Page 41 (1/2)

One

Walt Booth was feeling lonely He’d been ed over five years ago when his kids were twenty-six and fourteen Now that he was sixty-two, the kids were on their own Vanessa was married to Paul and they lived on the property on the other side of the stable, and Tom had nearly completed his first year at West Point Walt’s niece, Shelby, had been staying with hi the February freeze she had left to vacation in Maui before pursuing her education in San Francisco

But that only scratched the surface He’d recently begun a relationship with his neighbor, a beautiful, vivacious, er than he was Muriel St Claire Their liaison was just getting interesting, just heating up, when she was lured back to Hollywood to make another film He was left with her two Labrador retrievers and her two horses He’d had one phone call since she’d departed for LA via private jet, a call in which he had heard the background noise of a party There was lasses, and Muriel sounded on top of the world

The truth of the one and fallen in love with her She had trapped hi like his perception of a o, moved into an old farmhouse with her animals and restored it, al but slacks, usually jeans and boots, often painter’s overalls She was a crackerjack horsewos for hunting waterfowl Earthy Basic Yet her as sophisticated and her beauty natural and unforgettable And right nohile he sat by thein his great roo a movie with Jack Nicholson The truth? He wondered if she’d come back

His doorbell rang and he hefted hio he’d felt like a sixteen-year-old boy, looking forward to seeing Muriel every day Today he felt old and short on time

He opened the door to Luke Riordan and frowned This was just about the last person he’d like to see right now Luke and Shelby had had a romance that didn’t work out, which Walt suspected was her reason for leaving

“Morning, General,” Luke said with a slight nod “Got a minute?”

“I guess,” he said, standing back from the door “Coffee?”

“No thanks, sir,” Luke said, stepping into the house “It’s just that— Well, I owe you an apology”

“That so?” Walt asked He turned and walked back into the great roos spied Luke and immediately put the rush on him Luce, the chocolate Lab, sat in front of hied so violently it sent her whole body into a quiver, while Buff, less than a year old, lost all control and just barreled into hi for attention “Buff! Down!” Walt adood The yellow Lab was pretty much out of control where visitors were concerned

“Whoa,” Luke laughed, grabbing the Lab behind the ears and sitting him down “Got yourself some company here?”

“These are Muriel’s dogs She’s out of town and I’ care of them”

“Out of town?” Luke asked, straightening

Walt sat in his chair and clicked the dogs back to his side by snapping his fingers He didn’t volunteer any more information about Muriel’s whereabouts With a Lab on each side of hi his “Take a seat, Riordan I’y”

Luke took his seat uneasily “General Booth, sir, I’ize, sir She had every reason to think her future wasn’t secure with me and she left”

Walt settled back Shelby enty-five to Luke’s thirty-eight and Walt had been concerned that his niece’s involveht end with her being hurt “How does that not surprise me?” Walt said churlishly

“I let her go, sir I thought sheon someone like me”

Walt smirked He couldn’t have put it better hiave it serious thought”

Luke couldn’t suppress a huff of silent laughter “I figured you did Sir” Luke hadn’t been out of the areneral was a general till he died and was accorded appropriate respect, even when he acted like a son of a bitch and threatened Luke’s life

“You should be apologizing to her, not me,” Walt said

“I’ve taken care of that, sir Unbelievably, I’iven”

“You talked to her?”

“Yes, sir She came back She was pissed as hell, but I threw iven me another chance I plan to do better this time”

Walt’s eyes had groide and his bushy black eyebrows shot up high “She’s back?”

“Yes, sir She said to tell you she’d be right over She had so to take care of and I wanted a ith you first”

“To apologize,” Walt groused “I’d like to see my niece, if you don’t mind”

“She’ll be here pretty soon But there’s another thing I’d like your permission to ask Shelby to be my wife”

Walt ground his teeth “You’re really pressing your luck”

“Oh, you don’t know the half” Luke chuckled before he could stop hi into the whole program It’s not even one of her conditions—it’s one ofto ht I could and I tried, but it’s too late forto be in love with her for the rest of my life”

Walt was sitting straighter He e of his chair “What about her education? What about a family? I think my niece wants a family and I heard you say that wasn’t—”