“Yep, the whole town pitched in to fix it up.”
Penny downed the last of cup and asked the question. “So have the Walkers been by today?”
“Jeff and Luke stopped by right after sunrise. You have to get here earlier if you want to catch our busy ranchers. Speaking of Luke, if I remember correctly, you and he were an item for quite a while. Have you seen him since you got back?”
There it was again. Why had she thought she could escape her past in her tiny hometown? “Way back in high school, but that over years ago. We’ve both grown up and moved on.”
“That’s a shame. He’s such a nice young man. Have you seen the cabin he is building out on the ranch? Looks like the perfect place to raise a family.”
“I’m sure that he and any women he ends up with will be very happy there.”
“Funny, I don’t think I’ve seen him with a girl since you left.”
Penny stood up to leave.
“The coffee’s on me. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Thanks, Violet. It’s good to see you again.”
Penny started up the Camaro and headed back toward home. Had time stood still in this place? Why did everyone still think of her and Luke as a couple? It had been four years, for goodness sake. She had moved on—she enjoyed her life in Chicago and her relationship with Darrell. She had the life she had always dreamed of, and yet…seeing him last night had thrown her for a loop.
When she arrived back home, her mom was still busy in the garden, so she went upstairs and searched the back of her cluttered closet. She pushed her old clothes aside to find the large plastic bin that held all of the treasured mementos from her life here in Peakview. She hadn’t looked at any of it since she graduated from Mountain High. She lugged the heavy bin over to the center of her bed and flopped down to relive those days. Ever since she caught the first glimpse of Luke’s cabin the prior evening, there was one specific item she couldn’t get out of her head. She didn’t even know if she’d saved it.
Opening the first shoebox, she pulled out pieces of her life; football programs, prom tickets, corsages, movie ticket stubs, letters, poems and snapshots, so many pictures—pictures of Luke, pictures of her and Luke, pictures of her and Luke and various other friends, pictures of Christmas mornings—Luke with her family and her with his. Their lives had been so interwoven for five long years.
She couldn’t remember exactly when she first met him. He was in her kindergarten class and pretty much every class after that. She first really noticed him at the beginning of sixth grade at Peak Middle School. He was so good looking! All the girls in her class had fallen in love with him the instant they started noticing boys as more than an annoyance. He was a jock, a superstar at everything he attempted. She was shy and quiet, and he hadn’t given her the time of day.
That all changed the summer after their eight grade year when his mom died of cancer. Being caring person her mom was and being the closest neighbor to the Walker Ranch, her mom had taken Jeff and his boys under her wing. With Penny in tow, they made daily trips to the Walker’s with food, and to help around the house. One day Penny wandered down to the barn while her mom did some laundry. She quietly tiptoed into the horse barn. She loved the sweet aroma of fresh hay mixed with smell of horses. Thinking she was alone, she hummed one of her favorite songs as she petted a horse in the first stall. Suddenly, she jumped. Was that a noise from the far back stall? Making her way through the semi-darkness, she found Luke, the cocky football star lying in the hay sobbing. She lost her heart to him that second. His back was turned toward her and without thinking, she crouched down beside him and wrapped him in her arms. Instead of pulling away as she feared, he snuggled closer to her. They simply laid there in silence until his sobs finally subsided. This was a much different Luke than the one she’d envied at school. She’d have been content to stay there forever. That was the beginning. By the time their first year of high school started in the fall, they were inseparable.
“What are you doing, honey?” Her mom’s voice brought her back to the present.
“Just going through this old stuff from high school. I might throw some of it away, make a little more room in my closet.”
“That would be a first. Come on down when you’re done. Your dad and I are sitting on the back deck enjoying the afternoon sunshine.”
“I’ll be down in a few.”
Penny set aside the remaining shoe boxes, and there underneath was what she had started out to find—her sketch pads. She gently pulled the two large pads out and ran her hand over the covers. She had once dreamed of becoming an artist, back before she faced the reality that a career should be something you could make a living doing. She’d carried those pads with her all through high school. She opened the first one and began thumbing through the worn pages. There were drawing of horses, and Bandit, and Luke on horseback, and lots of trees, mountains and sunsets, all drawn with her charcoal pencils. How she’d loved those pencils the year she got them for Christmas. When she didn’t find the picture she was searching for, she set the first pad one aside and opened the next. Her mouth fell open. There it was.
It had been a warm summer afternoon following their Junior year. They had taken a picnic lunch and a blanket and made their way on horseback up to the ridge on the Walker Ranch. After eating, Luke stretched out on the blanket and told her this was where they were going to build their future home. They talked about the horses and kids they would raise together. Then Luke laid back, covered his face with his cowboy hat and dosed off. She retrieved her sketch pad from her saddlebag and started drawing. When she finished sketching, there was a perfect likeness of the hill with a log home in center, complete with a large wraparound porch and picture windows to view the sunsets. At the top, she had written in block letters OUR HOME. Then she punched him in the ribs to wake him up and handed it to him.
Luke looked up at her with love in his bright blue eyes and gave her a quick kiss. “It’s perfect,” He’d said. “I’ll build it for you. I promise.”
With tears in her eyes, she closed the pad and put it back in the box. What hit her like a ton of bricks last night was true, the house Luke was building was the one she’d sketched that day five years ago.
***
Luke leaned back and twisted his spine from side to side to get the kinks out. This was tiring work. After finishing the roof and installing the doors to keep the weather and critters outside, he moved on to the hardwood floors. With the master bedroom floor completed, he moved a sleeping bag in and now spent most nights sleeping up here in his own space. It had been two weeks since Penny stopped by and he’d managed to avoid her completely. Seeing her again stirred up too many unwanted feelings. If he spent any time with her, he’d get sucked right back in and then be devastated when she left in a few more weeks. Nope, he refused to put himself through that. So he cut down on his trips into town, and the few times he caught glimpses of her and Ginger out riding, he made sure he headed in the opposite direction. He somehow managed to forestall June’s desire to invite the whole Anderson family over for dinner.
He picked up another board and nailed it into place. Dang it, this was supposed to be her home, too. The ghost of Penny loomed strong in the cabin tonight, so he put down his tools, untied Geronimo from where he stood patiently outside, and headed to the one place he always found peace.
Geronimo made his way up the well-worn path almost by memory. Luke reined in the horse as they crested the hill. He climbed out of the saddle and walked over to the marble bench overlooking the small wooden cross and the vast valley beyond. He felt her presence. This was where they’d spread his mom’s ashes and created a memorial to her memory. Had it really been ten years? It felt as if Mom was right here with him. He came here often when he needed to think. He’d talk to her and sometimes it seemed she talked back. Tonight he simply leaned back and watched the sun slowly approach the western horizon. “Mom, Penny’s back. What should I do?”
CHAPTER THREE
Penny tried to stifle her frustration as she saddled Ginger after dinner. She jumped on the horse, called to Bandit and headed to the west toward Walker land. She’d been home two weeks and hadn’t seen Luke once since their encounter at the cabin that first night. She always seemed to just miss him in town. A few times she thought she caught glimpses of him, but he disappeared like the wind. Well, enough was enough. She didn’t really know what she expected when she came to Peakview, but at least she thought they could forge a friendship out of their past history. Was he avoiding her? Well, not tonight. She’d track him down and make him talk to her. She couldn’t stand this weirdness between them. They needed to face this and move on—one way or another.
First she headed to the main Walker ranch buildings. She rode around the entire barn and corral area and saw neither Luke nor Geronimo. Satisfied that he wasn’t there, she made her way up the hill to the front of the cabin. Geronimo wasn’t tied up here either. She walked up on the porch just as the sun set and smiled at the progress that Luke had made since her last visit. She might as well look around inside. She tried the front door and to her relief it wasn’t locked.
“Luke, you here?” Her voice echoed in silence. Guess he wasn’t home, so she shut the door behind her and wandered farther inside. The floors were stunning. One thing she could say for him, he had good taste. She walked into the master bedroom and saw his bedroll. It looked like he’d been sleeping here. Well, she’d just sit down and await his return. She pulled bedding around her shoulders in the cooling air. It smelled like Luke. She breathed in deep, surrounded by happy memories and lay down and snuggled in to wait.
***
By the time Luke decided to head back down the mountain, darkness had fully descended on the ranch. The warm, clear night surrounded him, and he was in no hurry to get back to his lonely makeshift bed. He let his horse meander down the path at his own speed. The full moon on the horizon lit their way. No need for a flashlight tonight. He felt better, as always after a trip to his mom’s resting place. He still didn’t have any answers, but a calmness filled him now. His mom was always with him, at least in spirit. He absently stared at the trail ahead, not really focusing on anything. The night was silent except for the occasional howl of a distant coyote. Oh, how he loved this land. One thing he knew for sure—he could never leave Walker Ranch. Maybe it was time to forget his past and focus on meeting a girl who shared his love of this life. Once he’d thought that was Penny—but he had been wrong.
Entering the small clearing that surrounded his home, Geronimo’s ears pricked up and he whinnied. The sound immediately returned by a horse not far away. Had one of their herd gotten through the fence again and wandered up to his place? No, his eyes adjusted and there was clearly a saddled horse tied to his porch rail. As he neared, he saw Ginger. Where was Penny and what was she doing here? Now was as good a time as any to let her know he was over her and wanted to be just friends. He couldn’t keep avoiding her all summer. He’d put their past behind him and move on like she had done. The last thing he wanted was any lasting hard feelings between them. He unsaddled and unbridled Geronimo and tied him next to Ginger. Giving the other horse a pat on the neck, he walked up onto the porch. Strange—all quiet. He pushed his front door open, and Bandit ran up to him, her whole body wiggling in delight.
Crouching down to pet his old friend in the dark interior, he said, “Hi there. What are you doing here buddy? Where is Penny?”
The little dog wiggled her butt and disappeared into Luke’s bedroom. He followed closely behind guided by a shaft of moonlight streaming through the large picture window. At the doorway, he skidded to a halt. There on his bedding lay Penny sound asleep, her long, blonde hair spilling over onto the floor boards and glistening in the moonlight. God, she was beautiful! He stood mesmerized, not wanting to wake her and break the moment. Bandit lay down with a sigh on a folded blanket in the corner as if to say she was here for the night. Quietly slipping off his boots and hat and laying them on the floor, he tiptoed over to where she lay. All rational thought deserting him, he carefully laid down beside her. Enfolding his strong, muscular arms around her, he pulled her close. Penny sighed and still asleep snuggled into his chest. He brushed a light kiss on her forehead causing her eyes to suddenly fly open and stare into his.
“Hi, sweetheart.” He found her lips and kissed her softly before she could protest.
Penny shook her head to clear the sleep-induced fog from her brain. “I’m sorry. I came by…wanted to talk…I must have dozed off.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. I can’t imagine anything nicer than coming home and finding you here.”
His voice had taken on a husky quality which caused her body to react as it did when they were in high school. Instead of letting go, Luke tightened his arms around her. His hand softly tangled in her hair as he lowered his face to hers once more and found her mouth. Not soft this time, but with a need and desire. He kissed her hard, his tongue forcing its way to hers. She heard a moan, maybe from her own throat, and wound her arms around his neck and kissed him with equal intensity. Don’t think, just enjoy. She pulled him closer and felt his desire pressed against her. She could already feel the throbbing sensation between her own legs. The cool summer evening just got a lot hotter.
She wanted him, now. She let her hands slide lower and grabbed the waist of his t-shirt. Snaking her fingers underneath, she raked her nails gently up and down his warm back. Luke responded with a deep moan running his hands down her back and cupping her ass through her jeans, holding her against his throbbing erection. Grabbing his shirt, she maneuvered it over his head, and he did the same with her tank top. He snapped the clasp to her bra and threw it aside with their shirts. Warm touching warm. His hand found its way to her breast and just when she thought she’d burst, he pulled back.
“Penny?”
“Hummm?” She opened her eyes to gaze into his intense blue pools.
“I’m not prepared…don’t have a condom. Do you?”
She smiled. “No, of course not. I was just out for a ride. Not something I carry around.”
“Okay, then. Pants stay on. But let me make you come.”
Before she could respond, Luke returned his hand to her breast, kneading the soft flesh as his mouth lowered to find her nipple and sucked long and hard. She tangled her hands in his hair and kissing his neck and sucked in his flesh. Groaning louder, he continued to suck at her nipple while moving his hand inside the waist of her jeans and finding her soft, wet center with his fingers. She panted and called out his name as he pushed her over the edge. He groaned in relief, and she felt him throbbing beneath his jeans.
“I love you, Penny,” he murmured gently holding her head against his warm, strong chest. She closed her eyes and drifted into a peaceful slumber.
***
A bird chirped outside the window. Penny opened her eyes and rolled over to look at her watch on the nightstand. Holy crap! It was after 5:00 a.m. She needed to get back before her parents woke up.
“Luke, wake up. It’s almost morning.”
“So?” His eyes opened slowly and he smiled up at her. She found her bra and shirt and slipped them back on. “What’s the rush?”
“What’s the rush? If my parents wake up and discover that I didn’t come home last night, my dad and your dad and the whole county will be out looking for me before breakfast. I need to get home fast.”
“Wait.” He sat up and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. “Do you want me to ride with you?”
“Of course not. That’s the last thing they need to see—you and I together.” She headed toward the door, slipping on her boots as she walked.
Luke stumbled out of bed and pulled on his jeans. “We need to talk about…about last night.”
“We will. Just not right now. Come on Bandit.” The dog looked up from his cozy bed and wagged his tail.
Luke grabbed her and planted a lingering kiss on her lips, before she broke loose and ran out the door
to her horse.
“Have a good day.” She heard from behind her back as she galloped off into the already lightening eastern horizon. What had she done? Luke and her—it was all too confusing. And the last thing she needed—the very last thing—was for her parents to think they were back together.
Her mother was up by 6:00 every morning. She needed to get in the house and into her bed before her absence was discovered.
As she neared their property she slowed Ginger to a walk, urging the horse to be quiet. “Shhh,” she said to Bandit. She didn’t need her to start barking now. As if she understood, the dog followed slowly behind her. She dismounted before she got to the corral and tiptoed to the gate, wincing as the hinges swung open squeaking. Across the yard she could see the house. No lights appeared to be on—a good sign.
She unsaddled and unbridled the horse. No time to brush her down as usual. She gave Ginger’s neck a quick hug. “I promise to brush you double next time,” she whispered into the horse’s ear. This time, she climbed over the gate to avoid further noise and called for Bandit to scoot under the rails. Once in the yard, she picked up the little dog and hurried to the door leading to the back staircase. Fortunately for her, her parents had added a master suite to the opposite side of the main floor several years ago, not wanting to deal with climbing up and down the stairs. Also fortunately for her, Peakview County remained such a safe, isolated place that no one, including her parents, ever bothered to lock their doors. What a contrast to Chicago!
In a flash, she ran up the stairs, undressed, and snuggled down into her bed. Bandit did a couple of tight circles and lay down beside her with a sigh as if to say she guessed it really wasn’t morning yet. Penny pulled the covers around her chin and tried to fall back asleep. After all, she didn’t get much rest last night.
Colorado Cabin in the Pines (Peakview series Book 3) Page 2