CHAPTER 7

            Marie Grayson was staring at Isabelle from the living-room’s window. The girl was very friendly and quite playful with her granddaughters and the girls immediately took a liking to her. She was very glad that Andrew had accepted her proposal. His young girl had to get out of the ranch and build a life far from her despot of a father. She remembered Isabelle at her mother's funeral. She was so lost, so timid, almost afraid to open her mouth and speak out.

             Initially, Marie had thought that all this sudden shyness was the result of her mother's loss. Isabelle had never been a shy, silent, fearful girl, but quite the opposite. Marie knew Michelle, she used to visit the Baldwins often, and sometimes Isabelle kept them company. Isabelle that she knew was a girl that was talking a lot and she always had arguments to support everything she was saying. Marie had always thought she was a very intelligent young girl, full of interesting ideas and opinions., wise beyond her years. But Michelle's death put down the sparkle Isabelle always had in her.

              In the years that had passed since she came to live with Andrew at the "Silver Spur Ranch", Marie kept a certain interest in her. Somehow, Marie had managed to win Andrew's sympathy, so at least a couple of times a month she visited the ranch to make sure Isabelle was okay. It was not true that he had all this need of Isabelle’s help with the girls, but she wanted to give this young woman the opportunity to breathe the air of freedom.

              Isabelle had just turned twenty-three and she had become a very beautiful young woman. Somehow, she reminded her of Michelle, her mom. Marie had no doubt that this young woman was as intelligent as she was beautiful. She hoped that Andrew's behavior hadn’t caused too much damage to Isabelle's personality. The girl had the potential to accomplish great things in life, but the most important condition for doing so was “to steal” her, even for a few hours a day, away from her father's obsessive control. On one of the occasions, she went to the ranch, Lucy Townsend had told her some things about Andrew Baldwin's behavior, things that had led Marie to make the decision to help Isabelle even though she didn't know she needed help.

       She kept looking at the young woman as she sat on a blanket resting on the grass beside her granddaughters, Francine and Diana, playing and laughing with them. The girls were two little angels, one blonde and the other brunette, but both had beautiful green eyes. They were half French and English was sometimes a bit challenging for them. Christine, Richard's wife, was French. Before marrying her stepson, she lived in Paris and worked for one of their company's European subsidiaries. Richard had met her and, after a few months, he decided to marry her and to bring her to the United States. After a while, these two miracles arrived in their lives. First Francine, "Frannie", who had just turned six, blonde like her mother, and then, a year later, little Diana, who was five, brunette like her father. The girls had also different personalities. Frannie loved dressing up and often played with her mother's jewelry and make-up. Diana was a little tomboy, she adored playing soccer and loved to climb every possible tree. Marie had to keep constantly an eye on her. But both girls had immediately accepted Isabelle's presence without asking any questions. All three started chatting as if they’ve known each other since forever and Marie retired inside the house. Her little ones were starting to get very fond of Isabelle.

           Marie felt a hand on her shoulder and winced. She turned quickly and saw Christopher, her husband, accompanied by Billy, their son.

My love, I’ve called your name, but you were so caught up in your thoughts... Who is laughing and screaming so loud outside our house?” Chris asked, looking out the living-room window.

            He kissed his wife, hugged her tight, and smiled seeing his granddaughters playing and having fun running around the garden. Billy also approached his parents and looked outside the window. Frannie and Diana had a... new playmate. She was someone he vaguely knew, someone he had seen a couple of times at "Villa Mimosa", but he had never stopped to talk to her. She was a little girl back then. And then, since she and Andrew had moved to the ranch that his father had promised to give to Shawn, he had begun to feel a slight dislike for the Baldwin family. Yes, Andrew Baldwin was an old friend of his father's, but he wasn’t in his right mind half the time since his wife's death. Everyone knew it, but people behaved as if nothing had happened. His daughter was doing the same, hiding her head in the sand and chosen to stand next to such a hateful person.

“Yesterday I’ve asked Andrew to allow his daughter, Isabelle, to come here and give me a hand with the girls just for a few hours a day,” Marie answered looking back at the garden where the girls were together with their young nanny.

“And the old wacko had accepted?” Billy asked, while still staring at Isabelle. “Dad, I would never understand how you could remain friends with this man. He installed himself at the ranch seven years ago and that's where he remained. After selling his company, he received so much money to take his daughter and go on living a good life in the city. I'd love to send him away from that place...”

"Billy, don't talk like that," his mother said. “Your father and I wanted to help them; it was our duty as their family’s friends. You don't live in the same house so you can't judge him. Although he has changed a lot in these recent years, he still is her father and, in his strange way, he still loves her. I am sure of it. Chris, remember that every time he was talking about Isabelle, in his eyes you could see how much he loved her and how proud was of her? I don't think I've ever seen a prouder father than Andrew.”

"Yes, my love, I remember it quite well," Chris replied, escorting his wife to reach the couch and helping her to sit. “Then it happened what you well know, and things changed completely. Luckily, he agreed to sell his company before going completely bankrupt. So, he managed to get a lot of money in return and secure his future and that of Isabelle.”

"Dad, I can't understand why you agreed to let them stay all these years at the ‘Silver Spur Ranch’," Billy said, pouring a glass of Martini for his father and one for him. "You promised it to Shawn, he always loved that place. Years ago, you told him that when he will return from his European trip, he would have the ranch.”

“After finishing college, Shawn had made the decision to travel the world, especially Europe. In those moments, not even he was aware of what he really wanted to do with his life. Andrew and his little girl couldn't keep staying in their house,” Chris replied and then sip from his Martini. “Anyway, Shawn was brokenhearted after what happened with that girl... what was her name? Ah, Jennifer. All he wanted was to go away as far as possible from all those painful memories and heal his wounded heart. This was the reason for his sabbatical year. When he returned, Shawn told me that he would prefer to work with you and Richard at the company. And here is how the ‘Grayson Trio’ was born. And I couldn't be happier with his decision.”