He walked out to the garage and his Bronco. The Pontiac, he noticed, was gone. It seemed almost as if it was a sign from his mother—even her spirit had left the ranch. It wasn’t theirs any longer. This wasn’t where his family was anymore. His family was in Pine River. This was now just a place he’d once lived.
Luke drove back to town and the little green house on Elm Street to pick up a few things before heading back to Denver. He was grateful to find that Marisol had picked up after their panicked, heart-stopping flight to the hospital. Luke had a vague recollection of food on the floor, of Leo’s nutritional drink spilling everywhere. Even in the best of circumstances, three men in a tiny house led to some pretty disgusting piles of stuff.
He found most of his clothes in folded piles, scattered between the living room and Leo’s room. He stuffed them into his bag. In the living room, he searched for a pair of his shoes, and heard someone walking up the drive. He assumed it was Marisol.
“Luke?”
The sound of Madeline’s voice slipped in and wound tightly around his heart. He slowly turned his gaze to the door. She was standing on the other side of the screen, looking pretty in blue. Heartbreakingly pretty.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, not unkindly.
“I need to talk to you.”
The last thing he wanted was another emotional discussion—he’d had enough in the last forty-eight hours to fill a lifetime. “Maddie… now is not a good time,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to Denver and I’ve had a long couple of days.”
“I know. I heard. I’m so sorry about Leo. Is he…?”
“He’s okay,” Luke said. “For now.”
They stood, staring at each other. There was so much unspoken between them, so much that didn’t really need to be said because it was palpable in that little living room.
“May I come in?” she asked.
Luke groaned softly to the ceiling. He didn’t want to do this, not now, not after everything he’d just been through. But he couldn’t find the strength to say no to her.
She took his silence for a yes and opened the screen door, stepped apprehensively over the threshold. “I need to explain something,” she said, before he had a chance to speak. “I didn’t know those men, or Stephen, were coming to Homecoming Ranch. I mean I knew the broker had a potential buyer, but I thought he would call me with some figures that I could present to all of you.”
Luke arched a dubious brow.
“I swear it, Luke. I was expecting a phone call. Not an entourage. Not a buyer.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were expecting anything? Or tell Libby for that matter? Why didn’t you just say that you had hired a lawyer?”
“Because I had this idea in my head that I would have it altogether in one neat little package, so that all your questions would be answered.”
“Sometimes, these things aren’t so neat,” Luke pointed out, and wondered how she could not know that.
“I know, I know,” she moaned, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, but the only thing I did was hurt you, and hurt Libby.” She sighed, and he noticed that tears were pooling in her eyes. “It was stupid,” she said with a shrug. “I really had no idea that they would come, that Stephen would come. I’m not with him, you know,” she said. “That’s the other thing I need to say. I am not with him. There was nothing there to begin with, but now I have made that very clear to him. And to you.”
Luke believed that. But he had nothing to say to it. At this point, it just felt too late for this.
Madeline seemed to sense his apathy, because she said very earnestly, “And the last thing I want to tell you is that I told Chip I am not looking for a buyer right now. I told him that Emma and Libby and I have to decide what we are going to do, and that it was going to take a while, because we have just met one another.”
Luke arched a brow at that. “Do Libby and Emma know this?”
“Yes.” She smiled a little. “And we’re still arguing about what it is we want to do.”
“Well, I’ll make it easy for all of you. The Kendricks are not going to pursue Homecoming Ranch. We don’t have the money to buy it back, and honestly, I don’t think Dad and Leo want to go back.” It pained him to say it, but he had accepted the truth.
“But you do,” she said.
He did. God, he did. But Luke swallowed down his disappointment for the hundredth time and shrugged. “Yeah, well, some things are not meant to be.” He looked at her pointedly.
Madeline swallowed. “There’s time, Luke. Really. We’re not in any hurry to sell it. Libby really wants to do this wedding, and she is okay with me going back to Orlando and leaving her to do it. Like, really okay,” she said, sounding a little sad about it.
“Well, I wish her luck.” He looked at his wristwatch. He didn’t want to prolong this. It had been hard enough as it was.
“I was hoping that maybe you would come, too.”
Luke looked up.
“To Orlando.” Luke started to shake his head, but Madeline quickly stepped forward. “Just hear me out,” she said before he could speak. “Please just hear me out.”