Page 52 of Wannabe in Wyoming
Dropping to her knees in front of him, she clasped his hands, ring box and all. Her watery gaze met his. “Yes! Yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be your wife and wake up next to you every day. But there’s something else you need to know before you put that ring on me.” She wiped new tears from her cheeks, smiling through them.
“Willow, what . . . I’m . . .” Seeming to not be able to help himself, he took her mouth in a deep kiss. “Baby, you’re killing me here.”
“We should probably hold off on adopting any more animals because I’m ready to start that family. In fact, it’s already on its way.”
He blinked at her owlishly, in surprise and shock, and then an indescribable expression of jubilation broke over his features. “You’re pregnant? We—we’re having a baby?”
Grinning, she nodded. “The shot failed. My doctor says it happens sometimes.”
“I’m going to be a dad?” Not waiting for another confirmation, he threw his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. “God . . . Willow, I love you.”
He lifted his head and stared at her, clearly overcome with the emotions coursing through him. Tears fell from both their eyes. The moment was so perfect and precious, she thought her heart would give out from the sheer joy of it. “I love you too. Based on how far along the doctor said I am, it happened when you were here for New Year’s.” She brushed the tears from his cheeks and kissed him softly, pouring all her love for him into her actions.
“Woman, next time I try to surprise you, can you maybe not steal my thunder?” Nathan said, helping her stand, but not releasing his hold on her. His sappy grin told her he was just teasing her. “Dale and I already did the chores, so you and I have the rest of the day with nothing to do but spend it together.” Bending down, he picked up the ring box that’d gotten dropped at some point during their celebration. “Take your glove off, baby.”
Doing as he asked, she tugged her left glove free and stuffed it into her coat pocket. Holding her hand out for him, she watched as he slipped the ring onto her finger. The diamond was set flush into a white gold band, a practical setting that wouldn’t catch on anything while she did chores around the ranch. “I know you can’t wear this all the time, so I was thinking after the wedding, we could get our wedding bands tattooed on, but I wanted you to have this too.” Kissing the ring where it rested on her finger, he met her eyes. “I love you more every day I spend with you. And now, we’ll have a child to love too. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world, and I hope I can make you even half as happy as you’ve made me.”
“You already have, Nathan, you already have.” Cupping his face in her hands, she brought his mouth to hers for another deep kiss. After a few delicious moments, she pulled away and smiled. “Now take me to bed—I’m cold and I need my fiancé to warm me up.”
“My pleasure.” With a broad grin, he swept her up into his arms and carried her into their home, into a future that was looking bright indeed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dear Willow,
If you’re reading this, it means I’ve passed and you’re at Skyview. You have the letters now and, with them, our history. With all my heart, I wish I’d had the guts to come and meet you. I bet you’re beautiful, just like your mother. Time and distance did nothing to temper the love I held for her. She was all that was good and bright in this world, and when I received word of her death, I gave up. I’m ashamed to admit that, but in the back of my head, I’d always hoped that, maybe one day, fate would be kind to us and allow us to have a life together. Once I learned it was no longer possible, I had my will changed, leaving you this ranch. It isn’t much, but I hope you’ll have the means to create the legacy you want for your own children, whatever it might be.
Two months ago, I was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. The doctors tell me I only have a few weeks left in this world. I’ve taken care of as many details as I can think of, so you won’t have to. My lawyer, Howard Smith, is a fair man that you can trust with helping you navigate the transfer of the estate. If you need anything else, your new neighbor, Jeremiah Urban, is also a good man, but don’t tell him I told you that. He embarrasses too easily. He doesn’t give himself enough credit, but I hope he might be a friend to you.
Many see my diagnosis as a death sentence, but I see it as something more. I will finally be able to be with my beloved Cherry again. Treatment would just prolong the agony, and I don’t want to die like that. I want to go quickly. I’m in a hurry, you see. I’ve spent a lifetime without half my heart and soul, and I’m eager to be reunited with her.
Having never known me in life, I don’t want to subject you to watching me take my final breaths. You might think of me as selfish for leaving this world without meeting you, but as I told your mother in one of my letters, I don’t deserve you. I didn’t want your only memories of me to be of a broken, miserable bastard on his deathbed. My letters to your mother show a different man than the rest of this town knew—the man I wish I could’ve been for you. Someone you could’ve looked up to. Don’t be surprised if no one has a kind word to say about me, because I wasn’t worthy of any.
I hope this ranch and this land bring you the peace and happiness that always eluded me. Fate and circumstances weren’t kind to me, but I pray they are to you. My advice, Willow, be happy. If you see the chance for it, don’t let it go. Hold onto it with both hands and fight for it with every ounce of courage I didn’t have. You deserve it. All I’ve ever wanted, other than your mother, is for you to have the life I never had. I allowed shame, anger, and regret to make me a bitter, cruel man. Be better than I was.
I love you—I always have. Be true to yourself and don’t let others dictate who you should love. And tell whoever wins your heart to be good to you, or I’ll come back and haunt them.
With all the love I was never able to show you,
Your Father
* * *
Willow wiped her watery eyes,then folded the letter and slid it back into its envelope, which she placed on top of the others in the ornate cherry box she still kept them in. She’d finally gotten the courage that morning to look at the letter Jason had addressed to her, and this was the second time she’d read it in as many hours—third, actually, if she included when she’d recited it out loud to Nathan over breakfast.
She softly closed the lid until she heard the littlesnick. Setting it on a little, round table next to her, she used her foot to start the double-seat swing moving. They had two of them now—one on the side porch and one on the back deck where she was now. Nathan was in the kitchen behind her, cleaning up from the breakfast he’d insisted on cooking for her before kicking her out the backdoor to rest. He’d been the stereotypical first time-father-to-be, not letting her do things he deemed too strenuous or too exhausting for her. On one hand, it drove her crazy, while on the other, it made her feel cherished.
Ethel jumped up on the swing and rubbed her face against Willow’s swollen belly, purring loudly. She had five weeks left before her due date, and it couldn’t come fast enough for her. She was ready to walk without waddling and being out of breath, not to mention see her feet again. As her pregnancy had progressed, she’d had to stop doing a few things she’d grown to love, including helping Dale and Shane with barn chores and riding her horse, Poppy, a Palomino with a white blaze down her nose. The gentle mare had become Willow’s favorite since arriving at the ranch with most of the other animals, but she hadn’t been able to climb up into the saddle for the past two months. She was certain Poppy missed their riding time as much as she did.
Who would’ve thought a pink-haired, tattooed chick, with a nose stud and nipple rings, from Philadelphia would turn into an alpaca rancher in small town in Wyoming with less than a thousand people living there? Certainly not Willow. But there was no denying this was where she belonged—this had been her destiny, even if it’d taken her thirty-three years to find it.
She touched the simple silver and black band that encircled her left ring finger. With all the work they did around the ranch, they’d decided to get their wedding bands tattooed on, not wanting to catch any actual rings on the various equipment. But Willow’s OB/GYN had advised her to wait until after the baby was born and no longer breastfeeding. Nathan had insisted on getting his right away though and had purchased the band for Willow to wear to ensure everyone—meaning everyguy—knew she was taken. As if her round belly wasn’t already a sign. For now, she’d gotten into the habit of putting the ring on a chain around her neck whenever she was doing something that it might get caught on.
The small alpaca herd was thriving and had welcomed five newborns about three months ago. The babies would eventually be sold, since they couldn’t be bred with Alfie, their father, and Willow had no doubt she would cry when the time came. While she knew the animals weren’t pets, she’d grown attached to each of them as their personalities had emerged.
Nathan and Willow had been discussing with Dale the possibility of adding another male and several females to the herd next year. Willow was also looking forward to the first shearing at Skyview Ranch next month, but Nathan had warned her she would have to watch from the sidelines—that is if she didn’t go into labor before that. Dale had already arranged for a professional shearer to come help him and Nathan remove the fleece from the animals, so it could be sold.
The alpaca ranching community had embraced their new members at a recent event Willow and Nathan had attended in Cheyenne with the Brodericks and Dale. No one had cared that the two were greenhorns, and they’d become friends with quite a few people that weekend.
