it turned out that Olivia was a better match for Beau than I was?

* * *

“Welcome to Horseshoe Ranch, Olivia.” Amelia looked back from the front seat and interrupted Olivia and Beau’s conversation. They’d spent the entire ride discussing Olympian swimmers and arguing over the best countries represented at the Olympics. I listened to the conversation, but I didn’t have anything to contribute as I knew nothing about sports.

“Wow, it’s humongous!” Olivia gasped as we drove up the long driveway to the main ranch.

“That’s exactly how I felt when I arrived as well,” I laughed. “It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”

“It really is,” Olivia nodded. “I have to call my parents real quick when we get out of the car. I’m sure they want to hear that I’ve landed safe and sound.”

“Oh, of course,” Amelia nodded.

“Where are your parents located?” Beau asked her, and I was surprised because he hadn’t really asked me anything about my mom. We hadn’t had any real in-depth conversations, not like Austin and I had. I didn’t think Beau was the sort of person to ask questions, but I guess I’d been wrong.

“They’re in Florida,” Olivia made a face. “Sarasota. Not much going on there, but they love it.”

“Oh, cool,” Beau nodded.

“You’ve never heard of it, have you?” she grinned.

“No,” he chuckled. “I only know Orlando because Mom and Dad took us all to Disney once.”

“Just once?” Olivia grinned. “I would’ve thought you guys would have gone more than once.”

“You try going with seven sons. Right, Mom?” Beau glanced at his mother. “I don’t think they wanted to take us again after the first experience.”

“It was definitely challenging,” Amelia laughed.

“You can say that again,” Ranger groaned, and I laughed at the sound he’d made.

“It must’ve been really wild raising seven sons.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Amelia smiled. “I loved having kids in the house, and I’m really excited for grandkids now.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some girls,” Ranger chortled. “We need some estrogen in the house.”

“What you complaining about, Dad?” Beau laughed and then looked at me and then Olivia. “That’s my parents’ way of hinting that they want us to get married and have kids.”

“A personal ad in the paper for a mail-order bride seems like a little bit more than a hint.” Olivia wiggled her eyebrows.

“What would you have done?” Beau looked at her with a curious expression.

“What do you mean?” Olivia was confused. “Do you mean would I have put an ad in the paper if I wanted grandkids?”

“No,” he shook his head. “If you’d seen the ad in the newspaper that my mom placed, would you have responded?”

“Oh, hell no,” Olivia burst out laughing immediately. “Sorry, Lucy. No offense.” She gave me a wry grin.

“No offense taken,” I laughed.

“What if Beau’s photo had been in the ad?” Amelia asked slyly, and Olivia blushed as she looked him over.

“Well, then maybe,” she admitted.

“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” Beau grinned, looking very pleased with himself.

And I had the weirdest feeling in my stomach. Did Beau and Amelia prefer Olivia over me? My best friend was gorgeous, sassy, funny, and intelligent. She also wasn’t coming off as totally desperate, like me. Maybe Amelia was starting to think she’d made a mistake by sending for me. Maybe she didn’t want me as a daughter-in-law after all.

But I didn’t have time to feel too sorry for myself because I suddenly saw Austin standing on the front porch. He was back. I almost jumped out of the car before it stopped completely. And I had to ensure that I didn’t go running to the front porch like an excited little kid. I didn’t want everyone questioning what was going on.

“Austin’s back,” I stated the obvious as he stepped off the porch and walked towards us. He was wearing a white cowboy hat and a pair of snug jeans, and I swallowed hard as I took in his handsome appearance. He was so sexy and gorgeous.

“Wow,” Olivia looked impressed. “He’s quite the snack.”

I shot her a dark look then noticed that Amelia was watching me closely. Oops, she was going to wonder why I was looking so pissed off at Olivia’s comments.

“He’s single as well,” I said painfully, willing Olivia to back off.

“Hey, guys.” Austin walked over to the group and spoke generally, but his eyes were on me.

“Hi. You’re back?” I said hopefully.

“I am,” he nodded and then handed me some wildflowers. “I saw these in the field as I rode back. I thought you might like them.”

I looked at the blue and yellow petals and grinned. “They’re beautiful. Thank you. I’m really touched.”

“They’re called forget-me-nots,” he said softly.

“Could I ever?” I almost whispered, not believing we were having a moment here in front of everyone.

“Come on, children. Let’s go and wash up and then eat.” Amelia took Ranger’s hand as they walked past us towards the house. “Beau, you show Olivia her room,” Amelia said.

“Sure, Mom,” he nodded. He and Olivia exchanged a smile and walked into the house behind Amelia and Ranger.

Austin and I looked at each other for a moment and then followed. “I’ll see you later,” Austin said with a small smile, and I nodded, sad that we had to hide our feelings for each other.

As I made my way to my room, I realized that I was thirsty and wanted a drink. I decided to go to the kitchen to get some water but stopped in the doorway as I realized Amelia and Ranger were in there having a private conversation.

“It is quite obvious to me that they are falling in love,” Amelia sounded excited. “I see a wedding in the near future.”

“Now, now, Amelia. Don’t rush things,” Ranger answered. “We can’t force anything.”

“I’m not forcing anything,” Amelia sounded annoyed. “I knew they were perfect for you each other, and I was right. I can’t wait to welcome Lucy to the family officially.”

I walked back to my room without a drink. I felt so guilty because I wasn’t into Beau at all. He was a nice guy, but there was no chemistry there, no real attraction. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew it was going to kill me having to break Amelia’s heart when she realized that Beau and I would never be getting married.