***

  I came out of the barn and spotted a figure walking towards me. I acquainted and hooded my eyes with my hand to see who it was. It was a woman with a long braid that she had on one side of her chest. Her hair was white, and she was wearing a pair of jeans and a western shirt. It was Ms. Beasley, my neighbor. Other than the funeral, I hadn't seen much of her. I had gathered that it was because she was so busy. She trained horses and sometimes held riding lessons on her property which was just east of ours. It was significantly smaller.

  She had been a family friend for a long time. In fact, a lot of the time I referred to her as my grandmother since I had barely known my own. She was a sweet woman who helped care for me when I was little and my parents were busy. She was spunky too. I had always hoped I’d have that kind of spirit when I got older.

  I waved to her before wiping some of the dirt and sweat form my brow. I had spent the last hour catching up on everything and had made such good time. But I was in desperate need of a break. Hopefully, Mrs. Beasley was going to be a good excuse.

  She walked up to me and silently wrapped her arms around me. She knew that there were no words to describe the loss that we shared in my parents' death. As she pulled away I saw the shine of tears in her eyes.

  "How have you been doing, Star?" she asked me honestly. It made me think of the way Jonathan had asked. He was still on my mind even through all my hard work. I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day.

  "I've been trying to keep busy. I got the ranch and everything on it, so I've just been struggling with trying to figure all this out myself. It's pretty tiresome, but I think my father would be happy. We actually talked about it just before he died. I finally got the courage to tell him this is what I wanted to do. This wasn't how I wanted to do it, though." I nodded along as I spoke.

  "Oh, dear, of course not. And I think your daddy would be very proud of you right now for trying so hard. I'm sorry I didn’t get over here sooner, but I've been real busy and then I hurt my back. These old bones aren't as fit as they used to be," she said with a laugh while flexing her arm as a joke. "But I want you to know I'm here if you need advice or just to talk. I remember when I lost my parents, and it was like the world was ending for me even though I was already an adult. I see a lot of myself in you sometimes."

  "I'll take that as a compliment," I told her, patting her on the back. "Thank you for the offer. It does get lonely over here in this empty house sometimes. It's almost like it's haunted, and it’s hard to think of anything else."

  "Well, not to get in your business, but it didn't look like you weren’t very alone this morning," Ms. Beasley teased. I was a little embarrassed to know she saw that display of affection. She probably knew he'd spent the night. "Don't be embarrassed. It's not good for you to be alone. I was so stuck in my ways that I waited to look until it was too late. Tell me about him," she urged.

  "Well, he said he knew my parents. I actually met him at the funeral, and we kind of hit it off. He’s really handsome and sweet. It's very new, of course, but I'm just crazy about him right now." I looked up to see that there was a sudden look of concern on Ms. Beasley’s face. "What is it Grandmother?" I asked her, feeling that weird thing in my stomach again.

  "What was the man's name?" she asked, slowly.

  "Jonathan," I said with a shrug, unsure of what the problem could be.

  "Star, I don’t want to kill your mood or disturb you, my dear, but has he asked you to sign anything?" I shook my head, not sure of what she was getting at. "That man was in the middle of trying to buy that ranch from your parents. You may not know too much about it yet, but they were in financial ruin. They were working, against their better judgement, with him in order to sell the home and ranch so they didn’t lose everything financially. I think he’s trying to fool you, Star. Please, be careful."

  “I had no idea.” It came out very quiet and weak. I was more talking to myself than to Ms. Beasley. But she responded anyway, hugging me again.

  “It’s going to be okay, dear. There are plenty of fish in the sea, and I have all the faith in the world that you can save this place. Just keep your chin up and your eyes open.” I nodded as she walked away after imparting her words of wisdom.

  As she looked at me with sympathy in her eyes, I could feel my chest getting heavy. I had been so sure Jonathan and I had gotten very close, close enough that he could and should have been honest with me if that was the case. Was that why he had shown up to the ranch the morning before? It was a scary thought, and I instantly felt betrayed. Jonathan had a lot of explaining to do; that was the only thing I knew for certain.

  To be continued…

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