Page 44 of Love and Memories

Good grief, this was bad. Terrible. The worst.

She was gorgeous and sweet, but he wasn’t ready for another relationship. He’d jumped in headfirst with Vanessa, and there was a time when he thought she was gorgeous and sweet too.

But Bella wasn’t Vanessa. Plenty of people had told him not to judge others by his ex’s mistakes. It made sense, but every time he thought about getting into another relationship, the sting of Vanessa’s betrayal reminded him of the hurt that could be waiting just around the corner.

She’d done more than stomp on his heart. She’d torn his family apart and walked off with half of his friends too. Somehow, she’d made herself look like a saint, and it was easy to remember how she’d pulled the wool over his eyes.

Bella sat forward and rested her hands on the dash. “Is this it?”

Travis adjusted his grip on the wheel. “Welcome to Silver Falls Ranch.”

The land was flatter than some of the terrain closer to Blackwater, but the lay of the land showed off its beauty for miles. Stables stood not far from the main house, and a fence framed a green pasture along the side of the path leading to the heart of the ranch.

Pair the green grass with the blue sky, and Travis didn’t question Bella’s open-mouthed reaction. The Bensons had a little slice of heaven on earth.

“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” Bella said as she continued to gape at the world out the window.

“Matt and Tammy Benson both grew up around here, but they moved away for a while before coming back. They’re trying to get things up and running a little at a time. They can’t afford to hire a huge crew when they can’t even support a bunch of cattle yet.”

“So, they just have cattle? I have to admit I know less than nothing about cows.”

“They have some cattle already, and they have a few horses. They added a bunch of calves over the spring, so we’ve been managing those while we do other things. They have a barn right over there that they converted into an event center. They’ve had a few weddings out here already.”

Bella hung onto the door handle until Travis parked the truck. She was out of the vehicle before he came to a complete stop.

“Hold your horses,” Travis said as he jogged around the truck to meet her. “What’s the rush?”

“Look at that horse! It’s so pretty!”

Travis followed her to the fence where the friendly golden horse waited. “That’s Ginger. She’s a Palomino. She loves people, but let her smell your hand first.”

“She’s gorgeous,” Bella whispered as she extended her hand. “And so big.”

“You like horses?”

Ginger sniffed Bella’s hand and lowered her head, offering herself up for petting.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I didn’t know they were so tall.”

“She’s on the smaller side as far as quarter horses go. Ginger doesn’t do a lot of work, but she’s Tammy’s favorite.”

“The horses do work? I guess I never really thought about the role horses play on a ranch.”

“They’re great for moving herds and helping us get to places we can’t go on a UTV.”

“Hello!”

Travis and Bella turned at the sing-song greeting. Tammy Benson walked toward them with her hand waving in the air.

“Hey, Mrs. Benson,” Travis said as he stepped closer to Bella. She’d met so many new people over the last few weeks. It was probably a lot to process, especially with her recovery.

“Travis, for the love of all things good, please stop calling me that. I could be your mother, but Tammy is much easier to say.”

“Sorry.” Matt and Tammy were quick to take people under their wings, and the nurturing tendencies made lots of people respect the couple. “Tammy, this is Isabella Young. Bella, this is Tammy Benson.”

Tammy pulled a rag from her back pocket and wiped her hands. “I’m so glad you’re here. Travis told me a little bit about you.”

Bella shook Tammy’s hand. “I’m sorry I don’t have any skills to bring to the table.”

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