the process dashed the hopes and dreams of more than one person.
That for even one moment she’d considered being a rancher’s wife without the slightest idea of what that meant, how to work with the sheep and tend to the land, was just one of many ways she’d showcased her youthful ignorance.
It had been all about love, as defined by a woman too young to know how to recognize it.
Pie in the sky, a twinkle in her eye and zero common sense.
Whatever love was, that couldn’t have been it.
Rowdy probably thanked the Lord every day that she hadn’t saddled him with her utter incompetence as a rancher and a life partner, not to mention her bad reputation across town.
No. As bad as it had been, and still was, she had done him a favor, even if he now hated her for it.
She’d cut those ties. Then her parents had virtually disowned her. Granny was all she had left after she’d left town, and for many years, she’d been too ashamed even to reach out to her.
After she’d discovered she was pregnant with Toby, she had made her life right with Christ and she had reached out for Granny, who had welcomed her back with open arms and a loving and forgiving heart. But Angelica had never gotten back home to see her.
Not in time. Granny had passed away when Toby was born. She hadn’t known that Toby would have special needs, be preciously different, and that God meant him for other things.
Extraordinary things.
But not sheep farming.
That was one prayer that would never be answered. Not as Granny had wanted it to be, anyway.
Angelica sighed. No matter how she looked at it, nor how much grief she felt at letting Granny Frances down, selling the ranch was the only conceivable answer to her dilemma—the only one that worked in the best interests of both Angelica and Toby. She was sorry not to be able to fulfill Granny’s wishes, but that was just how it had to be.
She had to think of Toby first.
She still had no idea why Jo had brought her here to the auction, when she should be at Granny’s ranch putting her affairs in order.
As far as she was concerned, it was well past the time for her to leave the community green and the auction behind and return to Granny’s ranch house, where she could mull over her problems in private, release the thunder of emotions that had been hovering over her like a huge black storm cloud all morning.
With her decision made, she turned away from the platform and started walking back toward the street where she’d parked her sedan, knowing Frank would give Jo a ride home.
At the moment, the effervescent old redhead had her hands full with the auction—and, more specifically, with a rope full of Rowdy.
“Angelica May. Wait!”
Angelica skidded to a halt at Jo’s use of her middle name. The only other person in the world who had called her Angelica May had been Granny, God rest her soul.
Tears sprang unbidden into Angelica’s eyes at the many happy memories that instantly flashed through her mind. Granny loved Serendipity get-togethers and would have been bidding up a storm on behalf of the senior center—probably snatching up one of the good-looking young bachelors from right under the nose of a pretty, single woman.
And then, knowing Granny, she’d have him mucking stalls for her just so she could admire his muscular physique. Gramps had always been the only man for Granny and she’d never married again, but that hadn’t meant she couldn’t enjoy what the good Lord put in front of her eyes. She was old, not blind, she used to say, and then she and Jo Spencer would cackle over their shared joke.
With the well of deep emotion fractured, grief rolled into anger and Angelica stiffened. The scene unfolding in front of her became increasingly obvious with every step Jo took. She was dragging Rowdy right to Angelica’s side.
Angelica didn’t dash away, even if every nerve in her body was urging her to do so. Question after question pressed her down.
Why was this happening? Jo had to know there was no possible way any variation of this scenario would turn out well.
Angelica mumbled unintelligible words under her breath, quietly venting her frustration with the situation, but her throat closed around her air and it came out sounding like she was choking on carbonated soda.
So much for remaining incognito.
Now the whole town would know she was here. And she knew she wouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms.
Especially not after what she’d done to Rowdy.
Even as a teenager, Rowdy had been popular in town. And from what she’d seen today, with everyone cheering and all those young ladies bidding for some time with him, that hadn’t changed.
Rowdy was one of Serendipity’s favorite sons.
Angelica...wasn’t.
She hadn’t been well liked, nor had she been understood. No one in town other than Granny, Jo and Rowdy had ever given her a fair shot.
Now everyone would think she’d captured Rowdy at auction in some underhanded fashion that was unfair to the rest of the crowd.
And the fact that she’d shown up in town unmarried and with a baby?
This was so not going to work out well for her.
Oh, why had she ever come home to Serendipity at all?
She turned in time to see Rowdy digging in his heels, his cowboy boots raising dust. His brow was deeply furrowed and his lips were set in a hard line.
Yep. Not happy to see her.
Surprise, surprise.
Jo, however, wasn’t taking Rowdy’s reluctance as an answer. The more he balked like a mule, the harder she pulled. She stopped in front of a gaping Angelica and dropped the rope into her hand, pressing a sealed envelope into her palm at the same time.
“This particular letter is addressed to the both of you,” Jo informed them, pointing to Granny’s unmistakable script on the front of the envelope.
Angelica and Rowdy.
Angelica folded it in two and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans without another look. Her mind was turning so fast she was getting dizzy. She couldn’t get her head around what all this meant.
Buying Rowdy at auction before the auction even started. Leaving a note for the two of them.
What part did Granny have in all this? Was she the one who’d put out the funds to keep Rowdy off the auction docket? Had she been conspiring with Jo?
It looked like it. But why?
“I had Chance prepare a special meal for you two in the picnic basket in the far corner of the green by the southeast bench,” Jo instructed.
Angelica nodded, but not because she’d needed the directions. She already knew where the picnic basket was. She’d been the one toting it, for crying out loud. Toby’s baby carrier had been left near the basket, as well, and her sedan was parked on the street just beyond the bench.
She should have realized something was off when Jo didn’t insist on taking her basket right into the center of the chaos. Jo wasn’t the type to live any part of her life on the outskirts. She wanted to dive in and be smack in the middle of everything.
“Talk to each other,” Jo suggested in a no-nonsense tone. “Don’t let the past eat you up before you figure out where the present is taking you. Work it out. And don’t forget to read what is in that envelope.”
Then she turned and headed back to the podium without one more word of explanation.
* * *
Work what out?