Author: Jaci Burton

“Thanks. We couldn’t run the ranch without them. Or at least they think so.”

She laughed. “All dogs like to think they’re important.” She bent to pet Annie.

Luke’s lips curved again. “Come on inside. The dogs will be fine out here.”

“I’ll be out by the truck,” Logan said. “Go on in and make yourself at home. Luke, give Emma a tour of the place. Martha’s in the kitchen.”

She followed Luke up the steps of what was a beautiful two-story house, painted white with blue shutters. Pots with a myriad of colorful flowers hung on the porch, their blooms spilling over. She loved the rocking chairs and the porch swing and could already imagine sipping tea at sunset on that swing.

How could Luke ever leave something so idyllic?

Because it obviously hadn’t been his idea of idyllic.

She stepped inside to polished wood floors and the smell of something amazing coming from the kitchen.

She turned to Luke. “Will you show me the house?”

“Sure. Downstairs is the kitchen and dining room. There’s a living room off to the right . . .”

He led the way and she followed, in awe of the rustic charm of the place, the utter beauty of the natural wood floors, and oh, the pictures on the walls made her heart ache. Generations of family members must have been in these photos.

“Are these your . . . grandparents?” she asked as they paused in the hallway.

“Yeah. And that’s my dad, with Logan, when he was little.”

She grinned at the photo of Logan as a small boy of no more than five or six years old sitting astride a horse. The man holding on to him was tall and rugged, with dark hair and a very stern-looking face. “Your dad was very handsome.”

“He was a hardworking man. He loved this ranch.”

The one photo that caught her eye was in the living room—three young boys, so adorable, sitting outside on the front porch steps. One with his hair cut very short, wearing a Western shirt. That had to be Logan looking all mature and serious. Luke, the middle one, with a happy smile on his face, his hair a little longer and shaggy. And then the baby, Reid, freckles spread across his nose with gaps in his front teeth.

“How old were all of you in this photo?” she asked.

Luke studied the photo. “Logan was thirteen, I was eleven, and Reid was eight. And if I recall correctly, none of us wanted to sit still long enough for that photo to be taken.”

She laughed. “I can imagine that. You were all probably like tornadoes. Hard to settle down.”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

He took her up the stairs. “Bedrooms up here. Four of them. Mine was here.” He opened the door, and there was a double bed with a quilt, a maple dresser with a mirror, and a beautiful window overlooking the land. She walked in and headed toward the window.

“I’ll bet you did a lot of daydreaming while sitting on your bed looking out the window.”

“I might have done some. Also threw some plastic military guys out that window when I played Army men with Logan and Reid. My army guys were always doing secret night missions, jumping out of airplanes.”

“Which just happened to be your window.”

“Of course. Got yelled at a few times for doing it, but hey, an Army guy’s gotta do what an Army guy’s gotta do.”

“Of course. I always got in trouble for cutting my Barbie doll’s hair. Parents. They just don’t get it.”

He grinned and showed her the rest of the bedrooms, all similar to Luke’s, except the master, which was larger and had its own bathroom. Then they went back downstairs and headed into the kitchen.

“You must be Dr. Emma. I’ve heard so much about you. Welcome to our home.” A tall, thin woman with short dark-brown hair swiped her hands on her apron. “I’m Martha. I run this house and try to keep Logan and the hands in line, though as you can imagine that’s not easy.”

Martha had a welcoming nature and an easy smile. “It’s very nice to meet you, Martha. Something smells really good.”

Martha grinned. “That’s my pot roast. It’s Logan’s favorite—Luke’s, too, though he hardly ever comes over for Sunday dinner anymore.”

Luke kissed her on the cheek. “Howdy, Martha. How’s Ben?”

“Ben is a pain in my butt, like always.” Martha turned to her. “Ben is my husband. He works as the foreman on the ranch, so he and Logan go way back. He’s been around since the boys’ daddy was still alive. Come on in and sit down. Would you like some iced tea?”

Emma blinked. Wow. Martha could certainly talk, but she was very nice, and the kitchen was clean and there were snacks set out on the oversized wood table.

“I’d love tea. Is there anything I can do to help you, Martha?”

“Of course not. You’re company, so just sit and take a load off. Logan told me what a great job you did fixing up Whip. That darned dog is always getting into something. All the dogs try my patience on a good day, but I love them all like they’re my kids. I hear you brought your two with you today?”

“Yes. Daisy and Annie.”

“I’ll have to go outside and greet them. I love when Luke comes and brings Boomer with him. I grew up on a farm, and there were always animals around. I don’t know what I’d do if there wasn’t a dog underfoot.”

Emma laughed. “I know what that’s like. We always had dogs when I was a kid.”

“I think I’ll head outside and see what Logan’s up to,” Luke said.

Martha waved her hand. “You go ahead. Dr. Emma and I will be fine in here.”

While Emma sipped her tea, Martha did all the talking. Emma learned that Ben and Martha never had kids, so Martha became an animal lover, and she unofficially adopted Logan, Luke, and Reid as her own after their father died.

Interesting that Luke’s mother was never mentioned. She wondered why, but knew it wasn’t her place to ask Martha about that.

“Lord, listen to me go on and on. How’s the new practice goin’? I used to bring the dogs into Doc Weston. He was a great vet.”

“Yes, he was. I used to bring my dogs to see him, too. I was sad to hear he was retiring, but so happy when I worked out a deal with him to buy his practice.”

“Let me tell you, without you taking over his practice, Hope would suffer.”

“There is the other clinic.”

“There is that, and those docs are fine, but there was something about Doc Weston. He had a way with animals. I hear tell you’ve got that same magic.”

Emma’s heart swelled with pride. “Thank you. To be compared to Dr. Weston is a very high compliment. I think I have a lot of years of practice ahead of me to be as good as he was, but I hope to someday be thought of as highly as he was.”

“Keep doing what you’re doin’, and I think you’ll get there.”

Emma stood. “Speaking of animals, how about we take a look at yours, and get them vaccinated. Do we have time before lunch?”

“Plenty of time. Let’s head on out. We’ll wrangle the boys into helping.”

Once outside, Martha stopped and petted Boomer, then greeted Annie and Daisy. It was clear she was an animal lover, allowing the dogs to sniff and lick her.

Emma could always tell when someone was comfortable with animals, and Martha was quite obviously one of those people animals gravitated to. Animals could tell, too, when a human loved them, because as soon as Martha walked away, they followed her.

Luke and Logan were looking at Logan’s truck, so Martha hollered for them and they came over.

“Let’s get these animals worked on, and then we can eat.”

“All right,” Logan said. “We can do that in the barn. There’s a worktable and a sink for you, Emma.”

Logan called his dogs, who followed along, clearly all well trained.

Emma grabbed her bag from the truck. In the barn, she took the dogs one at a time, examining each, then giving them all their shots. When she was finished, she handed the rabies tags over to Logan.

“They’re all healthy and in fine shape, Logan. You’ve got them on flea and heartworm meds?”

Logan nodded. “I get those at the animal-supply store.”

“Good. I’ve started a chart on each of them, so we’ll send reminders out to you when they’re due for their boosters. And Whip’s stitches look good.”

“You can thank Martha for that. She’s done a fine job of making sure he’s not running amok all day long. I think she’s kept him in the house more than not the past few days.”

Emma looked at Martha, who winked. “Whip enjoyed it, too. Slept on the sofa, and lorded it over the other dogs when he went outside.”

Emma laughed. “He can go outside now, as long as you clean the stitched areas once a day.”

“Good enough, Doc,” Martha said.

“I appreciate you taking care of all this out here,” Logan said. “Will you have your office send me a bill?”

“I’ll have Rachel take care of it. And it’s not a problem doing their exams and shots out here. Especially if I get to eat that great-smelling roast.”

“Which should be just about ready. So why don’t you both help Dr. Emma clean up her gear, get washed up, and then we can eat?”

“Sounds good,” Luke said. He and Logan helped Emma pack up her supplies. They shooed the dogs out of the barn and headed back to the house.

By then Martha already had the table set, and an older man was in the kitchen.

“Dr. Emma, this is my husband, Ben.”

Ben was tall and rugged-looking, with a shock of white curly hair. Emma shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ben.”

“You, too, Dr. Emma.”

“Please, both of you can just call me Emma.”

“That’d make you like family around here,” Martha said. “Which means we hope you’ll come around more often.”

“This is a great ranch. I’m hoping Luke will take me out after lunch so I can see more of it.”

“I’m sure he’d love to do that,” Logan said, giving Luke a smirk.

She wondered what that was about.

“Sure. I’d be happy to,” Luke said, ignoring his brother.

The roast was tender, the potatoes and vegetables perfect.

“This is an incredible meal, Martha. Thank you so much,” Emma said.

“You’re welcome. And thank you for the compliment.”

“So I got a phone call this week from some movie-production company,” Logan said as they ate.

Luke paused. “Yeah? What did they want?”

“They’re scouting locations for some film they wanna make, and they wanted to know if they could get a tour of the L&M. They think the locale is perfect for their movie.”

“Huh,” Luke said, leaning back in his seat. “Is there money in that?”

“Apparently a substantial amount. They pay you for use of the land for the time they’re on it filming. They bring in their crew, stay in the trailers, bring in their own food. They tell me other than use of the land, they wouldn’t inconvenience us any more than absolutely necessary.”

Emma watched the interplay between the brothers. It was fascinating to see Luke’s expression as Logan explained the whole movie deal. As part owner of the ranch, he had a business interest in whatever went on. She could tell this was something that would require some thought.

“Are you going to let them come in?” Luke asked.

Logan shrugged. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to let them have a tour, then if they’re interested, they can make an offer and we can all talk about it. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds like a good idea. When do they want to come?”