A Family for the Rugged Rancher

“Are you sure you’re okay with my sister?” he asked quietly, pausing and resting his palm against the frame.

Emily forced a small laugh. “You have work to do. I’ll be fine.”

“She’s meddling. Thinking that this is more than it is.”

That should have relieved her but didn’t. Would it be so awful for them to think that he liked her, for heaven’s sake? Not that she wanted him to, but was it incomprehensible that he might? “Don’t worry about it. And it’s good for Sam to have playmates for an hour or so. He’s been lonely.” She paused. “Are you really going to work until dark?”

His gaze plumbed hers for a long moment. It was a simple question but brought with it a picture of how the evening would unfold…Sam in bed, darkness falling, Luke coming to the house in the twilight. All of it played out in her mind as she gazed up into his eyes. How did he feel about coming home to her at night? Was she an intrusion? A complication? Or welcome company, as he was to her, despite his sometimes prickly ways?

“Probably close to it,” he finally answered. “We’ll go until it starts to cool off, then there are chores here to see to. You and Sam should eat without me. Just fix me a plate.”

There wasn’t any reason for her to feel disappointed, but she did. After only a few days she’d gotten used to seeing him during meals. Company, whereas before mealtime had meant an empty space at the head of the table.

“I’d like to make a run into town for sugar and pectin. Anything you need?”

He shook his head. “Not that I can think of. Thanks for asking, though.” He started off but turned around again. “Don’t let Liz needle you into anything,” he warned. “Cait’s the bossy sister, but Liz has a way of getting what she wants without you even knowing how.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

AS EMILY WENT back inside, three sweaty heads ran past her into the house.

“Whoa, slow down!” Liz called from the kitchen, laughing as the children scrambl

ed in demanding a snack. The baby was heading for the stairs, and, without a second thought Emily picked her up, breathing in the scent of baby powder and milk. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the feel of the weight on her arm, the smell that was distinctly baby. Sam had left those baby days behind him long ago. Emily had always hoped the time would be right to have another, but it had never worked out. Now she was a little glad it hadn’t. She couldn’t imagine being responsible for two precious lives in her current circumstances. Knowing she would probably never have any more caused a bittersweet pang in her heart. Being a single mom was tough. She knew she wouldn’t deliberately grow her family without being in a secure relationship. And after the crumbling of her marriage, she never intended to go down that road again. Still, it was hard to say goodbye to those dreams.

As she opened her eyes, blue eyes reminiscent of Luke’s stared up at her and she smiled. “Let’s find your mama,” she murmured, and settling the baby on her hip, she entered the kitchen to find Liz mixing up lemonade and three expectant faces watching.

Liz looked so comfortable that it reminded Emily that this was Liz’s childhood home. Emily was the trespasser here and she felt it acutely as she watched Liz add sugar to the lemonade then open the correct drawer for a wooden spoon. Emily envied the other woman her level of comfort with, well, everything. And yet she had to admit she was drawn to Liz’s breezy ways.

“Out on the porch with you three,” Liz admonished, filling three plastic cups with the drink. “One cookie each. No sneaking.”

When the kids were settled on the verandah she came back to the kitchen. “Thanks for grabbing Alyssa,” she said, taking the bundle from Emily’s arms. “The stairs, right? It’s always the stairs.”

Emily couldn’t help but laugh. Liz might be a bulldozer but she was a pleasant one, and it had been a long time since Emily’d had a mom-to-mom visit with anyone. She’d been too busy coping to realize she was lonely.

Compared to Luke’s reticence, Liz was bubbly and open. “How is it you are so different from your brother?”

“What do you mean?” Liz asked, grabbing her purse and taking out a biscuit for the baby to gnaw on. “Luke’s so…”

Emily struggled for the right word, thinking of how Luke looked at her and seemed to get to the heart of any matter with a few simple words. Liz’s keen gaze was on her now.

Instantly Emily recalled the kiss and the way he’d cupped her neck confidently in his palm. “Intense.”

“Luke’s too serious, but I can’t blame him. It’s a wonder he didn’t disown the two of us.” She flashed a smile that hinted at devilry. “Oh, Cait and I gave him awful trouble.”

“Surely your parents…”

“Oh, this was after Mom died and Dad had to be put in the care home. Luke was different before that happened. Always running with his guy friends, you know?”

Care home?

Luke had said so little about his upbringing. Now the bits and pieces were starting to come together. Luke had said he’d been responsible for his sisters and the farm at an early age. She tried to imagine one parent dying and the other incapacitated. What an ordeal they must have gone through. “How old were you?”

“Luke was twenty. Cait was almost seventeen and I was fifteen. Old enough to know better, really. But at that age—when you’re a teenager it’s ‘all about me’, you know? We were still in high school.”

Emily did know. But she also knew that Luke would have put himself last, making sure everyone was looked after ahead of himself. She imagined him waiting up for them at night, perhaps pacing the floor with lines of worry marring his forehead. Had those days put the shadows she saw in his eyes? “And Luke?”

Liz frowned. “He didn’t tell you any of this?”