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She thought of Emma and Ted, and their perfect little family. Dallas and Jess seemed to have the All-American life too. Now Slate and Jill were already on their way to achieving all of the dreams Hannah had kept close to her heart for so long.
Luke didn’t return by the weekend, and he didn’t come back to Hope Eternal the next week either. He called here and there, but not as much as Hannah expected from a man she considered her boyfriend.
Jill and Slate announced their pregnancy at the following Sunday’s luncheon, this one being held on the back deck of the Annex, as Spencer had put together lunch that day. Hannah sat by herself, removed from everyone, until the tall, dark-haired cowboy she’d been out with once or twice came to sit beside her.
“Hey,” Spencer said, plunking his plate filled with only potato salad onto the table and then sitting in front of it. “You look miserable.”
“Just what every woman wants to hear,” she said dryly.
Spencer didn’t chuckle or even smile. “Sorry,” he said with a sigh. “You look how I feel.”
“How’s that?” she asked, perking up at the unrest she heard in his voice. It streamed through her in waves.
“Discouraged?” he asked. “Ready to move on? Desperate to find that one person I can spend my life with?” He scooped up a huge bite of his salad and put it in his mouth. “Like that.”
He’d summed everything up quite nicely, in fact. “I’ve eaten four quarts of butter pecan in two weeks,” she admitted. “Luke left the ranch.”
“Permanently?” Spencer looked at her with those dark eyes firing with curiosity. “I thought he was coming back.”
“Do you see him here?” she asked, gesturing around the deck. She shook her head, the desperation she’d spoken with choking her now. She swallowed and reached for her can of soda. After drinking enough to get her throat open, she shook her head. “No, I think he left. I don’t think he’s coming back.”
“He hasn’t told you? Weren’t you two dating?”
“Thus, the butter pecan.” Hannah ran both hands through her hair. “He’s hardly called or texted at all.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Yeah, he’s up in Beeville.”
“Maybe you should go up there and find out what he’s doing.” Spencer ate more of his salad.
Hannah considered what he said, but she knew she’d never do it. Luke had a phone, and he knew how to use it. He hadn’t called her because he didn’t want to talk to her. She wished he’d been more of a man and said so, but Hannah was well-versed with the hints and messages men gave.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Dating app?”
“You know what?” Spencer looked thoughtful, and Hannah realized they’d been friends for a very long time. “I think I’m going to look around for another job at another ranch. Hope Eternal isn’t the only one around here.”
Hannah nodded, though his statement surprised her. “Sometimes we just have to find a way to move on.”
“Yep.” Spencer sounded as miserable as Hannah was about that prospect, and she reached over and covered his hand with hers. He squeezed, and Hannah finally felt like someone understood the pure agony she’d been in since Luke had left the ranch.
