The Bull Rider's Homecoming. Allie Pleiter

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СКАЧАТЬ truly know if he wanted Ruby to be his therapist. He’d hoped there was another way. It’d be much simpler with someone else, that was sure. Only the two others his doctor had sent clearly weren’t up to the job, at least not by his estimation. And that left going all the way to Austin to get treatment, or putting up with Ruby.

      Putting up with Ruby. As if she was a nagging itch or an uncomfortable chair instead of the biggest regret and saddest chapter of his life. He’d never quite forgiven himself for how he’d broken Ruby’s heart, despite six years of steady effort to keep all thoughts of her firmly out of his head. It stuck in his craw to need her help now, and he wasn’t sure he could choke that down even if she might be the only person in twenty miles who knew him well enough to get him where he needed to go. “I was hoping to avoid this.” He grumbled. “I think I’d rather cut off my leg than give Ruby the chance to order me around.”

      Gran’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you ever talk like that.” He knew Gran loved him, but she’d never minced words about what she thought of his choice to leave home to join the bull riding circuit. It didn’t matter how good he was at it, or how he rose in the rankings, Gran still thought it “dangerous nonsense that took him away from family” and told him so. Of course, that was only when he bothered to call her, which had been woefully rare until the gut-wrenchingly humble call of “can I come home?” three weeks ago. Had there been any other way...

      Had there been any other way, he wouldn’t be standing on the Blue Thorn Ranch waiting to see if Ruby Sheldon dared to show up back in his life. Suddenly, he wanted to do this moment on his own terms, not under Gran’s scrutiny. “I’ll be waiting in the guesthouse.” With that, he took his coffee and his cane and made his way across the clearing to the closest thing he had to “his own turf” on Blue Thorn land.

      * * *

      The Blue Thorn Ranch.

      Ruby couldn’t quite believe she was back here, about to see Luke Buckton. Funny and sad how life worked in circles.

      The physical buildings and layout of the ranch hadn’t changed. The big house still boasted the front porch swing where she and Luke had plotted his dazzling rodeo career. The horse barn where he’d first kissed her—a stunning surprise of a kiss she hadn’t ever dreamed could really happen—still stood facing west across the pastures. The ranch had come back to life since her high school days dating Luke. Back then it had had a desperate sort of taint, like fabric fraying around the edges. A once-prosperous ranch sliding down in decline despite the desperate efforts of Luke’s father to hold it together.

      Now, the ranch gave off the air of new life, of the fresh start Luke’s brother, Gunner, had launched after taking over a few years earlier. The place struck her as both familiar and different.

      And soaked in too many memories.

      This guy’s meaner than the bulls he used to ride, one note from the therapist at the other agency had said. I’m not going back there. Let someone in Austin have at him.

      I can’t handle him, another note complained. I say let this cowboy recover on someone else’s watch.

      It had been such a huge blessing when Ruby’s clinical instructor and mentor, Lana Donmeyer, chose to make Ruby a partner in her practice and allow Ruby to open a satellite facility here in Martins Gap. Even if Lana called Ruby “bright and gifted,” to land this type of semi-partnership setup fresh out of school was practically unheard of. Dad’s life insurance money was supposed to be for Mama, not funding a fledgling practice. She’d pay Mama back, even if Mama said her staying close in Martins Gap to help with Grandpa was payment enough.

      Luke Buckton could be a landmark patient for her. As a high profile rider, with a high profile injury, getting Luke back on his feet could really launch her career. Even Lana said so. Yes, there was so much history between them. But today was her chance to show that cowboy what she was made of now that six years had gone by.

      She’d been full of resolve...until she pulled up to the big house. The sight of the place quickly dissolved into a blur of memories that overthrew her control.

      She’d been so happy here.

      She’d been so miserable here.

      A quick look around as she got out of the car revealed no one but “Granny B” standing on the house’s big porch. Ruby found herself telling her limbs to get out of the car.

      “Ruby,” came Adele Buckton’s warm voice as she hobbled down off the porch. “My stars, but it’s Ruby Sheldon.”

      “Hi, Granny B.” The words belonged to some eighteen-year-old version of herself, young and squeaky. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t crossed paths over the years, small as Martins Gap was, but neither of them could pretend this was anything but awkward and difficult.

      “Look at you.” Her gaze fell to the folder in Ruby’s hand. “You’re here for Luke.” Somehow Granny B made the simple statement sound as complex as it truly was.

      “Yes, ma’am.” She wished for something more clever to say, but came up short.

      Ruby had always liked Granny B—the Buckton children all called her “Gran” but everyone else in town called her “Miss Adele” or “Granny B.” The old woman had been as much of an anchor as Luke ever had in high school. Luke and his dad locked horns on a near constant basis, and Luke’s mom had passed when he was eleven. Though he had three siblings—including a twin—they’d all pretty much been born with one foot out the door. Granny B had been the one responsible for anything that felt homey and welcoming about this place.

      When Luke left town after graduation, Ruby had wanted—expected, actually—for Granny B to show up and make sense of how Luke broke things off. She’d always been so sure either Granny B or Luke’s twin sister, Tess, would appear on her doorstep and explain why the boy she loved both left her and left Martins Gap without a backward glance. It had never happened.

      Granny B’s gaze lifted over Ruby’s head to settle on the guesthouse behind them. Ruby turned to see the guesthouse door open up. The figure of Luke Buckton stood in half shadow behind the screen door.

      “I’d best leave you to it, then,” Gran was saying behind her.

      Ruby’s heart twisted and surged and stung all at the same time. A hollowed-out panic, an empty awareness froze her chest—all feelings that made no sense but surrounded her anyway as she stared at him.

      He was just like the ranch—familiar yet different. The eyes were still their spell-binding blue—“Buckton blue,” everybody called it—but now they were framed by tight features. His wild-boy hair still tumbled around that strong jaw, only now the jaw was roughened with a man’s stubble. Luke had filled out into a man’s body, lean and hard-edged, but even his defiant stance didn’t quite conceal the hint of uncertainty that made him favor one leg. How he could be the boy of her memory and a stranger before her at the same time made Ruby’s mind spin.

      “Ruby.” His voice, somehow octaves deeper now, held more challenge than welcome. “Why are you here?”

      It was an absurd question—they both knew why she was here. His prickly tone held the faintest hint of the dismissive words he’d flung at her the night he told her he was leaving. Not just Martins Gap, but her as well.

      The tone snapped something to life in her, resurrecting all the anger against him she’d swallowed down over the years. It was helpful—clearing her head and straightening her spine, СКАЧАТЬ