spread that people always talked about afterward for weeks. There was line dancing, and Gemma had gotten a country singer she knew from L.A. The party was one of the best they’d had. Thad and Kate made their debut as a couple that night. She’d forgotten what a good dancer he was. They square-danced and line-danced and slow danced to country music, and they made a handsome couple. Everyone noticed the love in their eyes when they looked at each other. There was no mistaking what had happened between them. Thad said he had never been so proud and happy in his life. And Kate was radiant in a white lace dress Gemma lent her for the night.
She sat with her sisters for a few minutes to catch her breath between dances, and he went to get them all some beers.
“You look happy, Kate,” Caroline said quietly. She looked as troubled as she had since she arrived and they all knew why. Peter had gone silent on her, and she was beginning to think it was just as well. She was determined to wait to hear from him, and not chase him, which was agony for her, but seemed like the strong thing to do. If it was over, she needed to face it and couldn’t run away from it. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was the hand she’d been dealt. She wasn’t going to run away from what he’d done, turn a blind eye, let him get away with it, or pretend it wasn’t happening. It was, and she was willing to face it head-on, if he reached out to her. And if he didn’t, she would move on, and find the strength to do it. “I’m happy for you and Thad,” she said, and Kate could tell that she meant it.
“We both are,” Gemma seconded it. “Somebody has to be happy around here and it’s definitely your turn.” Kate had played handmaiden to their father for twenty years, which was more than enough. And he had left her the legacy of Thad, almost like his blessing of their union, if she needed that.
He came back with the beers then, and sat down with the three of them. “If I eat any more ribs, I’m going to pop.”
“Me too,” Gemma said with a groan. “I may have to get my fancy trainer up here if I keep eating like this. I’m starting a biking program with Morgan tomorrow. But I might have another piece of the apple pie first, with vanilla ice cream.”
“I always forget how good the food is at our barbecue,” Kate said with a smile and leaned over and kissed Thad. He looked like the happiest man on earth. They were signing the papers for his new land in two weeks. A contractor in town was working on plans for the house, modeling it on JT’s, only slightly larger, with more bedrooms, and he was in love with the love of his life.
They went back to the dance floor after that, and led the next round of line dancing. Scarlett and Roberto joined them for a last dance before they left, and said they’d had a great time. She asked Caro quietly if she’d heard from Peter yet and she shook her head.
“You will,” she said confidently, and hugged her. And Caroline felt safe in her mother’s arms.
The party lasted until two A.M., and all three sisters stayed until the bitter end. As the party finally wound down, Thad held Kate in his arms and looked into her eyes.
“Thank you for making me so happy.” He didn’t ask her when they were going to get married. He didn’t want to rush her, but it was all he could think about now.
When the party was over, they walked up the road to her house hand in hand, for everyone to see, and up the front steps into her house. It was where he belonged now. The owner and the foreman, proud to be together. Gemma watched their bedroom lights go out a little while later and smiled. And wherever their father was, she hoped he was smiling too.
Chapter 11
After the big summer barbecue, the days just seemed to roll by with bright blue skies and hot weather. Thad and Kate together everywhere on the ranch became a familiar sight, more than ever. She gave him her old office, next to her father’s, which she was using now, and they were always consulting each