Bread Beignets and Cowboy Boots Read online

  Also by C. Deanne Rowe

  Miller Canyon Ranch Series

  Bread, Beignets, and Cowboy Boots

  The Family Tree (Coming Soon)

  Standalone

  Comforted From Heaven

  BREAD, BEIGNETS, AND COWBOY BOOTS

  MILLER CANYON RANCH SERIES

  C. DEANNE ROWE

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  About the Author

  Also by C. Deanne Rowe

  Miller Canyon Ranch—The Beginning by C. Deanne Rowe

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  Published by C. Deanne Rowe

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  www.cdeannerowe.com

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  Cover Art by Rebecca K. Sterling

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  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission email: [email protected]

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Copyright © 2022 C. Deanne Rowe

  Created with Vellum

  To my Allie, my heart

  CHAPTER 1

  RAYNE MILLER

  Removing his cowboy hat, Rayne took a minute to gather his thoughts before walking up to the casket.

  “Hi, Mrs. Chambers. I couldn’t pass up this chance to say to you what I should have before …” He cleared his throat. “Before you passed.”

  Her natural appearance made him think she would answer him at any moment. The chapel was empty, and he needed to say what he was thinking. This was his opportunity.

  “I wanted to thank you for giving me a chance. For teaching about baking. You believed in me and challenged me until I believed I was good at baking bread. I can make a career of it because of you. You understood when Dad tried to convince me I should give up what he called a crazy dream and work at the ranch. I never could see Miller Canyon Ranch as the place I would work for the rest of my life. You showed me your support. It meant so much to me.”

  He stopped to keep his emotions in check. The Miller men are tough.

  “I want to make you proud, so I plan to continue baking. I’m not sure how or where. You made it clear you weren't ready to retire when I offered to buy your bakery.” Rayne smiled, remembering her setting him straight about retiring.

  “Maybe your family will decide to put your bakery up for sale. I can try to buy it from them. If not, I’ll try some of the other bakeries in Paris. Maybe I can open my own bakery. Who knows?” Rayne put his hand on the edge of the casket.

  "You were like a second mother to me. I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me. I’ll do my best to pay it forward. That would make you happy, I'm sure of that.”

  “I'm sure you’re up there baking for everyone. Make sure you include some of your cupcakes. Oh, and I’ll watch out for Tilly. She’ll miss you. I can’t take your place, but I'll make sure she’s all right.”

  Rayne took one last look at the woman who changed his life.

  “I’m going to miss you, Ms. Felicity Chambers. Your smile, your laugh, and the way you greeted me every morning. Thank you for everything.” Rayne patted the edge of the casket.

  “I have to go now. They’re reading your will soon, and they asked me to attend.”

  Twirling his hat in his hand, he walked out of the chapel. He had enough time to make it to the lawyer's office to hear the will they asked him to be present for. He wished he understood why.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Come in, Felicity.” Susan Reid walked around her desk and greeted her with a hug. “I’m so sorry about your grandmother. I know you two were close. Her passing must have been a shock. It was so unexpected.”

  Felicity Mae Fortner leaned into Susan’s hug. She couldn’t believe she wouldn’t be seeing her grandmother again. Her service was still fresh in her mind.

  She would rather go back to her parents’ house to slip off her dress and heels. Instead, she was attending the reading of the will. This was how it was planned. Sadness and exhaustion engulfed her while she was still adjusting to the seven-hour time difference between Paris, France, and Paris, Texas. She’d caught the first flight she could after her mother called her.

  If she was still in France, she would be finishing dinner and preparing to turn in for the evening. Working in the bakery required her to wake early in the morning. Her day ended early in the evening when most people began theirs. Instead, she was sitting in a lawyer’s office with her parents and great-aunt, waiting to hear her grandmother’s last wishes.

  “Take a seat wherever you want.” Susan motioned to the chairs placed around the room. “We’re still waiting for one more person.”

  Felicity took a seat, glancing around the office. She brushed back a strand of blond hair that fell from the loose bun. Her mother, wearing one of Grandmother Felicity’s favorite necklaces to adorn her black dress, was on one side of her. Looking sharp in a two-piece dark suit, her father sat on the other side.

  Aunt Tilly, the last of her grandmother’s siblings who lived with her grandmother the last years of her life, sat in the corner still blotting tears from her eyes. Since she was a little girl, Felicity knew of her grandmother's special relationship with her younger sister. The two were almost inseparable. Both widowed early in their lives, after their children were grown, it was no surprise when her grandmother moved Tilly in with her.

  Felicity asked, “Who else are we expecting? Isn’t everyone here who should be?”

  “Sorry, I’m late.” Rayne Miller walked through the door of Susan’s office, removing his cowboy hat.

  What’s he doing here? Felicity, sure her unbelieving stare gave away her surprise, watched as he took a seat in the empty chair across from her, placing his hat on his knee. One strand of his brown hair fell down on his forehead.

  His jeans hugged his thighs and buttocks exactly where they should. His cowboy boots gave away that he still spent time on his family ranch, Miller Canyon Ranch. Worn and broken in perfectly.

  “We haven’t started yet, Rayne, so you’re fine.” Susan opened the folder in front of her on her desk. She laced her fingers together and glanced at the group. Everyone is here, so we can start. “First, I would like to express my deepest condolences to all of you. Felicity Noelle Chambers was not only a client, but a friend. She and I shared a lot of conversations about life. Felicity Noelle was a wise woman. I learned so much about life from her. I’m going to miss her terribly.” Susan paused and took a breath. “With that being said, let
me read you her last wishes.” Susan glanced down at the folder and read.

  Felicity Mae listened, attempting to focus on what was being said. The image of her grandmother lying in her casket kept popping into her head. The last time she saw her, she was smiling, happy and healthy. She knew this day would come, but she didn’t expect it to happen now. She planned a trip to Texas right after graduation from Le Cordon Bleu to spend time with the family. How she wished she would have come back home sooner.

  Her grandmother would be so proud of her. After all, she not only was her namesake, but she encouraged Felicity Mae to study in France, to learn all she could about pastry, which was where her grandmother always told her she excelled. If she hadn’t stayed to take advanced courses and intern at a local bakery between studies, she might have spent time with her grandmother before she passed.

  “And to Felicity Mae Fortner …”

  Hearing Susan say her name dragged her from her thoughts and back to reality.

  “I leave one-half of Felicity’s Bakery so she can show the town of Paris, Texas, the pastry skills she has worked so hard to learn at Le Cordon Bleu.” Susan glanced at Felicity as she continued, “I leave the other half of Felicity’s Bakery to Rayne Miller. I want him to continue doing what he loves and serve the town of Paris with his bread-making and baking talent. If the two owners work together, I’m sure Felicity’s Bakery will continue to be a success.”

  Felicity gave her parents a questioning stare. Her mother shrugged her shoulders.

  “Did you know about this?” she asked.

  Both her mother and father shook their heads.

  “I was sure she would want us to sell the bakery. After all, I don’t live here, and you two aren’t interested in running it, are you?” She waited for either of them to answer.

  Her mother and father both answered no in unison.

  “I wanted to buy it from her,” Rayne spoke as he adjusted in his chair. “I asked her if she would sell it to me. I thought she would want to retire. She set me straight real quick about that.”

  “What did she say?” Felicity’s curiosity piqued.

  “Ms. Chambers told me in no uncertain terms she wasn’t ready to retire. Retirement was for lazy people. She planned to work until they carried her from the bakery on a stretcher.”

  A half-smile crossed Rayne’s face as he shared their conversation. Felicity heard her grandmother speaking those words. It was apparent Rayne spent a lot of time with her grandmother. Time Felicity should have spent with her instead of living and learning in Paris, France. A twinge of jealousy surged through her body.

  “Instead of selling you the bakery, you convinced her to leave you half. Why not the entire bakery?” Felicity crossed her arms and waited for his reply.

  “Felicity Mae!” June Fortner exclaimed. Her mouth fell open slightly.

  “Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing.” She sat forward in her chair and glared. “He’s not family. Why would Grandma Fe leave him half of her bakery instead of selling?”

  “I can answer that.” Susan flipped through the papers on her desk. “Your grandmother wanted you and Rayne to keep Felicity’s Bakery open for at least two years, running it together. After two years, if the two of you together decide it’s for the best, then you may sell Felicity’s Bakery and split the profit. Until then, you work as a team to keep the bakery running and making a profit. If one of you decides you can’t be part of the team before two years have passed, the other will own Felicity’s Bakery in its entirety.”

  “Two years?” Felicity asked. “I don’t live here. I live in Paris, France, not Paris, Texas. How am I supposed to run a bakery in Texas from France?”

  “I guess that means you have to move back to Texas,” Rayne replied with a smug smile on his face. “Unless you want to back out of the deal, which means I’ll own the bakery by myself.”

  “I’m sure you would love that,” Felicity snapped. “And just who do you think you are and what gives you the right to tell me what to do?” She turned to look at her mother and father. “Tell me he’s not serious.”

  “He sounds pretty serious to me,” Steve Fortner replied. “If you want to stay in France, you’re going to have to decide if you want to keep your half of the bakery.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Fortner.” Rayne nodded. “For your information, Felicity, I’ve worked with your grandmother for years. She and I became close after she took a chance on me and let me do what I love, baking. I may not have any fancy training like you do, but I know what I’m doing, and your grandmother taught me what she knew. I could run that bakery with my eyes closed.”

  Felicity sat back in her chair. What did her grandmother get her into? Moving back to Texas wasn’t in her plans for a few more years. She wanted to stay in France and experience life as a pastry chef, working in an exclusive bakery in Paris.

  Running the bakery from France wasn’t an option. She either had to move back to Texas or give up her half to Rayne Miller.

  She couldn’t even consider Felicity’s Bakery being owned by someone outside her family, especially this wanna-be bakery owner.

  CHAPTER 3

  “He was such a jerk.” Felicity stopped pacing and stomped her foot as she stared out the windows of her parents’ sunroom.

  “You weren't acting much better.” June Fortner set a tray with glasses of ice and a pitcher of tea on the table. She poured tea into one glass and handed it to Felicity. “After all, you don’t really know the man. If your grandmother liked him, then there is something good there.”

  Felicity took a drink as she considered her mother’s words. “I know him enough to remember he’s one person here in Paris I wanted to get away from.”

  “You were in high school then.” June reminded her. “Maybe you should let those feelings go.”

  “You're right, but being back here makes it feel like yesterday.” Felicity took another drink of tea as she pushed back memories of not belonging to the popular crowd. “I probably owe him an apology.”

  “I’m happy you agree.” June settled into a chair. “You’re tired from the time change and long flight, but you were a little rude to the man. You didn’t even give him a chance. I raised you better than that.”

  “I wish I knew what Grandma Fe was thinking. I mean, I talked to her every week and only a few days before she ….” Felicity couldn’t form the words.

  “Before she passed?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I remember she mentioned a few times someone was working with her. When she told me it was Rayne Miller, I thought nothing about it. Grandma Fe didn’t make it sound like a big deal. She said he was working part time.” Felicity paused for a second. “Now that I think about it, she mentioned Rayne every time I talked to her. It was like she wanted me to know he was there. What I didn’t know was she planned to leave half the bakery to him.”

  “Your grandmother had her own way of doing things. She wasn’t one to announce every thought she had or plan she made. Remember how she surprised all of us when she bought you a plane ticket to France for your high school graduation? Mom knew how much you wanted to go.”

  “That was a surprise.” Felicity smiled. “You guys wanted me to stay here in Texas and go to college for a few years first before leaving for France right after graduation, but I was so ready to leave.”

  “We wanted you and us to adjust to you living away from home somewhere close by for a few years before you left the country.” June poured a glass of tea. “Your father was so upset with her.”

  Felicity grinned. “I remember. He tried not speaking to her for a few weeks.”

  “That’s right. Your father decided he would have to give in when Mom wouldn’t let up on him.”

  “How did you not develop that stubborn streak growing up with Grandma Fe?”

  “That gene skipped a generation.” June laughed. “You are so much like your grandmother. I see things you do and think to myself that’s exactly what Mom would do.”

>   “Like what?”

  “Like moving to Paris, France, right after graduating from high school. That took a lot of courage and determination,” June explained.

  “You knew I loved to bake, and that’s what I wanted to do. Grandma Fe took me under her wing when I was old enough to walk and talk. She taught me to love baking.”

  “Oh, I remember. Instead of making friends, playing with dolls, you were with your grandmother in the bakery.” June sipped her tea.

  “I had a few friends,” Felicity protested. “I knew everyone in school, but I wouldn’t say they all were friends. Only a few of the people I attended school with I can actually call friends.”

  “Like I said, you always spent time with your grandmother at the bakery. Maybe you should have spent more time making friends.” June gave her a sideways glare.

  “I don’t regret it. She was much more important to me. I wish I would have known I had so little time left with her. I never would have gone to Paris. I would have stayed here and soaked in every minute.” Felicity brushed a tear from the edge of her eye.

  “Mom wouldn’t have wanted that,” June said. “She wanted you to do what you loved. When you were eight or nine, you talked about going to pastry school. You watched some baking show, which was all you could talk about. No one could talk you out of becoming a pastry chef.”