“Fine with me,” he said. “You didn’t like being in the basement?”
Spencer held Luke’s gaze for a moment, something moving fast through his dark eyes. Luke wasn’t sure what it was, but it almost felt like…unrest. “Yeah,” Spencer finally said. “Or rather, no. I didn’t like being in the basement.” He picked up a piece of garlic bread, his gaze falling to his plate and then down the table again. “Don’t say anything. They’re just all…so young.”
“How old are you?” Luke asked.
“I’m old,” Spencer said. “I’m thirty-nine. That’s eleven years older than Jack, and he’s now the oldest one in the basement.”
Another round of laughter from down the table rent the air, and Luke looked at the crowd down there. Most of them didn’t live full-time on the ranch, but Luke had seen the majority of their faces before.
Day workers that came in when Ginger called, or seasonal people she hired on a weekly or monthly basis. If she hired someone full-time, they almost always lived in the Annex.
“This place has got to be almost empty,” Luke said, glancing around the West Wing. When he’d first come to Hope Eternal Ranch, he’d been told the West Wing was off-limits. He hadn’t had a problem with it, because he just wanted to keep his head down, get the work done, and finish his sentence out in the sunshine instead of behind bars.
“Almost,” Spencer said. “Jill and Slate are going to live in a cabin on the Back Row. Then it’ll just be Hannah.”
Luke looked down the table to her, and she lifted her eyes from her plate to meet his. It almost felt like she’d cast a spell on him, the energy of it shooting from her and straight into him.
He managed to smile, and she did too. He wondered how she felt about living here alone. The West Wing acted as the hub of activity for the ranch, with many meals eaten here, and offices off the front living room. He’d be here tomorrow to meet with Ginger. None of that changed the fact that she’d live and sleep here alone.
For a while there, Luke had thought he wanted to be alone. Just him and wide open land. Him and the beach. Him and the sky, the air, the water.
He still liked being alone for a little while, but he didn’t want to live the majority of his life that way. He did need and want to be surrounded by people he could trust, who trusted him, and who believed in him.
“So, I don’t think I heard,” Nate said a few seats away, his voice breaking into the trance Hannah had cast on Luke. “Why did you decide to come back?” He glanced at Luke and then Slate.
“Oh, well.” Luke reached for his cup of punch and took a big drink. “I….” He became aware of everyone staring at him. At least everyone on this half of the table, including Hannah. She seemed keenly interested in hearing his explanation, and he wondered if that were really true. Perhaps only he could feel the pulsing electricity between them.
“I really didn’t like real estate,” he said, clearing his throat afterward. “I realized I like working outside. That’s why I like construction. But it’s too hot in Vegas for that, and too dang cold in Colorado.” He grinned at Slate, who nodded in a very exaggerated way.
“I figured, you guys were all here, and Sweet Water Falls is close to the beach.” He shrugged, though it was the familial atmosphere and brotherhood that had really brought him back, not the weather. “So I came back. Ginger said she’d find me something to do, and…yeah.” He stuffed his mouth with a big bite of bread, hoping the attention would turn to someone else.
It did, because Jill got up and yelled, “I’m getting out the chocolate cake,” and that caused an eruption that only cowboys could produce. Luke laughed along with his friends. He finished his meal. He ate a couple of pieces of cake, and a couple of hours later, he found himself in the same bedroom he’d slept in last year, the same blue and gray blanket on the bed.
“I can leave Axle,” Slate said from the doorway. His dog had already jumped up on Luke’s bed, circled, and made himself at home next to the pillows.
“Where are you?” Luke asked. “I didn’t even think of that. If Spencer took your room.” He glanced toward the door that led into the bathroom.
“I’m in the cabin Jill and I will live in,” Slate said. “It’s just out the back door, to the right. Next to Ted.”
“Next to Ted,” Luke echoed, wondering how they’d all managed to come to this same ranch, on this same spot of land along the Coastal Bend of Texas.
Slate entered the room, a serious look on his face. “It’s good you’re back.”
Luke sank onto the bed, making Axle slide into his back. He chuckled when the dog didn’t try to get up but stayed smashed into him. “Yeah,” he finally said, looking at Slate. “I never did find myself, but I think I found someone I don’t want to be.”
Slate nodded like that made sense. Luke knew it didn’t, but he didn’t try to explain further. “We all want you here.”
Luke nodded, because he did want to feel like people wanted him around. Belonging somewhere was important to Luke, as much as he tried to pretend like it wasn’t. “Is Hannah—?” His voice muted, because he didn’t know what to ask. Embarrassment heated his face, and he shook his head. “Never mind.”
“She’s.” Slate ground his voice through his throat. “She’s still dating Chuck Knight. They’ve been going out for a few months now. Maybe four or something. I don’t know.”
Luke nodded, the answer to his most pressing question lodging in his throat. It tightened, and he just wanted to be alone.
“Okay.” Slate retreated to the door. “I’m leaving Axle with you. See you tomorrow.”
He left and Luke barely had time to say, “Yeah, see you tomorrow,” before Slate closed the door, sealing Luke in the room with his thoughts and a now-snoring briard.
“Thanks so much for having me back,” Luke said, hating his tone but keeping his smile on his face. Ginger grinned at him and indicated he should sit. She hadn’t even gotten up, and he didn’t blame her. She was eight months pregnant, and Luke honestly didn’t know how she moved at all.
Luke took his seat, his heartbeat blipping just a little. He wasn’t sure why. He knew Ginger; she knew him. She valued his work.
“Let’s see,” she said, shuffling some papers and a couple of folders. “I know you got in just before dinner last night, and I don’t think your boys left you alone for five seconds.” She smiled, and it lit up her green eyes. “I’m so glad you’re back, if only because Nate’s glad.”
“Thank you,” Luke said.
“Of course, I know what you can do, and I’m not sure if you saw the construction down the road.” Her eyebrows went up.
“Briefly,” Luke said, his fingers curling into fists.
“Because of Jill’s amazing holiday festival, our horseback riding lesson enrollment has increased by fifty percent.”
“Wow,” Luke said, smiling because he hadn’t seen a ton of Jill’s festival, but what he had looked fun.
“Yeah.” Ginger sighed as she smiled. “It’s great, but we don’t have the horses or facilities for that. So we’re building a new stable, and we’ve got the animals. They need to be trained, and I need you on both.”