Nobody's Dream (96 page)

Luke grinned and took a step inside. Perhaps just a quick peek. She took in the massive stone fireplace—Goddess, the stones looked as if they flowed like water in a stream! “Look at the fireplace, Luke!”

“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. I’d rather look at you.”

She met his gaze again and pulled his mouth to hers for a lingering kiss. When she could speak again, she said, “Put me down.”

“Only if you kiss me first. I like holding you—and carrying you over the threshold.”

But he hadn’t carried her over the threshold when they returned from Peru. Now she wondered why a traditional man like Luke would have forgotten something like that, but she had not given it a thought back then. It was not a custom in her country.

Something niggled at the back of her mind.

“I’m waiting.”

Distracted, she held the side of his neck and pressed her lips to his. He ignited the flames again, but she broke away realizing what had been nagging at her a moment ago. “Why were you talking to Mrs. Wickersham?”

Rather than answer, he set her on her feet and crossed the room to a roll-top desk. He opened the center drawer. “Luke! What’s gotten into you?”

He reached for a packet of legal-looking papers and handed the sheaf to her.

“A belated wedding gift to my bride.”

Her heart pounded as she accepted the papers and began to unfold them. Was he saying what she thought…the word DEED jumped out at her immediately. Confused, she met his gaze. He seemed serious, awaiting her response. She furrowed her brows. “We cannot afford a place like this.”

He grinned. “Turned out, Mrs. Wickersham wanted to make sure it went to someone who would keep the land from being overdeveloped. Without any heirs, she chose to sell this parcel to us. Honestly, I think she sees you as a daughter.”

She glanced at the paper, but couldn’t decipher the words. Too many tears in her eyes and thoughts scrambling her mind.

“We only own the ten acres right around the house, though.”

“How could you afford this?”

“She gave us a good deal.”

“It still had to be a fortune, and the taxes and upkeep on a place like this—” He silenced her with his finger on her lips.

“We can afford what she asked in part because of the money your family gave us at our wedding reception. They were more than generous. I had no idea when they kept stuffing envelopes in my pocket what was in them until I opened them up the next day. Good thing I didn’t put them in our suitcase with all that cash.”

The gifts were a tradition in her country but she had no idea how generous they had been either. Luke had shown her the cards, and she had told him how she was related to or knew each person. She knew there would be money in them, but left it to Luke to put it in the bank.

“That money more than paid what she asked. She really did practically give us the land. Then I took the money from the sale of the ranch house—”

“You sold your ranch? Luke, no! You love that place! How will you continue to work with the horses without—” He silenced her with a warm finger to her lips.

“I sold the
house
to Ryder and Megan Wilson. She said her father would have liked her spending his inheritance that way. They’ll be overseeing the ranch and helping me with the horses. Ryder will also be helping me with some of my carpentry jobs. He did most of the work this place this past month.”

“So that’s what you two have been so busy doing when you left Megan and me to our own devices. Oh, but I like her a lot. Now I’m going to get to spend even more time with her. But how did you keep all this from me? I had no idea any of this was happening.”

“Megan was a big help, distracting you when we needed to go over plans or paperwork from the attorneys. Darlin’, I hated deceiving you like that and promise it won’t ever happen again, but I hope you don’t mind now that you know I did it to surprise you.”

Cassie had sensed her life would be entwined with Megan’s as soon as they had met. She was like a sister to her already. Not as close as Cassie’s relationship to Kitty, of course. No one could replace her dearest sister-friend in the world. But she looked forward to getting to know Megan, whose spirit was so brave and free.

“Of course, I’ll be down at the ranch every day I can be, barring any more avalanches. The horses are still my responsibility, and I want to oversee their training. But Ryder’s going to help me take the operation to the next level. He wants to try some things that have worked for him that might help other wounded warriors. It will be a sanctuary where the wounded or abused can find peace and hope.”

“But it already is that.”

He ran his finger down her nose and tapped it. “Not just for animals, but people. Watching your transformation while there makes me certain it will be a special place for healing all types of hurts. Ryder and I have been talking about building a bunkhouse and raising some money to hire professional staff to give veterans, first responders, sexual-abuse and rape survivors, and others a sanctuary to come to and heal with the animals.”

Tears pricked the backs of her eyelids. She reached up to stroke his cheek. “Oh, Luke, that sounds amazing. But you know you were as much a part of my healing as the horses were. No, much more.”

He bent to place a kiss on her lips. “Thanks, Sweet Pea. That means a lot to me. But those animals will provide much-needed peace and healing to anyone who needs it. I saw it happen with Ryder the few times he was with O’Keeffe. And he told me Chance helped him avoid a panic attack when we all gathered at the ranch to celebrate our wedding a few weeks ago. Look at how we’ve spread her puppies around to others who will benefit from them. Karla already plans to send Hero to be trained as a service dog after hearing how Chance helped Ryder. Maybe we can get Chance some formal training, too, as well as Suyana. The horses also understand and help people in the healing process.”

He paused but he sizzled with energy and excitement. “Cassie, it’s going to be an amazing thing to be a part of. I doubt I’d have ever figured it out if not for you.”

When he leaned toward her and she was certain he would have kissed her, another thought sprang to mind, and she pulled away. “Wait! Luke, you hate the cold winters up here.” He would not survive the first month.

He grinned. “I’ll never get used to cold, true, but I’m sure there’s a hot-blooded Peruvian lady willing to have mercy on me and sacrifice some of her warmth on those cold nights.”

“At twelve thousand feet, that will be every night.”

“Damn straight.”

Thoughts of being snuggled with him in their bed, staring up at the moon and stars through the skylights, brought a smile to her face. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her near, crushing the deed between their bodies. She checked out the fireplace again and noticed it had a modern insert that probably would provide them with efficient heat. No doubt he had back-up heat plans, too. Luke was good at providing for their needs and thinking of all contingencies.

“Luke, a dance floor!” The inlaid wood covered a good-sized area in front of the fireplace. She could not wait to dance there with Luke.

“I’m counting on more lessons—and might even want to just watch you cut loose every now and then.”

“I would much rather dance
with
you.”

His eyes twinkled. “Sounds good. Here, let me give you the ten-cent tour.” He showed her the downstairs, including the kitchen, one and a half baths, and two small bedrooms for visitors—or children perhaps. He even included a small area to serve as a second altar, perhaps on days she did not wish to go out to the studio.

“I’m going to get your ideas and make you an altar this winter when we’re snowbound. Oh, that reminds me. Ryder and I will be working on a shed for the girls, but didn’t have time yet. I know your girls like the cold up here as much as you do.”

“We’re mountain born. It’s in our blood.”

“I saw how invigorated you were in Peru and when we were up here and knew you needed to be on the mountain.”

“But Luke, I was happy with you in the basin. The ranch is surrounded by mountains so I could get my fix anytime.”

“No regrets. Seeing the way your face lights up with everything I show you up here, I know I made the right decision. Now, let’s see what’s upstairs.” He guided her to the open staircase leading up to the loft.

As she neared the top of the stairs, she noticed the octagonal skylight she had seen while outside looking down on the cabin. “Oh, I already thought how wonderful it would be to look out that window at night!” When she lowered her eyes to the bedroom, the bed from the ranch was there, assembled and made up as if waiting for them.

“How did…we just slept in that bed this morning!”

“Ryder and Marc delivered and set it up and Megan probably made the bed while we were on our trail ride and picnic.”

Her face flamed. “You do not think they saw us without our clothes, do you?”

He chuckled. “No, Sweet Pea. We were nowhere near the road and they had strict orders to set it up and get off the mountain as quickly as possible.”

She relaxed and began surveying the room where apparently she would sleep tonight. Her gaze went to the framed artwork above the bed. “My
quipu
piece!” She saw the two of them reflected in the mirrored backing, just as she had imagined it would be if she had completed it for the gallery event. “It’s not even finished. I was blocked after the fire and then so much happened.”

“I asked you about that piece one night and you said it represented your life story. It will always be a work in progress and anytime you need me to remove the mirror backing, I can, so you can add to it.”

“Oh, that would be perfect because I want to add the scrap I retrieved from the burned-out cabin of
Abuela’s
shoulder cloth. This would be a wonderful way to preserve it and her memory.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. “Sounds good. I don’t want you to ever be finished adding to that one, darlin’.” He bent to kiss the side of her neck and she shivered.

Her heart melted even more, if possible, for this man who intended to spend eternity with her. “That is perfect. And so sweet. Thank you for understanding my artist’s soul.”

Facing them from the wall to the left of the bed was an elaborate shadowbox, Luke’s signature carvings including sweet peas, Peruvian lilies, and a representation of their simple but meaningful wedding bands. She walked closer to peek inside.

“Our
lazo
!” She found not only the rope rosary he had made for their wedding ceremony, but other mementos from the occasion including the bag of
Arras
, with some of the coins spilling out. Opened up for all to read was the hand-written vows from their first wedding day.

She blinked back more tears. She was sentimental, perhaps, but she loved that her husband was, too. “Thank you for preserving our wedding memories so beautifully.”

“Well, I have a bit of an artist’s soul myself, darlin’.”

She turned and returned to his arms. “Yes, you do. One of the first things that endeared you to me was talking about art at Karla’s while Adam was recovering.”

He grasped her arms and gentle pushed her away until he met her gaze. “What? I didn’t think you even noticed I existed.”

She smiled. “Oh, I noticed. I did not know what to do about you, but I definitely noticed. At the time, I thought my body’s response was its usual fear, but at some point it became clear that it was not fear at all.”

He bent down and kissed her lips, taking her breath away. When he stood again, she surveyed the room to see what other surprises it held.

On the nightstand, she saw another framed piece. Breaking away from him, she crossed the room to pick it up. It was the photograph Megan had taken of her at the stream, silhouetted by the sun. “I was going to surprise you with that!”

“Well now, my seeing it was accidental. Megan was editing photos one day up here when I stopped by to check on the progress with construction—she and Ryder camped out a lot during the project and sometimes stayed in the studio if the weather was bad. Anyway, when I saw it on her laptop, I knew it had to be framed and displayed in our bedroom—but for my eyes only.”

Honored.

He smiled nervously when she did not say anything. “Welcome home, Cassie.”

She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, Luke, really? I love you so much!” He grabbed her around the waist and swung her in a circle a few times.

“I feel an unbreakable connection to Iron Horse Peak.”

Luke’s thumb brushed her cheek. “Why’s that?”

“Because this mountain brought you to me.”

4-H
—Though typically thought of as an agriculturally focused organization because of its history, 4-H today focuses on citizenship, healthy living, science, engineering, and technology programs. Its goal is to develop citizenship, leadership, responsibility, and life skills of youth through experiential learning programs and a positive youth development approach. The name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization: head, heart, hands, and health. Luke was a member of 4-H as a boy.

Abuelos
—grandparents, in Spanish

Aji Panca
peppers
—The Panca chili (or
Ají Panca
as it’s known in South America), is a deep red to burgundy pepper, measuring 3-5 inches. It is the second most common pepper in Peru, and is grown near the coast. It has a rather sweet, berry-like, and slightly smoky flavor. The
Ají Panca
can be made into a paste or dried and minced to be used as a condiment. They can be found for sale on the internet in either form. Used in Peruvian cooking, the Panca is great for stews, sauces and fish dishes. See
Puca Picante
below for a link to a recipe Cassie makes for Luke.

Amor
—love, in Spanish

Astral Projection
—(also known as
astral travel
) is an interpretation of out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of an “astral body” separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it.