SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH

SECOND CHANCES

AT MG RANCH

Karen
England

This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters
,
places, incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Karen
England

All rights reserved.  Except permitted by U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database, or retrieval system, without the written permission of the author.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am thankful for God’s blessings…

Molly Grace - you are the light of my life.  I am truly blessed to be the one you call “MOM”

To my husband
– You will always be my number one cowboy.

My heart holds a special place for my wonderful sisters, Elizabeth, Donna, Kathy, Mary, Melinda, and Deborah who have been supportive and encouraging along the journey of this book, may we take many more journeys together.

Michelle – Sister of my heart.  We have shared many joys and tears since seventh grade.  Thank you for supporting my crazy ideas and for always being there for me no matter what.

God has blessed me with a wonderful family and awesome friends who have helped me, encouraged me, and supported me in one way or another throughout this thing called life.

Chapter 1

It was getting close to dusk as Loren Randolph led her horse back into the direction of her new home.  The weather was rather pleasant for the month of October.  It was breezy, but warm.

Loren
had spent most of the day out riding over the wide- spread of land, enjoying the warm sunshine and watching the other horses graze in the open fields.  Most of them had their heads buried in the tall fescue grass. The gentle breeze made the grass look as if it were flowing across the land in an ocean-like ripple of waves.

From what she could see from her location in the south pasture, there looked to be about ten or fifteen horses.
  A tall reddish colored mare lifted her head long enough to make sure there was no real threat to her herd before she resumed her munching.  Loren assumed that the horses she saw belonged to the mysterious foreman who had been in charge of the ranch during the past several years.

MG Ranch was
nestled in the center of the beautiful North Georgia Mountains.  Loren couldn't help but feel at home in this little town called Chatsworth.  It was a small place in comparison to the big city of Atlanta where she had grown up.

Loren leaned forward in her saddle
and allowed Dakota the freedom to break into a run.  As they raced across the open fields, a gentle breeze whipped her long blonde hair wildly behind her.  The warm rays of the sun kissed her delicate skin.  It was a beautiful day.

A short time later, Loren and Dakota arrived back at the barn.  She reined him in at the barn door entrance and dismounted. 
There were no signs to indicate the foreman had returned to the ranch, so Loren busied herself with unsaddling Dakota so that he could bed down for the night.

Following the sudden death of her
birth parents Elizabeth and Martin Grant, Loren had been adopted by Amy and Josh Randolph.  She had just turned three months old when the accident took their lives, forever changing hers.  Left an orphan without family, the Randolph’s had taken her in.

It was a sad day for the Martins, but a bittersweet day for the Randolph’s.
  They had been on a waiting list to adopt for at least two years.  Boy or girl didn’t matter to them; they just wanted to be parents.

Loren
had almost turned ten years of age when she had learned about the adoption.  However, the ranch had never been mentioned until her twenty-first birthday.

Her dream of owning her own horse ranch had finally come true. 
Loren could barely contain the excitement that she felt inside.

The
thing that scared her most was the realization that she would be leaving the safety net of her parent’s home.

The Randolph’s had raised Loren in Atlanta, Georgia.  She had never really cared for the city life, so this was her chance
to spread her wings and try the simple life.

Ther
e would be no more traffic jams, and there would be no more driving thirty-two miles out of the way just to ride her horse.

Because they lived in the heart of the city, Dakota had t
o be stabled at Circle M Stables, outside of Atlanta.  Loren looked forward to being able to see him every day, not just on permitting weekends and holidays.

Loren wondered why her parents hadn’t just moved them to the ranch, but then she guessed that it was probably her father’s job that had kept them rooted in Atlanta.

But that didn’t really explain why they had kept the ranch a secret from her all these years.  When she had asked her mother about it, she had just said that they thought it was best to keep silent until she was old enough to assume the responsibilities of owning the property.

Her dad
had eventually hired a ranch-hand to maintain and work the ranch until the time would come for Loren to receive her inheritance.  Sam Burton was experienced at managing ranch property and he had spent nearly eighteen years treating the ranch as if it were his own.

Loren had day
-dreamed about this day for as long as she could remember, but she hadn’t expected it to come at the early age of twenty-one.  She had always thought that it would come later in life when she was ready to settle down, maybe even get married.

The news
was a little overwhelming, but she was too excited to give it much thought.  Her parents had raised her to be independent so she should be fine once she adjusted to the changes that would come with moving to the ranch.

Loren loved
her parents with all her heart.  She thought about them now as she removed the heavy saddle from Dakota's back and began to brush him down.  She missed them very much.  Loneliness crept into her heart when she realized how alone she really was.

"Come on Dakota,"
Loren said.  She led the chestnut spotted horse into an awaiting stall.

"You know you are the most beautiful horse in the world, don't you?” Dakota nickered softly in response to her question as if he knew exactly what
she was saying.

Her memories took her
back to the first time that she had ever laid eyes on him.  Her father had taken her to the Circle M Stables to look at him when he was just a yearling.  He was the most beautiful paint horse that she had ever seen, mostly white with a few big brownish red spots and his head was of the same color with a white crooked blaze running from the middle of his forehead to the tip of his nose.  His mane and tail were a mixture of black and white strands, which she believed added to his character.

From the
very first moment that she had looked into those big dark eyes, she knew that he was the one.  They had become friends almost instantly, creating a strong bond between them, that would prove to last a lifetime.

“I think we are going to be very happy here,” she whispered softly to Dakota, trying once again to push away the fears she had in coming to this unfamiliar place.
  She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or the horse.

She gave him a scratch between the ears before cl
osing the stall door behind her and pushed the latch into place to prevent an escape.

Dakota had learned the art of opening his own door if the latch was not
properly secured.  Luckily, he never strayed too far away, but with them being in unfamiliar territory she didn’t want to take any chances.

Loren
found some whole oats and an open bale of hay in the room that had a sign tacked above the door that read
Feed Room. 
Lastly, she filled his water bucket.

With Dakota settled in for the night,
she made her way back to her truck to retrieve the overnight bag that she had left on the front seat.

Loren opened the passenger door of the truck and pulled the small bag
across the seat towards her, noticing that dusk had quickly turned into night.

With the bag strap secured on her
left shoulder, she pushed the door closed.  She looked in the direction of the house with dread.   No lights were burning, making everything appear to be lost in the surrounding shadows of darkness.

She had hoped that Sam would have returned
to the ranch by now, but he was still nowhere in sight.  It appeared that she was on her own once again.

Loren swallowed hard, in the hopes of
making the lump in her throat disappear as she pushed one foot in front of the other until she finally reached the small eerie cabin that awaited her.

The house was dark and quite as Loren approached the front door.
  She slowly pushed the door open and forced herself to step over the threshold.  All at once she felt the familiar surge of fear start to rise up like vile in her throat.

She closed her eyes and whispered to no one in particular, “I can do this.”
  After taking a deep breath, she flipped on the lights making the darkness disappear.

With a sigh, she relaxed her stiff posture and set her bag down at her feet.
She looked around giving her eyes time to adjust to the brightness of the lights as she took in her new surroundings.

The cabin wasn’t very big, but it did offer a warm comfortable setting that gave it that
nice homey touch.  The living room was beautifully decorated with log furniture.  A rock fireplace in the far corner added enough warmth to make the room cozy for a cold winter’s day.

She wasn’t sure if the furnishings were to stay with the house or not, so she made herself a mental note to ask Sam about it
when she saw him next.  If by chance it didn’t, then she intended to offer to buy it. The trust-fund that she had inherited along with the ranch would allow her the freedom to make him a good offer.

Her eyes moved on around the room, stopping on a picture of Elizabeth and Martin.  It was centered on the wall above the fireplace mantel, overlooking the small room.

Elizabeth had long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that mirrored her own.  And Martin, slightly taller with golden eyes that shown like the warm sun.  His hair was a sandy brown with wavy locks tumbling slightly across his forehead, giving him a very distinguished look.  He was a very handsome man, indeed.

Looking at the oil
painting was almost like looking at a mirror image of her, posing with a strange man.  She had never seen pictures of them before today, so it was a bit of a shock to see how much she actually looked like her biological mother.

You could see the reflection of love shining in their eyes as they stared back at each other in the
painting.  For a brief moment she felt a little cheated, but she wouldn’t allow herself to think about that right now.  It was too overwhelming and she was too tired to deal with such draining emotions.

The drive to the ranch and the horseback riding had left her feeling very exhausted. 
Her body was screaming for a hot bath and some much needed rest.  Loren retraced her steps back to the front door and secured the lock.

If she remembered right, her dad had mentioned that Sam would be taking up residence in the living
quarters that adjoined the barn for the remainder of his stay.

S
he retrieved the overnight bag from the floor at her feet, and then headed up the stairs two at a time.  The rest of the house would just have to wait.  Right now she needed to take care of herself.

Upon entering what Loren believed to be the master bedroom, t
he first thing that popped into her view was the king sized bed that sat in the middle of the room.  It was crafted from cedar logs, matching the living room furniture down stairs.  The huge bed was covered with an old fashioned hand-made quilt.

She
walked over to the bed and sat down on the soft, but firm mattress, admiring the beauty of the quilt.  Smoothing her hand over the quilt, she turned up the corner.  It revealed the initials E.G.

Loren
believed it to be the wedding band quilt pattern that she had seen the older ladies from their church doing when they made hand-made quilts for craft shows and raffles.  With that thought, she came to realize that Elizabeth must have made this quilt with her very own hands.  Maybe it was a symbol of the sweet love she had once shared with her husband.

In a weird kind of way, it made her feel as if Elizabeth’s spirit were present in the room with her. It made her feel out of sorts that the odd feeling was more comforting than scary.
  Then on the other hand, she wasn’t even sure if she believed in ghost or spirits, as some people called them.

Making her way over to the bay window facing the barn, she looked out and could see the silhouette of the sturdy structure illuminated by the silver moon.
  To the left of the window, positioned in the corner of the room was a rock fireplace, which was a smaller version of the one she had seen down stairs. The fireplace added a nice touch to the bedroom.

The master bathroom consisted of a large garden tub along one wall, with a small shower positioned in the corner.
  A long mirror hung over a double sink on the opposite wall and the toilet was positioned in the other corner closest to the door.

She passed by the mirror
and glanced at her own reflection. What she saw reminded her it was time for that hot bath.  It had been such a long and tiring day and her looks definitely proved it.  Her hair appeared to be one big rats nest and she smelled of sweaty horse flesh.  Not a bad smell in her opinion, but definitely not feminine.

Just getting herself undressed as the steaming hot water filled the tub
felt like an unwanted chore.  But once she lowered her tired body into the water, all the aches and grime of the day seemed to float away.

L
oren soaked in the warm soapy water for what seemed like an eternity.  The hot water had felt so good on her tired and aching body that she had lost track of the time.  When she did finally emerge from the safe haven of the swirly bubbles, the water had already lost most of its warmth.

After giving herself a quick pat down to dry her wet skin, Loren
wrapped the towel tightly around her torso.  She stopped at the sink long enough to give her teeth a quick cleaning.

Back in the bedroom, she
donned her night gown and crossed the room to peer out the window once more before turning in.