Chapter 1

When he arrived at his grandmother’s, Austin felt tired, like he’d been wrangling cattle all day. So once she’d checked him out and shown him to his bedroom, he was ready to collapse into bed. As he lay there, he couldn’t help but think his mother’s new guy, Don, was after her money.

Don had waxed eloquent about Middleburg, which had been established in 1787. He’d droned on and on about some of his real estate customers who’d purchased homes in this countrified slice of Virginia. As Don described it, Middleburg had become the favorite sanctuary for movie stars, horse people, old money, gentleman farmers, and Capital Beltway retirees.

The town itself had under a thousand residents.

When they got near his grandmother’s home, Don had gushed about it being an authentic 1817 federal-style home and gardens.

“What’s a ‘federal-style home’?” Austin mistakenly asked—a mistake because it gave Don an opening to lecture him on the local architecture.

The short of it was that this highly desired home style was built between 1780 and 1830 on the East Coast. It was mainly found in New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Charleston, and Washington, DC. The rectangular buildings stood two to three stories high, typically with brick exteriors, flat fronts, evenly spaced windows, and curved steps leading up to an uncomplicated door.

As they pulled up to his grandmother’s house, Austin noted it was the three-story variety. His grandmother answered the door and ushered them into a grand entrance with a magnificent staircase that spiraled up all three stories. When he entered, Austin looked up at an ornate crystal chandelier that lit up the stairwell and entranceway.

Don helped him carry his luggage to the third floor, where Austin’s grandmother put him into what had once been his mother’s room. She said she loved this room because it was in the back corner and overlooked the gardens and stables.

Austin was almost afraid to touch anything because his mom said all the furniture was antique. His need to sleep had made him overcome his anxiety over possibly breaking something, so he soon snuggled down and fell asleep.

In the morning, he took a quick shower and wandered down to the kitchen, where he found his grandmother in the breakfast nook, reading a paper.

“Good morning,” Austin said to get her attention.

She looked up and smiled. His grandmother was in her mid-fifties and had the body of a woman twenty years younger. Austin might have mistaken her for his mom’s sister if it weren’t for the wrinkles around her eyes.

“How did you sleep?” Grandma Montgomery asked.

“Just fine, thanks. What’s the plan for today?”

“I’ve got my bridge game at the Blackwater Riding Club this morning. You can go with me and check out their facilities, or stay here and look over the stables and pasture for your horse. When your mother moved to Montana, I got rid of the horses, so they haven’t been used for at least fifteen years.”

Red would arrive in two days, so he thought he’d better check that out. His horse was currently being transported from Texas.

“I’ll go with the stables,” Austin said.

“That sounds like a plan,” Grandma Montgomery said. “Do you cook?”

“Nothing fancy. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve been known to burn water, so I normally go out to eat. If you can cook and care for yourself, I won’t have to hire a cook.”

“Would you like me to make you breakfast? That might help you to decide,” Austin said.

“That’s a wonderful idea. I’d like my eggs poached with ham and an English muffin with honey.”

Austin had never poached an egg in his life.

“I can do scrambled eggs.”

“That won’t do. Poached eggs are so much healthier.”

“I can give it a try, I guess.”

“Perfect,” she said and resumed reading her paper.

Austin got up to go try his hand at poaching eggs when he had a thought.

“Where’s the puppy you got me?”

“Oh, I forgot about him. He’s in a cage in the stables. He’ll be quite cross with me, but he gets so rowdy that I put him there until I’ve had my coffee. You might want to let him out.”

Austin put a pot on to boil water before walking out to the stables. It was a lovely early summer morning. He took a moment to survey the formal garden, which looked as though it belonged on an old English estate. A brick walkway ran down the center, and formal hedges divided it into sections, each with its own unique flora, ranging from roses to begonias to lavender.

He hoped he wouldn’t also be the gardener because it looked like more than a full-time job.

When he got closer to the stables, he heard unhappy yips. He opened the door and found the poor puppy clawing at the cage to escape. The pup went wild when he spotted Austin.

“Settle down, I’ll let you out,” Austin said in soothing tones.

When he unlatched the cage, the puppy ran for the open door. Austin took a moment to give the stables a cursory once-over. They looked to be of good quality, but everything needed cleaning. He made a mental list of the supplies he’d need when Red arrived.

As he exited the stable, Austin almost stepped into a present the puppy had left him. Of course, it was on the brick walkway, not the grass. He looked around; the pup was missing, but Austin heard it barking. Then he saw it tearing around the side of the house at full speed.

The pup seemed to do everything full out, so Austin mentally named him Max.

“Come on, Max. Let’s go inside and feed Grandma.”

The pup raced him to the back door and bounced around when Austin wasn’t fast enough opening it. He pulled it open, and Max flew in to find Grandma Montgomery.

“Get off me!” Austin heard as he stepped into the kitchen.

“He is a handful,” Austin admitted. “If it’s okay, I’ll name him Max.”

“Maybe Mad Max.”

“Does he have a bad temper?” Austin asked, concerned.

“No, from the movie.”

Austin looked at her with a blank stare. He had no idea what she was talking about.

“Look it up,” Grandma Montgomery said, responding to his confusion.

“Sure. Let me try to make the eggs.”

He tried five times before he got it right. Fortunately, he was a growing teen and had no problem eating all his mistakes. When he set his grandmother’s plate in front of her, she wrinkled her nose.

“I’ll look into getting a cook as well.”

“‘As well?’ What else are you getting?” Austin asked.

“A maid. This house will be filthy with you and Mad Max running around.”

’What have I gotten myself into?’ Austin wondered.

His grandmother didn’t seem excited about having her life disrupted by a teenager and a puppy.

Austin spent the morning sweeping out the stable. It had a mouse infestation, which kept Max entertained. Austin didn’t know what the pup would do if he caught one, but the dog sure tried. Sadly, the rodents had chewed up the saddles and other gear stored in the tack room.

Austin sorted through it all, keeping what was in decent shape or repairable and tossing the rest.

The next task was to get out the hose and cleaning supplies and scrub everything down.

When his grandmother returned from playing bridge, Austin gave her a list of everything he needed for Red. She took the pickup to the feed store to shop for supplies.

While she was gone, Austin got the tractor out and attached the mower to run over the pastures; he wanted to find out what was underneath all that greenery. His grandmother had let them go, and wildflowers covered them. One of the pastures had too much clover, so Austin messaged her to pick up a broad-leaf herbicide to kill the clover and grass seed to fill in.