A Cowgirl's Pride by Lorraine Nelson Page B

on, jerking her
upright in the chair.
    “Hey, sleepyhead! It’s time for dinner,” Luke called
out as he entered the room.
    The fire had died down to a bright bed of coals.
    “Sorry, I must have dozed off.” She picked up
the discarded book and crossed the room to replace it on the shelf.
    “You can take them out of the room, you know,”
Luke said as he tended the fire.
    “Thanks, but I guess my mind isn’t conducive to
reading if a book can’t hold my interest.”
    “Sometimes they make a good escape.”
    “Is that why you have so many?” She laughed.
    “Partly. Winters can be lonely out here, as you
well know. Plus, Zakia brought quite a pile with her.”
    “Yeah, I kind of guessed that.”
    “Why?” He stood to face her, confusion written
on his face.
    “There are quite a few romance books here.”
    “Are you saying that men shouldn’t read
romance?” he asked, smiling at her.
    She laughed gaily. Luke always had been fun to
tease. “Not at all. How else are they supposed to know how to treat a woman?”
    “How indeed? I don’t hear Zia complaining. Well,
at least not this time.” He frowned.
    “Sorry, brother dear. I didn’t mean to lead you
down that trail. It was hard on all of us. I was so worried about you.”
    “I hope I never forget. It’s a road I don’t want
to travel ever again.”
    “Of course not! I’m so happy things have worked
out for you.”
    “Sometimes, you only love once. Zia is that for
me. I never contemplated seeing any one else with commitment or love in mind.”
    “Is that how you knew?” she asked, wanting his
input.
    “Knew what?”
    “That Zakia was the only one for you?”
    “I never stopped aching for her, loving her, in
all the years she was gone.”
    “Oh!” Should she ask his advice about
Cal
? Could she, without
giving up the fact that they’d been lovers as teenagers? “I never knew love
like that really existed, although I thought I had it once.” There, she’d left
an opening. Would he ask?
    “Believe me, there was never anyone else for me.
Even when I hated her for leaving, I still loved her.”
    “That makes a strange kind of sense,” she said,
strangely relieved that he hadn’t asked for details.
    He laughed. “Scary thought. Come on. Dinner’s
waiting.”
    They stepped out into the hall, and Luke locked
the door behind them.
    “I’ll have a key made for you if you want one.”
    “Thanks. I’d appreciate that. It’s so quiet and
peaceful in there.”
    “Must be for you to sleep all afternoon.”
    She was about to tell him about Gramps when the
twins came barreling through. Luke caught one under each arm.
    “How many times have we told you not to run in
the house?” Luke asked, setting them on their feet.
    “Sorry, Daddy,” they chorused in unison.
    Leah couldn’t help but grin as they turned sad,
little, puppy dog eyes on their father. She grinned even wider when their
contrite expressions had the desired effect.
    “Good! Don’t let it happen again.”
    They nodded and took off with a very brisk step,
not walking but not running either.
    “What cute little imps those two are,” she said.
    “Imps is right,” he said as they entered the
kitchen.
    All through dinner, Leah thought about her conversation
with her Grandpa. Had it really happened? Or had she dreamed the whole thing?
Bizarre! Yet it was comforting to think that he was looking out for her. That,
in the only way he could, he’d welcomed her back.
    “What are you smilin’ about, baby girl?”
    She focused her attention on her father. The
truth sounded too crazy, even to her, so she fudged a little. “I dreamed that
Grandpa spoke to me, welcoming me back to the ranch.”
    He smiled fondly at her. “I’m not surprised. You
were his little darlin’. I remember you followin’ him everywhere, askin’
questions and hangin’ on his every word.”
    “That man had the patience of a saint,” said
Luke.
    “Why? Because he liked my company better than
yours?”