Chapter Fifteen – Ladd
Ladd
The arena in the barn was full of noise and activity.
The older kids from the haven arrived before it was time to open gifts, and I wasn’t sure how my mother and grandmother managed to pull this off, making everything run as smoothly as it did.
But the kids were having a fantastic time, and it all flowed efficiently.
I glanced around and saw Vivianne with the same little girl she’d spent time with earlier that morning at breakfast. Her name was Logan, and the way she smiled at Vivianne left my heart feeling as if it had doubled in size in my chest.
“She fits in perfectly,” my father said as he walked up next to me. “She’s wonderful with the kids.”
Smiling, I nodded. “She is.”
“She’ll make a wonderful teacher, if that’s what she decides she wants to do.”
“Also a wonderful mother.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “Boys, I hope. I’ll need them for the ranch.”
I tossed my head back and laughed. “Because the four you have aren’t enough.”
My father shrugged. “You’ll have the store, and Jason will be off chasing a dream to play football. He wants nothing to do with the ranch.”
I turned and looked at my father. “You know I love this ranch, Dad. I’m not leaving it, and I’ll very much be a part of it.”
He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight shake. “I know you will be, Ladd. I don’t begrudge any of my kids for following their dreams.”
“What if we have girls?”
It was his turn to laugh. “Have you seen your mother and grandmother on a horse? They can round up the cattle better than Derek or any of the other ranch hands.”
“That’s true. And give it time, I’m sure we’ll have Viv out there as well.”
A wide grin appeared on his face. “She reminds me so much of your mother.” He paused before adding, “You know, I met her father once.”
Stunned, I drew my head back. “When?”
“Through a mutual friend of ours. He grew up in River Falls and invited me to his wedding. Came from money, was an only child, and his father was also in politics. The mayor of a small town near Colorado Springs. But Don Pennington wasn’t a nice guy.
Thought he was above everyone and everything, even tried to overshadow our friends’ wedding.
He bragged about becoming a lawyer and then a senator.
Had dreams of becoming president, from what I remember. ”
“Did you ever see him after the wedding?”
He shook his head. “No, but our mutual friend, his name was Ron, said no one could stand the guy in college. Said he looked down on everyone and felt like he should have gone to Harvard or some other fancy college like that. I have a hard time believing Vivianne is his daughter. She has such a caring heart.”
“Did Mom tell you anything about their conversation?”
“Yes, she did. Don’t worry, I won’t speak about it to anyone.”
“Never crossed my mind you would.”
He drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Honestly, Ladd, I’m not surprised he’d treat her the way he did.
From what I’ve read about the guy, he was focused only on making a career for himself.
The stupid idiot obviously has no idea what a wonderful daughter he has, how she could add so much more value to his brand… if that’s what they call it.”
“Maybe he does, but it just doesn’t matter to him.”
My dad looked at me, then back to the arena. “Well, his loss is our gain.”
“Sure as hell is.”
He clapped my back. “Come on, we need to get out there. Your mother wants to bring in a few horses for the kids to have a chance to ride around the arena.”
“I was wondering why we kept that half open. Do you know which horses she wants? I can get David and Mike to help me saddle them up.”
“No need, Derek and a few of the guys volunteered to help out today with the horses.”
That didn’t surprise me in the least bit.
The ranch hands were invited every Christmas to join us, but always politely declined.
I never asked my father why none of them ever went to go visit their own families.
Once, he’d told me the life of a cowboy could be a very lonely one, and I had a feeling he’d been talking about our ranch hands.
“I’ll go see if they need help anyway.”
He winked. “Thanks, son. I’m going to go see what your mother needs from me.”
I made my way through the arena and to the stables, where Derek, Leo, John, David, and Mike were helping saddle up a few horses.
“Need any help?”
“Mom wants to make sure someone’s holding the reins for each kiddo,” David said as he walked the same paint Vivianne had been petting a few days ago out of her stall.
Derek pointed to the two end stalls. “Those two still need someone to lead them.”
“I’ll take them, and get Vivianne to help.”
Leading the two horses out to the arena, I asked Josh to get Vivianne for me when I saw him. He quickly tracked her down and brought her over.
“Hey!” she said, lifting to her toes to kiss me.
“I thought you could help out with the horses. The kids will be put on their backs and we’ll lead them around the other half of the arena.”
Her face lit up like one of the Christmas trees. “I’d love to. Can I take Logan around?”
“Of course you can.”
My mother, father, and Grams all lined up the kids behind the mounting blocks. I was next to Vivianne and asked if she had any questions, since she’d only ridden once.
“Nope. I paid close attention in my first lesson. Your mother should start up lessons again, by the way. She’s great at it.”
I smiled. She was leading the same horse she’d ridden, Wonder Bread, so I wasn’t the least bit worried. She helped Logan up onto the horse, and we walked them all in a circle around the side of the arena that wasn’t being used as Santa’s barn, as Logan kept calling it.
Vivianne was in front of me, and I smiled as I watched her.
She was in her element, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the future would look like, with her as my wife and part of the ranch.
Would she jump in and help my mother with the charity event?
Would she want to start her own? When did she want to have kids?
All the things I couldn’t wait to find out.
After the younger kids got to ride on the horses, Mom asked if any of the older kids knew how to ride. A few did, so they jumped on and showed us their skills. I could see my mother watching with a practiced eye.
When one of the kids standing to the side mentioned wishing they knew how to ride, Vivianne turned to my mother. “Would that be something we could do here on the ranch for the kids at the center?”
My mother’s eyes lit with excitement. “Yes! That’s a lovely idea, Vivianne.”
Lily and my mother were soon standing together, heads bent close as they spoke a mile a minute.
Vivianne helped us bring all the horses back to the stables. The ranch hands were waiting to take care of the horses so we could get back out to the arena. Things would be wrapping up soon, and Mom would want us all there to say goodbye.
I watched as Vivianne hugged Logan, then Lily. They exchanged what I assumed were phone numbers. She watched as everyone headed out and back to the cars that brought them here earlier this morning. When she turned away and saw me, she made her way over, a wide grin across her beautiful face.
“Ladd, this was the most amazing day of my life. Did you see their little faces when they saw gifts with their actual names on them? I almost cried so many times. And the older kids were so thankful for their presents and kept thanking everyone. It was so heartwarming.”
I took her hands in mine and brought her closer to me. Kissing her forehead, I said, “Thank you so much for helping today, and with everything else.”
“I loved it. Your mom and Lilith are already in the planning stages for next year’s event. I told them I’d do whatever they needed me to do.”
“We have something else we need to plan.”
Her face lit up with a brilliant smile. “Our wedding.”
“I know I just asked you, but what are you thinking?”
“Well, I was kind of hoping we could get married right after we graduate. That way, when we move to River Falls we’ll be married. Otherwise, I’d have to find a place to rent.”
Confused, I asked, “Why would you need to find a place to rent? We can live together on the ranch.”
She shook her head. “No way, Ladd. Your grandmother already nixed that.”
“What?” I asked with a laugh. “When?”
“Earlier today, when David asked if I’d move into the hunter’s cabin with you when we got out of school. She nearly had a heart attack and said we would not be living together until we were married.”
I stared at her for a few minutes. “Viv, that’s crazy. My mother and father won’t care.”
“Maybe not, but Lilith will, and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
She was concerned about what my grandmother thought. Good God, I loved her even more for that.
“Okay, so we get married right after graduation.”
“Something small. Just family and friends. I mean, I don’t really have any friends besides Mollie and my other roommates, but I’d like to keep it small anyway.”
“Did you want to talk to Mom about helping to plan it?”
She nodded. “Is there a special place on the ranch you’d like to get married?”
I thought for a moment and smiled. “There is.”
“Will you show it to me?”
“Before we leave, I’ll show you.”
“Why is it special?”
“It’s where my father asked my mother to marry him. They got married there, too, and…well…let me just show you, and I’ll tell you the history of the place.”
“Oh, Ladd, I love that.”
Looking past her, I said, “We’d better go help clean up before my brother says I’m trying to get out of work.”
Vivianne took my hand in hers and we walked over to where my family and neighbors were standing. My mother got everyone’s attention.
“We’re going to let this go for now. I’ve already asked enough of everyone on Christmas, so you should all go and enjoy the rest of your day. Anyone who wants to help tomorrow, we’ll meet back up, let’s say around nine, and begin cleaning up.”