Mansfield Ranch (The Jane Austen Diaries)

  Mansfield Ranch

  Jenni James

  Copyright 2013 Jenni James

  Cover design copyright 2011 Jenni James

  Kindle Edition

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Surprises!

  Chapter Two: Forfeit

  Chapter Three: I Hate Sean Benally

  Chapter Four: Lesson Learned

  Chapter Five: Hide & Seek

  Chapter Six: New Beginning

  Chapter Seven: Wasted Breath

  Chapter Eight: Dream On

  Chapter Nine: Popularity Blues

  Chapter Ten: Girl on a Mission

  Chapter Eleven: Rise and Shine!

  Chapter Twelve: The Hammer Falls

  Chapter Thirteen: Farmington Drama

  Chapter Fourteen: Pride Comes Before the Fall

  Chapter Fifteen: Packs a Punch

  Chapter Sixteen: Revenge

  Chapter Seventeen: Reality Blues

  Chapter Eighteen: Facing the Past

  Chapter Nineteen: Forget Me Not

  Chapter Twenty: Truth Be Told

  Chapter Twenty-One: Peace Heals the Heart

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Promised Heart

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Facing Reality

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Chapter One: Surprises!

  Eight years ago, my life was the happiest it had ever been. Eight years ago today, I was fulfilling a dream I’d never thought possible, an adventure and a dream I’d never thought would come true. I was going to a Native American foster family. Me! Me? Like, how wonderfully crazy is that, right?

  Up until then, I had been the pitiful Little Orphan Annie. Yep. That was me. Well, except that I was Navajo and my hair was brown—nearly black—not red. And I couldn’t sing—or even carry a tune—to save my life. And I didn’t have a dog named Sandy—but a millionaire did foster me! Can you believe it? A totally awesome millionaire family fostered me!

  It was like living in a dream—you know the ones with totally beautiful people who smile and hug you, and everyone treats you like an uber rock star?

  Yeah, it was like living in one of those dreams. Except I didn’t have to wake up—it was real. And it was truly happening to me!

  I remember crying through my giggles as I rode on my first airplane to live with my new family. It was a whole Navajo family, too. I was going to have a foster brother and two foster sisters and live on this huge ranch in Bloomfield, New Mexico, with them. It was going to be this crazy, wonderful adventure that girls like me could only dream of having. In fact, my case—being brought in by a millionaire with a traditional large family—had never been heard of in Albuquerque before.

  I couldn’t wait to leave, either. I wanted as far away from Longfellow Elementary School as I could get. Now I wasn’t going to be teased for not having a real family. I couldn’t wait to start my life at my new school miles and miles away from my old one! I couldn’t wait to play Barbies with my two new sisters and spy on and tease my new older brother like crazy. My life was going to be oh, so full of laughter and happiness and giddiness. I knew it! And I couldn’t believe my luck.

  October eighteenth. I sighed. Rolling over in my bed, I blinked at the alarm clock. Five a.m. Ugh! Still too early to get up. I’d been wide awake since four twenty. Slumping back against my pillow, I stared up at the ceiling. A shot of grayish-blue light went across half my room and down the wall from where the curtain wasn’t closed all the way.

  I still couldn’t believe it’d been eight whole years since the Benallys invited me to stay with them. I’d officially lived in this house now for half of my life. I covered my face with the comforter, willing away the memories of my eight-year-old self as I first stepped over the threshold into the large house that was now my home. Sheesh! Why did I have to be such a dork? Seriously! I should’ve known my life wasn’t going to be a bed of roses.

  Not that I was complaining. The Benallys had been amazingly generous, more than I’m sure I’ve even deserved. It’s just—it’s just I thought we’d all get along a little better than we do. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Sean, I’m not sure I’d have a friend in the family at all.

  “Psst! Hey, Lilly! Are you awake?”

  I grinned, tucked the covers up around me, and whispered loud enough to be heard through my door. “No!”

  “Liar.” Sean chuckled on the other side. “I knew you were awake. Now come on, let me in. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  A surprise? “Fine,” I grumbled around my smile. “You can come in.”

  A small stream of yellow light flickered into my room as Sean Benally opened the door and stepped inside. I gasped at the candlelit cupcake he gingerly carried toward me on a small saucer. Its flames danced across his mischievous features, causing a giggle to escape from my lips.

  “What in the world are you up to?”

  With as much caution as possible, Sean teetered, slowly lowering himself to the foot of my bed, and held the cheery cupcake out to me. His face was instantly hidden in the shadows. “I thought you’d want to celebrate your foster birthday.”

  “My foster birthday? At five a.m.? Are you crazy?” I giggled again and clutched the plate with both hands. “I’ve never heard of such a thing before.” The little cupcake had the pretty swirled bakery icing on it and lots of flower sprinkles. Flower sprinkles were my favorite.

  “Yep. Now come on—you gotta make a wish and blow out the candle.”

  “Sean, now I know you’re crazy.”

  “Hurry up and wish for something!” I could hear the grin in his voice. “I thought all girls liked to make wishes. Now make sure it’s something good. This is a magical cupcake.”

  Magical? I rolled my eyes and knew Sean had seen me when he chuckled. What should I wish for? “I can’t believe you even remember this date.” Mesmerized, I watched the flames spark and fling about a moment as I hesitated.

  “Like I could forget the day I got my new baby sister.”

  “Baby? Whatever!” He always called me that and he knew it drove me nuts. Sean was only three years older than me.

  He chuckled again and I closed my eyes. I wish for . . . I wish . . . um . . . that I could fall in love . . . or, or—oh! I know! I wish I’d get asked on a date. Okay, so it’s lame—I know. But it was the truth. I quickly scrunched up my eyes and blew.

  “What did ya wish for?”

  “World peace.”

  “Come on.” Sean snorted. “What did ya really wish for?”

  I grinned and shook my head and then studied the perfect cupcake. “Nope. If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

  “Aww . . . so it’s something really important this year. Hmm, I will figure it out—you realize that, don’t you? So you might as well tell me now.”

  “Figure it out, then.” I smiled into the shadow where I knew Sean’s head was. “I’m still not telling.”

  He leaned forward and I chuckled at the faint light that glittered off his eyes as he stared into mine. “Fine. Keep your secrets, because I have one of my own that I’m not gonna share unless you—”

  I gasped. “You got her? You really got her?” I was so excited, I almost dropped the plate.

  “Yes,” Sean grumbled as he rolled his eyes. “How can you always figure out what I’m thinking? I can’t keep anything from you, can—?”

  “Is she here? Can I see her? Have you brought her home yet?” I couldn’t believe he’d gotten my horse! I had already set the little plate down on my nightstand and was scrambling off the bed, searching in the dark for my boots.

  “Yes. Yes. Oh, and yes, she’s
in the stable,” Sean answered as I slipped on a boot over my warm woolen socks.

  I grinned up at him and almost lost my balance trying to shove my foot into my other boot at the same time. “I can’t believe it!”

  “And before you ask, I got her yesterday afternoon and brought her home super late last night. She’s a real beauty, Lilly—prettier than any mare I’ve ever seen.”

  “I still think you’re nuts for trading Flash and Tiger for her,” I replied as I threw on my hoodie jacket and zipped it up over my pajama top and bottoms. With a dash, I collected my riding gloves and paused at the door. “Well, are ya comin’?” I smiled my cheesiest smile.

  Sean groaned, still sitting on the bed. “Now?”

  “Of course now!” My voice turned all sugary sweet. “Have I told you yet how you’re the bestest person in the whole world and I love, love, love you more than six double-decker ice cream cones? Huh? Huh?” It was an old chant of ours, something Sean had made up years ago to convince me to learn to ride. It never failed.

  “Grr . . .”

  I giggled again. I knew that “grr.” Victory was mine. “Hurry up already. The sun’ll be up before I even get to see her.”

  I heard more moaning and shuffling as Sean got off the bed and slowly made his way to me with a huge grin that he was failing miserably to hide. For the first time, I noticed he already had his coat on. In fact, he was fully dressed.

  “Sean Benally! If you’ve already sweetened up Princess Buttercup this morning without me, then I’m gonna be really—”

  “Now why would I go and do a thing like that?” he asked as he pulled a couple of carrots from his coat and dangled them above me.

  “Yay! You didn’t!” I snatched a carrot from his hand and shoved it in my jacket pocket. “Come on, let’s go,” I said quietly behind me, already sprinting down the traditionally native-decorated hallway that led to the back of the house. Sean was hot on my heels.

  “Slow down—you’ll spook her.” He chuckled as he desperately attempted to catch up to me.

  Yeah, right. The stable was at least a hundred yards away and he knew it. “Like I’d fall for that one. Good try.” I grinned as I yanked open the back door and stepped into the dark, crisp morning air.

  “Okay, then, slow down cuz I wanna walk with you, not race you.”

  I slowed down. Way down. Sean usually walked with me if he wanted to say something. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing really.”

  I walked even slower, waiting for him to begin.

  After a few seconds, he said, “I met the new neighbors yesterday.”

  Ah . . . the Crawfords. It’s all the Benallys had talked about for days. Apparently, there was a guy and a girl in the family who looked to be about seventeen/eighteenish, and the whole town of Bloomfield was going mad over them. Everyone who’d met them in the last week or so raved about how hot they were.

  Sean’s sisters were determined to meet them before the week was over. I guess they had. “And are they as cute as Lauren and Alexis heard they were?”

  Sean shrugged like a typical guy. “I don’t know. I guess so. The girl’s not bad.”

  Not bad? I grinned. “Which of course means she’s gorgeous!”

  Sean rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

  “So? And?” I prodded. “Come on, give details.” Our boots crunched on the hard gravel that led to the barn.

  “Well—I don’t know. I’ll let you decide for yourself. Mom sent me over yesterday to invite them for dinner tonight.”

  Tonight? “Are they coming?”

  “Yeah. They were really nice about it, too—you know, asking what they could bring for dessert, that type of thing.”

  “So what’s up?”

  “What do you mean?” Sean glanced over at me.

  I grinned and bumped his shoulder. “You know what I mean. What’s up? Why do you need to talk about it?”

  He stopped, so I did too.

  We were about twenty feet from the stable. Twenty feet from Princess Buttercup, the horse I’d been dying to meet for over six months now. She could wait. “Sean? Is—is something wrong?”

  He looked past me to the fields beyond the barn and out toward the land that connected with the Crawfords’ homestead. You could just make out our new neighbors’ house from where we stood. It was still all dark and cozy, nestled amongst some of the biggest fruit trees in the area.

  “No—yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” Sean shook his head slightly and grinned his crooked grin down at me.

  “You wanna tell me about it?”

  He put his hands in his coat pockets and I waited. The brisk breeze lifted a few strands of hair across my face as I met his gaze under the faint starlight.

  “I’m worried about you.”

  What? “Me? Why?” I grinned. I couldn’t help myself.

  “Because that new guy, Harrison . . . he’s . . . he’s—”

  “Scary?” I smirked.

  “No. Stop laughing. I’m serious. He’s . . . well, you’re gonna like him.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No. It’s just . . . it’s just . . .”

  And then it hit me. Like a tornado in a trailer park. My smile whooshed away just as fast. “Oh. Y—you don’t think he’ll like me?” I nearly croaked.

  “No! Why would you say that? That’s not what I meant at all!” Sean closed his eyes and let out a huge puff of white fog from his mouth. “That’s the problem. I think he will like you if he got a chance to get to know you—he really likes funny girls. But he won’t get to know you, will he?”

  Are we back to this again? Great. I started to head toward the stable.

  “Lilly, wait.”

  Chapter Two: Forfeit

  I didn’t wait, but Sean was faster. He pushed his hand against the stable door just as I was opening it. “Lilly, don’t get mad.”

  I pulled, but the door wouldn’t budge. With a sigh, I turned around to face him. Sean’s hand didn’t leave its spot just above my head.

  We were in the shadows again, but this time I could make out his dark eyes drilling into mine. I looked down at his coat and mumbled, “I’m not mad, okay? So open the door.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  Grr. “No, I’m not.” Why doesn’t anyone ever believe me around here? “Look.” I folded my arms for emphasis. “I’m not mad. I’m just tired of having the same argument with you every day. Wait—” I raised one hand to stop him from commenting. “I know you mean well. I know you care about me, and worry about me, and everything. I—I just wanna be me, okay? I can’t be somebody I’m not. I can’t. And if being somebody else is the only way I’m gonna get someone to notice me, it’s not worth it, no matter what you say.”

  “Lilly.” Sean brought his other hand up under my chin and raised it until my gaze met his. “I’m not asking you to be someone you’re not. Really. You’re perfect the way you are. I’m just saying you could let yourself get noticed every now and then. You know, let another guy see the real you. Not hide behind—”

  I pushed his hand away from my face. “I’m not hiding behind your sisters.”

  “They’re your sisters too.”

  I rolled my eyes. Yeah, try telling them that. “I’m just not gonna throw myself at guys like they do. It’s annoying and fake, and . . . and . . . I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” I finished lamely.

  Sean grinned and shook his head. “Well, you know what? I don’t care what you say. I’m going to make sure he does notice you.”

  What does that mean? “Who?” I feigned ignorance and hoped my horror didn’t show.

  Sean didn’t buy it for a second. “Harrison Crawford.”

  “Oh.”

  “He’s great. And I’ll think you guys are really going to get along.”

  I’d officially begun to panic. Wasn’t it against the laws of nature for guys to be matchmakers? Sean was the last person I wanted to dictate my nonexis
tent love life. Never mind the fact that I’d just wished on that candle to go on a date—for some reason, it didn’t seem right that the date would be set up by Sean, of all people. I tried another tactic. “What if Alexis and Lauren like him? What then?”

  A flash of annoyance sparked across his features. “They get everybody. This is your turn—you deserve this.”

  “But Sean—”

  “I’m tired of everyone around here not noticing you—not seeing you. Just because you weren’t born into our family doesn’t mean that you’re any different from the rest of us.”

  “Here we go again,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “I’m serious. You’ve got to stop hiding when everyone else is around. Speak up. Laugh. Share your opinion—”

  I didn’t even try to keep the whine out of my voice. “All of which aren’t very easy for me to do.”

  “But how else is Harrison supposed to notice you? He’s gonna be hugely popular. I know it, just by talking to him for a few minutes—soon every girl in this whole city is going to be after him.”

  “Except me.”

  “Lilly!”

  “Sean!” I mimicked. “Look, I don’t want him, okay? I don’t even care what he looks like—or whatever. If he’s gonna be massively popular, let your sisters have him. Let every girl here have him. I’ll take Princess Buttercup and wait till my prince rescues me from all these fake people.”

  “Your prince?” Sean grinned.

  Ugh! Did I just say that out loud? Seriously? I was grateful it was dark so he couldn’t see me blush. “Yes, prince. What? Didn’t you know that girls think about them?”

  He chuckled. The deep sound caused my eyes to meet his full-on. “Lilly? Are you hiding a romantic streak under that tomboy defiance of yours?”

  I couldn’t help it. I giggled. For as much as I wasn’t a girly-girl, the last thing anyone could call me was a tomboy—and Sean knew it. Me and sports? Yeah, we didn’t mesh well—unless it meant on the back of a strong, fast horse. Now that was a sport I could get in to. Horseback riding was my only escape. I knew and loved every square inch of property the Benallys owned. Most days, if my foster family couldn’t find me, that’s where I was, riding on Mansfield Ranch, their hundred-and-fifty-acre spread. It was marvelous. I couldn’t do anything wrong out there. I mean, I couldn’t say the wrong thing when company was over, or wear the wrong outfit, or trip and break expensive vases from England—er, long story. I could be me, Lilly Price—not the girl who was fostered eight years ago. Just me.