Page 100 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Exactly what I said. I'm a stranger to them. I don't know the first thing about children. I don't even know where I'll stand legally. I can't believe I have a niece and nephew at all, let alone that he's ten, and… she must be 13 years old. And not only don't I know them, but I never even knew they existed." Her eyes filled with tears. "Crystal was hiding them from me. When Danny died, I asked if she wanted to help arrange the funeral – told her that we could do it between us. That I wanted her to have it however she thought best. But she acted like I was the enemy."

Ford rested his hand on her shoulder. "But I don't think that had anything to do with you – not who you are," he added quickly. "She was just a mom wanting to keep her kids with her, knowing that she wasn't keeping them in a great situation – that you'd be able to give them a better life."

Amelia looked so defeated as she nodded. "If I hadn't cut Danny out of my life, if I'd been around for them, I would have known about Hunter and Natalie. I could have..."

They both looked up when Cash came to stand in the aisle beside their seats. He shook his head at Amelia. "You know, there's no point in coulda shoulda woulda, Amelia, darlin'. You can hash out the past later. For now, you have to keep your focus on the present. When we get them, then you can start looking at the future. And only once you have that figured out is there any point trying to unravel the past."

He met Ford's gaze. “Isn't that right?"

Ford nodded. He knew that Cash was referring to their own relationship as well – and he was right.

"Are you okay if I steal him away for a minute, honey?"

"Sure," said Amelia. "I'm still working on tracking down their birth certificates. But I just don't know how it's all going to work out – you know how slowly bureaucracy moves. It seems crazy for all of you to come with me like this. It might take..."

Cash chuckled. "You know my approach to bureaucracy. We won't let it hold us up too long. Right, Ford?"

Ford nodded. He knew his brother well enough to know that he didn't let bureaucracy or any other obstacle stand in his way for long. He'd find a way around it. Or over it. Or failing that, he'd steamroll his way right through it.

When Cash jerked his chin toward the back of the plane, Ford touched Amelia's arm and met her gaze. She gave him a slight nod and said, "I'm fine," before turning back to her laptop.

Despite the situation, Ford couldn't help feeling good as he walked toward the back of the plane with Cash. Seeing his brothers and all their friends sitting around Cash's company jet, all of them having dropped what they had going on in their own lives to come along and help like this, meant the world to him. Not that they were doing it for him. Or even doing it because Amelia was the woman he loved. It had nothing to do with him. But he still appreciated it more than he'd ever be able to express.

Cash took the last seat right at the back of the plane, and gestured for Ford to sit across from him.

"What's up?" he asked. "Is there something you don't want Amelia to know?"

Cash shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I want to get straight with you before we land. We've come a long way in the last little while, and I'd hate for that to get screwed up now."

"What do you mean?"

"I know I can be like a bull in a china shop and I don't want to trample all over you. So, I need to know how you want to handle this."

Ford nodded slowly. "Have I really been that bad that you think I'd get into a pissing contest with you over something like this?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying. It's not what I'm thinking," said Cash. "She's your woman. You're going to want to take care of her, be there for her, help her figure this out– and that's totally understandable. It's just... I care about her too. And..." He gave Ford a small smile. "This is kind of what I do, you know?"

Ford had to smile back at him. "I do know. And I couldn't be more grateful to know that she has you at her back – that we have you. I'm not going to try to be the big man – I'm not going to try to direct anything. I'm here to support Amelia. I don't know how to run an operation like this. I wouldn't even know where to start. You know damn well I'm out of my element even leaving the state. So, please, don't try to factor my feelings into account. That's not what this is about. It's about Amelia and those kids. And I'd say that we're all lucky to have you to manage this whole operation. You tell me what to do and I'll do it. I know damn well that not only do you do this kind of thing, but you're the best in the business."

Cash chuckled. "Okay, you don't need to stroke my ego – but it doesn't hurt."

Ford smiled before glancing back to where Amelia was sitting. "So now that we've got that out of the way, how do you want to handle this?"

Cash leaned forward. "What I was thinking is that we'll send Travis and Trip off to find the caseworker. Between the two of them, they've got the charm and the professional side covered. Ace is going to go do his thing, trying to track Natalie. And I'll come with you and Amelia to get Hunter first. I'm hoping that either Amelia will be able to track Natalie somehow and give Ace the details – Emmett's going to go with him for when they actually find her. She's going to be 13, right? So that's the same age as his youngest, Tanya. He probably stands a better chance than the rest of us of at getting through to her."

Ford nodded. Of all the guys, Emmett being here had surprised him the most but it made sense now.

“We'll bring Wade and Ty with us, just in case the family Hunter's with gives us any trouble. And then from there, we'll just have to see how things develop – adapt on the fly."

Ford had to smile. "You already had it all figured out, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but if you'd wanted to do something different..."

"I won't lie – I'd love to be her hero and be able to figure it all out and get them both and bring them home for her. But..." He shrugged.

Cash leaned forward in his seat. "She's going to need you to be her hero when we find these kids and bring them home. Are you ready for that? I can tell you now that finding them is going to be the easy part – and it's right in my wheelhouse, as you well know."

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