Page 117 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

Amelia nodded slowly. "You're right," she said eventually. "It would do him good to be around other children, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," said Nat. "Otherwise, he might turn into a nerdy little hermit."

"You mean like me?" Amelia asked with a smile.

Nat smirked. "I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to."

Nat started to leave, but stopped to turn back when she reached the door. Amelia's heart broke for her when she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, "Do you have any photos of him – my dad? I don't know what happened to Mom's things when she died."

"I do," said Amelia. "I even have a couple of your mom. Do you want to look at them later?"

As Nat stared at her, Amelia realized her mistake. The girl would no doubt want to look at them in private. "I'll tell you what. I'll email them to you."

"Thanks," said Nat. "And thanks for giving us both laptops like that. Hunter's never had his own before." She made a face. "Neither have I, but that doesn't matter – I don’t need one in the way he does."

"It does matter," Amelia told her. "You deserve to be taken care of just as much as he does. And now you have people who want to do that." She gave the girl a small smile. "I know that doesn't mean much to you, coming from me. But there's Ford, too."

At least that brought a smile to Nat's face. "Yeah. Anyway, I'll be back to fix the drinks... I'll get soda for Hunter and me. Will you and Ford want some?"

Amelia smiled. "As long as you don't plan to put laxatives or something in mine."

Nat chuckled. "I wouldn't have thought of that, but now..." She grinned. "Nah, you're good."

With that, she turned and left the room, and Amelia sagged back against the cushions, realizing as she did that she was sitting in Ford's spot – even when he wasn't around, it seemed that she instinctively sought his support.

~ ~ ~

"Hey, Anita," Ford greeted the manager at the lodge, who was standing behind the front desk.

"Hey, Ford. How's it going?"

He nodded rather than give a more specific answer. He couldn't exactly say that things were going great – but they weren't terrible, and they seemed to be getting a little better every day.

Anita smiled. "I imagine it's complicated."

He chuckled. "Yeah, that's probably the right word."

"Well, I won't hold you up. Wade and Tanner are already in the office waiting for you."

"Thanks, Anita. It's good to see you."

"You too."

When he reached Wade's office, he took a breath before letting himself in. He and Wade always used to meet up every week to discuss ranch business and lodge business and whatever else they needed to get into. Since Tanner had returned home, he'd joined them since he ran the stud. Ty used to be here as well when he was running the kitchen at the lodge, but he had his own restaurant now.

His brothers smiled at him in greeting. "How's it going?" Wade asked.

Ford chuckled as he borrowed the word Anita had given him and said, "Complicated."

Tanner laughed with him. "I'll bet it is. It was complicated enough for me figuring things out with Everly and Ash when they first moved here. You have a whole lot more to contend with than we did."

"You can say that again," said Ford.

Wade gave him a worried look. "I take it Natalie's still not happy to be here. Sierra said she talked to Amelia yesterday, and it sounds like she's struggling."

Ford blew out a sigh. "Nat's giving her a hard time, and it's understandable when you see it from her point of view. Amelia’s doing her best, but it's tough on her." Ford felt bad for Amelia. Nat had maybe thawed a little toward her, but she was still carrying her own guilt.

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