Everything in his childhood home was neat and tidy. His mom had seen to that. Rooms looked like stills from a furniture catalog. A team of gardeners kept the pool and grounds free of any weeds or excess dirt. Everything had been perfectly put together.
He stepped carefully up to the porch, avoiding a spot where the boards were missing, and knocked, knowing from the quiet around him that there would be no answer. He set the box on an old chair near the door. He’d wrapped it in brown paper and taped a note on, so at least she’d get it with the apology she deserved.
“Welcome to Marker Ranch.”
He just about jumped out of his skin at Wade’s voice. Todd turned to see him standing a few feet away from the porch.
Wade had obviously been working. Dirt smeared his T-shirt and jeans. His straw cowboy hat shadowed his face, but Todd could see the sweat there.
“Didn’t hear you come up. Is that some kind of army trick?” Todd left the porch, glad that the box housing the phone looked a lot like a book now that it was wrapped.
“One of the few skills I left with that actually has a use in real life,” Wade said, and Todd recognized Nora’s dry humor in her brother. Wade gestured around vaguely with his arm. “What do you think of the place?”
“I think you’re a guy who’s not afraid of hard work.” Todd looked back at the pastures that lined the driveway. “I know someone who could haul those cars out for you.”
“I’d appreciate his number,” Wade said. “This ranch is a junkyard, and all the junk stolen.” His smile was devoid of humor. “It’s the family legacy. Even the ranch was stolen, or so the story goes. By my great-great-grandfather.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup. It’s an old Benson legend. Supposedly, he won the ranch in a poker game. The guy who lost it accused him of playing with marked cards. Of course my ancestor swore up and down that he hadn’t been cheating. But a year or two later, he named the property Marker Ranch.”
“And the name stuck? No upstanding descendant wanted to change it?”
Wade gave a bark of laughter. “There’s never been any upstanding descendants. Until Nora and me.” He looked around bemusedly.
Marker Ranch was set in a long, narrow valley. Behind Wade, Todd noticed all kinds of outbuildings, some wood, some old prefabricated metal or plastic, staggered alongside the dirt road that cut through the ranch. He wondered what was in them. Wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Nora and I haven’t ever talked about changing the name,” Wade said. “But maybe once we get it all cleaned up and it’s a real working ranch, we can decide.”
“I kind of like the name, but I didn’t grow up here.”
“No,” Wade said hollowly. “You didn’t. Count yourself lucky for that.”
“But you came back.” Todd wondered, briefly, what life circumstances would induce him to make his family home his own. He couldn’t think of any.
“For the land.” Wade gestured up, toward the valley sides that rose steeply to meet the first slopes of the Sierras. Out here the mountains seemed to push straight out of the hills, their sheer granite slopes steep and forbidding and breathtakingly beautiful. “I love it out here. The mountains, the high desert. If I can just fix this place up, I’ll have my own piece of paradise. It’s worth facing the past for that.”
“Makes sense to me,” Todd assured him. They were the same reasons he’d been drawn to the area.
“So did you come out here to apologize to my sister?”
Did Nora tell her brother everything? Todd felt his face flush and was glad the brim of his hat shaded his face. “Yeah.”
“She’s doing fieldwork today,” Wade told him.
“Right. Well, I left her something on the porch. As part of that apology.”
Wade shifted uncomfortably. “Look, I’m not really used to talking about this stuff. And I don’t know much about what went on between you two. Nora never even told me about you.”
He paused and Todd just waited. It seemed better to say nothing than say something wrong.
“But the thing is,” Wade went on, kicking at the dust under his boot, “I lived with her right after you left. She was pretty upset for a long time. And I saw her come home pretty upset again last night.”
Todd knew the only way he’d earn Wade’s respect was through honesty. “Yeah, maybe that drink was a bad idea. It didn’t go so well. And it ended with my foot wedged so far in my mouth I don’t know if I’ll ever get it out.”
Wade gave a grim smile at that. “Look, I like you. Hell knows I could use a buddy out here. But don’t cause my sister trouble, okay? She’s a good person—a great person. She’s my only family and she gave up a lot to look out for me. I don’t want to see her hurt again.”
Todd didn’t know if the sick feeling in his throat was more embarrassment or disappointment. He’d sat across from Nora last night just trying to take her in. She’d always been pretty, but now she was so much more. Grown-up and strong and fiery underneath that same veneer of calm. Her gray eyes were darker than he remembered. Stormier. Her brown hair was longer, wavy and bleached by the sun, framing her face, which had lost some of its girlish fullness. The new angles suited her. She’d been furious with him in the bar last night, and remote, determined to hold him at a distance. And he knew he should respect that. But her down-to-earth beauty had grabbed him by the heart and twisted, wringing out all those memories he’d tried to lay to rest. He’d loved her. And while talking with her last night he’d vividly remembered all the heat that had been between them once. They’d been so alive, so in the moment together. Devouring knowledge, wandering mountains, exploring the world and never, ever getting enough of each other.
Until he’d learned the truth about his own family. And in his anger and rebellion, he’d messed up everything.
And now it didn’t matter what he might want. Clearly there could be nothing between them anymore. Nora despised him. She saw him as the pampered trust-fund kid he used to be. Which was exactly how he’d come across.
“I won’t cause her any more trouble,” he promised. “I screwed up back in college and I screwed up last night. I won’t mess up a third time. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Wade looked relieved. He pulled his cowboy hat down over his shaggy hair. Evidently he was growing out his military buzz cut. “Good,” he said. “Now that we got that over with, do you want go fishing this weekend?”
Now, that was the perfect way to end an awkward conversation. Todd grinned—part relief, part excitement. “That would be great. These past couple years have been so busy, getting the machine repair business going, and my ranch set up. I haven’t had much time to get to know many different fishing holes. It’d be awesome to get out there with a local.”
“Well, my knowledge is a little dated,” Wade admitted. “I’ve only been back a couple weeks and there hasn’t been time for fishing. But probably not much has changed. How about I swing by and pick you up from your work Sunday evening? That’ll give us a couple hours of daylight to nab a few trout.”
“Sounds good,” Todd said. He turned back to his truck, then paused. “You want any help grading this driveway?”
He saw Wade’s shoulders stiffen a little, wary of anything that smacked of charity. “Maybe eventually,” he said. “Right now I kind of like it. Keeps the nosy folks of Benson from paying any calls.”
Todd laughed. “You’re probably right about that. But it’s also hard on your truck. Think about it. I’m happy to help.”
“I appreciate that,” Wade said.
“And I’m not sure Nora mentioned it, but I work with mustangs. I adopt