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accident when I was
a baby. . . . My mother and I would sit side-by-side in front of a mirror,” Claire
said. “We could see ourselves as my father would’ve seen us. We held hands, talked,
laughed, and cried. She made me feel loved and taught me I was a good person,
even though my father was gone.”
    She felt the pain of losing her mother almost
as if it was new, and her tears started again. “I miss my mom.”
    He put his arm around her shoulders and held
her close. She knew he understood, and after a few minutes, the ache in her
heart eased.
    When the rain tapered off, he cleaned up their
site, and they left.
    As they drove back to her cottage, Claire
asked, “What about Mr. Mac?”
    “Mr. Mac started drinking after the accident
and died of liver failure. He left the ranch to me. I scattered his ashes from
the J-3, in the same meadow with Liz and my parents.
    “The ranch had gone down a lot. I told the
folks who worked there they could have the ranch if they brought it back up. A
lawyer set up a living trust that will transfer ownership to them over time,
tax free if I live long enough.”
    “Why didn’t you keep it?”
    “I didn’t earn the ranch and don’t want to be
an absentee landlord. There’s not that much money in ranching. I don’t think it
would be fair to take the money and not do my share of the work.
    “The name of the ranch now is the
McGregor-Archer. The school bus stops and picks up kids again, just like it did
for Liz and me. I’m glad I could give Liz and my parents and Mr. McGregor an
ongoing commemoration of the life they lived and loved. I’m glad I can help
others have a home like I once had.”
    “What about a home for yourself?”
    He glanced at her and then turned back to the dark,
rain swept road ahead. After a pause, he said, “I’ve felt homeless since Liz
and my folks died. I need a family with whom to make a home.”
    ▼
    He kissed her goodnight at her cottage. It was
another gentle kiss, but she could feel the strength in his arms and hands as
he held her waist. Again her body responded.
    Claire noticed that she was smiling when she
went to bed that night. Her smile broadened when she thought about why.

Chapter
6
     
     
    Claire and David dated as often as they could.
By the week of the reception, she was sure she loved him, but she was not sure
he loved her. The only physical affection he showed were his gentle goodnight
kisses.
    She accepted David’s invitation to have lunch
in the hospital cafeteria on Wednesday. A medical emergency made her an hour late,
and she found him waiting at an empty table.
    “Haven’t you eaten yet?”
    He shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
    “Oh Buni, I’m sorry.”
    He smiled and said, “It’s okay. You’re here
now. That’s what’s important.”
    ▼
    After lunch, Claire was standing in a patient’s
room with several other medical students while a cantankerous professor of
medicine droned on about something she already knew well. Her mind drifted back
to her lunch with David: his delighted smile when he saw her, his
attentiveness, and the fact that he’d waited to eat with her.
    Maybe he’s falling in love with me, too. Her heart lifted, and she smiled at the thought.
    “Sommer! Did I say something funny?”
    “No sir. Sorry sir.”
    “Don’t let your Grand Canyon stunt go to your
head,” the professor said peevishly. “I’m no pussycat.”
    It required some effort for Claire to keep her
face straight. The other medical students were straight faced, too, but the
patient laughed out loud.
    ▼
    When she went to bed that night, Claire again thought
about how David had acted during their lunch date, and again she smiled.
    She knew now that he loved her. She yearned for
him to make love to her and yearned for the emotional intimacy that would follow.
She respected him. She admired him. She loved him. And there was nothing Claire
wanted more than to spend the rest of her life with David.
    But their physical