Jaci Burton - Hope Flames

Whip leaned groggily against Logan’s side.

Emma gave the chart to Rachel. “Well, it’s back to work for me, guys. Nice seeing you, Luke. I guess you’ll call me about Sunday?”

“I guess I will.” He gave Emma a smile. She blushed and said good-bye to Logan.

“You set that up,” Luke said to Logan after Emma disappeared.

“Set what up?” Logan asked as he took out his checkbook to pay the bill.

“Me and Emma coming to the ranch on Sunday.”

“Believe it or not, Luke, everything isn’t about you. I thought maybe you’d want to show Emma the ranch, and this way, Martha doesn’t have to drag all the dogs in here, which you know she’d grumble about. It works out good for me, Martha loves having company—and she loves to see you, because you don’t come for Sunday dinner all that often. See what a great plan that is?” He slapped his brother on the back.

“I guess.” Though Luke was still convinced Logan had manipulated him.

Logan tucked the checkbook in his pocket and grasped the leash. “See you Sunday, brother.”

“Yeah. Sunday.”

Logan walked out, leaving Luke leaning against the front counter.

“So, you and Dr. Emma have a date at the ranch on Sunday, huh?” Rachel asked.

“Not a date. I’m just bringing her to the ranch so she can treat my brother’s dogs.”

“Sure you are,” Rachel said, busying herself at the computer. While smiling.

Shit.

AS THEY PULLED through the massive and oh-so-impressive scrolled gates of the L&M Ranch, Emma shifted in her seat to face Luke.

He’d been mostly silent on the way over there, and Emma was certain he was bringing her reluctantly. His brother had kind of wrangled him into accompanying her, and really, she could have come on her own. Still, he had agreed, when he could have said no. So, did he want to come with her, or was he just being a gentleman?

She had no idea. His expression gave away nothing, so Emma focused her attention on the massive sprawl of land in front of them.

“You grew up here?”

“Yeah.”

She all but plastered her nose to the window, miles of tall, honey-colored grass waving in the wind as they drove down the gravel road.

“All of this is yours.”

“Mine and Logan’s and our younger brother, Reid’s, yes.”

She tore her gaze away from the majestic panorama of trees and scrub and you-can-see-forever to look at him. “This is amazing.”

His lips finally curved. “You think so?”

“Yes. Oh my God, Luke. I had no idea you owned this much land. Oh my God again, look at the horses.” She rolled her windows down as they approached the property.

“You’re kind of cracking me up here, Emma.”

“Shut up. I’m a city girl.”

They pulled up to the house. Excited, Emma punched the button on her seat belt and climbed out of the truck. Their dogs scampered out and were greeted by a pack of barking dogs of all shapes and sizes, Whip being one of them. Emma crouched down to meet and pet them all.

“Hey, Whip, how are you doing?” She smoothed her hands over his sides. He was healing up just fine, despite his exuberance. She knew he wouldn’t be lying calmly on a bed of pillows in the house. Ranch dogs rarely sat still for a minute.

Logan had quite a pack of dogs. There was Whip, the border collie, an Australian shepherd mix, a beagle, a Labrador mix, a terrier mix, and a pit bull like Annie. And they were all friendly to Daisy and Annie. Boomer joined the fray, too. It was one enormous dog party.

“You’re walking better,” Luke said.

She lifted her gaze to his. “I’ve been sleeping a lot. Apparently falling down makes me sleepy.”

“It was a rough injury.”

“I’m feeling a lot better now, though. Thank you for asking. And again, thanks for that night.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

She shrugged. “It was my own fault for not looking where I was going. I should know better. I’ll be a lot more careful in the future.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt worse. Are your knees healed?”

“Yes. Scabs and everything.”

He laughed. “Scabs are good.”

“I’m sorry. Probably not what you want to talk about.”

“I’m not squeamish about scabs, Doc. You can’t scare me away.”

She studied him. “Apparently not. You’re tougher than most men.”

“I’d like to think so, but you can feel free to put me to the test if you’d like.”

He was teasing her. And she blushed, so aware of him all the time it was embarrassing.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I believe you.”

Logan came outside.

“Hey, Doc. Glad you could make it.”

She smiled at Logan. “Thanks again for inviting me.”

“Logan,” Luke said with a nod.

“Luke.”

She watched the interplay between the brothers. They didn’t hug, but both of them offered up curved lips. It was as if there was a secret language between them, where nothing needed to be said. She caught the sparkle in both their eyes.

Brothers. She and Molly used to be that way, too, where one look said it all. Her stomach tightened as she realized how much she missed her sister.

“You have a great pack of dogs, Logan,” she said.

“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.