“I added the salad just to pretend like we’re going to be healthy around here.” She smiled at the group of cowboys and cowgirls who’d come in off the ranch, as well as all the women who’d once lived right here in the West Wing.
“Come eat,” she said in conclusion, and the noise swelled again.
Hannah got out of the way, because she never led the group through the line. Rather, she’d go nearly last just to make sure the food didn’t run out.
Jill kept the garlic bread coming, and Hannah opened a couple more bags of salad before she picked up a plate. The tangy, salty scent of her grandmother’s marinara met her nose, and a smile graced her face. She twisted a beautiful pile of spaghetti on her plate and added three meatballs.
She’d skip the salad if it didn’t fit on her plate, and for today, she wouldn’t feel bad about it. She had a body-shaper and a couple of pairs of pants that slimmed her as well.
Hannah turned toward the large dining room table and stepped toward an open spot. The noise swelled, and Ted and Nate both stood at the same time.
“There he is,” Ted boomed, his loud laugh joining the fray of sound. He looked past Hannah to someone over her shoulder, and Nate laughed too.
Slate twisted and looked, and he got up too, saying, “Luke. You made it.”
Luke.
Hannah’s heart leapt into the back of her throat, and while every system in her body sped up, she seemed to be moving very slowly. Her legs trembled, and her hands shook, and as she turned around, she dropped her plate of spaghetti.
The shattering of the plate silenced everyone, and about that same second, Hannah’s eyes met Luke’s.
Lightning struck her from head to toe, and then Slate swooped in between her and Luke, hugging his best friend and breaking the connection she’d always felt to the sexy cowboy ex-con.
Chapter Five
Luke had been welcomed back by his family when he’d arrived in Las Vegas, but it simply wasn’t the same joy, love, and rush he felt from the cowboys and cowgirls and others at Hope Eternal Ranch.
Jill exclaimed about how thin he was, and Slate stood back and said, “Nah, he’s probably gained weight. Muscle mass.” He grinned and slung his arm around Jill, both of them smiling for all they were worth.
Ginger hugged him tightly, her baby belly between them, and then Dallas stood there with Jess and the kids.
“Uncle Luke, look,” Remmy said, and he scooped the little girl right up into his arms. He could feel Hannah’s gaze on him, but he didn’t dare meet her eyes again. Even that brief moment a few minutes ago had been enough to sear him right through. His nerves still buzzed, and the whole world had narrowed to just her.
“What is it?” he asked Remmy, looking at the object in her hand. It seemed to be a rock she’d painted, but he couldn’t read the letters.
“It’s my pet rock,” she said. “I named him Stony.”
“What a great name,” he said, setting her back down. He wasn’t the best with kids, but with the ones he knew, he got along with okay.
He glanced around for Connor, nearly getting knocked down by the blond boy as he barreled toward him. He grunted as he caught him, and Connor hugged him tight with wiry arms. “You’re back,” he said, and that about summed it all up.
Luke pressed his eyes closed and said, “Yeah, bud. I’m back,” in a voice that gave away far too many emotions. Good thing it was so loud and no one could hear him.
He straightened, and Ted stood there. “It’s so good to see you, brother.” Ted engulfed him in a big bear hug, which made Luke laugh. He hugged Emma and asked about the baby, but she was apparently sleeping in a swing several feet away in the living room.
Luke didn’t need to hold her right now, and he faced Nate, a powerful feeling of acceptance moving through him. The guys at the gym didn’t possess the same brotherhood that Luke had with these men, and they never would.
The men he spent time with in prison would sacrifice for him. The guys at the gym were only looking out for themselves.
He laughed and stepped into Nate’s arms, the two of them clapping one another on the back. “Come eat,” Nate said. “There’s tons of food.”
Luke surveyed the counter while Nate asked someone for another chair. He picked up a plate, noting this meal had Ted and Emma all over it. Spaghetti and garlic bread. It was simple, and yet the sauce looked homemade.
He knew who would have done that—Hannah—since Emma was the guest of honor. She had won a cooking competition before Luke’s time on the ranch, but he’d heard all about it, and he’d sampled Emma’s cooking.
Hannah loved to cook too, though, and Luke thought of the breakfast they’d shared a few months ago. Had she thought about it at all? Was she still seeing someone else? He hated that he didn’t have all the information he needed, but he told himself he had time to get it.
He turned to the table, and Nate had found him a chair. He nodded to it, positioned right on the end of the table, and Luke walked toward the group. Crowds unnerved him, and he thanked all the stars in the heavens above that Nate had put the chair on the end.
He’d probably done it on purpose.
He sat down, and just like that, he was assimilated into the conversations going on around him. Nate and Ted spoke about the fields that needed to be prepped, and Luke heard a few words about new horses on the ranch. He’d seen some construction down the lane when he’d pulled up, and he wondered if Ginger would assign him to that project.
She hadn’t given him a formal assignment yet. She’d asked him to come see her in the morning, and Luke hadn’t needed more than that. In fact, he liked only having the barest of schedules for the day. Otherwise, he got overwhelmed, which was one reason he’d disliked the real estate industry.
Perhaps it was just his father’s way of doing things Luke didn’t like. He didn’t need every minute of every day planned out. He liked more flexibility and the ability to be spontaneous in his activities.
“Are you back for good, then?” Spencer asked.
“I think so,” Luke said, twirling up his first bite of spaghetti. The crisp, almost acidic scent of the marinara hit his nose before the food touched his tongue, and he groaned as he tasted the sauce. “This is so good.”
Spencer grinned at him. “Don’t get used to it. Bill moved out, and we got this new guy, Jason.” Spencer pointed down the table to a man Luke didn’t recognize. He had a long, sloped nose, and he was currently in the middle of telling an exciting story, if the light in his eyes said anything. Jason seemed like the kind of man that needed to be the center of attention, and Luke’s nerves buzzed a little more.
“He literally burns something in the microwave every single day,” Spencer said. “The whole Annex smells like smoke and melted plastic.”
“Great,” Luke said in a deadpan. “Will I be in the basement?” He looked away from the man who’d just finished talking. The table down that way erupted in laughter, and Luke couldn’t help smiling.
“No,” Spencer said. “Jason took Bill’s room, and I moved up into the one Slate was in. You can have the same room back, if you don’t mind sharing the bathroom with me.” He smiled at Luke, who returned the gesture.