The Ranch

A story of healing, hope, and the power of

friendship…THE RANCH

PRAISE FOR

DANIELLE STEEL“A LITERARY PHENOMENON… and not to be pigeonholed as one who produces a predictable kind of book.”— The Detroit News“There is a smooth reading style to her writings which makes it easy to forget the time and to keep flipping the pages.”—The Pittsburgh Press“Ms. Steel excels at pacing her narrative, which races forward.”—Nashville Banner“One counts on Danielle Steel for A STORY THAT ENTERTAINS AND INFORMS.”—The Chattanooga Times“STEEL IS AT THE TOP OF HER BESTSELLING FORM.”—Houston Chronicle“It's nothing short of amazing that even after [dozens of] novels, Danielle Steel can still come up with a good new yarn.”—The Star-Ledger (Newark)

PRAISE FOR DANIELLE STEEL'S

THE RANCH“WARM WITHOUT BEING CUTESY, THIS IS A FEMINIST NOVEL IN THE BEST SENSE OF THE WORD.”—Chicago Tribune“A HEARTWARMING TALE.”—McCall's“THE RANCH IS HARD TO PUT DOWN!”—The Progress (Claremore, Okla.)“BET THE RANCH THAT THE RANCH WILL BE ANOTHER BEST SELLER!”—Associated Press“THERE ARE ENOUGH TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES TO KEEP ANY READER INTERESTED … [STEEL] MAKES THE THREE WOMEN TOTAL PEOPLE. THEY HAVE DIMENSION AND DEPTH.”—The Rockdale Citizen (Conyers, Ga.)“THE BOOK THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING!”—The Republic'American (Waterbury, Conn.)“THE STORY OF THREE COLLEGE ROOMMATES WHO REUNITE ON A RANCH IN WYOMING PROMISES TO WARM HEARTS AS ONLY [DANIELLE STEEL] CAN.”—Woman's WorldA MAIN SELECTION OF

THE LITERARY GUILD

AND

THE DOUBLEDAY BOOK CLUB

Also by Danielle Steel

THE HOUSE     THE GIFT TOXIC BACHELORS     ACCIDENT MIRACLE     VANISHED IMPOSSIBLE     MIXED BLESSINGS ECHOES     JEWELS SECOND CHANCE     NO GREATER LOVE RANSOM     HEARTBEAT SAFE HARBOUR     MESSAGE FROM NAM JOHNNY ANGEL     DADDY DATING GAME     STAR ANSWERED PRAYERS     ZOYA SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ     KALEIDOSCOPE THE COTTAGE     FINE THINGS THE KISS     WANDERLUST LEAP OF FAITH     SECRETS LONE EAGLE     FAMILY ALBUM JOURNEY     FULL CIRCLE THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET     CHANGES THE WEDDING     THURSTON HOUSE IRRESISTIBLE FORCES     CROSSINGS GRANNY DAN     ONCE IN A LIFETIME BITTERSWEET     A PERFECT STRANGER MIRROR IMAGE     REMEMBRANCE HIS BRIGHT LIGHT: PALOMINO The Story of Nick Traina     LOVE: POEMS THE KLONE AND I     THE RING THE LONG ROAD HOME     LOVING THE GHOST     TO LOVE AGAIN SPECIAL DELIVERY     SUMMER'S END THE RANCH     SEASON OF PASSION SILENT HONOR     THE PROMISE MALICE     NOW AND FOREVER FIVE DAYS IN PARIS     PASSION'S PROMISE LIGHTNING     GOING HOME WINGS

To Victoria and Nancy,

special, precious friends,

sisters of my heart,

who make me laugh,

hold my hand when I cry,

and are always, always, always

there for me.

With all my love,

d.s.

Chapter 1

In any other supermarket, the woman walking down the aisle, pushing a cart between canned goods and gourmet spices, would have looked strangely out of place. She had impeccably groomed shoulder-length brown hair, beautiful skin, huge brown eyes, a trim figure, perfectly done nails, and she was wearing a navy linen suit that looked as though she had bought it in Paris. She wore high-heeled navy blue shoes, a navy Chanel bag, and everything about her was perfection. She could have easily pretended she'd never seen a supermarket before, but she looked surprisingly at home here. In fact, she often stopped at Gristede's at Madison and Seventy-seventh on the way home. Most of the shopping was done by their housekeeper, but in a funny old-fashioned way, Mary Stuart Walker liked doing the shopping herself. She liked cooking for Bill at night when he came home, and they had never had a cook, even when the children were younger. Despite the impeccable way she looked, she liked taking care of her family, and attending to every minute detail herself.

Their apartment was at Seventy-eighth and Fifth, with a splendid view of Central Park. They had lived there for fifteen of the nearly twenty-two years of their marriage. Mary Stuart kept an impressive home. The children teased her sometimes about how “perfect” everything always was, how everything had to look and be just right, and it was easy to believe that about her. Just looking at her, it was easy to see that she was somewhat compulsive about it. Even at six o'clock, on a hot June evening in New York, after six hours of meetings, Mary Stuart had just put on fresh lipstick, and she didn't have a hair out of place.