Chapter 1

Mandi barely lookedup as the cab passed through the gates of Rawhide Ranch. It had been so long since she'd been outside of her tiny duplex that even the idea of swapping one room for another on a ranch felt overwhelming. She clutched her bear to her, fiddling with the glasses that perched atop his nose.

She'd gone to her cousin Ralphie's workplace the previous week, to get Beau's glasses mended, and Ralphie had taken one look at her, demanded that his fiancé Nate drop everything to take over for him, and had whisked her off to lunch.

That had made her nervous; Ralphie was sweet but vivacious. Startlingly so.

But he hadn't been loud or overwhelming. Her cousin had been kind and quiet, and when he'd mended Beau's glasses for her, he'd told her that Rawhide Ranch would mend her too, if she let it.

Mandi wasn't sure what he meant by that—not the broken bit, she knew she was broken—but what he thought a ranch could do to fix her, when she couldn't fix herself.

It wasn't like she had many other options though. The indie bookshop she'd been working in was closing, and she was going to need to find something new to do anyway, and Ralphie had almost insisted that she check out this place first.

"It's perfect for you, Mandi," he'd said, his obvious enthusiasm shining through. "The people are the loveliest—although some of them are addicted to pranks—and they also have a library." He'd looked at her slyly then; everyone in their family knew how much she liked books. "They actually have two libraries."

"I'm not that obsessed with books."

There had been a pause.

"Okay, maybe I am, but that wouldn't be a good enough reason to get me to stay somewhere."

But when he'd brought up their website and showed her all the information, she'd seen one phrase that made her determined to visit Rawhide Ranch: the Littles' Wing.

She clutched Beau more tightly to her as the car came to a stop. A man opened the door to her car, and helped her out, smiling at her. She nodded back quietly, and then looked out to where she was going to stay. The porch stretched the entire length of the very large building in front of her and Mandi could see men and women sitting in basket chairs, rockers and swings, all chattering away, enjoying the May sunshine.

They looked happy.

That bode well. Right?

"You gonna pay or what?" The cab driver's voice was loud and harsh and she flushed and fumbled with her bag, trying to get her purse out quickly. Beau stuffed tightly under one arm, she stuttered sorries and hoped desperately that the people on the porch hadn't heard.

No such luck. A brunette woman came bounding down the steps and over to them. "Is everything okay?"

Mandi's words dried in her mouth, even as she tried to answer, but the cab driver spoke over her. "Yeah, I can't just be sitting idling in my car here. She needs to pay up. Now!"

The last word was even louder and made Mandi jump so much that she dropped her purse altogether.

The brunette skewed him with a look that seemed completely at odds with the pretty, summery dress she wore. "A few moments won't make much of a difference." She turned to the other man and her hands moved in the fluid motions of ASL. His face hardened, and he strode toward the big building.

Then she turned to Mandi, and gently picked up her purse for her. "Hi, I'm Sadie Hawkins. Do you want to give me your card and I'll tap the payment for you?"

Mandi nodded, her eyes darting everywhere but the other woman's face, and silently pulled her card from the open purse that Sadie offered her. Her hands trembled and she held it out, and she was oh so grateful that Sadie didn't say a single thing about how much she was shaking.

"There you go, all paid." Her eyes flashed at the driver, and Mandi impetuously reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling the other woman back toward her and shaking her head ever so slightly. Sadie looked surprised, but followed, and then beamed when a man dressed exactly how Mandi imagined a cowboy would look strode over and rapped smartly on the window of the cab.

"A word, please, driver." His voice was quiet but there was an undercurrent of steel that Mandi flinched at. "Sadie, can you take Ms. Travers through to my office please? Maybe keep her company until I've finished here?"

Sadie slipped her arm into Mandi's and tugged her away from the car. "Now don't you worry, my husband will sort that meanie out and make no mistake. He shouldn't have spoken to you like that!"

In a slight daze, Mandi allowed herself to be led along until she found herself in an overwhelmingly large room, and if it hadn't been for the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, she'd almost certainly have burst into tears. But instead there were shelves and shelves and shelves of books, all non-fiction, and all organized by subject. She ran her fingers along their spines and allowed herself the smallest of toe wiggles.

When she was truly happy, and felt truly safe, she allowed herself full body wiggles, but she hadn't felt that way for a long time. She hadn't, if she was being truthful with herself, felt safe enough anywhere aside from her duplex for a toe wiggle.

"Is this one of the libraries?" she asked over the shoulder to Sadie. "My cousin said that there were two libraries." Mandi couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice. So many books. And books were safe. Books meant more toe wiggles.

"This? Oh no," said Sadie, "this is my husband's office. There's a library in the Littles' Wing, and another in the University. These are just all his books on law and tax and other boring things."

"Boring? Well now, angel," said Sadie's husband from where he stood in the doorway, "I need boring books to help me run the Ranch."

"You need boring books and me to run the Ranch, Daddy," said Sadie, and went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Ms. Travers," he said, turning to Mandi, "Derek Hawkins, but most of the folks round here call me Master Derek. I cannot apologize enough for the interaction you had with your cab driver. We had words and I'm sure he won't be speaking like that to people again."

She nodded her thanks, suddenly shy again, and when he gestured toward one of the large leather chairs, she paused and looked longingly toward the couch in the corner.

"Would you like to sit there, little lady?"

She nodded, still silent, and waited until he smiled before going and tucking herself right up in the corner by the arm of the couch.

Master Derek paused, looking thoughtful, and then walked through the French doors behind his desk, and returned carrying a chair. "I don't want to loom over you," he said.

Mandi was grateful for that. Being loomed over wasn't fun. She didn't like it at all.

"Off you go to class, Sadie," he said, smiling at his wife, but Sadie didn't move, not even when he raised an eyebrow.

"I… would you like me to stay?" The playfulness that had been in her voice earlier was gone now, and she addressed her question to Mandi, not Master Derek.

Mandi nodded, and Sadie looked at her husband. Some unspoken communication passed between them, and then Master Derek inclined his head toward the couch.

Sadie bounced over, her previous seriousness all gone, and clambered up next to Mandi. "Who's this then?"

Mandi was aware of Master Derek leaning back a bit, assessing her, but she tried not to let his scrutiny unsettle her too much. "This is Beau, he's my bear. My cousin mended his glasses because he works at Stuffie Hospital." She looked cautiously toward Master Derek. "Ralphie's the one who suggested I come and stay here. I said so in my emails."

"I remember," he said kindly, so kindly that she felt a little emboldened.

"I get nervous," she said. "But I do want to stay here. It's just that it's all a teensy bit scary really. I am a"—she swallowed—"a Little, I promise, only I think I lost her."

"Lost who?"

"My Little." Mandi had that tight, sick feeling she felt every time she thought about being Little. She clung on to Beau and stroked his fur between her fingers, and rocked back and forth, trying to self-soothe. "I lost my Little because I messed up, and now I can't find her."