“Duke Hancock wanted that piece of land for years, but I told him I wasn’t going to sell. Now they want it again.”
“Duke died twenty years ago, Dad. And who are they?”
Ignoring his son’s question, Abe went on. “The fence is destroyed. The cattle can run right through.”
“You haven’t had more than a few head of cattle for years, and that’s not even where they pasture.” Luke gave him a look of exasperation.
Abe scoffed. “It needs to be fixed.”
“Okay. I’ll go out with you to help on the fence,” Luke said, then caught Julianna’s gaze.
For a moment, she couldn’t look away. His eyes were still bluer than Paul Newman’s. Intense. Sexy.
“Okay with you, Jules?” He smiled.
A wide white smile. Her heart stalled…in the same way it had when she’d first met him at that environmental rally where they’d been on opposite sides.
And apparently her recent lack of male companionship was making her hormones shift into overdrive. “I’m scrambling eggs. Anyone else want some?”
Luke looked surprised. “You learned how to cook?”
Dammit. She wasn’t going to acknowledge Luke’s gibes. That’s another way he got to her. He knew it and she knew it.
“No one needs to wait on me,” Abe sputtered. “I can make my own breakfast. Been doin’ it for years.”
“I know you can, Abe. But since I’m making eggs for myself, it’s no big deal to toss in a couple extra. I’d appreciate it though if I could have the kitchen to myself for about fifteen minutes.”
Both men rose. Abe went down the hall toward the bathroom and Luke headed for the living room.
As she watched Luke walk away, an unexpected sadness washed over her. She swallowed back a sudden lump in her throat. After getting the eggs from the fridge, she leaned wearily against the door. What was the matter with her?
Was it being together again with Luke and Abe, like the old days? Was it remembering the love she and Luke once shared? The love. The heartache. The loss.
After three years of grief therapy and finally learning to live in the present, she’d thought she could handle just about anything. But now she felt as if she’d tumbled backward in time as all the memories, all the emotions she’d tried so hard to forget, roared to life once again. She thought she’d resolved all that. Had she only been fooling herself?
Maybe. But she couldn’t slide back into the abyss that had been her life. She’d worked too hard to make herself into a whole person again—even though a piece of her would never mend.
She strengthened her resolve and went to the stove.
Seeing Luke again had thrown her off balance. That was all. She’d get over it. She’d carved out a comfortable niche for herself at the magazine. She had a great loft condo in the heart of San Francisco. Her life was good. She cracked an egg into the bowl with so much force it splattered everywhere. Her life was good, dammit.
Except for the loneliness. And right now, she felt more lonely than ever.
But going back home wasn’t an option.
LUKE FINGERED THROUGH the magazines piled in the corner of the living room. He didn’t remember his father being much of a reader. It was probably why Luke wasn’t. That and the fact that he never had time. When he was off duty the last thing he wanted was to read about more crime and world problems.
Most of Abe’s magazines were about ranching, except for one called The Achilles’ Heel. Recognizing the name of the national magazine, Luke was surprised that Abe even had a copy. Hell, he had a whole stack of them. Luke picked one up and flipped a page. Most of the titles had a liberal slant, taking jabs at anything and everything that might be fair game.
Odd, because Abe was the biggest redneck around. Flipping another page, he saw Julianna listed on the masthead as a regular columnist. Ah, now it made sense.
He’d heard Julianna was doing well, but since she’d moved to San Francisco after the divorce, that’s all he knew. Reading her brief bio, he felt a moment of pride over her success.
And then sadness. He missed what they’d had before everything went haywire. He missed having a family to come home to.
He dropped the magazine back in the pile. What they’d had was long gone. She’d made that crystal-clear the day she walked out on him, saying the only way she could find herself was to start a new life.
Instead of staying to work things out, she’d run away. He’d been willing, but she hadn’t.
It’d stuck in his craw ever since. No, he didn’t need reminders, and as soon as he got his father straightened up, he was outta there.
“Better come and get it if you want to eat,” his father said as he passed Luke on his way to the kitchen.
Luke followed Abe, watching the uneven gait in his step, saw the gray in his thinning hair. When had his father gotten so old, so frail? “When was the last time you saw a doctor, Pops?”
“Don’t need no doctor. I’m not sick.”
They walked into the kitchen together. The aroma of sizzling bacon and fresh coffee made his mouth water. Julianna had set the table and was dishing up the eggs.
“Everyone needs a checkup at least once a year. Especially someone with high blood pressure.”
“I go when I’m sick. And it’s nobody’s business when I go and when I don’t.”
Luke walked over to the counter, refilled his coffee cup, then raised the pot to the others. Julianna said, “Yes, please,” and his father grunted his response. When Luke finished pouring, he put the pot on the table on a trivet and sat.
The tension in the air was so thick you couldn’t cut it with a sharp fillet knife. He felt more uncomfortable sitting here with his father and Julianna than he did scoping out a crime scene.
But his discomfort didn’t keep him from noticing how little Julianna had changed in the last five years. She was still slim and toned, and her flawless skin looked even more perfect framed by long, wavy chestnut hair. Silky hair that always fell in his face when she was on top. “You still jog?”
She nodded. “Abe, Luke’s right. You really should get a checkup. Everyone needs to do that once in a while.”
Luke smiled at his dad with satisfaction, glad that Julianna had supported him.
Ignoring both of them, Abe mumbled around a mouthful of eggs, “If you’re going to fix the fence with me you better eat and quit talking.”
Luke nearly dropped his fork. It sounded almost as if his father was asking for Luke’s help, something he had never done before. Whenever Luke had offered in the past, he got shot down. Maybe there was hope for them yet. “Sure. I’m only going to be here until tomorrow, so we should get as much done today as we can.”
Abe’s head jerked up. “If that’s all the time you got, then we might as well forget it. It’s a two-day job at best.”
Luke fought another smile. His old man sure knew the art of manipulation. “I’ll stay until it’s done. If it’s done today, I’ll leave in the morning. If it takes another day, I’ll go home after that.”
But he was going to do everything he could to finish in one day. Besides needing to get back to L.A., he wanted to focus on the life he had, not the one he’d lost.
“Fine. Getting the fence fixed is all I care about.”
Julianna gently touched Abe’s arm. “Luke will help and it’ll get done,” she said, always the calm one. With her mediating skills, she should’ve