His Duty to Accept: a Bronze Star Ranch Romance, #2

By Shanae Johnson

After winning medals in the military, this reformed bad boy is determined to walk the straight and narrow. Until his brother's ex girlfriend winds her way down his path.

 

After years of covert work in the military, Caleb Starr arrives back in his hometown, hoping that returning to simple life and work on his rundown family ranch will wipe away the memories of some of his less savory decisions he had to make in the heat of combat. Surprisingly, his first crucial decision, which is to enter into a marriage of convenience with his brother's ex-fiancée, doesn't win him any favors. The tactical error Caleb never saw coming is the feelings that sneak up on him for the woman he's sworn not to fall for.

 

Glinda Reyes has always been the perfect daughter, sister, and caretaker in her family. Opening her beauty salon was the first thing she ever did for herself. But when a big city corporation enters town intent on buying the commercial property where her business is housed, she needs to get her hands on the inheritance her father left to save her business. But she needs to be married before she can access it and her ex-fiancé just left her for her baby sister. Desperate to save her salon, Glinda agrees to marry Caleb, her ex's younger brother and she's determined to keep her heart protected. But will Caleb's strong will and reformed bad boy charm weaken her resolve?

 

In this heartwarming, small-town romance, Caleb and Glinda must navigate their way through the challenges of family loyalty, trust, and love as they discover that the path to acceptance isn't always straightforward.

 

His Duty to Accept is the second in a series of light-hearted, sweet romances where veterans find their way back to their small town and discover they can be heroes at home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Those Johnson Girls
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223510284

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

W hat can I do to make you feel beautiful today, Mrs. Scarborough?

Glinda, dear, could you style my hair like yours?

In the mirror over her customer’s head, Glinda’s blue eyes met her own reflection. Her blond hair cascaded in soft waves, framing her face with an air of effortless elegance. Her features were delicate with high cheekbones, a slender nose, and lips that possessed a natural, rosy hue.

Her reflection was flawless. Not a hair out of place. Her makeup accentuated every one of her best assets and hid what was less than perfect. Now more than ever, Glinda’s outward appearance mattered.

For most of her life, the girls, young ladies, and older women in and surrounding the small town of Honor Valley had expressed a desire to dress just like her, look just like her, be just like her. Glinda had heard the word perfection attached to her name for years. Little did her admirers know that perfection was truly an unattainable state. As a beautician, what Glinda excelled at was masking and hiding flaws.

Glinda shifted her gaze back to Ms. Scarborough, turning away from her own flaws. I think touching up your color would really bring out that healthy glow in your skin. I can also cut your hair to frame your face a bit more. But let’s not go too crazy. We don’t want to give Mr. Scarborough a heart attack, do we?

Mrs. Scarborough giggled like a schoolgirl. The sound warmed Glinda through. For the last couple of days, there had only been ice around her heart. She’d had to freeze it. Otherwise, she’d feel nothing but pain at the betrayal from her sister—the only person who had ever seen Glinda at anything other than her best. To have Dorie tell it, Glinda was every bit the witch in the retelling Wicked and far from the Good Witch of the East.

I hear you’re planning to sell the Miclan building, Mrs. Scarborough was saying as Glinda treated her hair.

It was a common misconception that the Reyes family owned the Miclan building. It wasn’t a farfetched idea. Glinda’s father had been one of the wealthiest men in town, due to the painting business he’d established here as a young immigrant. Oz Reyes’ special paint formula, which used special blends of natural pigments from nature, was sold nationwide in large chain home improvement stores. The first storefront was still housed next to Glinda’s beauty salon in the Miclan building. But the Miclans had never opted to sell… until recently.

My family doesn’t own the building, she said. But I am planning on buying it.

Good for you, dear. Your father raised such strong, independent businesswomen. He would be very proud to see what you and your sister have become.

Glinda smiled and bit her tongue, a habit she was very used to doing. Having grown up with a very opinionated father who—though he loved his daughters profusely and suffocatingly—had an antiquated view on women’s roles in society. Oz Reyes didn’t exactly believe that women should be seen and not heard. He’d raised two opinionated daughters who followed in his footsteps.

It was the following in his footsteps that Oz had objected to. The man had been of the mind that his precious daughters should be taken care of by their husbands. To that end, he'd attached that condition to both Dorie and Glinda taking possession of their sizable inheritances. But Glinda needed that money to buy the building. Otherwise, an out-of-town, big business corporation would take the deed and kick Glinda and the other tenants out.

Around the beauty salon, other women chimed in to agree with Mrs. Scarborough. A discussion ensued about how modern businesswomen with business smarts and stay-at-home mothers with exemplary management skills should run the world. Glinda held firmly to her tongue as she applied highlights to the woman's hair to cover up the gray.

Ouch!

I'm so sorry, Mrs. Scarborough. I've got butterfingers this morning.

The woman's weak smile slowly lifted. Trust brightened her gaze when she met Glinda's eyes in the mirror. Glinda carefully removed the comb she'd been using to detangle Mrs. Scarborough's locks and picked up the cutting shears. What she couldn't let go of was how her sister and her ex-fiance's actions had cut her deeply.

She'd had the perfect plan. Marry her high school boyfriend. Get access to the money her father left in trust. Buy the building so that she, her friend Mitzie who owned the yoga studio out back, and her sister—the traitor—could all keep their businesses. But then her sister went and stole her fiancé and ruined the plan.

Glinda, dear, are you sure you want to cut that much?

Glinda looked down at her hands. There was a chunk of Mrs. Scarborough's gray locks in her palm. It wasn't the look they’d agreed upon. But she could make this work.

I just had a bit of inspiration, Glinda hedged. This is going to be even better than before.

And there again was Mrs. Scarborough's trusting smile. Because Glinda could be trusted. Because Glinda Reyes always did the right thing, and she did it with a smile on her face.

Thirty minutes later, Mrs. Scarborough clutched at her own heart when she saw herself in the mirror. The woman reflected back just might send her husband to the hospital with heart palpitations.

As one satisfied customer went out, a group of adolescents came in the door. The little girls were dressed for tea in frilly dresses, looking like little munchkins. Nelly Parker was having her birthday party, and she’d chosen to have it at Glinda's salon.

Hi, Ms. Glinda, they all chorused.

Don't you all look so pretty, Glinda said through an actual beaming expression that she didn't have to fake.

I'm first, said Nelly, hopping up into Glinda's chair. I want to look just like you, Ms. Glinda.

Glinda remembered when she used to dress Dorie up. Her sister had hated anything frilly and rejected clothing that matched. Because that was Dorie. Dorothy Reyes had bucked at anything her sister tried to get her to do, including the unwritten rule of keeping her hands off her sister's boyfriend.

It wouldn't have been so bad if Dorie and Aaron had gone through with Glinda's plan themselves. They could've gotten married and Dorie could've accessed her trust fund under the same barbaric rule her father had left in his will.

But no. Aaron Starr wanted to prove he was in love with her sister. So he decided to date her for a while so there would be no doubt in anyone's mind of his feelings for her.

It was an idiotic move because it left them all in limbo. Meanwhile, Syndacorp was still nosing around the building. The corporation had put in an offer to purchase that Glinda couldn't hope to match without the inheritance. They were about to lose it all while Dorie and Jake made stupid goo-goo eyes at each other.

Love made people stupid. It's why Glinda planned never to dabble in the practice herself. Which was why marrying Aaron would have been perfect.

She'd liked the man, but she hadn't been in love with him. They'd gotten along. And he had been happy to follow along behind her and do whatever she told him to do. He hadn't wanted to be just like her. He'd simply wanted to be with her.

Until Dorie confessed her undying love to him.

There it was again—love.

The humiliation of her baby sister marrying her ex was something Glinda could stand. She had tons of concealer that she could apply to hide the frown lines. But losing her business? No, that was something she would not stand for.

Her plan had been a good one. Perhaps she could get Dorie and Aaron to reconsider and get married? But no, those two walked around town with hearts in their eyes and would likely botch it up because they were so love-blind.

This was something Glinda would have to do herself. She just had to find another man who needed money. Preferably one who was too smart to fall into the emotional trap of love.

The image of a dark-haired man with cold, calculating eyes sprang to mind. This man had offered to step in to do just that with a passionless proposal that was filled with logic and common sense. At the time, Glinda hadn't been in the headspace to listen. She'd been reeling from her sister's betrayal. But now…

Now she hoped Caleb Starr hadn't changed his mind.

CHAPTER TWO

Caleb Starr stood with his shoulders back, his feet planted apart, his arms behind his back. It was an at ease pose he'd perfected during his time in the military, though he looked nothing close to relaxed at the moment.

He'd been separated from the military for less than a month, and it showed. His gaze remained hypervigilant as he took in his surroundings. He stood with his body at a diagonal so that he could still see the exit behind him and his face forward so that he could see the task at hand. His brain quieted until the hum of chatter around him faded into the background. He took a step forward as he took on his most challenging mission yet: choosing the perfect brew.

He studied the chalkboard menu like it was a top-secret document filled with coded messages. There were about as many coffee options as there were contingencies on a covert mission. Caleb intended to approach the situation with the same level of seriousness.

His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's as he considered the first option. Americano, it read. Named after the nation he'd served, this straightforward drink with a double shot of espresso and hot water was a strong contender. But then, maybe it was too straightforward for today's mission.

Next was the cappuccino, a classy Italian recruit. Equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and foam. The delicate balance of ingredients reminded him of the precarious situations he'd been in while he'd served. One wrong move and everything could fall apart. Not today, he decided. Today was not a day for risks.

Mocha, he mouthed silently. The combination of espresso and hot milk with added chocolate appealed to his senses. It