The Rancher's Request. Stella Bagwell

course. It’s a big deal to turn thirteen. And I’d like to be there. But your father and I aren’t exactly friends and—”

      “I’ve already asked him if I could invite you. He said yes.”

      After plenty of begging, tears or pouting, Juliet figured. Probably a little of all three. God, she was going to feel awkward, but she couldn’t refuse.

      “You’re sure about that?”

      “I’m sure, Juliet. Gee, I wouldn’t lie. I’d be grounded for life if Daddy caught me lying.”

      Juliet couldn’t help but smile. At least Matt Sanchez cared enough to teach his daughter morals. Hugh Madsen couldn’t have cared less if Juliet told a fib. As long as she stayed out of his hair, he was a happy man.

      “Okay. I’ll be there. What time?”

      “Oh cool! It’s at seven. But you can come early and that way I can show Traveler to you before everybody else arrives.”

      The fact that Gracia considered her a special guest touched Juliet far more than it should have and, in spite of Mr. Sensuous Sanchez, she found herself looking forward to seeing the young girl again. “All right. I’ll be there. And thank you for inviting me, Gracia.”

      The girl gave her a quick goodbye and as Juliet hung up the telephone she wondered what she could possibly take as a gift. What did you give a child that had been raised in a rich family? She didn’t appear to be spoiled. Rather, she seemed to simply want attention and affection. The same two things Juliet had always wanted while growing up.

      Since Gracia obviously liked horses, the next afternoon Juliet made a trip to a Western wear store in town and purchased the girl a fashion T-shirt with the head of a horse on the front and sequins adorning the neckline and the edge of the sleeves.

      After she’d wrapped it in colorful paper and signed a small card to go with it, she dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a thin white sweater. She brushed her blond hair smooth before pulling it into a ponytail and fastening it with a white silk scarf. As for makeup, she kept it light. If she were lucky while she was on the Sandbur, she wouldn’t meet up with Matt Sanchez. But if she did, she didn’t want to give the man any reason to think she’d taken pains to impress him.

      Gracia must have been watching for her arrival because as soon as she parked several yards from the house and climbed out of her car, the girl was already there to greet her with a tight hug.

      “I should’ve told you to drive down to the barn where we’re having the party,” she told Juliet. “I forgot. But we can walk.”

      Juliet reached back inside the car and pulled out the gift box. Handing it to Gracia, she said, “Happy birthday, sweetie.”

      Gracia looked at the box in complete wonder. “Gosh, I didn’t mean for you to get me a gift. I should have told you that the party wasn’t going to be a gift thing.”

      Smiling impishly, Juliet said, “Well, if you want me to I can take it back.”

      Gracia quickly shoved the package beneath her armpit and out of the way of Juliet’s extended hand. “Oh no! Since you’ve already bought it, the polite thing to do is keep it.” She rose on tiptoe and kissed Juliet’s cheek. “Thank you.”

      “You’re quite welcome.”

      Looping her arm through Juliet’s, she beamed up at her as they began to walk slowly toward the ranch yard and large group of barns and outbuildings.

      “Gosh, you look beautiful,” the girl told her. “More beautiful than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

      Juliet could actually feel herself blushing. “Not really, Gracia. But thank you for the compliment. You’re very pretty yourself. I’ll bet your mother was a beautiful woman and you took after her.”

      Gracia’s head tilted back and forth as she thought about Juliet’s comment. “I remember her being pretty, but I was so little back before she died that now her face just looks sorta blurry when I try to remember it in my mind. I keep a picture of her in my room, though. She had lots of red hair and her skin was really pale. I guess that’s why I’m not as dark as Daddy.”

      So Matt’s wife had apparently been white rather than Hispanic, Juliet thought. The fact surprised her a little. He seemed such a straight and narrow traditionalist.

      “Mommy was a model, did you know that? She worked in New York and Paris and all those places. But after I was born I think she quit all that.”

      Juliet was more than surprised by this revelation. She’d not known that Matt Sanchez had been married to a career woman. And she would have never guessed he’d marry a fragile model who made a living off her looks. But love was a strange thing. So far in her young life it had caused her to make several out-of-the-ordinary choices that ultimately turned disastrous.