what happens on the ranch. They’ll have a house to live in no matter what. I told him everything, Zona. That I wanted the ranch. That we’ll buy it from him if we have to.”
Zona looked up, her eyes wide again. “Is he going to make you do that?”
Duke grinned, his face almost cracking he’d been smiling so widely for the past several minutes. “Nope. He said he’s going to email his lawyer and get the will changed. He wants us to make sure Dawson and Brandon have a place here if they want it—like your family does. They can build houses here. They can work here. They can be on the administration team. But that I’ll be the owner of the ranch after Daddy dies, and by the end of the year, I’ll be the foreman.”
Zona abandoned her whisking and threw herself into his arms. “I’m so proud of you, baby.” She held him tight, and Duke hugged her back, once again letting his feelings of inadequacy go and embracing the ones that made him feel strong and capable, worthy of her love, and like the man she needed in her life.
“How was this morning?” he asked, stepping away slightly and putting his hands on her belly. She was only eight or nine weeks along, and because of her height and how much she worked around the house and Shiloh Ridge, there was no baby bump to be felt.
“Still sick,” she said. “In fact, you’re going to have to scramble those eggs. I can’t even look at them.” She turned away from the bowl and reached for a bib to put on Shiloh.
Duke took over, zings of disbelief still moving through him. Thank you, he thought. Thank you for the gift of forgiveness. Thank you for the blessing of families. Thank you for Thy mercy and grace.
“Charlie says dinner at seven is fine,” Zona said. “Preach doesn’t come in too much sooner than that.”
“Okay,” Duke said. “I’ll do my best.”
“You can meet us down there if you need to.”
“Might,” he said. “With the meeting and now all this egg-scrambling, I haven’t even started work yet.” He gave her a smile as he poured the eggs into the pan. They hissed slightly for a second, and Duke turned away from the stove to get a rubber spatula. Zona met him in front of the drawer, and she reached up and cradled his face in both of her hands.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Duke leaned down and kissed her, feeling so complete in a life he’d never been satisfied with. He let that feeling encompass him while Shiloh banged something on her tray, and the eggs cooked too fast. None of it mattered, because he had Arizona in his life, and he loved her with his whole soul.
In fact, in many ways, Zona had reminded him that he had a soul, and while he’d already started healing and changing and fixing the broken things in his life before he’d returned to Three Rivers, she’d been a major reason why he’d continued doing so.
“Dad, egg, dad, egg,” Shiloh babbled, and Duke broke the kiss with a chuckle.
“Yeah, baby,” he said. “I better not let momma distract me from these eggs.” He gave her a look that he hoped told her he’d like to pick up that kissing later, got his rubber spatula, and returned to the task of trying not to burn breakfast.
Chapter 22
Bear Glover reached down and lifted his son into his arms. “This is where granddaddy is buried,” he said to Russell, the two-year-old he’d needed to get out of the house that evening. Apparently, he’d been fussing and crying all afternoon, and Sammy had nearly been in tears too. And she wanted more children.
It didn’t make sense to Bear. She wasn’t overwhelmed with the four they had, but some days were busy and chaotic, and adding another baby to that when Heather wasn’t even one yet didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Bear.
“He’s right here,” Bear said, still walking toward the headstones. “Remember his name?”
“Stone,” Russ said, and Bear grinned at him. He had been whiny when Bear had taken him from the house, but he’d calmed down in the stables and he’d let Bear hold him while he fed the horses a couple of Bishop’s favorite strawberry candies.
They’d just been walking since, and Bear’s right hip actually ached from how slow he had to go so the two-year-old could keep up. He made it to the graves