“Of course,” Chip said. “We’ve seen enough for now. Am I right, Mr. Taranaku?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s quite impressive. I think this is exactly the sort of property my group is looking to find.”
Chip Danziger gave Madeline a wink as he escorted his client back to his car. Madeline turned a murderous look to Stephen.
He grinned proudly. “See? Just a matter of knowing the right people. Looks to me like you’re going to get a nice nest egg out of this.”
Madeline didn’t want a nest egg. She wanted no part of this. She could have kicked herself for ever having listened to Stephen in the first place.
“I’m at the Grizzly Lodge,” Stephen said when it came time for them to go. “Can I see you tonight?”
Madeline thought of Luke, and his promise that he would find a place for them to be together, away from the prying eyes of everyone else. She wanted that, more than anything. But first, she had some business that she needed to finish once and for all. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come when we are through here.”
Stephen smiled happily. “Okay. See you later.” He walked back to the cars and got in.
Madeline watched the two Mercedes drive down the road, then went in search of Luke and Libby.
They were not in the house. Nor were they in the big circus tent—at least she didn’t think so, but there were so many people coming and going, she couldn’t be sure. She walked over to the bunkhouse, but there were only women inside, cooking up pots of beans and brisket on two enormous pits on the patio just outside.
Where was Luke?
His mother’s garden. She hurried up the path, the dogs falling in behind her.
But Luke wasn’t in the garden. Nor was Libby anywhere to be seen. The garage, then. Madeline walked down to the garage, looking for the Bronco, some sign of him. Just as she reached it, Ernest strolled out, carrying a toolbox. “Hey!” she said brightly. “Have you seen Luke?”
“He left,” Ernest said.
“He left?” Madeline stared at him. “When? Why?”
“Don’t know why, but he left a half hour ago,” Ernest said. “Don’t mean to rush off, but we’ve got a broken table up under the big tent.” He walked on, leaving Madeline to stand in the garage, staring out over the meadow.
Of course he’d left. Why would she expect any different? She had done this to herself. Luke was right—she may not have known those men were coming, but she had put the wheels in motion. If he’d done this to her, she would have left, too.
This hurt worse than anything she had ever felt in her life. She couldn’t bear to think of how she’d hurt him; it threatened to bury her. Go to him. For once in her blessed life, she would go to him and lay the truth out to him. For once in her life, she would not be afraid to open herself up, because she could not risk losing the best thing that had ever happened to her.
She turned around—and gasped when she saw Libby standing there, glaring at her. “Libby,” she said breathlessly. “I was looking for you.”
Libby folded her arms over her middle. “Is it true?” she quietly demanded. “Did you just go off and find someone to buy the ranch without talking to me or Emma?”
“No! I mean, not exactly. I told you I was going to find out how much the ranch was worth. It just so happened the broker had a client who was looking for a place to build a new resort. So he brought him.”
Libby’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “Are you seriously trying to sell Homecoming Ranch and make it into another damn ski resort?”
“No, not me. The broker mentioned it—”
“How could you?” Libby said, her voice trembling with rage. “God, I was stupid enough to believe that you and I had started to bond! But you just walked right over me. You’ve been walking over me since the day you showed up here.”
Madeline’s heart constricted painfully.
“Admit it!” Libby demanded. “You think you are better than this ranch. You think you deserve some special compensation because you didn’t know Dad and you think you know what is best for everyone.”
“I don’t think that. Libby, please listen—”
“What, so now you want to talk? You know what the worst thing is, Madeline? The worst thing is that you don’t give a damn what anyone else wants. All you care about is yourself, and all you want is the money out of this place so you can go back to Orlando! You don’t really care that people like me need this place, and people like Luke need this place. I know you don’t give a damn about me, but I really thought you cared about him.”
Those words stunned Madeline. “I do care! I told you I was going to look into things! All I wanted was information!”
“That is not all you’ve wanted—you’ve wanted out from day one. And I guess you’ve found a way to do it without regard for me and Emma or Luke.”