would you like?
“How’s the hunt going for a new caretaker?” Rita asked.
Shannon sighed. “Not good. I hired a guy last week I thought was going to work out. Unfortunately, he didn’t bother to mention his drug problem.”
“Any other candidates?”
“Not for the salary I can pay.”
“But it includes living accommodations.”
“A room with a twin bed, a mini-fridge, a microwave, and a tiny bathroom. Not exactly the Ritz-Carlton.” She sighed. “It makes me really nervous if I don’t have somebody there around the clock. We always have animals recovering from all kinds of things. They need more attention than they’re getting.”
“Which means you’re staying late and working yourself silly. Why don’t you hire a couple more high school kids? At least they can take up the slack with the routine stuff.”
“I tried that. Except for Angela, most of the part-time kids I’ve hired just want to pet the puppies. Freddie Jo is helping out, but it’s not her job to clean out dog kennels. I need her in the front office. The volunteers help, but they come and go.”
“Somebody will come along.”
Shannon hoped so. As much as she loved the shelter, the twelve-hour days were about to finish her off.
Rita eyed her carefully. “Are you sorry you came back to Rainbow Valley?”
“What? Sorry?” Shannon shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”
“You had a good career. Sometimes I feel guilty luring you back here.”
“Luring me at the salary I’m making?” Shannon smiled. “Sorry, Rita. But that wasn’t much of a lure.”
“I know. You don’t give a damn about the money. The lure was telling you the animals needed you. Because of that, you gave up a career you worked really hard to have.”
“If I hadn’t wanted to come back here, wild horses couldn’t have dragged me. Even crazy, dysfunctional, unadoptable ones.” She smiled. “And don’t worry. I’m going to keep that place running if it kills me.”
“You and Luke,” Rita said. “You’re more alike than you realize.”
Shannon’s heart jumped when Rita mentioned his name again. “Come on, Rita. You know there are no two people on the planet more different from each other than Luke and I.”
“I used to think maybe that was true. Not so much anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Once you get your teeth into something, you don’t let go till it thunders.”
“And how does Luke fit that description?”
“He’s on the verge of winning the World Championship bull riding competition. You don’t get there by showing up only when you feel like it. You get there by wanting it so badly there’s nothing you won’t do to get it.”
Shannon hadn’t considered that. Maybe it was more than physical ability that got a man to the top of the rodeo world, which meant that maybe there was more these days to Luke Dawson than she ever could have imagined.
It didn’t matter, though. Now that his father was gone, Luke’s last tie to Rainbow Valley had been severed, so she couldn’t imagine him ever coming back. A few minutes ago, they’d looked right at each other, and still he’d turned around and walked out the door. That told her everything she needed to know. No matter what they’d meant to each other all those years ago, some hurts were just too great to overcome. He’d once held her heart in the palm of his hand, and when he left, he took a piece of it with him—a piece she’d never gotten back. Now she knew for sure she never would.
Thirty minutes later, Luke left the real estate office, wishing he’d gotten better news about selling his father’s property. The agent told him the market was depressed everywhere, not to mention the fact that the remnants of a sixty-year-old gas station were on the property. In order to sell it, Luke would have to pay a hefty sum to have the old underground gas storage tanks removed so the area could be environmentally certified. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford the tens of thousands of dollars that would cost, so for now, he was stuck with the property.
The real estate agent suggested he take out a short-term loan to have the work done. As much as Luke wanted to say good-bye to that property for good, he had no intention of taking out a loan for anything. The day he’d left town, he’d made a promise to himself that he would never owe another man money. Never get so swallowed by debt that he had no options in life. Never put himself in a position where he had