Victoria was jerked to awareness, took a step back, and reluctantly turned away from Cole.She cleared her throat.
“Thank you very much, Brownie.”She turned toward the rancher.“Well, Mr.Conley, it was nice to meet you, but I really need to get going.I have a lot of work to do.”
Cole watched her snatch up her sack and practically run out the door.
Brownie’s smile spread at the look on this young man’s face.
“Cole.Cole,” he yelled a little louder to get his attention.“Was this all you needed?”
Cole scowled at the smile Brownie was trying to hide and walked out without taking the things he’d come in for.He peeled out of the gravel parking lot as he thought about meeting the neighbor.He decided he was going to enjoy the time he had with her before she moved on.
Chapter Two
Victoria was stillshaking when she pulled into the gravel driveway that led to her ranch.Nervous energy zipped through her since she’d met Cole, and it didn’t look like it would decline anytime soon.
Victoria handed the sack over to a ranch hand to give to Tomas, her foreman.Her eyes scanned the yard, making a mental list of the things she needed to do.She felt the chores would never end.When she got one thing done, another popped up.The grass in the front yard was overgrown, and if she remembered correctly, there used to be flower beds in front of the house, too.But those had long since been obliterated by weeds.
The two-story, 100-year-old farmhouse needed a new coat of white paint because the old one was faded and chipped, but that was way down the list of things to do.She knew it was selfish, but the first thing she was going to work on was the swing that hung lopsided on the front wraparound porch.
Victoria looked forward to relaxing on it like she used to when she came to visit her uncle.Her mom, Barb, would drop her off or have Uncle Lester come get her so she could go on vacations with the friends she’d met or the man she was dating at the time.
The swing always soothed her.It made her feel as if someone were holding her and rocking her.The attention she desperately craved most of her life.Victoria hadn’t been abused, but her life had been full of neglect and being put into sometimes dangerous situations.
She thought about one city they had stayed in for a while.It had only been an hour away from the ranch.Victoria had been optimistic enough to make friends and get a job.She’d been sixteen at the time, and she’d always felt so alone except when she was visiting her uncle.
Victoria had always been a small person.Short and skinny.She’d kept her hair short at that time because it was easier to take care of.She wore glasses because they couldn’t afford contacts.The glasses were ones her mom had found at a garage sale, so they didn’t quite fit, and she still had trouble seeing anything far away.
She’d been wrong about the city.It hadn’t lasted.Her mother had angered the people they were renting from.She’d tried to exchange sex for rent.The manager’s wife happened to be there, and that was that.They were gone in a day.
It taught her a good lesson.Even if things were looking like they might work out, don’t get your hopes up or open your emotions.Because most of the time it was taken away, ripped from your arms and your heart.
Victoria had grown up with a mother who spent her time partying instead of raising the daughter she dragged around with her.Victoria raised herself and cared for her mother.She remembered she’d been four or five the first time she cleaned up her mother’s vomit the morning after one of her parties.It never stopped, and over time became increasingly worse.
She’d never known who her father was, and she never would, because her mother had no clue which man it had been.Her mother liked booze and men and spent most of her time enjoying both.
The day after Victoria turned eighteen, her mother had walked away, and she’d never seen her again.She’d been five months shy of graduating from high school.She hadn’t told a soul and kept doing what she’d always done.It was tough because she had to work more hours to come up with the extra money for rent since her mother took her welfare check with her.It hadn’t been much, but the rent had always been paid before she would party the rest away.
