Page 89 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

"I do. I think I might be doing all right. What do you say?"

He nodded happily. "You're doing great. I think you'll pick it up in no time."

She laughed when Delta rested his head on Ford's shoulder and then turned to brush his lips over his cheek.

"Aw, he loves you, too, look." She bit down on her bottom lip when she realized what she'd said. If Delta loved him too, did that mean that she...?

Ford met her gaze and held it, and her heart pounded. But he didn't call her out on it. If anything, she thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips. She wasn't horrified by the idea that she might be falling in love with him – perhaps he wasn't either.

~ ~ ~

Later that evening, Ford stood on the back deck, staring out at the mountains, lost in thought. It had been a good day. Things were usually quiet on Saturdays, and he was glad that he'd decided to call it quits early so that he could give Amelia her first riding lesson. He was proud of her – it was obvious that she was nervous in the beginning, but she'd done well, and Delta had taken care of her. He could see the two of them becoming a good team if she wanted to get serious about riding.

He'd been kind of cranky with Tanner when he showed up, even though he knew it was unreasonable of him. He might have warned the hands to stay the hell away from the round pen and out of sight while Amelia had her lesson, but he hadn't warned his brothers to stay away. And in the end, Tanner stopping by had turned out to be a good thing. His mention of Mav and Blane coming home had brought up the subject of where Amelia was going to stay.

He smiled when he remembered what she'd said – and if she wanted to stay here, he'd be more than happy to have her. For good, if things worked out that way. He had to wonder just how she'd come to mean so much to him so quickly. It was true that it had been a couple of years since they'd first met, but they hadn't seen much of each other in the meantime. He'd never forgotten her, though. He'd known that she was the kind of woman he could go for; he just hadn't thought he'd ever get the chance.

His frown deepened as he watched a pickup truck coming up the driveway. It wasn't one of the hands. He made a face when he realized it was Emmett. Maybe he was coming to see Tanner, but he doubted that. And Emmett proved him right when he parked his truck on the end of the line of vehicles out back and greeted him with a wave.

"Hey, Ford. Sorry to drop by on a Saturday evening like this. I won't keep you long."

"That's okay. What can I do for you?"

Emmett smiled. "As a matter of fact, it's not you I'm after. It's Amelia."

"Why? What do you want with her?"

"Don't look at me like that. I heard that the two of you are an item now. I'm not trying to steal her away from you. I wanted to talk to her about the girls. If you remember, they're both interested in hanging out with her, if she has the time and the interest at some point. Since Ty invited us over for lunch with you all tomorrow, I wanted to have a word with Amelia by herself first. If she doesn't want to do it, I'd rather give her the chance to tell me that now.”

"Right," said Ford. "Sorry, I forgot about that. She's taking a shower right now, but I can ask her for you. I'll either ask her to give you a call or I'll let you know what she says." He didn't want to tell Emmett, but if she'd rather not do it, he figured he could make the call to let Emmett know. He had a feeling that as straightforward as she liked to be in most ways, she wouldn't feel comfortable turning him down.

Emmett smiled, seeming to understand his reasoning. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks. I'd appreciate it. If you can just tell her that they're both interested in who she is – you know what they're like; they'll probably ask far too many questions. And tell her to feel free to say no. I didn't come over to put pressure on her."

"No, I know that. You're doing her a favor by not letting the girls put her on the spot in front of everyone, right?"

"Exactly," said Emmett. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"The two of you are an item, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Yeah, we are."

Emmett smiled back. "I'm glad. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks." Ford hesitated for a moment, but he had to say it. "You do, too."

He was surprised when, rather than protesting or claiming that he was happy and that the girls were all he needed – which was what he'd done for years – Emmett dropped his gaze and didn't comment.

"I don't want to push it," said Ford, "but I heard that Shelley's friend Harper has been doing more than her fair share of picking the girls up for you."

Emmett didn't look up as he said, "Everyone's been helping out while Alana has rehearsals for this play."

"I know that," said Ford. "And don't forget that you can always call on me as a backup. In fact, maybe I should talk to Shelley about getting my name on the roster for a regular pickup day."

Emmett lifted his head at that and smiled. "You know the girls would love it if you could. You're always so busy around here, but..." He smiled. "I guess having Amelia around is making you rethink things, isn’t it? Your priorities and how you spend your time."

Ford nodded slowly. "I guess it is." He remembered wanting to protest the other day when Boone had said that his life revolved entirely around the herd. Those words had hit more deeply than he'd realized. Of course he loved the ranch. Of course he loved working with the herd, managing the hands, managing the place and the business side of things. But Emmett was right. Since Amelia had been around, he was starting to realize that he wanted more in his life.

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