His life was changing again, rushing down a new riverbed, carrying him along in its wake. The familiar, the places in his life where his soul found comfort, were dissolving and shifting out of sight.
Luke didn’t fear the change. What he feared was that he would never recover from this blow. Julie, his mom, Leo’s illness—from those blows, he had recovered. But losing Homecoming Ranch? That felt impossible to withstand.
“You came back.”
Luke whirled around; he hadn’t heard Madeline come through the trees. She looked prettier to him than she lived in his memory, her eyes glittering in the sunlight, her hair, heavy silk. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
She smiled wryly. “I didn’t think so—I was certain you wouldn’t. I’m really glad you did.” She suddenly moved, running forward, leaping into his arms, her mouth landing on his.
Luke caught her, stumbling back one step to keep them from crashing to the ground. She kissed him with urgency, with the desire he had felt these last few days boiling in him.
Madeline lifted her head. “Where did you go?” she asked breathlessly, and kissed him again, arousing all his desires, all the demons in him that wouldn’t stop until he’d had all of her. He twirled around, and fell with her onto the hammock, his hands skimming her body, the trim waist, the flare of her hips.
“You left and didn’t tell me,” she said as her hands explored him just as eagerly.
“Had to go, baby,” he said, and kissed her again. He didn’t want to talk—right now, he just wanted her. One last time, he wanted to be with her. He kissed her face, her neck, finding his way to her breasts. He’d just freed one from the bra beneath her T-shirt when voices reached them.
“Delores, you are not going into those woods alone!” they heard someone say sternly. “You know what kind of wildcats and bears are in there?”
Luke and Madeline swung in the hammock, with Luke’s hand over Madeline’s mouth as she shook with laughter.
“There are no wildcats up here!” Delores protested. “Maybe some bears, but not wildcats!”
A small laugh escaped Madeline, and Luke, trying hard not to laugh out loud himself, held a finger up to his lips.
“What do you think this is?” the first woman demanded. “Looks like a statue or something.”
“Probably some Indian thing.”
Luke realized they were talking about one of his mother’s neglected craft projects. It was a fence post that she had tried some paints on, with the idea of carving something, or perhaps making a birdcage. But she’d lost interest and let it stand there, weathering away during the harsh winters and mild summers. He was overcome with laughter and buried his face in Madeline’s shoulder. They struggled to stay quiet until Delores and whoever her companion was had moved away, and only then did Luke laugh so hard that he and Madeline rolled out of the hammock, landing on the soft grass just below them.
He gathered Madeline up in his arms, kissed her face. “God, I want you,” he murmured.
“Me, too.”
“Tonight,” he said. “Come into town. We’ll have dinner, find a place…”
“We will?” she asked hopefully.
“Leave it to me.” He had no idea how, but he’d figure it out. He had to figure it out. He had to have one last moment with her before it all went to hell.
Madeline’s smile was luminous. “I can’t wait. I need to be with you, to talk to you—”
More voices filtered in to them and they stilled, listening. When it seemed that no one was coming, Luke said, “We better go and give Libby a hand.” He rolled Madeline over onto her back, kissing her once more, before he grabbed her hand and helped her up.
Two vanloads of Johnsons, arriving from the Durango airport, descended on Homecoming Ranch at the same time that one of the extra ovens Ernest had installed was found to be malfunctioning. Luke and Ernest spent an hour repairing that problem, and when Luke was finally free of it, he walked outside and saw Madeline with a group of children. She was down on one knee and was actually introducing the dogs to them. Who could believe this was the same reserved, shy woman who had shown up in a suit and pumps?
The reunion was happy chaos; cries of delight at seeing relatives and friends after a long while echoed between the mountains. It reminded Luke of his own childhood. Homecoming Ranch was one of the most beautiful patches of earth.
More Johnsons arrived, pulling up in rental vans, cars, and pickups, gathering around the big bulletin board that Madeline had made him erect. He had to admit, it was coming in very useful. Two hundred people were a lot, even for a place as big as Homecoming Ranch.