Sweet Joymaker (Indigo Bay Christmas Romances #3) - Jean Oram Page 0,7
no good as a town girl,” Maria said, waving her hand. “I’m glad the ranch was still there, and the boys welcomed me back.”
“Of course they did,” Kit said. She let out a quick laugh. “They needed their cook and maid.”
“They’ve grown up a lot.” And true, she had stepped back into the kitchen, but she didn’t mind cooking for the group of them. It was what she’d done for a long time.
“I’ll bet you also moved right back into the caretaker role.”
“I am their mother.”
Caroline murmured a sound of understanding.
“I think it’s time to work on yourself.”
“I’m fine,” Maria said.
“I meant,” Kit said, her tone soothing, “take some time for yourself and rediscover what makes you smile rather than work, work, work.”
“I like the ranch.”
“And it’s work.”
“I just spent six months living in town and reconnecting with myself.”
“Did you? You said you were bored.”
“I was.”
“Then you were doing it wrong. You’re supposed to find joy.”
“I have joy.”
“Does the ranch bring you joy?”
“It brings me purpose.”
“But no joy?”
Maria heaved an impatient sigh.
“It sounds like life put you through the ringer,” Caroline said sympathetically.
“She had her trust and her heart broken,” Kit said. “And now it’s time for her to celebrate herself.”
“Treat yourself,” Caroline said with a nod.
“Enjoy the freedom.”
“Do the unexpected! Throw your arms in the air from the front seat of a convertible,” Caroline said enthusiastically.
“Only if it won’t throw your back out,” Kit cautioned, and Maria couldn’t help but chuckle. “And your seat belt is done up. By the way,” she added, “do you still have that Mustang?”
“It wasn’t a convertible. And I doubt it still runs.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Standing up in a moving vehicle would be asking for trouble,” Caroline agreed. “You want to live wild and free, but you also don’t want to become a statistic.”
Maria giggled.
“I say what happens in Indigo Bay stays in Indigo Bay!” Kit declared, catching glances from nearby tables.
Caroline’s eyebrows shot up before she turned her attention back to Maria, her lips twitching with amusement. “Well, then. That sounds like permission to go live a little. Have some fun. Work on yourself, and if there’s a handsome man interested in you, explore that avenue.”
Maria shook her head, her feather earrings tickling her neck. “I’m here for a small break and that’s all.”
“She doesn’t love him,” Kit said, somewhat tragically, to Caroline. “He’s from Sweetheart Creek, too.” The gleam in her gaze turned slightly wicked. “I think he followed her here. And she thinks he’s cute. But she’s scared.”
“He didn’t follow me. He has a friend here, and they’re working on a project for the gala. And I’m not scared.”
“Have they been on a date?” Caroline whispered to Kit, as though Maria wasn’t sitting right there, looking at her chicken potpie as it cooled.
“Not yet,” Kit said.
“And not going to,” Maria stated.
“Then of course she doesn’t love him yet,” Caroline continued, ignoring her. “She hasn’t had a chance to fall. You don’t fall in love without a date. He needs a chance to prove himself to her and show her there’s more to life than her ex-husband.”
“Preach it, girl!” Kit said, and they both turned back to Maria.
“No,” she said, her head already shaking. “No.”
Although discovering more than Roy was a bit intriguing. They’d married when she was twenty and she hadn’t, technically, dated anyone but him. At least not seriously, seeing as her first boyfriend had been awful. All handsy and crushing her self-esteem with his comments and thoughts on how she should behave around him. She shuddered. No wonder Roy had seemed so amazing. And he had been, too.
But years of running the ranch together, falling into bed not out of passion but exhaustion from raising five boys and running their own business had sent them down separate roads and ultimately, apart.
“Go on the date,” Caroline suggested.
“He hasn’t asked me on a date,” Maria said. Because she’d closed that door so fast he hadn’t had a chance. Because he would have otherwise, wouldn’t he?
“He wants to do something with you tomorrow,” Kit pointed out. “And I’m going to be working all day.”
“Sounds like the perfect time for the two of you to go on a date,” Caroline said with a smile.
“Can we not call it that?” Maria said, dropping her head in her hands.
“Fine. How about calling it an exploratory expedition?” Kit giggled.
Amused at her friend’s persistence, Maria rolled her eyes. “And what if I fall in love with this man? Then what will I do when we return to Sweetheart