Page 85 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

"I think so," she said.

"Well, we'd better let you get going," said Shelley. "We don't want to hold you up. Are you going to stop in to see us on your way back on Sunday?" she asked Cash. “Trip said you might.”

"That's the plan, honey."

She smiled at Amelia. "I hope you will come to the bakery, and if you do, whatever you want is on me. I'll never be able to repay you for what you did, and I know coffee and pastries won't even begin to make a dent in what I owe you, but..."

"That's okay. You don't owe me anything," she said.

Harper nodded vigorously. "Yes, we do, young lady, and like it or not, we're going to be doing whatever we can to pay you back. And if ever you need anything, you absolutely must let us know, okay?"

Amelia nodded.

Cash chuckled. "Okay, ladies, we're out of here."

With that, he climbed back into his SUV, and Amelia followed him, relieved when she could get back into her car. Before she pulled away, Harper came and tapped on the window. When she let it down, Harper said, "I promise I won't be a pain, but I meant what I said. If you need anything at all, you let me know, please?"

There was something so genuine in her eyes as she spoke that Amelia smiled. "Thank you."

Harper straightened up. "Okay, well, I hope I've not made too much of a nuisance of myself. I just needed you to know."

"And now I do, and I appreciate it. Thanks."

Harper chuckled. "But not as much as you'll appreciate me letting you get on your way."

Amelia chuckled with her as she nodded but didn't want to agree.

Shelley came to stand beside Harper. "I hope we'll see you later," she said.

"You will," Amelia confirmed. She didn't normally like to make a verbal commitment, even about something she already knew she was going to do, but there was something about these two women – she liked them. And if she was going to get to know more people here in the valley, Shelley and Harper wouldn't be a bad place to start.

~ ~ ~

Ford checked his watch. It wasn't three o’clock yet, but if he was going to knock off early, he'd better go now. Amelia had said that she'd be back before three-thirty, and he wanted to be ready and waiting to go when she got here. If he didn't run back up to the house, he'd no doubt get roped into something else, and that was the last thing he wanted – he didn't want to let her down, and he didn't want to be mad at the hands for holding him up.

He scowled when he spotted Boone striding toward him across the yard.

"What do you need?" he asked curtly, then felt bad when Boone chuckled.

"I was coming to ask you the same thing. Do you need something down here? Is that why you're still hanging around when you should be back at the house by now?"

Ford gave him a rueful smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I was about to head up there, then when I saw you coming..."

Boone met his gaze and held it. "You know, I hope one day you'll learn to trust that I can handle things around here and start taking a bit more time for yourself. I mean, after all these years..."

Ford blew out a sigh. "Dammit, Boone. It's not that I don't trust you. You don't really think that, do you?"

Boone shrugged. "I don't want to, and on some level, I know that it's just who you are; you need to be in control. But now that Amelia's around, I feel like you're going to have more demands on your time. Not saying that she's demanding, but you know what I mean. I guess all I'm trying to say is that I want you to be able to depend on me so that you can start enjoying life – a life that doesn't revolve completely around the herd."

Ford wanted to protest that his life didn't revolve completely around the herd. But he didn't say anything – in a way, Boone was right.

So he just went with, "Thanks. And even though I haven't proved it to you until this point, I know I can depend on you, and I do."

Boone nodded. "I'm glad."

They stared at each other for a moment before Boone laughed and added, "So if it's true, why don't you get the hell out of here? You said you're taking her over to the bakery." He checked his watch. "Folks start gathering over there around three, and, you know, if you like, you can make this a regular Friday thing. As far as I'm concerned, I can handle things around here."

"Maybe I'll do that – not every Friday. I doubt Amelia would be up for that anyway." He smiled. "Maybe you and I should take it in turns. I'm not the only one whose life revolves around the herd, am I?"

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