A Lone Star Love Story

Keith ran a hand through his midnight black hair. Apparently his housekeeper, Ashleigh, couldn’t go to the grocery on her own. It was mid-winter, and the snow outside on the ground clashed beautifully with his icy blue gaze. His eyes reflected cool dismissal of most people and the coldness of a father who ran out on his mother and a childhood full of neglect.  He was sent here to get milk and eggs to make a cake for Christmas dinner. He made sure he wouldn’t need to add anything to the list. His family was quite large. There were his five brothers; Matthew, Tate, Diego, Andrew, and Christian; and his sister, Evelyn. His mother had been dead a long time. He didn’t miss her. He was finally trying to move on from the pain her and his father had caused him. And that pain cost him the love of his life. And he’d never see her again. He was the only sibling still a bachelor/bachelorette. His brothers and sister were happy.  Matthew would be with his wife, Sarai, and his 3 sons, Nathan, Dru, and Otis. Tate would be with his fiancé, Mika, and their adoptive daughter, Rachel. Diego and his wife Maria would be there. They had no children yet, although Maria was pregnant. Andrew and his wife, Annabeth would be there. They had no children but planned to adopt. Annabeth couldn’t conceive. Christian would bring his girlfriend, Tailyn. Evelyn would bring her husband, Jeremiah.  Keith was married to his job. He was a Texas Ranger in Wolf County. He worked out of the county seat, Wolf’s Creek, and had a ranch just outside the city limits. He was a cowboy, through and through. He could rope, ride, he wore spurs on his boots, he wore a black Stetson, and he owned a whole pack of hound dogs. He could hunt, he could throw calves with the best of them, he could do just about any sort of ranch work that needed done.  Keith looked up into the glittering hazel eyes of a woman he nearly ran into while he was lost in his own thought maze. Her eyes. They seemed so familiar. But he was sure he’d never met this woman before in his life. She was in a waitress uniform, as if she’d come here straight from work or while on her break. Her tied back hair was a reddish brown, as if red had been dyed over another color, and the tips blackened. Her hair burned like a wildfire. It was striking. She was thin, curvy, and she looked dog-tired. She had bags under her eyes, making her look like a raccoon. Keith stifled a laugh. He was a professional. She just glared at him and stormed off, seemingly before she lost her temper. Smart girl.  Still, something about her didn’t seem right. He shrugged and went back to his shopping. Just then, the power shut off. He heard a child scream, a baby crying, and a wife scolding her husband. He cleared his throat. He should take charge before this turns wrong. “Listen everyone,” He called out in the small farmers market. “My name is Captain Keith Mendes, I’m a Texas Ranger, and we should try to get the power back on. It was probably knocked out by the snowstorm. I want everyone to move into a group in the middle of the store, so we can try to figure all of this out. Move. Now.” And just like that, everyone moved.  Keith followed, nearly bumping into the fiery woman from earlier again. She huffed at him and stalked off towards the middle of the store. He waited for everyone to get to his assigned position before he barked out a few more orders. “I want 2 men to go try to get the power back on from the breaker box. Maybe a switch just flipped. Ladies, I want you to get acquainted and make sure all of your children are accounted for. This could’ve been deliberate. I’m going to call the power company just in case the power was knocked out from the lines.” And again. Everyone did as he instructed.  Before he could dial the number of the power company, the power flipped back on. Well. Okay then. “It was just a breaker!” One of the men from the back had called out to him. A woman, looking no older than 30, rushed up to him. “Captain Mendes. I can’t find my daughter, Ami, she was here before the power went out! I sent her to get something a couple of isles away from where I was, in dairy, to get some canned soup from isle 12, and she never came back!”  The woman looked as if she’d get sick at any moment. The woman with the hazel eyes from before spoke up, “I can go check around the store and make sure she isn’t in the bathroom or anything.” Keith gave her and curt nod. And with that, she ran off. He waited, hearing her angelic voice call out for the child. He felt a shiver run through him. Oh God. That’s the love shiver. He’s only ever felt it once in his life. Not his first wife…. His best friend. Karina. That voice!