That sight did all sorts of things to her, harkening back to that night when she first fell for him, when he’d ignited something within her that she didn’t even knew could exist.
“Can you believe all of this is ours?” Seth wove his arms around Josie’s middle and dropped his chin to her shoulder. He gazed out the window above the kitchen sink and took in the sight of their newly purchased Riverburn acreage.
She let the dish she had been washing slip from her hands back into the sudsy basin and spun around in the circle of his arms. “I can’t believe all of this is mine,” she said, her mouth hovering just above his lips.
“Oh, you better believe it.”
His mouth came over hers in a kiss that made her knees sag. He pulled back. “What’s on your agenda for today?”
“I promised Gramm I’d go into town to grab a few items she’ll need before she and Gus set out on their road trip tomorrow. I still can’t believe they’re heading across the country with my trailer in tow.”
“I can’t believe she would want to be trapped in a vehicle with that cranky, old man for over a month.”
“Seth, I think she plans to be with him for much, much longer than that.”
Seth’s chin pulled into his neck. “They’re not just friends?”
“Um, no. Are you blind? I caught him with his hand on her backside at her party. And I think she liked it.”
Seth plunged his fingers into his ears. “I do not want to hear that about my Gramm.”
Josie laughed but buttoned her lips. Gramm had been nothing short of a godsend to them and they had her to thank for many of their recent blessings, most notably their little patch of land to call home.
When Seth’s parents had filed the insurance claims relating to the barn fire, it somehow triggered a little more investigation into the rightful ownership of the farm. As suspected, nothing Donna or Mitch had done was legally aboveboard, which came as no surprise to Seth and Josie. The deed had always remained in Gramm’s name, that was until she accepted the highest offer in an all out bidding war that had the town in a tizzy.
The Ford Cattle Company was officially no more, and while Josie assumed Seth would be sad about that reality, he had very little reaction to it at all.
“It was never in my blood,” he had explained to Josie the night Gramm signed the paperwork and gave the new owners the keys. “Cattle ranching isn’t the legacy I want to continue, and I’ve come to realize that’s okay. I’m ready to forge my own path with you right by my side.”
That path led them to a ten-acre parcel Gramm gifted them as an over-the-top wedding present. At first Seth couldn’t accept it, but once Gramm convinced him she had always planned to leave the ranch to him—something a hundred times greater in size—he conceded.
“Would you just let this little, old lady do something nice for you? Consider it repayment for all of those cookies you’ve baked me over the years, dear.”
Seth countered that he could bake her cookies until his dying day and it would never match her generosity.
“It’s just what grandmas do. We take care of the ones we love.”
Josie was now on the receiving end of that love and she was grateful for it each and every day. Maybe not all of Seth’s family welcomed her with open, outstretched arms, but the ones who truly counted did and that was all that mattered.
The timer chiming on the stove made Josie’s spine straighten and tugged her from her wistful daydreaming. She slipped out from Seth’s hold and rushed to turn it off.
“Are you cooking?” Seth followed her.
“Baking, actually.” Josie opened the drawer and took out two oven mitts, then slipped them onto her hands. “Stand back.”
Bending over, she pulled on the oven handle and withdrew a cookie sheet. Her heart was in her throat, her pulse a rapid trill that almost made her dizzy.
Thankfully, the cookies turned out great. The edges were a crisp, golden brown, and the cutout letters and numbers held their shape, making them completely legible. She turned around and held the cookie sheet out for Seth to view.
“You made cookies, Josie? I love that.” He haphazardly reached out to snag the closest one from the bottom row and had it almost to his lips when Josie yelled at him.
“Did you even read it?”
“Read what?”
“The cookies,