Hidden in a Heartbeat (A Place Called Home, Book 3)

by Patricia McLinn

  “Listen up, everyone,” Marti called as she returned to the room. “Before we eat, I want to let you all know about some decisions I’ve made.”

  The room quieted as if on cue, with none of the usual jokes or teasing. Robert Delligatti moved unobtrusively to Marti’s side.

  “I wanted you all here because we’re family.”

  Rebecca felt her cheeks heating at that. Luke, just in her line of vision as she faced Marti, gave a twitch of his shoulders she would have bet was involuntary. No one else moved. Least of all Antonia, who’d gone as stiff as granite.

  “With a second child now and other, uh, interests – ” She exchanged a look with Robert that sent glances rocketing among Kendra, Daniel, Ellyn and Grif. “ – it’s time to make some changes here at Far Hills Ranch. You all know my father left the ranch divided in five shares. One for each of his daughters, plus one share to whoever’s actually running the ranch. Each of my two older sisters left her share to her only child, so Kendra and Grif each have a share. I have three shares – my own, one I inherited from my step-sister Amy, and one for running the ranch.”

  Rebecca suspected this explanation was for her benefit since clearly everyone else already knew – but why explain it to her?

  “But I’m not really running Far Hills anymore,” Marti was continuing briskly. “Luke is. And that’s not going to change. If anything, with another baby and all, I’ll be doing less. So I’m signing over one share to Luke.”

  Joy jolted through Rebecca as she turned to him. This was so right, so perfect – but his glowering focus never wavered from Marti, who was already going on.

  “I’ll always keep my share of Far Hills, but the other share – Amy’s – that’s one I’ve been holding in trust. And now it’s right that it go to Rebecca.”

  None of her lifelong lessons in controlling her emotions had prepared Rebecca for this moment.

  “Me? I can’t – No. It’s not ... That’s not right.”

  “Oh, yes it is,” came Kendra’s voice from behind her.

  Ellyn patted her arm. “It is right.”

  “You’re family,” Marti pronounced. “And Luke – ”

  “No.”

  “Luke – ”

  “It’s right Rebecca should have her share, but I’m not blood. I – ”

  “Your blood’s in this ranch, Luke Chandler,” argued Marti. “I’ve seen you spill it. Along with your sweat and tears.”

  And your heart and your soul.

  “I’m leaving anyhow. I was just waiting till you came back from China.”

  “Luke, you can’t!” Rebecca cried. “You can’t leave here. If it’s because I’d have a share – ”

  “It has nothing to do with you.” She would have believed him when she first met him. Now she knew it was a lie. “It’s time to move on. Try another place. Been here too long. Gettin’ routine.”

  Rebecca tried to reach for him, but a grip on her arm drew her the other way at the same time the others closed in around Luke, arguing with him.

  “Let go, Grandmother, I have to talk to Luke. Make him see sense.”

  Antonia drew her through a doorway into the family room. “Rebecca, stop this display at once.”

  “Luke can’t leave. He's – ”

  “Do you think he’s leaving for nothing? Do you think he didn’t want a piece of Dahlgren money before you could be free of him?”

  The absolute coldness of her grandmother’s voice brought Rebecca around to face her. Antonia nodded.

  “Now do you understand what I’ve been saying about a man like him? He’s just like your father. A man not worthy of a Dahlgren. A man more than willing to take advantage when a foolish woman lets her emotions rule. But I’m not foolish. I kept my head, as I did with your father. I pay what needs to be paid to keep the Dahlgrens free of men like that.”

  “You ... you paid Clark Pryor to leave Mother?”

  “It was necessary. They had been living in an appalling apartment. And when I cut his job off – even in this godforsaken area, where they pretend not to have heard the Dahlgren name, Dahlgren money carries weight.”

  “You had him fired?”

  Antonia clearly didn’t hear the horror in her voice. “Which should have been more than sufficient to bring Suzanne to her senses. Instead, she was prepared to take you and follow him to the reservation. Even after I had his brother’s job cut off, so there was no one to support the family, even then she was going to take you. A Dahlgren raised on a reservation!”

  “But ... this was all after I was born? They were married!”

  “Having it annulled wasn’t difficult after I finally got Suzanne from that man’s clutches.”

  “You had it annulled. You broke her heart ... you broke your daughter’s heart.”

  “Suzanne was weak. She let her emotions rule her. Even when I showed her he’d taken the check after two years – ”

  “Two years? You starved him and his family for two years, then you dangled money in front of him? Why didn’t you leave them alone? Leave us alone? You took away my father, you took away my mother, you took away my name – all for what?”

  “Do not speak that way to me. You had that other blood in you, but I worked hard to overcome that. If her father hadn’t interfered with Suzanne, I would have succeeded a generation earlier, but with you I had no interference. I raised you as a true Dahlgren. And you showed promise of living up to that name, of overcoming your birth before you came here. You must see now that I was right – I am right. This man is just like your father. Sooner or later, the money is all they want.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that Luke’s leaving Far Hills because you’ve paid him?”

  “As I said, I’ve taken care of it.”

  “No.” A calm she’d never felt before flowed through Rebecca. “No. Nothing on this earth would convince me that you or anyone else could buy Luke Chandler. I believe in him, whatever doubts I’ve had about myself.” She shook her head. “I can’t count how many times I’ve said I had no one but you, and I was right, because I didn’t even have me. That was the price I paid to have you, Grandmother. But I’ve learned – that price is too high.”

  “Rebecca – ”

  “You should leave. There are many things I’m grateful to you for and, perhaps someday... But now, just go.”

  Rebecca stepped back into the kitchen. Beyond the knot around Luke, she spotted a competent no-nonsense face.

  “Fran? Fran, would you please drive Antonia to town. Her car and driver are at my apartment. She needs to leave and I ... I need to stay here.”

  Such simple words to change a lifetime.

  “This is a mistake, Rebecca – ”

  She spun around to Antonia. “Then it’s my mistake. My mistake to make. My mistake to live with. Not yours. Please, go. We don’t want to make a scene.”

  The bitterness behind those words was lost on her grandmother. All of her life had been about not making a scene. And the words worked now as Rebecca needed them to. Antonia Dahlgren drew herself erect, and stalked out. Fran squeezed Rebecca’s shoulder, then followed.

  Rebecca didn’t stop to think what she was doing or what she might say next. She followed her heart, and headed straight to Luke.

  The group around him made way for her, as Grif finished up what sounded like a lecture – as only a colonel in the army can lecture – “Don’t be a stubborn fool, Luke.”

  Luke didn’t reply. He was watching her. She met his eyes, and this time she saw clearly what was in them.

  “Go after her, Rebecca. As long as I’m not around, she’ll accept the idea of you having a share of the ranch. You can make that work. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

  “It’s more important right now that I do something I won’t regret, Luke.”

  A flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re up against, Rebecca. You’ve been protected by the Dahlgren name, the money. You don’t know what the world’s like without
that.”

  “About time I learn then.”

  “Rebecca.” He sounded exasperated. She figured that was good. “Think about what you’d be giving up. The house and cars and clothes and comfort and ... and everything. You won’t have those things.”

  Tears stung her eyes and she didn’t know if they were from his misguided nobility or fury.

  “I’d horsewhip you for that, Luke, if I weren’t convinced that only a man in love would give up what he wants most in this world to try to give a woman what she doesn’t want anymore.”

  “Ah, ahem, yes,” said Robert. “Time we all go outside, don’t you think?”

  Rebecca never remembered how Robert managed to steer everyone else out of the kitchen, but it seemed to her that he accomplished it between one breath and the next. When the door clicked closed, leaving the two of them facing off in the kitchen, she spoke again.

  “You don’t deny it.” She felt like she was walking a high wire. No net. No experience. Just Luke’s eyes, pulling her across, foot by foot.

  “That’s not the point – ”

  “You don’t deny that you’re a man in love. That you love me.” Just saying the words ... it was like the open umbrella high wire walkers used to catch the air, to give them balance and lift.

  “Your grandmother can give you – ”

  “No, Luke, she can’t. She doesn’t give. She barters. I didn’t understand that before I came here. All my life, I felt ... Then you and everyone else at Far Hills showed me that love is freely given, not something to be earned by following a set of rules.”

  “I can’t give you what you’re used to.”

  “I don’t want what I’m used to. I want better. I want you.”

  “I won’t ever care as much as you do about what people say. And there’ll be plenty to say you’re a fool, to say I came after you for the name, the money.”

  Odd how a stray phrase could settle into a heart, could calm it and thrill it at the same time. I came after you. Luke Chandler came after her. He’d wanted her. He’d chased her. He truly did love her.

  “Luke, I know what I want. I know what I’m getting into. You’ve taught me a lot. About ditches and cows and horses. You’ve taught me about myself. Things I never knew. And you taught me about sticking up for what – and who – I believe in, no matter what people might say. There’s nothing and no one I believe in more than you.”

  One tear slid down her cheek. Silent, like the ones she used to see her mother shed as she sat on the side of her bed, mourning.

  “All my life I feared being like my mother, making the same mistake she did. I used to think that mistake was falling in love with the wrong man. But it wasn’t. It was not believing in the man she loved. I’m not making that mistake.”

  She saw the sheen in his eyes before he pulled her tight against him. She’d reached the far end of the high wire, and found her safe haven. No longer lost.

  “Ah, Rebecca. You’re making a lousy bargain, but I’ll be damned if I let you go now. I’m holding you to your word.”

  She was smiling as he brought his mouth down on hers, smiling as their bodies molded together, the response strong and immediate. Still smiling, though a little wobbly, when he ended the kiss to speak with his lips nearly brushing hers.

  “You’re wrong about what I want most in this world.”

  With the proof pressed against her stomach, her smile stretched wider. “Oh? Want to explain that to me?”

  He growled. She felt as if the smile had wrapped around her heart.

  Luke tucked her against his side and headed purposefully for the door, only to find everyone huddled on the doorstep.

  “We had to stay close because of the baby monitor,” Kendra said, deadpan.

  “So, is it all clear for us to come back in?” Daniel asked, that devilish glint in his eyes.

  “Yep. Because we’re leaving.” Luke kept both of them moving toward his house.

  “But all this food – ” started Marti, then caught herself and laughed.

  “We’ll leave a care basket on the doorstep later,” Ellyn called out after them.

  “Much later,” Grif amended with a chuckle.

  “Thank you!” Rebecca shouted over her shoulder. “You know manners don’t hurt, Luke,” she chided with a grin, as they took the steps up to his porch. “Especially not when someone’s offering the fuel that will keep up our strength.”

  With the door still wide open, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her long and deep. When they finally came up for air, she heard what sounded like cheers from the direction of the main house.

  “Good point,” Luke said, his voice husky. “Thanks!” he shouted.

  Then he slammed the door closed behind them, and demonstrated what he wanted most in the world.

  EPILOGUE

  There was one more thing to do before they all headed up to view the plaque Marti had had made for Leaping Star’s overlook. The Thanksgiving Day turkey was in the oven. Fran was looking after baby Sarah, and the rest of them were ready to load into the four-wheel drive vehicles to drive as close as possible before they followed the path Rebecca and Luke had taken one summer night.

  There’d been talk about riding up. But with Kendra two months from her due date, with the day’s full schedule, and with the chancy weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, they’d decided to do it this way.

  Come Monday, Marti and her girls would be heading out with Robert for an extended stay in Washington, D.C. If it worked out – and Rebecca expected it would – Marti would soon be living in Washington, with trips back to visit Wyoming.

  “After all those years Kendra and Grif visited for summers at Far Hills, we’ll just reverse roles,” Marti had said. “Emily and Sarah will always have the ranch, just like Kendra and Grif did.”

  Yes, things were definitely working out to Marti Susland’s satisfaction, Rebecca thought. With one exception.

  “Luke Chandler, you are going to sign this,” the ranch owner said.

  “No.”

  Rebecca had stayed in the background until now, but they’d been going round and round and making no progress. She stepped close to where he stood before the desk. “What’s this really about, Luke?”

  He resisted another two breaths before making eye contact with her, then stubbornly staring out the window where the others were visible. But he finally spoke.

  “I won’t have anyone saying you were taken in by a fortune-hunter, going after a share of the ranch.”

  After an instant of stunned silence, Rebecca said, “I don’t believe it. You do care what people think!”

  “I won’t have them saying you were taken in,” he repeated doggedly.

  “Not a very good fortune-hunter,” Marti pointed out. “Since you’d have done a good sight better for yourself if you hadn’t helped the girl get herself disinherited by the Dahlgrens.”

  Rebecca smiled slightly at that, but her attention was all on the man in front of her.

  “I won’t have people saying that I romanced you because I knew you’d get a share of Far Hills. That you maneuvered to get me this share – ” His hand tapped the legal document on the desk between him and Marti. “ – because I was pulling your strings.”

  “Is that Helen and Barb’s latest fabrication? I can’t believe you’re letting that bother you.”

  “I won’t have them saying you’re a fool to be with me.”

  “I won’t let what anybody’s saying stop us from what’s right.” She’d said the words deliberately and she saw their effect on him now. He was stubborn, this man she’d been living with for two months, but he wasn’t immovable. “You’re going to sign this document accepting that share for running the ranch. You’re going to run this ranch like the great rancher you are. And there’s nothing you can say that will keep me from putting my share behind you, because I know nobody could love this place more than you do.”

  He parted his lips, but she stepped up closer to him, close enough for
his body to react and his mouth to snap shut. “And if you’re worried about people thinking I was fooled by a fortune-hunter you’ll just have to prove them wrong by showing the whole world you love me for me and not for my share of the ranch. You’ll have to treat me very, very well.”

  “I’ll treat you – ” He bit off that growl to look around for Marti, but she must have slipped out, because the next thing Rebecca knew, his body was against hers and his mouth was over hers.

  * * * *

  “I know some of you don’t believe in the legend of Leaping Star, or in what she told Charles Susland all those years ago on this spot.”

  “You mean the curse,” interposed young Ben Sinclair.

  “I don’t think of it as a curse,” said Marti, seriously. “I don’t think she was telling him that she was going to make that happen. I think she was telling him that with a man like him as head of the family, he was going to cause bad things to happen. And a lot of bad things did happen to his family. A lot of bad things.”

  Robert silently handed her a handkerchief.

  “But,” she continued strongly after wiping her eyes, “that’s past now. Whether somebody believes in the legend or not, they’d have to see that things are right on Far Hills Ranch.”

  Rebecca watched the older woman’s face as she looked around their group. First Kendra, her hand resting atop the swell of her pregnancy, while Daniel used one arm to encircle her waist and the other to steady Matthew on his shoulders. Next, Grif and Ellyn, arms looped around each other, with Meg on one side of them and Ben on the other. Then her, tucked securely against Luke’s side. And Robert standing beside Marti, with his hands on Emily’s shoulders.

  Things were perfect at Far Hills, though not beyond the haven of Rebecca’s new home. Antonia had cut all ties with her granddaughter. Rebecca was taking a slow and cautious approach with her Pryor relatives, which seemed to suit them, too. She had worked out more of Antonia’s role in her parents’ breakup. How she had persuaded Suzanne to return to Delaware “for a while” with baby Rebecca because the Pryor men had lost their jobs. How she had then had Suzanne declared an unfit mother, holding Rebecca hostage to keep Suzanne from leaving. And how she had had Clark Pryor arrested twice when he tried to see his family. But how he never had given up trying until Suzanne had died and the spirit went out of him, too.