Homecoming Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page B

shallow, slow-running stream. He didn’t think of the void now, he thought of her laugh and her smile, of the way she tuckedher hair behind her ears and ran her hand over his head, even when he stood several inches taller than her.
    The Bronco purred along today, a testament to Luke’s great skills as a mechanic and Leo’s greater skills at coming up with ideas of how to repair the old engine.
    It was a beautiful day, the sort of crisp, clear mountain-air day, with a deep blue sky and a breeze so slight that it scarcely moved a leaf on the cottonwoods. Luke took a short cut over an old mining road called Sometimes Pass. In the winter, the state put big metal gates across it, as there was no money to keep the road cleared. That meant in the winter, if you were driving from Denver to Pine River, you had to swing down to Colorado Springs and over, adding an hour to the trip.
    The road wound its way up past hiking trails and forest service roads. As Luke came around one turn, he noticed a small car parked on one of the many shoulder pull-offs. A woman was standing beside it. He squinted; it looked as if she had taken the spare tire and tire kit out of the trunk. She was leaning up against the bumper reading a book that looked like a manual. And holding a highlighter.
    Luke slowed down as he passed. She was dressed in a dark suit and her hair was held up by one of those hair claws that looked like the hand of Grok. But what really caught his attention was that highlighter. It seemed like an odd thing on the side of a mountain road.
    At the next point in the shoulder where he could pull off, Luke turned around and drove back to where she was.
    The woman quickly straightened up as he pulled up in front of her little car. She eyed him warily under dark bangs as he got out of his truck, shifting backward to the railing, presumably to get a better look at him.
    “Don’t jump,” Luke advised.
    Beneath those dark bangs, eyes the color of a Caribbean sea rounded with horror. “No!”
    “I’m kidding. Looks like you’re having some car trouble.”
    She folded her arms across her middle and glanced irritably at the car. “Flat tire. This car is a cheap tin can.”
    Luke looked at the car. “I wouldn’t give it that much credit.”
    The woman smiled. She was pretty when she smiled; her eyes seemed to glitter. Yeah, very pretty.
    “Want me to change it for you?”
    “I… do you mind?” she asked. “I have Triple A, and I called to make sure that I had coverage here, but my cell isn’t working.” She held it up to him as if to prove it. She definitely didn’t look like the sort of person one usually saw on these roads. Typically the women tromping around here wore hiking boots, backpacks, and bandannas tied around their necks. This one wore a thin gold chain around a slender neck.
    “You’re just below the tree line here,” he said. “You have to be in Pine River, or a little higher in elevation to get a cell signal. I’d be happy to help.”
    “I can pay you,” she suggested.
    “Not necessary. I’m happy to do it.” It wasn’t often that he got to help good-looking women, and this woman was very appealing to the guy in him. Yes, she looked a little too much like a headmistress in that dark suit and primly buttoned shirt, but he could see that she had some shapely legs and some very nice curves.
    “
Thank
you.” She sounded relieved. “That’s really nice of you. I thought I was going to have to walk!” She laughed.
    He glanced at her shoes. “I don’t know—it’s a long way to town in heels.”
    “Oh, I wear them all the time. I have Dr. Scholl’s inserts.”
    Was she kidding? Walking in the mountains was a little different than walking down sidewalks.
    Luke stepped past her in the narrow space between the car and railing. He noticed the gold chain around her neck was holding a little letter
M
in the hollow of her throat. He opened the driver door and reached in to pop the trunk, and saw the map