Page 139 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

Ford shot him a puzzled look. "What for?"

"If you think about it, if Sierra and I hadn't gotten together, you'd never have met Amelia."

"Shit." Ford took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. "You're right. In that case, not only thank you, but I'll never be able to thank you enough. I never thought I'd want a family, but now I can't imagine being without them." He chuckled. "It's not exactly smooth sailing, especially with Nat, but you can't blame her for being so prickly and I love them both with all my heart."

"It shows – and you're really good with them. She might be prickly but she respects you – more than that, she loves you, it's easy to see." Wade laughed. "If you remember, that night that we found Sierra out here, you left me to deal with her because you said you couldn't handle emotional females. Now you're handling Nat like you were born to do it."

Ford shook his head slowly. "I never said I couldn't do it – just that I didn't want to. That's all changed now. Nat can be a challenge, I won't deny that, and Amelia has her emotional moments – not that she's difficult, just that she's out of her depth, and I can honestly say that there's nothing I want more than to be able to help them both through – and Hunter, too. He's such an awesome little guy. I feel so lucky, Wade, so yeah – thank you."

Wade nodded happily. "I can't take any credit, but I'm happy to feel like I was maybe part of bringing your little family together. Back then you were talking about our future as the old bachelor brothers of MacFarland Ranch. I still had hope even before I met Sierra, but I never would’ve dreamed we’d be on our way for you to buy an engagement ring someday."

Ford smiled. “Me neither. Oh, and on the way back, I need to make another stop – I need to buy some hats.”

They fell silent after that, and as they sped up toward town, Ford stared out the window at the mountains with a big smile on his face. He'd known and loved those mountains his whole life. He'd only known his new family for a short while, but he loved them more than anything.

Chapter Thirty-One

Amelia awoke with a smile on Sunday morning when Ford curled his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. "Morning, Lil’ Bit," he said as he rubbed his chin on her shoulder.

She reached up to run her fingers through his beard. "Morning," she said with a smile. "Are you ready for today?" he asked.

She rolled over to face him. "I think it'll go okay, don't you?"

She loved the way he grinned as he nodded. "I think it's going to be a great day," he said. "An unforgettable one."

That made her laugh. "I hope you mean that in a good way."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Don't worry. I do. I think it'll be fine – more than fine."

She gave him a puzzled smile. "Do you have something up your sleeve, Ford MacFarland?"

He shrugged happily. "Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

"Anything I need to know about in advance?" she asked. "Do you think the kids are going to be okay?"

He looked more serious as he said, "I think they'll do great. I've already talked to the rest of the family, and they're all on board. They get it. They'll always think of this place as home. They all grew up here. It's not like I'm forcing them out or anything, but when we have Sunday lunches here like this, they all need to bear in mind that it's our family home now. And they all know how important it is that Nat and Hunter feel like they have a place that's their own. Especially since they've never had that before."

He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Don't worry about it, Lil’ Bit. It's all going to be okay." He frowned. "Are you okay with it? Do you feel like they're all going to be coming in, invading your space?"

She shook her head rapidly. "No, not at all."

His frown grew deeper. "Does it even feel like your space yet?"

"It does," she assured him. "I know what you're worried about, but you don't need to. You think that I'm going to feel like an outsider in their space, don't you?"

"Yeah, but you're not. I..."

She put a finger to his lips. "I know I'm not. That's what I'm saying. It surprises me, but this house feels like my home now. Home in a way that I've never known before. I feel like..." She hesitated, but she had to say it because it was true. "I belong here because of you. And the kids do, too. I hope your family will always come over on Sundays."

He chuckled. "Me too. But not every Sunday."

"No, but you know what I mean. I feel like a whole new era is beginning for us today."

He smiled big when he said, "Yeah, it is. What do you say? Should we get up and get started on the day?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips. "We absolutely should."

He crushed her to his chest, saying, "You want to watch yourself, Lil’ Bit." His hand closed over her ass as he added, "When you hold me like that, the last thing I want to do is get out of bed."

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