Delores Fossen - Those Texas Nights

“If these dating sites are so great,” Sophie argued, “then why haven’t the two of you used them? Mom, you’ve been a widow for ten years, and Mila, you could certainly find that special someone you’ve been looking for on a site called NicheDating.org.”

Her mother: “I don’t want another man. Your father was more than enough for me.”

Which could be taken several ways since her father could be an overbearing control freak. He was still controlling them in a way with letters he’d written and had arranged to be opened after his death. Heck, he’d even left her mother appointment calendars with reminders of birthdays, to schedule physicals, etc.

Mila: “I’m not looking for a man.”

Oh, yes, she was. But she was looking for Mr. Special.

Sophie wouldn’t bring it up in front of her mother, but Mila was obsessed with a BDSM Fifty Shades of Grey guy and wanted that kind of experience for her first lover. Sophie had figured her friend would give up by now, but the obsession was hanging on a little longer than her previous obsessions with Mr. Darcy, Captain Jack and assorted The Lord of the Rings characters.

Mila had somewhat eclectic tastes when it came to her fantasies.

“Seeing someone will help you get over Brantley,” Mila said, obviously moving this conversation back to her.

“I am over Brantley,” Sophie insisted.

But they ignored her again.

Her mother: “People feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for you.”

Sophie suddenly felt sorry for herself. And not because she’d been jilted six months ago but because two people she normally loved were making her insane.

“What about Chief McKinnon? He’s hot, and you like him,” Mila asked.

This was an easy argument to win. “He’s Brantley’s brother-in-law.”

And it didn’t matter that last she heard he still wasn’t happy about his sister’s marriage. Sophie didn’t want to get involved with someone who had that close a connection to a man she now saw as navel lint. Of course, she’d seen Clay since then. Hard to miss anyone in a small town, but thankfully he’d seemed as eager to avoid her as she had been to avoid him.

Man, oh man, she’d made a fool of herself twice in front of him. Once the day of the wedding that didn’t happen and again when she’d gone mute after hearing that Brantley and April were married. It was best if she didn’t get close enough for round three. Her foolery seemed to escalate whenever she was near him.

“Probably for the best that you aren’t looking in Clay’s direction,” Mila went on. “There’s something a little off there.”

That got Sophie’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s almost nothing about him on the internet. No social media accounts, only a smidge of info about him being a cop. You’d think there would be plenty more since Reena said he’d been a Houston cop for twelve years.”

Sophie shrugged. “Not everybody splashes their lives on social media.” Though it did seem off that there’d been nothing about his investigations.

“Reena thinks maybe Clay did hush-hush cases, like undercover stuff,” Mila went on. “But whatever he did, something must have happened for him to give it up and move here.”

“He moved here for his sister.” At least that was the main reason. But maybe there was something else.

“Ohmygod,” her mother blurted out. “Look who popped up as a match when I put in all the things you wanted in a man.”

Since Sophie was reasonably sure her mother didn’t know what she wanted in a man, she didn’t hold out much hope for an accurate match. Still, she had no choice but to look because her mother put the tablet right in her face. And she saw a familiar face.

Shane’s.

Mila squealed. “It must be fate because I just found his phone number.” She scribbled it down on a piece of paper and tried to hand it to Sophie, but when she didn’t take it, Mila stuffed it in the back pocket of Sophie’s jeans.

Fate. Was this really some kind of cosmic sign that she needed to start dating? She didn’t have to think long on that.

No.

It wasn’t a sign. It was a coincidence, and she wasn’t ready to risk her heart again on an eerie happenstance.

“Am I, um, interrupting anything?” someone asked from the doorway.

It was her sister-in-law, Meredith, looking her usual perfect self despite the fact Meredith wasn’t a morning person.

“Not interrupting a thing,” Sophie assured her.

“Sophie’s going on a date with this hunk,” her mother announced, turning the tablet so that Meredith could see Shane’s picture.

“No, I’m not,” Sophie mumbled, but she must not have said it loud enough because Meredith didn’t seem to hear her.

“Uh, that’s nice.” Meredith barely looked at the tablet. Barely looked at any of them. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be back in Austin for a while.”

Something was wrong. Of course, something had been wrong for a while because it was obvious Meredith didn’t like being at the ranch.

Sophie slowly got to her feet. “Does Garrett know?”

“Yes. We just finished talking. He just left, too, for a cattle buying trip to Laredo.” Meredith tried to scrounge up a smile. It wasn’t the sort of smile that’d won her all those beauty competitions. She glanced around as if she might have forgotten something and then waved. “I have to go. Daddy’s expecting me.”

Meredith walked away, leaving Mila, her mother and her to stand there gaping at the empty doorway. “Poor thing,” her mother said, “she’s still trying to get over that baby she lost.”

Maybe, but that had happened nearly two years ago, and Sophie had never been convinced that Meredith was thrilled about becoming a parent. Unlike Garrett. He’d been over the moon about it, and if anyone was still trying to get past the loss of the child, Sophie would put her money on her brother.

“I hope she and Garrett can work it out,” Mila added. “I think of them as that couple in the bull riding movie with Clint Eastwood’s son. Opposites, yes, but crazy in love.”

Sophie hated that this might be the split that she had felt coming. Hated that Garrett might be going through his own version of hell right now, but at least this got the attention off her and those blasted dating sites.

Or not.

“If you don’t want to go out with Shane,” Mila continued, “here’s another dating site for ranchers.”

Sophie went to the window and watched Meredith get into her silver BMW and drive away. She also looked around for Garrett’s truck, but it wasn’t there. She had no idea when he’d be back from the trip and even when he returned, he probably wouldn’t want to talk, but Sophie would try.

Hell. Now, there’d be two mopey Grangers under the same roof.

“Garrett will be fine, I’m sure,” her mother said. “Meredith, too. They just need a little time to make their way back to each other. Unlike Brantley and you. You know that door’s closed for good so that’s why Mila and I are trying to help.”

Sophie managed one of those fake smiles like Meredith, and she grabbed her purse. If she couldn’t order sperm in peace, then she’d go in search of her brother. “Garrett will likely stop in town before leaving for Laredo, and if I hurry, I might be able to catch him.” She raced out the door as fast as her feet would carry her.

“We’ll look at the dating sites when you get back,” her mother called out to her, assuring that Sophie would make this trip as long as possible.

After she returned, Sophie might even set up a base camp office at the guesthouse or one of the barns. There was also a house on the sprawling stretch of Granger land, a Gothic monstrosity that Z.T. had built decades ago. Her mother made sure the place didn’t fall in, but that was one of the few good things Sophie could say about it. Unfortunately, the easiest way to get to it these days was on horseback, but heading there was a better option than going another round with the matchmakers.