Chapter 37 Sam
SAM
Afew hours later, I’m tickling the twins to try to get them to give me back my cowboy hat. Their adorable toddler protests and giggles are filling the cabin. Dolly is watching us with a smile from the sofa.
“Dolly! Did you put the turkey gravy mix somewhere in here?” Rosie calls.
Dolly stands and walks toward the kitchen. “I’m not sure. Let me look.”
“Birdie, please, if I give you a dollar can I have my hat back?”
Birdie debates my proposal, looking at her twin. They’re probably not old enough to understand the concept of money yet.
“Don’t take the deal, Birdie. He’s being cheap,” Duke says as he walks in and plops down on the sofa.
The girls immediately drop my hat and run toward their uncle. He scoops them both up, sitting them on his lap. Bonnie has a comb in her hand, which she starts using to brush through his hair.
“You know, I’m almost over it. I can tell you make her happy.” He shakes his head. “I mean, now that I really think about it, I’m glad it’s you. And I am an idiot for not seeing it sooner.”
“There wasn’t much to see. Nothing happened until after she moved in.”
“Girls! Snack? Mommy has goldfish,” Rosie calls.
The twins bolt. Duke leans back, waving a hand.
“There was plenty to see. You always wanted to hang around the house instead of going off exploring on the ranch. You always wanted to stay over at my place, even though Buzz would’ve let us get away with more shit and didn’t hoard his liquor like my dad.
You beat up Jed Thompson. Remember that?
I didn’t put two and two together until now.
I thought it was just because you liked getting in fights, but when word got around that he was going to ask Dolly to prom, you started a fight with him and broke his nose. ” He shakes his head.
“I was just too wrapped up in my shit to see it. I should have seen it. I should have known. But at the end of the day, I’m glad it was you. I’m glad it is you. You’ve always been my brother. I know you think you don’t have any family, Seymour, but that shit is insulting.”
My throat feels tight.
“I would say take good care of her, but I know I don’t have to.”
“No, you don’t. But I will.”
“She’s probably gonna make you wait, you know, for marriage. You made her wait, and Dolly doesn’t let shit like that slide.”
“I can wait. She’s worth waiting for.”
“And Sam? I’m glad you’re happy to. I want that for you. I love you, man.”
“I love you too, brother.”
While we’re gathered around the incredible Thanksgiving meal that mostly Rosie and Dolly prepared, my chest is tight with emotion. I’ve always felt accepted by the Redfords, but I feel even more so a part of the family now, like a permanent fixture instead of a temporary one.
It’s an odd thing, being a part of a group after years of being one member of a dying duo. For so many years, it was only my grandfather and me.
I try to stop feeling so damn emotional about it, but now that I’ve said it out loud and finally admitted it to myself, all I can think about is marrying her and if she’s pregnant or not.
She says she’s probably not, but even the possibility fills me with an excitement for the future possibilities.
Maybe the Seymour name doesn’t have to die with me. Maybe Dolly and I can restart the family—in a healthy way this time.
Cash is sitting beside me, cutting into the turkey he and Sterling deep fried.
I lean toward him. “What did y’all decide to do with Stanley?”
“Holden sent him to work on a ranch up north. One of his buddies from his time in prison has a place in Montana, Triple T Ranch.”
“Hmm.” I swirl my turkey around in the gravy.
“He’s just a kid, you know? He got twisted up in something because he had nowhere else to turn to. Maybe this place will get him on the right path and give him a better purpose in life other than futile vengeance.”
“And he knows that if he ever sets foot around Redford Ranch again …”
“Yeah, he knows. He’s not going to. Kid was scared shitless.
We told him his uncle ran off after we took him.
Turns out, the guy had been manipulating him since he aged out of the system.
Giving him money, advice on how to get women to trust him so he could get them alone, all kinds of sick shit. Holden and I grilled him for a while.”
The table is full of lively chatter as Rosie tells a story about the twins at preschool, followed by Monroe sharing some celebrity gossip that has Dolly wide-eyed.
“And Cain’s other kid? What’s happening with the lawsuit?” I ask, still keeping my voice low to avoid killing the positive holiday vibe.
Cash takes a drink of his water before answering, “We were going to discuss it with you later on, but we’re thinking about settling by offering to buy the mom a little house up in Montana, near Triple T.
It’ll be cheaper than a lawsuit would be.
Then she can live there with the boy, Stanley can work and help support them if he wants to, and maybe all three of them can move on and forget about what happened to their sperm donor back in Texas.
Holden seems to think this other rancher has a way of connecting with troubled young men and helping steer them down a better path. ”
I look over at the oldest Redford brother, laughing with his wife and playing with one of his daughters.
I respect him more now than I even did before.
I never knew my own father, but from what I heard, he was a piece of shit with no direction in life who knocked up my mother and then ran away with her before abandoning her.
I wonder if things would’ve been different for him if he’d had a family like the Redfords around to influence him. I wonder the same thing about myself sometimes.
“Yeah, I like that idea. I wanna help pay for it, as long as they agree to stay away from Moonlight Ranch too.”
“That will definitely be a part of the deal.”
I nod, reaching over to grab Dolly’s hand.
She smiles at me, her stormy-gray eyes studying my face. “What are y’all talking about?”
“I’ll tell you later. After your bath.”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t need your help bathing anymore. I’m fine.”
“I don’t need you to keep washing my hair. I can handle it.”
“Maybe I just like doing it.”
She leans her head back, her eyes drifting open to gaze at me. “Okay. If you insist.”
I kneel down beside the free-standing bathtub. It’s big enough for both of us, but I’d rather watch her than get in. She’s covered in bubbles now, but they’re slowly dissipating. In twenty minutes, I might get a glimpse of a nipple.
Her thick ebony hair is piled up in a messy bun on top of her head. She reaches up to pull it down, pinching the claw clip to loosen the strands until it cascades down the side of the bathtub.
I grab the bottle of shampoo and squeeze some into my hand as I kneel down. My sweatpants are revealing the already-growing erection, but she can’t see it with the angle I’m sitting at.
She leans forward, and I cup my other hand under the water to wet her hair. I lather the shampoo between my hands and start leisurely scrubbing her scalp with my fingertips. She moans faintly.
“Do you really want to elope?” she says.
“I want to marry you sometime soon, but if you need time to plan the wedding, I can wait.”
“You realize you haven’t asked me to be your girlfriend. You just skipped over that part and started talking about marriage.”
I chuckle, leaning closer to her while continuing to lather her hair up. “Do you want me to ask you to be my girlfriend?”
She finally opens her eyes, studying my lips. “Maybe.”
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Will you consider eloping with me?”
“Sam! I want to be your girlfriend for a while first. I’ve never had a boyfriend.” She sits up, turning around to face me. Her hair is all sudsy, but I can see her boobs now, which makes my dick harden more.
“Okay, that’s fair. I need to get a ring first anyway.”
She drops her face into her hands, shaking her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
I grab the handheld showerhead and start rinsing her hair out. She tilts her head back for me, watching my face upside down.
“I just love you so much, and now that I’ve finally let myself feel this way, the feeling is … overwhelming. All I can think about is our future together.”
“I love you too, Sam,” she whispers.
My chest feels like it’s going to explode. I smile down at her. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Sam Seymour.”
“I love you too, Dolly Redford. More than you’ll ever know.” I lean down, pressing a kiss to her lips. “And you have many years ahead for me to prove it to you.”