Page 114 of Someone to Hold
Luke starts jumping up and down as the calf wiggles. “Can I do it? Please? I’ve been practicing tipping up the bottle just like you showed me.”
“Me too,” Laurel adds, hopping down from the hay bale. “We should take turns.”
“You can both help.” Chase lets himself into the stall. “Luke, you hold the bottle, and Laurel, you can help keep him still enough to take it.”
I watch as Kevin eagerly latches on. The rust-colored hair on the top of his head sticks out in all directions like he’s been electrocuted and milk runs down his chin, but the expression in his big eyes is particularly endearing as he drinks.
“He’s getting so much bigger already.” I take a seat on the hay bale my daughter vacated. “Are you sure we’re not overfeeding him?”
“This guy’s appetite is perfectly normal.” Chase’s smile is warm as he helps Luke adjust his grip on the bottle. “Though I have a feeling he’s going to be spoiled rotten with all the attention you three give him.”
“He deserves to be spoiled,” Luke says seriously. “His mama didn’t want him, but we do.”
“We’ll love him even better because we chose him for our family,” Laurel adds with the kind of insight that makes my chest tighten.
These kids have been through so much loss themselves, yet their capacity for love and empathy continues to amaze me.
Chase catches my eye over their heads, and something passes between us. We’ve both been through enough to appreciate the sweetness of this moment and how perfect our life has become.
“Mommy,” Laurel says, pulling my attention back to the present. “When Kevin grows up, will he still want to live in the barn? Or will he want his own pasture like Fancy and Gumdrop?”
“Well, Highland cows are pretty social animals,” I tell her. “He’ll probably want to be with the horses once he’s big enough. They can all keep each other company.”
“Like a family,” Luke adds, grinning as Kevin finishes his bottle and starts nosing around his hand for more.
“Maybe we should get more animals that need homes,” Laurel suggests thoughtfully. “We could be a flower farmandan animal rescue.”
Chase and I exchange looks. “That’s not a terrible idea,” he says. “There’s plenty of room, and a way for the farm to become an even more meaningful part of the community.”
Laurel’s smile widens. “The animals would be part of our family.”
“Exactly,” Chase agrees.
Something in his voice makes me look at him more closely. That buzz of energy from earlier seems to be building, and he keeps glancing between me and the kids.
“Speaking of family.” He holds out a hand and pulls me to my feet. “I wanted to talk to you about ours.”
Luke and Laurel seem like they’re about to explode, and the air is charged in a way I don’t understand, even though I seem to be the only one not in on what’s happening.
“What’s going on with you three?” I shoot a wary glance between them. “Have you already committed to more animals?”
Chase squeezes my fingers before releasing me, laughing softly. “Right now I’m thinking of a different kind of commitment.” He reaches into his pocket, and my heart seems to skip a beat as understanding dawns.
“Molly.” His voice is soft but steady. Hearing my name spoken with such reverence already has me blinking back tears. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Spending every day withyou and the kids, building your dream and our life together is like my dream come true. A dream I never let myself have, and a future I want more than anything.”
He pulls out a small velvet box, and Laurel claps her hands over her mouth to stifle a delighted squeal.
I glance between my children and the man I love. “Were you two in on this?”
“He asked our permission,” Luke announces proudly.
“And we said yes,” Laurel adds, bouncing on her toes then adding an eye roll for good measure. “Obviously.”
Chase chuckles, his gaze never leaving mine as he opens the box to reveal a stunning vintage ring, the oval diamond surrounded by smaller stones that twinkle like tiny stars.
“I found it at an antique shop in Denver,” he says. “The owner said it belonged to a woman who was married for sixty-three years. I liked the idea of you wearing something with that kind of love story already in it. I hope you do, too.”
Tears blur my vision as I stare at the ring. It’s absolutely perfect.
