Nothing could have prepared Luke for what he saw.
Both he and Maxine were at the airport waiting for their niece to arrive, while Mac stayed at the ranch to ensure everything was ready for the young girl's arrival. Maxine had wanted to look her best, but not too fancy. Dressed in a crisp blue, linen button-up shirt, tucked into tan Capri pants, she looked friendly. Luke was dressed as you would expect a cowboy to dress. White t-shirt under a plaid shirt, faded blue jeans, cowboy boots, and of course, a Stetson. He had removed the hat once inside the airport with no thought as it was respectful and a force of habit to remove your hat indoors.
"I think that's her," Maxine said, snapping him back to reality.
The sight that had him shocked was the young girl walking into the terminal. If it wasn't for her distinguished Indian features, Luke would have walked past her.
Luke watched the young girl look at the paper in her hands and then up at them. She did that a few times until Maxine moved to greet her.
"Hi, Joanna. I'm your Aunt Max and this is your uncle Luke." The older woman greeted her.
"Good afternoon, uncle Luke and aunt Max," Joanna said politely, extending her hands toward them.
They both shook her hand and Luke gave a polite nod.
Although Joanna remained polite, you could see how nervous and scared she was.
"Have you got many bags?" Maxine asked the young girl.
"Just my carry-on and one suitcase." Jonna replied, "I'm so sorry. Is there a restroom I may use?"
"Of course, and you don't have to apologize," Maxine said softly.
"Why don't you give me your bag and I'll wait for your suitcase?" Luke offered, holding out his hand to take her bag, "What does it look like? So I can grab the right one."
"It's a pink Louis Vuitton, I doubt there will be another as it is from their exclusive range. They only made a handful of them in the same design." Luke's eyebrows shot up in surprise at her reply.
"I'll make sure to look out for it and I'll meet you, ladies, by the truck." He said while he watched them go. Luke took a moment to shake his head.
Joanna had stepped off the plane so elegantly, walking with polished grace and a perfect posture. Being Shoshoni, she had inherited dark mahogany skin, hazel eyes, high cheekbones, and long jet-black hair. She was dressed in a soft pink checkered blazer with a matching skirt and a white blouse underneath; she wore white ballet flats and her long hair was held back with a white headband.
Luke watched her walk away thinking she looked ready to walk down a runway, not live on a working ranch. He started shaking his head when he saw the suitcase on the carousel and he continued to wonder what life his brother would have led if Joanna was like this. Smartly dressed, well-mannered, and looking like she had been raised into wealth, a lot of wealth.
As they left the airport and pulled onto the main highway, Maxine noticed the young girl was staying silent, looking out the window with a blank expression on her face.
"I hope you like horses," Maxine said, breaking the silence.
With a questioning "hmm", Joanna turned to look at her.
"I said, I hope you like horses. We have a lot of them on the ranch, and the boys can show you a lot of places you can ride." Maxine said, repeating what she said with a warm smile.
"Yes, I do. I love horses. Back home, I spent my life around them and competed regularly in competitions." Joanna said.
"What competitions did you compete in?" The question had gotten Luke's attention from his wife.
"Mostly show jumping, but I do a bit of dressage, and we have so much land at home. On the property, there were so many trails you could ride and there were some that had cool obstacles including jumps and…" Joanna suddenly stopped talking, her breath hitched in her chest. Looking up at her Aunt, she saw pity in the older woman's eyes.
"We had so much land. It's fine, I need to get used to the fact that there's no going back to the home I once knew." She said, smiling tightly, trying to get a better grip on her emotions.
And like that, Maxine watched her put on a mask. She gave a side glance to her husband, realizing the cowboy wasn't going to say a word from his neutral expression as he drove.
"Is there much to do around Darton?" Joanna asked curiously, "I take it that is going to be a no." She added, hearing her uncle chuckle.
"You're not completely wrong. There is plenty to do in Darton, but we live out in the rural side of Darton County." He said, flicking his eyes towards the rearview to catch her curious expression.
"I'm sure you lived away from the city," Maxine commented.
"We did, but my parents did an awful lot of traveling. The biggest thing that has me nervous isn't Darton being small, it's ranch life." Joanna admitted.
"Oh honey, you are going to be alright. We have all agreed that we will not force you into things."
"What do you mean?"
"We're not gonna have you muckin' out stalls and shiftin' cattle on your first day," Luke explained, watching the young girl's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"Don't you have stable hands?"
"No, we don't and we don't need to hire anyone. There's enough of the boys to keep the ranch runnin' when I'm not around."
"Miss Madden, my caseworker, mentioned you and aunt Maxine have sons. Which would mean they are my cousins. She mentioned you had sons vaguely and didn't tell me names or how many of them there were."
"There's seven of 'em. Kit, Adam, Nate, Seth, Bryan, Quinn, and Jake," Luke said, his voice holding a sense of pride.
Silence filled the car, and it wasn't until he heard his wife's voice that he realized something was wrong.
"Lucas, pull over," Maxine said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Taking a look at the concern on her face, he looked in the rear-view mirror to see Joanna's face pale as her breaths came in short pants.