Return to Homecoming Ranch (Pine River #2)

“You don’t look much better,” Tony pointed out.

“Tell me about it.” Libby sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, sitting cross-legged where his leg would have been. His prosthesis was beside the nightstand. “We miss you, Tony,” she said. “You have to come back. Ernest is moping around. Madeline and I have no one to cook for.”

Tony rolled his eyes and kept his gaze on the window.

“You’re part of us now,” she said. “So you have to come back, Tony. Besides, I have big plans for us.”

“Another wedding?”

“Nope. No more weddings. Something more useful than that.” She told Tony her idea to create a safe place for vets like him. A therapeutic place where vets could come and get help while they prepared to reenter their lives. “You’d be a critical part of it. I can’t do it without you.”

Tony looked at her with dull eyes. “I don’t know. I’m not much use to anyone.”

“That’s not true. You’re a big help to Ernest, and that’s just the start.”

He slid a look to her. “Has he hung that broken barn door yet?”

“No,” Libby said. “He needs help and Luke has been too busy to help him.”

Tony shifted his gaze back to the window. “I’ll think about it.”

When the nurse came with some meds and some food, Libby put her hand on the stump of his leg. “I’ll be back in a couple of days, okay?”

“Tell Ernest not to try and hang that door by himself, just to hold on,” Tony said.

Libby smiled. “I will.”

On her way out, she stopped by the office. Rosie, the receptionist was sitting behind her desk. “Oh . . . hi,” Rosie said. “It’s Libby, right?”

“Yes . . . Libby. Is Dr. Huber in?”

It happened that Dr. Huber was in, and she was happy to spare a few minutes to see Libby.

Dr. Huber smiled sympathetically when Libby told her what had happened since leaving Mountain View. “Take your meds, Libby, and give my friend Linda a call,” she said, jotting down the name of a therapist who lived near Pine River.

As luck would have it, Linda Walker had time to see Libby the next afternoon. She had a warm smile and piercing blue eyes. Her office was decorated with windmills—pictures, paintings, and one replica on her desk.

Libby explained her life to Linda, glossing over some details, stumbling over others. Linda’s smile remained steady, and when Libby finished, she said, “I think I can help you. Shall we start on Tuesday?”

“I don’t have a lot of money,” Libby said apologetically.

“That’s okay. We’ll work it out.”

Libby thanked her. On her way out, she asked about the windmills.

“Oh, those,” Linda said, looking around the walls. “I don’t know, I just like them. They spin with the wind. I sort of like that idea, spinning with the wind, letting life carry us along instead of trying to carry life on our backs, you know?”

Yes, Libby knew all about that, and thought she and Linda would be a good match.




Tony was released from Mountain View a couple of weeks later with a new bag of meds and a slightly more positive outlook than he’d had prior to arriving at the facility. Libby made the drive to get Tony and bring him home. When she arrived to pick him up, he introduced her to two other war vets, Jason and Doug. Doug had also been a patient at Mountain View. Jason was merely homeless. Libby brought all three men back to Homecoming Ranch.

“What are we doing here?” Madeline whispered as Ernest showed the men around. “Are we starting a camp for veterans?”

“We could do worse things,” Libby said. “Like weddings.”

Madeline blinked. And then she laughed. “There will be at least one more,” she said. “Luke and I are setting a date, and we have so much to do!”

Madeline wasn’t kidding—now that she and Luke had decided to make their relationship official, she was engrossed in the planning for it. Libby was just as busy, getting ready for the 5k race, which would be held Thanksgiving morning. She was waiting on some information from the Veteran’s Administration—once she had that, she’d be ready to talk to Madeline about her ideas for Homecoming Ranch.