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  “I would say, ‘you know me better than that,’ but that’s not true, is it? We really don’t know each other all that well.”

  “I think we know the important things.”

  Oh, God. Why was he looking at her as though she was the most important person in the world? And why was he saying these things when he didn’t mean them? At least, not the way I’m taking it, she said to herself.

  “I know that you’ve got your hands full, settling into your role as father and taking care of your new ranch. Like you said, you’ve had a lot of changes in your life.”

  “Every one of them have been changes for the better. If I sounded like I was complaining, I didn’t mean to.”

  “No, you weren’t complaining, but I can see why you…well, why you need the support of a lot of friends.” And no one special someone.

  Luke tilted his head to the side and rubbed the back of his neck. “I have to admit, Kate, that I got a little confused about what I needed.” He stepped closer, making her step back until she rested against the wooden boards of the little mare’s stall.

  “What do you mean?” she said, barely above a whisper.

  “That I knew you were getting over your divorce—”

  “Believe me, I’m well over Ed Wooten.”

  “Okay, then let me say you were recovering financially from what he did before the divorce.”

  “That’s true.”

  “And you had a whole new life to start.”

  “Yes, I did. I do. I don’t have any other choice. At the time it seemed like a cruel twist of fate, to have everything yanked from beneath me. Our house, Eddie’s school and activities, our friends, our future. But now I see that it was the best thing that could have happened. Oh, I wish Ed hadn’t done what he’d done, and that he hadn’t hurt Eddie by running away, hiding from creditors and maybe even lawsuits from investors.”

  “I know. Eddie is a great kid. When I first met you, I didn’t realize what he’d gone through. He and Brittany have a lot in common, don’t they? I can see that now.”

  “Yes, I suppose they do. They both lost people they love and the lives they knew.”

  “Kind of like us. I lost my mother. You lost your marriage.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t miss Ed at all, just the things, the life, the security, he represented.”

  “And I hadn’t thought about my father with anything but fury in a long time. And you were right about the real source of my anger, too. I wanted to know him, or at least know a father, but since I never had that, I couldn’t put it into words or even rational thought.”

  Kate ducked her head and smiled sadly. “I’m not a trained psychologist, but I sometimes masquerade as one when given the opportunity.” She looked up at Luke. “I’m sorry that I took the liberty of confronting you on what I saw as personal issues. I didn’t have the right—”

  “Since, as I reminded you at the time, we were both naked, I think you had that right. I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to hear it then.”

  Kate flushed from the memory and felt warmed by his apology. “It’s okay.” She looked away from his earnest expression, from the handsome face she’d grown to love in too short a time. She didn’t have any self-preservation instincts when it came to men. Travis said she was naive, but Kate thought she was just too susceptible to Luke.

  He tipped her chin with his hand. “The thing is, Kate, that it’s only okay if we’re ready now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That I’m ready to move forward, not dwell on the past. And I want to move forward with you. And Eddie and Brittany, of course.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  He suddenly pulled her close, hugged her tightly and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I’m not saying this well, am I? I want to be with you, Kate, every day and every week. Not just the two we spent together, which were two of the best weeks in my whole life, I might add. I don’t know much about family. I never had a father, and my mother and I were all the family we had. I’ve never had a home before now. But now I have a daughter and a place I love, and I want to share it with you and your son.”

  Kate pulled back in his arms and looked at Luke. “You do?”

  He grinned. “I do.”

  She blushed when she realized what they’d just said.

  “I know you need time to get used to me. And Brittany. And maybe even the idea of committing yourself to us. I’m willing to give you time, Kate, as much as you need. Just don’t give up on me. On us.”

  “I never stopped thinking you were a very special man. And I told you that you’d be a wonderful father, didn’t I?”

  “Well, yeah. But that doesn’t mean I have what it takes to form a family. I understand if you’re a little cautious—”

  “I’ve been—or tried to be—a cautious person all my life. But Luke, I don’t need time to get used to you. Don’t you know that you’re in my thoughts all the time? Don’t you know that I wonder about you and Brittany, about how you’re getting along. What she’s doing each day? I’m so used to you that I was angry with myself for loving a man who couldn’t love me back.”

  Luke’s body went tense and he gripped her tightly. “You love me?”

  “Of course I love you,” she said, tears forming as she gazed into his surprised face. “How could I not love a man whose goal in life is to provide a ranch for homeless animals, who embraces the idea of his eight-year-old child, who loved his mother and yearned for his father all these years? How could I not love a man who has so much to give, but at the same time, expects so little from everyone else around him?” She framed his face with her hands and whispered, “I love you, Luke Simon, for the man you are today. And I respect you for the way you got to where you are today. And if you’re asking me if we have a future, then my answer is yes.”

  His expression changed from wonder to love as he looked down at her, then he pulled her close and kissed her, the kiss of a man in love, the kiss of someone who believed in forever. She responded, clung to him, kissed him with all that was in her, until they were both winded and aroused and still in wonder.

  “Isn’t there something you forgot to tell me?” she asked, breathing heavily as she leaned back enough to see his face.

  He frowned. “I think I told you all the family secrets.”

  “There’s nothing else that you haven’t said?”

  She could see his mind working, going over their conversation, maybe even their entire relationship. Then he started to smile, and his body relaxed against hers.

  “Yeah, there’s something. One little thing,” he said with a grin. “I love you, Kate Wooten, with all my heart.”

  She smiled back. “That’s all I needed to hear.” She leaned up and kissed him again. This time, when they came up for air, she added, “And the answer is yes.”

  Epilogue

  “I can’t believe you’re here at the Fourth of July parade with your wedding just days away,” Jodie said to Kate as they stood in the dappled shade of the crepe myrtles, near the gazebo. The air was hot and dry, the wind still.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Kate replied, standing on tiptoes and straining to see past the next car, filled with smiling and waving young beauty queens. “I think they’re marching soon.”

  “Brittany has sure blossomed under your care,” Jodie observed, repositioning Marsha on her hip.

  “She needed a home.”

  “She got a home and a family.”

  Kate grinned at her sister-in-law. “We all did.” Everyone she knew in Rangers Springs, from Robin and Ethan Parker to Hank and Gwendolyn, had made her feel welcome in her new hometown. Even the couples she barely knew, like the former Kerry Jacks who was now a princess, and her husband, Prince Alexi, along with their two children, had made her feel a part of the extended family. Charlene Jacks had married the handsome contractor who’d remodeled Luke’s house. Luke had mentioned having Nate add on to their house, since they wanted more room
for those “dozen or so children” Luke promised her.

  Kate smiled to herself. One or two more would do. Probably. She loved children. She’d love teaching second grade next month, right after their wedding at the church here in town, their reception at Bretford House, and honeymoon in Banff, Canada, while everyone in town pitched in to care for the ranch.

  A sleek convertible rolled by, driven by Gray Phillips. Dr. Amy was seated in the front, the seat belt stretched around her large middle. Jodie had told Kate that the family practitioner was due in September, finally becoming pregnant after seeing so many of her friends and neighbors have children. Joyce and Ranger Springs mayor Ambrose Wheatley sat on the top of the back seat, waving enthusiastically at the crowd. He was up for reelection this fall, and chances were he’d run unopposed.

  A customized vintage Camaro, emblazoned with the Ranger Springs Police Department emblem, rolled by, driven by a handsome officer Kate didn’t recognize. “Who’s that?” she asked Jodie.

  “Travis said that’s Rick Alvarado. He left Ranger Springs a couple of years ago for a job with the feds, but came back recently. Talk around the square is that he returned because of Gina Mae Summers.”

  “The real estate lady?”

  “Word is that they’ll be looking for a cozy house in town real soon.”

  Kate’s smile widened as Gwendolyn walked up, carrying her son. “Hank will be riding by soon. I want to get some photos.”

  “Me, too.” Kate’s camera dangled from her wrist as she watched for the next marching group. There! Just past the convertible, Luke came into sight, leading two of the new ponies he’d trained for the children. The flashy pintos had been found by Charlene’s middle daughter, Cheryl, when she was out with her petting zoo. They’d been undernourished and living without shelter from the sun, so she’d browbeat the owner into turning them over to her. She’d presented them to Luke, who’d soon determined they were perfect for Brittany and Eddie.

  “Is Cheryl Jacks participating today?” Kate had heard she usually had her petting zoo available for the children on the square, but she hadn’t seen the pens today.

  “Haven’t you heard? She ran off and got married yesterday.”

  “No way!” Kate exclaimed.

  “To whom?” Gwendolyn asked.

  “Her sister Carole’s brother-in-law, Brad Rafferty.”

  “She married her brother-in-law?”

  “Well, he’s not Cheryl’s brother-in-law. He’s Carole’s husband Greg’s brother,” Jodie explained.

  Kate shook her head. “That’s going to be very confusing if they ever have children.”

  “I’m sure they’ll get it straightened out in time to tell Carole and Greg’s toddler.”

  “Carole’s daughter Jennifer will probably take charge.”

  The conversation had distracted her, but Kate waved at her husband-to-be and children as they passed. She now thought of Brittany as hers even though the adoption wouldn’t go through until after the wedding. Luke also wanted to adopt Eddie, and since Ed had no interest in his son now that he was ruined financially, she didn’t think that would be a problem.

  She snapped some photos of her family, and then the animals that followed, led by local 4-H teen volunteers: Lola and Lollipop, the zebras; the two white horses outfitted in fancy bridles with plumes; and finally, Jennifer’s pet steer, Puff, who wore a banner promising “Miss Carole’s cookies for everyone after the parade.” Back at the Last Chance Ranch, a flock of emus—courtesy of Chief Ethan Parker, who’d found the birds blocking the country road for the umpteenth time, he said—and many other new animals grazed and nibbled and slept in the shade, all as happy as Kate to find a place to call home.

  Brittany and Eddie perched proudly on their ponies, dressed in cowboy outfits designed and sewn by Helen Kaminsky, Travis and Jodie’s housekeeper. At that moment, surrounded by friends and family, in the midst of her adopted community, Kate felt as if she were the luckiest woman in the world.

  She’d thought she had everything she wanted before, with a successful husband, a house in the suburbs and enough money to spend on luxuries. Now she knew true happiness came from within, from being content with herself and loved by a good man. From raising children who needed her and friends who liked her, and from giving to the community through teaching and other activities.

  She was one lucky woman, she thought, throwing a kiss at her handsome fiancé. She would have never called her divorce and the loss of everything material as “luck,” but she’d landed here in Ranger Springs and found the love of her life and the family of her dreams.

  Yes, she was one lucky woman, she thought with a smile, raising the camera and taking one more photo so she would remember today for the rest of her life.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-6959-3

  DADDY LESSONS

  Copyright © 2006 by Victoria Chancellor Huffstutler.

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