“Just hear me out,” he insisted, on a roll he didn’t want to stop. “When I first called you I was just so damned anxious to get to know Josh, you know, because of Dave’s death and all. Anyway, I made that deal with Luke, offered him money to find the boy, because I was so damned lonely.”

Her throat ached all over again, as he explained how empty his life was without Dave but that he’d decided that Katie, as Josh’s mother, knew what was best when it came to his grandson. He and his estranged wife only wanted what was best for Josh, and to that end they planned to set up a trust fund for him with the money he’d set aside for Luke.

Katie was thunderstruck. Her fingers clamped over the receiver. “But I thought Luke already got the money.”

“No way.” The old man chuckled sadly. “That boy taught me a little bit about what being a family and putting other people’s needs before your own is all about. It’s funny, really. Luke never really had a family, didn’t know much about his folks, and then his own marriage was a mistake from the get-go, what with his wife running around on him and all.”

Katie felt a tear slide down her cheek. What a fool she’d been.

“Listen, Mr. Sorenson—”

“Call me Ralph. We are like family whether we want to be or not.”

“I want you to come and visit Josh. I’ve talked with him and we need to all get together.”

There was a moment’s hesitation. “You’re certain about this?”

“Positive.”

“Well . . . sure. I’ll let you know. Thank you, Katie.”

“And thank you.” She hung up, wrote Josh a quick note in case he got home before she returned, then flew out to the car. She needed to talk to Luke and tell him how she felt. She had to swallow her pride and, no matter what happened, admit that she loved him.

Once behind the wheel, she took a deep breath, then jabbed her key into the ignition and prayed that she hadn’t let the one man in the world she needed slip through her fingers.

* * *

Luke, pounding nails that had worked their way out of the stable’s old siding, raised his hammer again and heard the Jeep before it rounded the corner of the lane. He half hoped it would be Katie driving out to see him, but told himself he was being a fool. Whatever they’d shared was over. Somehow he’d have to get used to living in the same town with her and knowing they’d never be together.