but the buildings were intact. Luke could see an actual line in the distance the fire had burned to before the storm hit and snuffed it out.
“This place is blessed,” Shannon said quietly. “I don’t know how. But it is.”
Luke looked farther up the road. “Keep going.”
For a moment she looked confused. Then she touched the gas again and drove farther down the highway toward his father’s property. Luke’s heart pounded as he waited for his first glimpse. Then it came into view, and he couldn’t believe what he saw.
The trees near the front of the property had been consumed by fire, leaving a clear view of the rest of the acreage. The house that had haunted him, the house where his innocence had been destroyed, the house that had lived in his nightmares from the time he was old enough to walk…
Nothing was left of it but a soggy, harmless pile of ashes.
“It’s gone,” Luke said, his voice filled with disbelief. “The fire burned right through it.”
“But before it got to the shelter—”
“The rain came.” He grasped the arm rest until his fingers whitened.
“Luke? Are you all right?”
“I hated that house,” he said, his voice tight with anger. “Hated it.”
“I know. But it’s gone now.”
He swallowed hard. “Drive closer.”
Shannon pulled onto the property and headed down the gravel road to the place where the house used to be. Luke opened the passenger door and slowly got out of the truck, unable to take his eyes off it.
Shannon walked around the truck and came up beside him, tucking her hand inside his. “You never have to think about it again, Luke. Never again.”
Never again.
In that moment, whatever anger and bitterness he’d held on to all these years seemed to flow right out of him, mingling with the ashes of the past to be carried away on the wind. Soon his old life would be over and a new one would begin, a life filled with endless possibilities.
He thought about how this twenty acres belonged to him. How much he liked kids. It was just a glimmer of an idea floating around in his mind, but once the championship rodeo was over…
Maybe I could start a rodeo school.
The very thought of it excited him. It would take more work than anything he’d ever known, but he had no doubt it could be part of his future if he decided he wanted it.
He turned to look out over the valley. Pale gray clouds still filled the sky, but the rainstorm had cleansed the air, making it feel fresh and new and full of promise. Then, rising over the tree-covered hillside, Luke caught a glimpse of something that blasted away any last shred of cynicism he might have been holding on to.
A rainbow.
A beautiful, mystical, life-affirming rainbow.
Shannon saw him staring and looked, too. When she spotted it, her eyes widened with wonder. “My God,” she said on a breath. “It’s beautiful.”
Growing up, Luke had always felt the irony of living a black and white existence in a place where rainbows happened more often than just about any place in the country. But as he looked at this rainbow now, it was as if that black and white existence had faded away and his life had exploded in Technicolor splendor.
Shannon turned and slid into his arms. “I’m going with you.”
“What?”
“To Denver,” she said with a smile. “I want to see you win.”
When Luke drew a bull named Son of Satan for the final ride of his career, he knew it had to be a sign.
As he climbed the chute and stepped off the fence onto the black monster, the odor of dirt and sweat filled his nostrils, and his heart smacked his chest like machine gun fire. The bull shifted beneath him, reared, then slammed his forelegs down again, snorting wildly. Luke adjusted his grip on the rigging, then positioned his spurs. The hazy cloud of dust from the last rider still swirled through the arena, giving it a misty, otherworldly feeling. But Luke was ready. Only a few points separated him from Hanson, and it all came down to this ride.
Luke nodded for the chute to open, and before a full second had even elapsed, he found out just how inappropriately that bull was named. Forget Son of Satan. The creature was Satan himself.
The bull lunged out of the gate, but Luke managed to keep his spurs over the animal’s shoulders to avoid disqualification. The bull spun to the left, then reversed direction