Jodi Thomas - Indigo Lake

They watched him drive away, and then Tim whispered, “You sorry, L?”

“Nope. How about you?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t see a thing. I would have really liked to help Reid out,” Tim said in mock-seriousness. “He’s been such a good friend of mine.” Lies dripped out of Tim’s mouth faster than blood dripped out of Reid’s.

“Yeah, me too.” She laughed as she tugged him toward her car. “How about we go check on Lucas.”

“You have any idea where he is?”

“I have an idea.”

* * *

LAUREN APPROACHED THE grassland of the Double K Ranch by the watery light of the midnight sky. She was on Kirkland land now. This was the first ranch established in this part of the country and still the biggest spread for a hundred miles around.

Staten Kirkland knew that years ago she and Lucas used to come out here to watch the stars. He probably wouldn’t be surprised that they still did. The Collins ranch, where Lucas’s dad had been foreman, bordered Kirkland’s. Lucas had grown up near here and he’d spent his college years cowboying for the Double K on weekends. He’d ridden both spreads when he’d been growing up and knew them well.

Lauren knew that if she had a chance of finding Lucas anywhere, it would be at this lonely spot where no lights from any town or ranch house could reach.

Parking her car on the county road, she pulled on her raincoat and climbed through the fence. As she neared the windmill, she didn’t see his car but she saw the outline of the old pickup he’d been driving in town.

She smiled. He might have been dumb enough to hit Reid Collins, but Lucas had enough sense not to drive his low BMW over dirt trails that didn’t even qualify to be called roads.

Slowly she walked toward the silhouette. She knew the moment he spotted her. He straightened and faced her. Lucas Reyes might be a lawyer now, but he fit here. He was a man who came from the land. He was as much a part of it as it was of him.

“Where’s that new BMW your mother told me you bought last month?”

“I traded it for the pickup. Told my dad to take it out for a spin.” Lucas’s voice was clear but his face was lost in the night. “Mom suggested a vacation might be nice. My father hasn’t taken more than a long weekend off in years.

“Where’s Tim?” the shadow asked when she was ten feet away.

“He didn’t believe you’d be out here. Tim said he’d bet you were at one of the bars. There’s only two but he said it would take until closing time for him to make a complete sweep of the places.”

Lucas huffed but didn’t comment.

She moved closer, not knowing what to say to a man she hadn’t seen in over a year but had been in her thoughts almost every day. They’d been close once, but now she felt she barely knew him. Maybe she never had. His dark good looks were still there, but the favoring of his Hispanic heritage was almost gone from his voice.

“Reid will probably sue me for hitting him, but I’m not sorry.”

“He might, if he had a witness.”

Lucas raised his head. “You two were standing right there. You must have seen it.”

“I wasn’t looking,” she answered. “Tim didn’t see anything, either.”

Lucas relaxed. “If I’m asked in court, I won’t lie. I did hit him.”

There it was, she thought, that bone-deep kind of honesty that she loved about Lucas. Since she’d known him, Lucas had always done the right thing for his family, his career, his parents. The only one he’d left out had been her. There wasn’t room for her in his life, not in high school or college or now.

“Reid wouldn’t ask. He’d figure you would just lie as he would.”

“You’re right. Gambling on people to be honest is a fool’s bet most of the time. I learned that in court.”

She pushed away thoughts of a love that had long ago died of starvation and tried to keep her mind on Lucas’s problem. “You didn’t tell anyone that Reid ran and didn’t save us that night at the Gypsy House. He convinced the whole town that he was a hero. Remember, they even had an assembly to honor him? I’d been too shy to speak up and Tim was home recovering, but you could have said something.”

“No one asked me what happened.” Lucas put his hands on her waist and lifted her onto the pickup’s open tailgate. “Everyone was listening to him. I didn’t lie. I just didn’t say anything.” He moved a foot away and leaned on the side of the truck.

Lauren smiled, liking being at eye level to him and sensing they were still as comfortable around each other as ever. In the darkness it almost seemed like they were teenagers again and not a big-city lawyer and a small-town newspaper editor. “Never argue with a lawyer, right?”

“And never believe a storyteller, right?” he added. “I’ve been reading your ‘Legends of the Plains’ articles online. I doubt all our ancestors were as brave as you painted them.”

They both laughed.

He raised his hand and brushed her cheek. “I’ve missed you, Lauren. I think of you often.”

When he leaned in to kiss her, she backed away. “We’re friends, Lucas, nothing more. That’s all it can be between us.” She almost added that her heart wouldn’t take another disappointment. They’d almost connected a dozen times over the years and it always ended with him walking away.

“Then why are you here?” His words came fast and cold. “I thought you came out to see me, but you’re looking for a story?”

Maybe she’d hurt his pride or maybe she’d simply reminded him that nothing more than friendship ever worked between them. The easy way they’d had with one another a moment ago was gone. She wanted it back, but she wasn’t brave enough to deal with him stepping closer again.

“I’m worried about you, that’s all,” she answered. “Did Reid really fire your father? He’s the best ranch foreman around.”

Lucas hesitated and she feared that he wouldn’t talk about it. Ranch folks usually kept their business close to the vest. Finally, his words came low. “Yes. Fired him yesterday morning and told him to be moved out before dawn tomorrow. After thirty years, my parents had forty-eight hours to load up.” His voice was dull, all emotion spent. “He also fired most of the hands. Told them to have their belongings out of the bunkhouse by dark. My folks had everything crammed in one of the cattle trucks by the time I drove in from Houston. They’re sleeping in town tonight with friends.”

“What about your brothers and sisters?”

“The youngest two are away at college. I don’t think Dad’s even told them yet. My two sisters are married and farm down by Brownfield. One brother joined the army last year. The girls drove in to help yesterday. All the cowhands on the place pitched in to help, but it was chaos. I heard Mom cried all day. I finally got them settled after dark and went looking for Reid.” He laughed without humor in his tone. “To tell the truth I didn’t think I’d find him. When I saw his car at the truck stop I didn’t have a plan.”

“Why did he do this all at once? What was the hurry?”

“They’ve been selling off pieces of the ranch for years. My dad wasn’t surprised. I think he saw it coming.” Lucas plowed his fingers through dark straight hair. “He said last Christmas that if they sold any more land there wouldn’t be enough pasture to switch cattle into.”

“I don’t think the people in town were aware of it shrinking.” Ranch folks might not talk, but town people did.

“One of the hands told me today that Reid hired a manager out of Fort Worth to come in and close the ranch down while he rushed over to Austin to go to a party. The manager brought in a crew, men who look like hired thugs, not cowhands. He’s selling off the cattle left on the place, and word is the horses are going tomorrow.”