Home!
“Oh, Mother, what a sight!” Evie exclaimed.
Below lay the three homes, the biggest one nestled into pines at the edge of the valley. There were the white clapboard outbuildings, the bunkhouse, fenced corrals with beautiful horses running around in some of them, old Gus grazing in another corral, a few milk cows with calves scattered here and there.
“Yee-haw!” Pepper shouted, charging past them to catch up with Jake and Lloyd, who along with the boys were already riding hard down the hill toward the valley, all of them yipping like Indians. Some of the men below mounted horses and rode out to greet them.
Randy put a hand over her mouth and cried. Shopping and fancy balls and going to the opera meant nothing compared to this. She was sure Peter’s mansion of a home in Chicago couldn’t compare either…not to this. Her log home was just as much a castle as any in Europe, and the J&L was their own personal kingdom.
“Mother, this is God’s creation. It’s not like anything man can build, is it?”
Randy could barely talk. They were home. Jake was free. Lloyd was actually well enough to ride a horse. And now, even from the distance as Brian drove the buggy downhill, she could see two little girls running from the main house to greet their grandfather.
Brian drove the buggy through the main gate, over which hung the sign J&L RANCH, and underneath Jake and Lloyd Harkner, Owners.
“Let me out, Brian,” Randy told her son-in-law.
Brian slowed the buggy to a halt.
“Mother, you’re crying!” Evie exclaimed.
Katie moved an arm around Randy. “She’s just happy. You want to walk in the rest of the way, don’t you, Mom?”
Randy nodded, not quite able to find her voice.
“I’ll walk with you.”
Katie and Randy climbed out, and Brian drove the buggy slowly beside them. Moments later, Jake and Lloyd turned their horses and started riding back toward them, each of them with a little girl in his arms. Little Jake had stayed below to go to the barn and get his own horse.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Both girls were squealing the word. Jake stopped and left Sadie off with Evie, who pulled the dark-haired little girl into the seat between her and Brian. Lloyd rode up to meet Katie, Tricia’s bright red hair such a stark contrast to her father’s dark skin and long black hair it was almost comical. No one who didn’t know better would ever believe the girl belonged to Lloyd. Katie reached up and took Tricia into her arms, and the little girl wrapped her arms around Katie’s neck.
“Come on up, and I’ll ride both of you down,” Lloyd told Katie with a grin.
“Lloyd, you’d better get off that horse and lie down as soon as you get to the house,” Randy told him. She thought how happy he looked, but he needed to gain some weight, and right now, she could see pain in his eyes.
“Well, this time I’m not going to argue with you, Mom,” he told her. “I’m feeling pretty shaky at the moment. Pepper is coming over to help with Katie. I just want to ride in together.”
Pepper reached them and dismounted to lift Katie up behind Lloyd. He handed up Tricia, and Lloyd turned the horse to head back down the hill at a slow walk.
Randy saw Jake coming closer. He rode up to her and reached down. “How about a ride the rest of the way in with your husband?”
Randy smiled through tears. “Gladly.” She reached up, and Jake lifted her as though she weighed nothing. She settled in behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his back. “Jake, I can hardly believe we’re back home. I don’t want to go into a city as big as Denver again for a long time.”
“Well, for the next year we don’t have much choice. I’ll settle for Longmont and Boulder. Pepper and some of the others can take the cattle in next summer.” Jake turned the horse and headed down. “Damn pretty sight, isn’t it?”
“I’ve never appreciated home more. The J&L is everything we dreamed about for so many years.”
Jake wished he knew for sure what had happened to Brad Buckley. Jeff had promised to wire Guthrie and tell friends to get a message to Jake if Brad showed up there. Right now, at this very special moment, he wasn’t about to bring up Brad Buckley in front of anyone in the family, but he knew Lloyd was just as concerned.
He ran a hand over the arms Randy wrapped around him. “I’ve never loved you more. That big bed in the loft is going to be well used tonight.”
Randy smiled and hugged him tighter. “We’ll see.”
“We’ll see? What does that mean, woman?”
“It means I’m very tired.” She rested her head against his back.