Luke folded his arms across his chest. He had the same expression on his face that he had when we were teens and he found out I’d been smoking weed at lunch. He decked me and told me that was the best way to get kicked out of football and lose the scholarship I needed to go to college. Turns out the best way is to get MND. But that night, Luke looked like he was going to deck me again. He said, “No, Leo, you’re wrong. I’m just trying to save the ranch so you and Dad have a place to live, okay? And in case you’ve forgotten, I’ll remind you that Dad and Grant Tyler thought it would be a great idea to have a damn reunion there that we have to put together. So while I’m trying to figure out how to get the ranch back, I’ve been building showers and extra latrines. That’s what I am doing out there. If you don’t believe me, I’ll put your lame ass in the van right now and drive you out there and shove your head down one. Now shut your damn mouth or I will.” And he stalked off.
I shouted, “You and what army!” And stuff along those lines, and some choice words I will not repeat here. But for the record, Luke did not answer the fundamental question: How do you build latrines and showers in the dark? Because you can’t. That’s why he is not a genius. He does not think these things through. That’s what I told Marisol, and she told me to lay off Luke. She said, “He does all that he can for you and your dad. He’s always there for you. If he likes the girl’s company, it’s nothing to you.”
Yeah, okay, she’s right. But it’s like I told her: “I kind of wish he wouldn’t do so much for me, you know? I mean, I want him to get the ranch back, because Dad is going to need it. But I kind of like being in town. People come to see me. My good looks and winning personality have attracted half of Pine River to this door, and I even talked the Methodists into building the ramps Luke said he was going to build and didn’t, because he’s been out at the ranch all week making moon eyes at the Florida chick.”
Marisol said, “You don’t know that, Leo. You should really learn to keep your mouth shut.”
Yeah, well that’s not going to happen because that’s all I’ve got left, you know? It’s part of my magnetism.
TWENTY-FIVE
Luke gave Madeline the honor of hammering the last nail in the temporary showers. She cheered when it was done, hopping about in her shorts and hiking boots, and a skintight T-shirt that had been a distraction for Luke all day. She had smudges of dirt and grime on her face and arms, and an ugly scrape across her knee.
“I can’t believe it,” she said breathlessly. “I built a shower!”
“And a latrine,” he reminded her.
“And a latrine. I’m just padding my resume left and right.” She laughed again, the sound of it reminded him of the soft sound of morning birds.
“So how are we doing on your list?” Luke asked as he hitched the hammer onto his tool belt and tested the sturdiness of the wall once more.
Madeline removed the pencil she had taken to wearing behind her ear, pulled a grimy, crumpled list from her pocket, and studied it. She put it up against the wall and drew a line through it. “Done.” Her face suddenly lit with a bright smile. “We’re all done! We’re actually and officially ready for the Johnsons!”
She stuffed the paper into her pocket and smiled up at him. She glanced around her, then stepped forward, put her hand on his abdomen. “You’re a stud, you know that?” she asked, and rose up on her toes, kissing him.
“You are too, you know that?” he asked, and caught her around the waist, holding her there, kissing her a little more thoroughly.
But Madeline put her hand on his chest and with a nervous laugh, stepped out of his embrace.
It was a fact that they had been together a few times that week. And it was a fact while Madeline had begun to relax, to let her hair down, so to speak, she still managed to keep him at arm’s length most of the time. It felt almost as if there were two Madelines: the wildy sexy, passionate one who showed up when they were alone, making love, and then the careful, controlled, anxious one who was around the rest of the time.
Luke tried to figure out why that was. He did not want to believe what Jackson had told him, that lawyers had been engaged. If that were true, why wouldn’t she tell him? He didn’t think Libby had hired lawyers—she was too intent on making the reunion a success and already planning for a wedding here to be engaging lawyers. He supposed Emma might have hired them, but that seemed unlikely, as she had no interest in the property that he could see.
It had to be Madeline. But the woman he was sleeping with was warm and passionate. She was funny when she let her guard down, eager to work. She had slowly come around to the mountain way of life—hell, she’d even fed the dogs this morning. He could not believe that she was plotting to sell Homecoming Ranch to complete strangers while she was with him. But then again, when they weren’t in bed or stealing moments here and there, she was busy running through a list of things to be done. Was it for the reunion, he wondered? Or to prepare the property to sell?
Another thing that was eating at Luke was that while he understood Madeline was cautious and a little skittish when it came to men, he didn’t get why she was so fearful that someone would discover they were… involved. Luke didn’t know what else to call it: They were involved.