Chapter 35
CADE
Four Months Later
A gigantic mop of hair, a pair of wickedly bright, dangly earrings, and smeared red lipstick appeared on my porch.
“Helloooo?” inquired a drawn-out, annoying voice. “Hello? Auntie Marsha is here! Noey? Cade?”
I inwardly groaned.
Noey? What kind of endearment was that?
From where Noelle stood at the stove, she illuminated. “In here, Marsha!”
I held Lily at the sink, not far from Noelle. A little heat emanated from the dying fire in the corner, but we didn’t need much anymore. Early April brought warmer temperatures and less fires. Lily, responding to the sudden rush of noise that was Marsha entering our world, kicked her feet.
I grinned, unable to help it. I loved when Lily responded to the world.
She sat in my arms, her back pressed to my chest, my arm wrapping her torso so her limbs could flail as much as she liked.
These days, she held her head up like a champion and worked her chubby arms and legs as fast as they could go.
Marsha sailed into the kitchen, wrapped her arms around Noelle, and practically bent her backwards with a hug.
“Oh you sweet thing!” Marsha cried. “I’ve missed you! How are you? You wouldn’t believe the family gossip that I bring. I have all the tea.” She paused, like a hound on a trail. Her nose went in the air as she pivoted, coming face-to-face with me.
A smile curled those overly painted lips.
“Why Cade Callahan. You sly, handsome thing! How are you?”
Before I could shake holy water from a vial and stop her, she barreled across the kitchen and had Lily and I in her arms. Her perfume made my eyes water, and I narrowly dodged a smear of lipstick on my cheek.
This wasn’t the first time I’d borne such abuse, and it wouldn’t be the last. Marsha had visited the ranch several times since my arrival, and it had always been about as fun.
“Marsha,” I said.
She withdrew, put a hand on Lily’s leg, and cried, “Isn’t she the cutest thing! I swear, she looks just like you, Noelle.”
Noelle beamed brighter, and that made the whole ridiculous visit worth it. She didn’t have much family worth clinging to, and Marsha wasn’t great, but she was good. More importantly, Noelle wanted her around.
So I’d deal.
Not happily, but I’d deal. Because I’d do just about anything to see that smile on Noelle’s face.
Marsha set her manicured hands on her hips and spun in a circle, encompassing the kitchen.
“Well? What renovations do you have going on?”
I nodded toward the hallway. “We’ve finished the upstairs bathroom now, and it looks good. We’re moving onto the basement next.”
“I just installed and painted the trim in the hallway, too,” Noelle added as she pulled a pie from the oven.
She set the steaming pie on the stovetop, which beckoned me with the smell of warm, spiced apples.
Her peace offering and apology for inviting Marsha.
There were a lot of things I’d do for fresh, homemade apple pie.
Dealing with Marsha was also on that list.
Noelle sent me a wry smile. “I’m trying to convince Cade to bring the ranch into this century with more updated appliances and better wifi, but it’s a hard sell.”
“Is not,” I countered, a tad defensively. “I don’t mind updates, it just . . . needs to serve a function. We don’t need a screen on every wall. Or any screen at all, frankly. No one here watches TV.”
Marsha’s head ping ponged back and forth between us, a knowing look in her wrinkly eyes. A smile played on the edge of her lips.
“Where are the boys?” Marsha asked. She shook a hand, as if that would summon them. “I haven’t seen Wyatt and Cody in a long time!”
A grudging note of respect appeared in my chest at that moment.
Marsha might be annoying, but she had an uncanny mind.
For her to request seeing the boys was a point in her favor.
Because I fostered them, I wasn’t always sure what her reaction to them would be.
Sometimes, the boys took misery from uppity types, but Marsha showed none of that so far.
Noelle removed her oven mitts and leaned against the stove. “Wyatt is in a bull riding competition a few hours away. It’s the last of the season, and he’s trying to squeeze it in before he and Cody both take their GED exams to officially finish high school. Cody is there, supporting Wyatt.”
What an idiot Wyatt is, I thought, and not for the first time.
But I had to admit that he knew what he was doing on the back of a bull.
It was stupid, and risky, and not something I’d ever do, but that only made it more fun for Wyatt.
He liked the thrill, the noise, the attention.
He got little enough of it growing up, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to soak it all up now.
I was proud of him. He had a goal, and he chased it down. If he came out of it alive, that dedication would serve him well.
Cody, on the other hand, had no interest outside of puttering around the ranch and dinking around with things. The renovations ignited a little spark in him, but not spark enough to invite change.
But he still helped Wyatt, because that was Cody. A heart bigger than Wyoming, and no idea what to do with it. I worried about them both like I worried about Lily, and Cora, and my mom.
That probably wouldn’t change soon.
But their lives were their lives, and I only had to shoulder so much of it. That was the thing about responsibility. The less I accepted what didn’t have to be mine, the more capacity I had for what was mine. It made sense, in a raw, undefined kind of way. I was still figuring it out.
“Marsha,” I asked, clearing my throat, “would you like to hold Lily?”
Her eyes popped wide open.
“Yes! May I?”
She stood directly between me and Noelle, her back to her niece. While there, Marsha sneakily produced a small box from her sleeve. I accepted the box in my hand while transferring Lily over. The exchange remained unnoticed by Noelle, even as I slid it into my back pocket.
“Baby girl!” Marsha cooed. “Aren’t you the yummiest little thing I have ever seen?”
Noelle’s fond smile grew wider at the sight of her aunt playing with Lily. It was a concerted effort not to stick my hand in my pocket and draw attention to the package, which I had asked Marsha to bring over a week ago.
“Oh, what a baby. Come, little one.” Marsha bustled out of the kitchen and into the living room.
“Thomas is bringing all of your bags inside. I went shopping in Jackson City for you, and I spent too much money.” She laughed.
“But don’t you worry! There’s plenty for you to get excited over in all these bags.
There are at least twenty new outfits, and you won’t believe the toys.
Good thing we have a big credit card limit! ”
Noelle began to follow, but I trapped her by the wrist. “Can I have your attention for just a moment?”
She paused, blinking in surprise.
“Sure, Cade. What’s up?”
Smiling, I pulled her behind me.
“C’mere.”
Holding Lily when Marsha arrived, and then offering Lily to her, hadn’t been an accident. The whole setup had begun.
Because I had something very important to show Noelle.
The bundle of paperwork that waited on the picnic table outside wasn’t overtly romantic.
Neither was the old pen laying on top, nor the roughshod plan in my head.
When I analyzed my idea from the outside, it seemed ridiculous.
No one would find this romantic, not even Noelle who had a kind of romance that lurked beneath her tough exterior.
Oh, she acted tough.
But she was gooey inside.
However, this idea was the best I could do with all we had pressing on us.
Spring brought calving season, checking the far fences as the snow melted, and riding the irrigation lines.
In less than a week, I’d fly out to Florida and meet up with Pastor Mike and try to see Mom, who made it through her scare.
Cora was going with me this time. Just me and Cora, because Hawk was helping Noah out with something they hadn’t explained.
So.
Today was the day.
The biggest day of my life.
Noelle showed no anxiety around leaving Lily with her aunt.
She trusted Marsha not to take Lily away.
Noelle’s parents hadn’t once reached out since that horrible day four months ago.
Channing’s strong defense had taken care of that.
Since Ashley Morgan willingly confirmed that Sarah and Thomas Miller had been involved in the plot, he’d taken them down too, eliminating their chances of taking custody of Lily.
Thanks to him, neither set of parents would be much of a problem anymore.
Ever again.
Lily was all ours. Or, she was about to be.
I stood at the rickety picnic table, glancing over the paperwork sprawled in a fan. The day was balmy, quiet, with radiant sunshine warming the earth and the smell of spring thick in the air.
Noelle cocked her head to the side.
“What’s this?”
“The deed to Iron Creek ranch came through, along with a few other things.”
“Oh?”
“Well . . . kind of.”
I lifted the paper that Kinoshi sent me yesterday. The official and final deed to the ranch. On one side of the page was my name, signature. On the other was her name, and no signature.
Yet.
I handed it to her. “I requested one correction to the deed.” Her eyes focused on the paper, skimming each line, while I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box.
“What correction?” she asked, only halfway through.
“At the bottom. It’s missing your signature.”
Her lips curled down in confusion. Clouds filled her eyes. “My name? You . . . you added my name to the deed?”
“Yes. I want you to own Iron Creek ranch with me.”
I went down on one knee. Her attention focused from the page, to me, to the box in my hand. There, it settled. Her grandmother’s wedding ring. A single, round diamond set in the middle of a golden band, peeked out of nestled velvet.
Noelle’s breath caught. Her cheeks went slack, and she almost choked.
“Noelle, will you and Lily have me? Will you be my wife, and share the ranch with me, and make my world better than I could have ever dreamed?”
A flurry of squeals, sobs, strangled yes, Cade, yes! and a pair of arms attacked me. I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifted her in the air, and swung her around. She laughed, head tilted back, as I eventually let her go. The ring slid on her finger as if it were made to live there.
Marsha emerged from the back door, Lily in her arms, tears dotting her cheeks.
Cora and Hawk emerged behind her with wide smiles.
Wyatt and Cody—who were supposed to be gone, but were part of the plan—hurried from around the corner, whooping and catcalling and whistling.
I’d prepared them yesterday, and they’d all been waiting with anxious anticipation.
Noelle didn’t notice any of them. She pressed her hands to either side of my face, kissed me dead on the lips, and whispered, “Forever, Cade Callahan. It’s you, me, Lily, and this ranch forever.”
“Forever,” I whispered.