Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

Sarah and Luke walked into the kitchen holding hands.

Jack noticed immediately. He stared for a moment, eyes filled with questions and concern, until he looked up at Luke’s smiling face and all the worry went out of him and he moved on. “We made you breakfast, Mama.”

She smiled at the bowl of berries, glass of orange juice, and the plate of pancakes. “You did this for me?”

Jack nodded, pride in his eyes. “Luke said you need to eat a good breakfast.”

“I poured the juice without spilling,” Nick announced, his sweet smile making her grin back.

“You did a fantastic job.”

Luke touched her back to get her to sit at the counter. “I fed the boys earlier.” He took the pancakes and popped them in the microwave to heat.

“You did all this while I was in the shower?”

“The boys helped.” Luke gave her a sheepish look. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”

“Thank you.” It touched her deeply, and she hoped Luke saw that she really meant the gratitude and appreciation.

“Taking care of you is my pleasure.” The purr in his voice made her think of how he’d taken care of her last night.

Luke set the warmed pancakes in front of her along with a tub of butter and a bottle of syrup.

“I could get used to this.”

“Stay. I’ll make it worth your while.” Luke’s sexy grin promised heaven.

“What are you talking about?” Jack asked, his gaze bouncing from her to Luke and back.

Luke took the lead. “I like having all of you here.”

“We have fun,” Nick added.

Jack studied Luke. “Can we play baseball again tonight with all the guys?”

Luke filled her in. “I put together a game with the ranch hands before dinner last night.”

Of course he did.

“Luke taught me how to throw a wicked fastball,” Jack announced, pride lighting up his whole face.

“Let’s go riding again.” Nick bounced in the seat next to her.

She swallowed the bite of fluffy pancakes. As much as she’d like to stay . . . “We have to go back to Grandma’s.” Margaret probably couldn’t wait to tell her off and chide her for exhausting herself and putting the boys at risk. Like she didn’t already feel bad enough about what happened. “She’s probably waiting for us right now.”

She hated putting that disappointed expression on Luke’s rugged face. The boys’ faces matched his. But she couldn’t go against her promise to Margaret. “We’ll come back and see Luke every day before we go home. I promise.”

Luke leaned on his forearms on the counter in front of the boys. “Your mom and I . . . We really like each other. In fact, I love her. And I want us to be a family.”

Jack sat back. “What does that mean?”

“Well, your mom and I have a lot to talk about and work out, but eventually, someday soon, I hope that you will all live here with me. How would you guys feel about that?”

Jack linked his fingers together in his lap and nervously kicked his feet back and forth. “Do you mean all the time?”

“That’s right.”

“What about our house?” Jack looked to her to answer that.

“The house is still ours, sweetheart. We aren’t moving immediately. Like Luke said, someday soon.” She turned her gaze to Luke. “There’s still so much you don’t know . . . things I need to tell you. About Sean. My life. The company.”

“We will talk about all of it,” Luke assured her before turning back to the boys. “Your mom and I just want to know if you guys would like living here with me.”

“Yeah, I guess that would be okay.” Jack shrugged.

“I guess so.” Nick responded with more enthusiasm.

Sarah assumed Nick’s enthusiasm was partly because of Luke, and partly because of the horses and kitties in the barn. Jack’s approval seemed more hesitant. She’d talk to them more about the future she wanted with Luke and all of them being a family and what that would look like.

She stood, kissed both boys on the head, put her dish and silverware in the dishwasher, while the boys plied Luke with a dozen questions about making the rooms upstairs theirs. She found their constant chatter endearing, especially since it showed how much the boys loved Luke’s attention.

Sarah had finally gotten a good look at the house. The great room was her favorite. The white walls with the wood floor and ceiling with the chunky beams made the room so cozy and inviting.

“Luke, I really love the house. This kitchen is amazing.” She loved the big dark gray island with the white quartz countertops. The farmhouse sink was charming and went with the white Craftsman-style cabinets.

“I had the place redecorated several months ago. I’m glad you like it. I hope you’ll be comfortable here, but if there’s something you don’t like, we can change it. Anything you want, I’ll make it happen.”

She smiled at him, her heart expanding with an abundance of love. “It’s perfect.” They’d be really happy here.

“I hope my family thinks so, too. They’re coming for dinner Sunday night for our monthly get-together. I want you and the boys to join us.” Luke wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Please say you’ll come. I want you to meet them. I want everyone to see us together and how happy we are.”

How could she resist him? “Okay, we’ll come to dinner. Are you cooking?”

“No. I have a personal chef who does everything.”

“Oh really?” Sarah eyed him.

He smirked. “I totally get why you have Camille. And I’m with you. When you work hard, you deserve to splurge once in a while. And this way, all we have to do is show up and eat.”

A truck and trailer arrived outside and distracted her. “Today is Friday.”

“Yeah.”

“You have a delivery.” She smiled up at him.

Luke gazed out the window. “I didn’t order or buy anything.”

“It’s a gift.” She helped the boys down from their stools. “Come, boys. You can watch cartoons while I show Luke another part of who I am.” The boys gave her a strange look, but she had Luke’s full attention.

*  *  *

Luke left Sarah to settle the boys in front of the TV and reached the truck in the driveway just after two men got out. One was in his fifties, gray hair, a good strong build, and about six feet tall. The other was in his twenties with dark blond hair to his shoulders and a strong lean build of about six-foot-two. Given the similarity of their looks, Luke guessed they were father and son. Two horses nickered at him from inside the trailer. He approached the men and caught sight of the sign on the truck door. Flames rose behind the black words “Blaze Ranch.” The same ranch he’d tried to buy horses from a while back.

“Can I help you guys?”

The older man eyed him. “Are you the owner? Luke?”

“That’s me. What can I do for you?”

“We’re here to deliver the horses.”

“That can’t be right. I called about buying some horses a long time ago, but the owner wouldn’t sell.”

“I guess she changed her mind.”

Luke didn’t know what to make of this. The older man looked like he was sincere about delivering the horses. “But I didn’t buy any horses.”

“You’ll have to talk to her about it.”

“Well, where is she? How do I get in touch with her?”

The man waved his hand out. “She’s right behind you.”

Luke turned and found Sarah standing there, smiling.

She ran past him and launched herself into the older man’s arms. “I am so happy to see you.”

“Me too, squirt. We brought your ladies. How are you? It’s been a while.”

“I’m fine. How are my girls?”

“Right as rain, squirt.”

The second the older man released her, Sarah hugged the younger one. A shot of jealousy ran through Luke unlike anything he’d ever felt.

The young guy picked her up, leaving her feet dangling at his shins. “Hey, how you doin’?”

“Just fine.” She leaned back. “Did you finish school yet?”

“Almost. One semester left.” He let her down. Luke felt the surge of jealousy rise.

Back on her feet, Sarah tapped her fist into the young guy’s gut. “Behave.” She turned to Luke. “This is Tim and Randy Reed. They run Blaze Ranch, and they are here to deliver your new mares.”

Luke raised a brow. “I need the extended version of that explanation.”

She sighed. “I feel like I’m always explaining myself to you. I told you I managed to hold on to my uncle’s ranch. I expanded it while I was in college by doing some website design work.” She held her hand out to the sign on the truck door. “Blaze Ranch. Get it?”

Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Because you burned it down.”

“Just a little joke on myself. Tim is the ranch hand who used to bring the radio to the stables. He was always kind to me, so when I needed someone to help me get the ranch up and running, I hired him. His son Randy works for me when he isn’t attending school, along with several other people.”

“You should come more often,” Tim chided.

“If I had time . . .”

“You need to make the time,” Tim coaxed.

Sarah rolled her eyes.

Luke wondered about the ranch. “Did Sean know about it?”

“He knew I had the land when we were in college. I told him I wanted to build something out of it and he dismissed the idea.” She shrugged. “I should have taken that as a warning of what was to come.” She scrunched her mouth into a derisive frown. “I don’t like being ignored or told what to do, so I built the ranch on my own. If something happened, like my marriage to Sean falling apart, I knew I had a place that was all mine.”

“So when you divorced him you weren’t going to tell him about the ranch?”

“Well, Counselor, I owned it before the marriage, so it wasn’t part of the community property.”

Luke wasn’t thinking like a lawyer but like a man who’d been used for what he had for too long. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

“She’s always right,” Tim said. “You should get used to that now.”

Luke chuckled under his breath. “It’s starting to sink in.”

Sarah turned shy. “I’m sorry I wouldn’t sell you one of my babies when you called about them. I want to make sure my horses go to good homes.”

“Are you telling me I spoke to you before?”

“Yes. Though I don’t remember.”

“If you’d only sold me a horse, we would have met a long time ago.”

“It’s strange how things work out. It’s like no matter what, we were meant to meet.”

They shared a long look that said so much, because it really felt like the second she stepped into his life, everything felt different and headed in the right direction.

Sarah’s smile brightened. “Want to meet Ace’s new girlfriends?”

He got caught up in her enthusiasm. “I can’t wait.”

They walked to the back of the trailer where Tim and Randy had backed out the horses. Luke stopped, stunned when he saw them. Magnificent. Ace was a gorgeous brown quarter horse stallion, but the ones Sarah had sent him were amazing. One sorrel, the other brown. Sarah walked up to each of the horses and gave them a good rub down their noses and the sides of their faces.

“Tim, the ladies look wonderful. How’d they do on the ride over?”

“Just fine. We have a couple new foals. I emailed you photos.”

Sarah turned to him. “Meet my princesses. The brown is Jasmine and this is Gweneviere.”

“Sarah, the horses . . . they’re outstanding. But you can’t be serious about giving them to me.” He knew they were worth a fortune. And no one had ever given him anything like this. The foals these horses produced would be the best on his ranch—any ranch in the state, for that matter.

Sarah’s eyes turned defensive. “I’m not giving them to you.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. He should have known better. “How much do I owe you? I’ll pay you whatever you’re asking.”

“Really. Whatever I’m asking?” She raised a brow. “I suppose I have the perfect excuse to steal you blind on these horses.”

“How much?” Luke wasn’t buying her ruse to gouge him. He knew she’d be fair. He could all but see the twinkle in her eyes.

“Kiss me, big guy.”

He didn’t have to be asked twice and planted a kiss on her that said how much he appreciated her and this gesture that would ensure his ranch thrived.

To his dismay, she pulled away far too soon and looked him right in the eye. “These horses are a gift for Ace. Although you have some really nice mares, you don’t have any that compare to my princesses.”

He cupped her beautiful face. “There is nothing that compares to you.” He kissed her, loving her for her generosity and kind heart. She loved her horses, that was clear, but she’d given them to him, knowing he’d take care of them. He’d love them the way she did.

She trusted him with the horses, her kids, and her heart.

All he wanted to do was make her happy.

He feared ever disappointing her or losing her.

There was no one like Sarah.

His life was better with her in it.

Now all he had to do was make it permanent.