More than Exist by Bethany Lopez

Author:Bethany Lopez [Lopez, Bethany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-10-09T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

I’d been driving for about forty-five minutes, happy to be behind the wheel of my car again, and enjoying the view as I left the city and drove in to the country. I’d passed through the gates of Hope Heals Ranch and turned at the fork, following Patricia’s directions to Luke’s house.

She’d said the main house, where Luke’s father lives, and the bunkhouse where the ranch hands stay, were to the left, and Luke’s place was to the right. He, his son, and the live-in cook lived a mile down the property from the main house, which was where Luke had grown up. He’d lived, and worked, on this land for his entire life.

As I drove through the property, I took in the scenery. On one side, the acreage was wooded, but the vast majority of land I could see was hilly and sectioned off with wooden fence line. In the distance I could see some cows, horses, and what looked like a dog running through the fields.

I wondered what it would be like to grow up in a place like this. Pretty amazing, I imagined.

I also wondered what happened to Matthew’s mother, and why she was no longer with Luke and their son. Even though it really wasn’t any of my business, I could admit I was curious.

As I drove down the dirt road, the house came into view. It was yellow and white, with a large wraparound porch. There were rocking chairs aplenty, and I suddenly couldn’t wait to wake up in the morning and have coffee on that porch, overlooking the beautiful property that housed Luke’s home.

It was gorgeous, simple, and screamed of peacefulness.

Patricia was right, I thought as I pulled my car up next to a large blue truck. This place is just what I need.

I pulled my suitcase and overnight bag out of the trunk, silently hoping that I’d be done carting these bags around sooner rather than later, eyeing the porch warily as the front door opened and a tall gray-haired woman stepped out. With a beige apron covering her floor-length floral dress, her hair up in a messy bun, she looked like the quintessential ranch house cook.

“You must be Belle,” she bellowed, startling me with the strength of her voice. “Welcome.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance, and I felt some of the tension leave me as I carried my things up the steps to meet her on the porch, which was even deeper than it had looked from the road.

“Thank you,” I responded with an outstretched hand. “And you must be Ms. Lucille.”

She shook my hand, then took my overnight bag off of my shoulder and opened the door.

“Come, dear, I’ll show you to the room, then give you the grand tour. I’ve only got until this evening to show you the ropes, then I’ve got to get on the road myself. My granddaughter is scheduled to have a C-section tomorrow and I promised to be there first thing.”

“Okay,” I said with what I hoped was more confidence than I felt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.