Page 105 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

He planned to put in some winter wheat himself, and Finn couldn’t believe these were his thoughts. He’d spent so long away from home, doing anything but riding in saddles and planning winter crops. But as he rode, he truly felt like the cowboy part of him reawakened, and the blood that flowed through his body suddenly felt like it had spurs and chaps running through it.

As he approached the gate that would take him from his ranch to his father’s, Finn slowed his horses. “This is our ranch, guys,” he murmured to himself, to the pure blue sky above. “This is our home.”

The meaning of the word home had never meant as much to Finn as it did now that he had his own place. Now that he had a house, outbuildings, fields, and animals all his own to care for.

“And soon,” he whispered. “A wife. Maybe children.”

Finn couldn’t believe such blessings could be his. He couldn’t believe Edith wanted him to be her husband and the father of her children, but by some miracle, she did.

He prodded Apollo, and the three of them got moving again. It was a long ride from this ranch to Three Rivers, and Finn fully intended to get God to listen to his pleas about what to name this place.

He couldn’t just keep calling it “this ranch” after all. Any Texan worth their salt named their ranch, and Finn had been living on his for a couple of weeks now. He’d made quite a list of names on the papers on his clipboard, but none of them had been exactly right.

Edith had gone over his ideas with him, and they’d laughed over silly things like Root Beer Ranch and Nickname Ranch.

Hopscotch, Butterscotch, Cupcake, Flower Pot, he thought, his smile growing. He wasn’t going to name the ranch after one of Edith’s pet names for him. They were just funny things that came shooting out of her mouth.

They needed something they could say everyday of their life. A name that could be printed on invoices and checks and on a big wooden sign that hung over the dirt lane that led back to the cabin.

Something to establish a legacy.

Finn sucked in a breath through his nose. “Legacy,” he said, trying the word out in his mouth. Three syllables. “Legacy Ranch.”

He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Edith, but the line went beep-beep-beep in quick succession, then paused and did it again. He didn’t have service here, and while that normally gave Finn a sense of panic, he sometimes craved the freedom of being truly out of touch with the rest of the world.

It provided space for a man to think, to question, to talk to God.

“Lord,” Finn started. “First, thank You for all the blessings Thou has seen fit to bestow upon me since I returned to Three Rivers.” He chuckled, enjoying the steady clomping of the horses’ hooves. “I can’t believe it’s only been a handful of months. I feel like I’ve grown a lot in the past half-year, and I know it’s because of the challenges and trials You’ve placed in front of me.”

He drew in a breath and let his words fade up into the heavens. “I also know You would not give me—or Edith—anything we couldn’t handle.”

Finn let several more paces of the horses pass. “And now, Lord, can we talk about this proposal? I’d sure like it to go perfectly, but I literally have a ring and my momma and aunt ready with their phones to record it.”

Beside him, Cocoa snuffled, and Finn looked over to her. “I guess I have Edith’s favorite horse too, but I feel like I need more than a horse and a diamond. Those are things, and I need my words to come across as more than things.”

He continued on toward the epicenter of the ranch, the fields and fences and fierce serenity around him everything Finn needed in his life right then. He’d like some words for the perfect proposal, but God did not provide them on the ride to Courage Reins, and before he knew it, Finn had arrived.

“Dear Lord,” he whispered when he saw Momma and Aunt Chelsea sitting on his aunt’s back deck, glasses of lemonade on the table and Momma with her phone up already. She must’ve taken a picture, because she lowered her phone and waved.

As if he couldn’t see her.

He tipped his hat at her and started looking for Edith. She’d said she’d be out in these back pastures today with Reagan, as she and Doctor Bull were doing a dual one-two punch with the horse today. Apparently, Edith could get him to go left and Bull right, but he wouldn’t go both directions for either of them.

Horses sure could be stubborn, and in some ways, they reminded Finn of people. They reminded him of himself, of Edith, of how stubborn Alex had been about getting those sinkholes fixed and his ranch back in pristine condition.

In the end, Finn spotted Reagan first, as the horse stood tall and proud, with all that dark black hair along his neck. Both Edith and Bull walked alongside him, and Bull had a long stick with a bright orange flag on it. He tapped it on the ground every so often, and that kept Reagan walking in a straight line.

Finn slowed his horses and hovered near the trees along the back of Aunt Chelsea’s yard as he watched. He didn’t want to interrupt the lesson, but Bull knew he was coming. Everyone knew, except Edith, as he watched Bull turn and Uncle Pete come jogging toward them. Bull said something to Edith, handed her the flag, and turned to go back toward Uncle Pete.

That left Edith alone, and that meant Finn could do his proposal at any time. Now. He could go right now. He sat in the saddle, his pulse ping-ponging around inside his body and nothing worthy to convince Edith Baxter to be his wife.

You’re enough, he thought.

Finn sat up straighter in the saddle, as if buoyed up by the thought. He didn’t need fancy diamond rings or pretty horses or the words in the right order. He was Finn Ackerman, and that was enough for Edith.

That got him clicking at Apollo to get the horse moving forward, and it didn’t take long for Edith to look up and see him coming. Her step slowed, as did Reagan’s, but Cocoa had also seen Edith, and she picked up the pace.

Finn hastened to untie the rope from his saddle horn so Cocoa could go ahead, and Edith giggled and murmured to her horse as she arrived. After greeting her, she peered past the light brown horse and asked, “What are you doing here?” She stroked both hands down Cocoa’s neck. “With her?”

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