Luke kissed her on the cheek. “Howdy, Martha. How’s Ben?”

“Ben is a pain in my butt, like always.” Martha turned to her. “Ben is my husband. He works as the foreman on the ranch, so he and Logan go way back. He’s been around since the boys’ daddy was still alive. Come on in and sit down. Would you like some iced tea?”

Emma blinked. Wow. Martha could certainly talk, but she was very nice, and the kitchen was clean and there were snacks set out on the oversized wood table.

“I’d love tea. Is there anything I can do to help you, Martha?”

“Of course not. You’re company, so just sit and take a load off. Logan told me what a great job you did fixing up Whip. That darned dog is always getting into something. All the dogs try my patience on a good day, but I love them all like they’re my kids. I hear you brought your two with you today?”

“Yes. Daisy and Annie.”

“I’ll have to go outside and greet them. I love when Luke comes and brings Boomer with him. I grew up on a farm, and there were always animals around. I don’t know what I’d do if there wasn’t a dog underfoot.”

Emma laughed. “I know what that’s like. We always had dogs when I was a kid.”

“I think I’ll head outside and see what Logan’s up to,” Luke said.

Martha waved her hand. “You go ahead. Dr. Emma and I will be fine in here.”

While Emma sipped her tea, Martha did all the talking. Emma learned that Ben and Martha never had kids, so Martha became an animal lover, and she unofficially adopted Logan, Luke, and Reid as her own after their father died.

Interesting that Luke’s mother was never mentioned. She wondered why, but knew it wasn’t her place to ask Martha about that.

“Lord, listen to me go on and on. How’s the new practice goin’? I used to bring the dogs into Doc Weston. He was a great vet.”

“Yes, he was. I used to bring my dogs to see him, too. I was sad to hear he was retiring, but so happy when I worked out a deal with him to buy his practice.”

“Let me tell you, without you taking over his practice, Hope would suffer.”

“There is the other clinic.”

“There is that, and those docs are fine, but there was something about Doc Weston. He had a way with animals. I hear tell you’ve got that same magic.”

Emma’s heart swelled with pride. “Thank you. To be compared to Dr. Weston is a very high compliment. I think I have a lot of years of practice ahead of me to be as good as he was, but I hope to someday be thought of as highly as he was.”

“Keep doing what you’re doin’, and I think you’ll get there.”

Emma stood. “Speaking of animals, how about we take a look at yours, and get them vaccinated. Do we have time before lunch?”

“Plenty of time. Let’s head on out. We’ll wrangle the boys into helping.”

Once outside, Martha stopped and petted Boomer, then greeted Annie and Daisy. It was clear she was an animal lover, allowing the dogs to sniff and lick her.

Emma could always tell when someone was comfortable with animals, and Martha was quite obviously one of those people animals gravitated to. Animals could tell, too, when a human loved them, because as soon as Martha walked away, they followed her.

Luke and Logan were looking at Logan’s truck, so Martha hollered for them and they came over.

“Let’s get these animals worked on, and then we can eat.”

“All right,” Logan said. “We can do that in the barn. There’s a worktable and a sink for you, Emma.”

Logan called his dogs, who followed along, clearly all well trained.

Emma grabbed her bag from the truck. In the barn, she took the dogs one at a time, examining each, then giving them all their shots. When she was finished, she handed the rabies tags over to Logan.

“They’re all healthy and in fine shape, Logan. You’ve got them on flea and heartworm meds?”

Logan nodded. “I get those at the animal-supply store.”

“Good. I’ve started a chart on each of them, so we’ll send reminders out to you when they’re due for their boosters. And Whip’s stitches look good.”

“You can thank Martha for that. She’s done a fine job of making sure he’s not running amok all day long. I think she’s kept him in the house more than not the past few days.”

Emma looked at Martha, who winked. “Whip enjoyed it, too. Slept on the sofa, and lorded it over the other dogs when he went outside.”

Emma laughed. “He can go outside now, as long as you clean the stitched areas once a day.”

“Good enough, Doc,” Martha said.

“I appreciate you taking care of all this out here,” Logan said. “Will you have your office send me a bill?”

“I’ll have Rachel take care of it. And it’s not a problem doing their exams and shots out here. Especially if I get to eat that great-smelling roast.”

“Which should be just about ready. So why don’t you both help Dr. Emma clean up her gear, get washed up, and then we can eat?”

“Sounds good,” Luke said. He and Logan helped Emma pack up her supplies. They shooed the dogs out of the barn and headed back to the house.

By then Martha already had the table set, and an older man was in the kitchen.

“Dr. Emma, this is my husband, Ben.”

Ben was tall and rugged-looking, with a shock of white curly hair. Emma shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ben.”

“You, too, Dr. Emma.”

“Please, both of you can just call me Emma.”

“That’d make you like family around here,” Martha said. “Which means we hope you’ll come around more often.”

“This is a great ranch. I’m hoping Luke will take me out after lunch so I can see more of it.”

“I’m sure he’d love to do that,” Logan said, giving Luke a smirk.

She wondered what that was about.

“Sure. I’d be happy to,” Luke said, ignoring his brother.

The roast was tender, the potatoes and vegetables perfect.

“This is an incredible meal, Martha. Thank you so much,” Emma said.

“You’re welcome. And thank you for the compliment.”

“So I got a phone call this week from some movie-production company,” Logan said as they ate.

Luke paused. “Yeah? What did they want?”

“They’re scouting locations for some film they wanna make, and they wanted to know if they could get a tour of the L&M. They think the locale is perfect for their movie.”

“Huh,” Luke said, leaning back in his seat. “Is there money in that?”

“Apparently a substantial amount. They pay you for use of the land for the time they’re on it filming. They bring in their crew, stay in the trailers, bring in their own food. They tell me other than use of the land, they wouldn’t inconvenience us any more than absolutely necessary.”

Emma watched the interplay between the brothers. It was fascinating to see Luke’s expression as Logan explained the whole movie deal. As part owner of the ranch, he had a business interest in whatever went on. She could tell this was something that would require some thought.

“Are you going to let them come in?” Luke asked.

Logan shrugged. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to let them have a tour, then if they’re interested, they can make an offer and we can all talk about it. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds like a good idea. When do they want to come?”

“Next week. Do you want to be here for it?”

“Not necessary. You can handle it. Just let me know what they say.”

“All right.”

“It sounds fascinating,” Emma said. “I saw a movie crew doing a scene in Savannah when I lived in South Carolina.”

“Yeah? How was that?”

“A lot of cameras and booms and extras, and it was a whole lot of wow, at least from my perspective. But it was on one of the city streets, so that’s probably why it seemed so jam-packed to me. I imagine if they want to film on some of your acreage, it would be more widespread. Maybe you wouldn’t even notice them.”

Logan shrugged and picked up a roll. “No idea. We’ll see what they have to say.”

“I think it sounds exciting,” Martha said. “I wonder if we’d get Johnny Depp.”

“Why? Do you think you can get Johnny Depp to come over for Sunday pot roast?” Ben asked, glaring at his wife.

Martha lifted her chin. “He just might. I make pretty darn good pot roast.”

Logan and Luke exchanged smirks. Emma looked down at her plate.

After that, the subject of the potential movie on the ranch died, and the guys resumed normal ranch talk. Emma focused on the delicious food, especially Martha’s chocolate cream pie she’d had for dessert. By the time the meal was over, Emma felt as if she needed to walk the entire ranch acreage to rid herself of all the calories she’d consumed.

“I don’t know how you all stay so slender after a meal like that,” she said, helping clear the plates from the table.

“Fortunately, ranch work burns a lot of calories,” Ben said with a wink. “Otherwise we’d all be fat because my wife cooks great meals like that all the time.”

Emma laid her hand on Ben’s arm. “You are one lucky man, Ben.”

He grinned. “Believe me, I know.”

“Okay, now y’all are gonna make me blush. Luke, take Emma out and give her a look at the ranch while I clean up in here.”

“Oh, please let me help you with the dishes, Martha,” Emma said.

“Nope,” she said, shooing them out with a wave of her hands. “You already did your work for the day with the dogs. This is my work, and I get paid for it. Go enjoy this warm weather.”

Emma sent a pleading look to Luke, who shrugged. “You heard her. Let’s go take a ride.”

“All right.”

“I’m going to go check on the cows in pasture three,”

Logan said, grabbing his cowboy hat from the hook at the front door. “I’ll meet y’all back here later.”