Luke leaned against the sturdy new fence that defined the
pasture for Lola and Lollipop, two cantankerous zebras;
Spot and Potsy, two arthritic Shetland ponies; and Gordon
the ill-tempered donkey. Beneath a row of hackberry trees
near the driveway, two swayback snowy white horses stood
side by side, lazily swishing their tails in unison.
He'd moved to this small town in the Texas Hill Country
for just this reason — an affordable place with a good
climate where he could provide a "retirement" home for
unwanted animals. Where they — and he — could live in
peace and quiet. Land in California had been too
expensive. So he'd come back to Texas, to the town where
his friend Hank McCauley lived, even though this
particular place wasn't Luke's hometown, not that he
thought of any particular place as home.
Besides, he didn't need a hometown. He was a grown man who
could take care of himself. These animals didn't have
anywhere to go except a slaughterhouse or rendering plant.
The sound of barking reminded him that he should feed the
Jack Russell terriers in their run near the barn. But
first he needed to make sure his inquisitive little
neighbor got back through the fence — the one that divided
his property from Travis Whitaker's ranch.
Ever since the animals had begun arriving from California,
Oklahoma and Colorado, Eddie Wooten had started visiting
Luke's property. He hid behind the newly painted barn,
lurked behind shrubby Mesquite trees and sneaked between
the hackberry trees in the fencerow. When he figured Luke
wasn't looking, he'd coax the animals to him with carrots
and apples. The same scenario had occurred at least a half-
dozen times, enough that Luke was now on the lookout for
one little boy.
If Eddie stayed on his side of the fence, Luke wouldn't
worry. But the boy was fearless when it came to animals —
especially Lola and Lollipop — and put himself in danger
by walking into the pasture. Eddie could be accidentally
bitten, stepped on or knocked down.
He tried to remember himself as a child, but the image
wouldn't form. Sometimes he thought he'd been born at age
fourteen. Had he ever been as inquisitive as Eddie? As
naive?
Luke winced at the memory of Kate Wooten arriving at his
ranch the last time the boy had strayed over. She'd been
tense and worried and yet more beautiful than he
remembered from the first time he'd seen her. She'd held
Eddie to her briefly, assured herself that he was
uninjured, and then soundly chastised him for running off.
She'd told him that he absolutely could not come here
again, that he had to stay away from the animals. Then
she'd turned those wide gray eyes on Luke and apologized
for her son's impulsive, inappropriate behavior.
He'd never heard childish curiosity called "inappropriate"
behavior before. Only later had he discovered, through an
innocent conversation with Gwendolyn McCauley at the local
café, that Kate was an elementary school teacher. She was
one classy lady, and obviously well educated. Her reserved
attitude and the fact that she stuck around only long
enough to retrieve her son made their differences real
obvious.
He'd gruffly told her that her son should stay on his side
of the fence because any animal could be dangerous, even
one that looked perfectly harmless. She'd looked at him in
horror for an endless moment, then bundled off Eddie
without another word. Luke had barely seen her since.
Certainly hadn't spokentoher.
She apparently found him even more frightening than his
animals.
Eddie cleared the fence and ran in the direction of the
Whitaker house. Or more specifically, the Whitaker garage,
where he lived in the apartment upstairs with his mother.
Luke didn't want to dwell on the attractive but uptight
sister of his coolly polite neighbor. Travis wasn't
hostile, but he seemed suspicious of Luke and the Last
Chance Ranch. It really didn't matter because Luke owned
the land and was here to stay, regardless of what the
locals thought or said.
Just as he turned away to walk back to the house, a truck
pulled off the rural road into the long driveway, past his
house to the large barn. His feed shipment had arrived.
When the driver, a young man named Lester Boggs, stopped
and rolled down the window, Luke told him, "Pull on around
to the barn door. I'll help you unload."
"You runnin' some kind of zoo?" Lester asked as they piled
up the sacks of feed.
"Not exactly."
"Aunt Joyce said Hank told her and Thelma you used to work
in Hollywood."
"I did a little animal training. A little stunt work."
"You ever do any stunts for Ben Affleck?"
"Not that I can remember."
"Johnny Depp?"
"Not really."
The other man seemed disappointed. Well, too bad. Luke
didn't believe in living his life in public. Hank had
warned him people would be curious about any newcomer. A
newcomer with a menagerie of animals…that caused extra
speculation. Luke didn't care, as long as he wasn't
bothered.
The previous owner hadn't taken good care of the ranch.All
the animals except a few half-wild barn cats had been sold
long ago. The place was as close to deserted as Luke had
ever seen. His first priorities had been the barn and
fences. Everything else could wait.
"Why would you want a bunch of old animals?" Lester asked
as they worked on the hay bales. Next year Luke planned to
grow his own crop of coastal Bermuda, but for now he
needed to buy hay locally.
"I like them," Luke said, hooking another bale.
"They spent their lives performing in circuses, films,
animal acts. They've earned a retirement, but some of them
were going to be put down because they weren't useful
anymore. He felt his anger build at the injustice. "Some
were wasting away without food or shelter. I'm giving them
a home for as long as they live."
Lester looked at him as though he were nuts. "Whatever you
say, Mr. Simon," he said cautiously.
Luke didn't respond. He'd had no intention of talking
about himself to strangers. And as far as he was
concerned, almost everyone here was a stranger, even if he
did know their names and where they lived. Even if they
were neighbors.
KATE STOPPED LOADING the washing machine when she saw the
telltale burrs on her son's fleece pullover. "Oh, Eddie."
He'd been in the pasture where he'd been forbidden to
venture.
"Hey, Kate," Jodie, looking gorgeous in a coral athletic
suit, said from the doorway of the downstairs laundry
room. Jodie, a plus-size model who had a clothing line and
a fragrance, and Travis had been married for almost a
year. Their daughter was just beginning to teethe — still
far too young to be slipping away on her own to get into
trouble.
"Hi, Jodie," Kate replied, trying to coax some enthusiasm
into her voice.
"What's wrong?"
"My son. Our neighbor. Everything."
"Surely it's not that bad," Jodie said sympathetically,
leaning her hip against the dryer.
Kate held the garment briefly to her chest. "I'm
frustrated that I can't stop Eddie from running over to
our neighbor's ranch to see those odd animals. He could be
injured by Travis's huge longhorn cattle along the way. He
could fall and hurt himself — hit his head on a rock or
break his leg. And how would anyone know?"
"Would you feel better if Travis moved the cattle for now?
Or would you like to find someplace else to live? You know
Travis offered to rent you a house closer to the school."
"No, I don't want to put him out any more than I already
have."
"It's no trouble."
"That's nice of you to say, but giving me free rent and
worrying along with me over Eddie's excursions across the
fence are enough for now. Besides, I'll be on my feet
soon. I hope."
Jodie came over and gave her a hug. Kate felt like
throwing her arms around her sister-in-law and sobbing
into her shoulder. But she wouldn't. Jodie was too
kindhearted, and Kate knew her melancholy was temporary.
Or at least she hoped it was.
She pulled back and sniffed. "I'm sorry. I'm just down
right now. I…I'm obviously not doing something right.
Sometimes, especially when I spend a little too much time
alone thinking, I wonder if I'm doing anything right."
"Of course you are! We all love you. And Eddie is a great
kid, even if he is a little too adventurous at times."
"He is a great kid, but I wonder how much is my doing. I
mean, I married the wrong man, allowed him to take care of
me financially if not emotionally, and closed my eyes to
both his unscrupulous investment decisions and his
philandering. I've never worked outside the home, never
even considered that I needed credit in my own name. I was
blind and dumb to my lying, cheating husband until
everything in my 'perfect' world came tumbling down."
"You're being way too hard on yourself."
Kate shook her head. "It's all true. And now I'm
responsible for everything — Eddie's health and welfare,
his education and development. I need to run a household
on almost no money, because about all I can do is
substitute teach until I get a permanent job." Kate
sniffed again. "I'm sorry, Jodie. I'm just having a little
pity party down here in the laundry room. I didn't mean to
burden you."
"We keep telling you it's no burden. We love you, Kate.
We've never used the garage apartment, so you're welcome
to stay as long as you'd like, until you and Eddie get
tired of us and want to move away."
Kate attempted a shaky smile. "You're too nice." In a
moment of brash confidence, she'd decided not to take any
more handouts from her oil-wealthy father and successful
architect brother. She'd taken enough "handouts" from Ed
without considering the consequences. No, she needed to
succeed on her own merits, as much as possible, as long as
Eddie's health or happiness wasn't compromised. Living
rent-free over Travis's garage in a nice but small
apartment helped tremendously, even though the few pieces
of heirloom furniture she'd managed to keep after the
estate sale seemed lonely and sad against the stark white
walls and light wood flooring.
"It's just that I've always thought of myself as a
homemaker and a mother, not a sole provider," she
explained to Jodie. "Although I know how important it is
to be independent, sometimes I feel that I can't do this
alone."
"Yes, you can." Jodie gave Kate a fierce hug. "Besides,
you're not alone. You have us, for better or for worse.
And everyone in town loves you."
Kate nodded even as she thought of one person who wasn't
so fond of her inquisitive son — their neighbor Luke
Simon. Still, she hugged Jodie back and felt better now
that she'd expressed her fears. She wasn't a wimp. She
would get a job and she would be strong for Eddie.