“Glad to help.” They sat together, Cassie stroking the horse, Kade gently rubbing her shoulder with his free hand. Was there anything more peaceful than love and Mother Nature? “I need to talk to you about something.”
Her gaze shifted to his, a sudden spark of concern in her eyes.
“Nothing bad.” He raised one hand palm out. “But you know I have to leave for my new assignment soon, and yes, I’ll be close enough to come home here and there, but it’s got me thinking.”
She nodded, her gaze shifting from the horse to Clint and back.
The foreman took a step into the stall. “I’d say you’ve done a good job of calming our girl down.” He took a moment to examine the mare and nodded. “Yep. It won’t be long now. If you two want to head back to the house and get your breakfast, I’ll call if we need you again.”
Cassie hesitated before nodding, and pushing to her feet.
He loved how much she cared about everything to do with the ranch and the animals. His heart had never been so happy.
Cassie tried not to fear the worst. She’d never been an optimist, but not a pessimist either, just a matter of fact. But that was before she cared so much, and she cared more than she’d ever cared about anything when it came to Kade and his family. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, but come with me.” He redirected her into the tack room where Preston had a small desk set upand reached for a cardboard tube. “I’ve been thinking a lot about life—our life—and where we’re going.”
She nodded. They’d had snippets of this conversation. Knew that he was questioning his life plans now that he had a wife.
“I really thought I would stay in Uncle Sam’s army until he threw me out.”
Again, she nodded, not saying a word, just listening.
“I don’t want to do that anymore.”
The whole time she’d known him, from what he’d said now and then, it was pretty clear that his career in the army seemed to mean so much to him. “Are you sure?”
“Very.” He pulled papers out of the tube and opened them on the desk, taking a couple of leather weights to hold it open. “I have no choice but to finish this TDY and another year, then I can retire with my twenty.”
She knew he was close to qualifying for retirement and a pension, though the idea of retiring in your thirties was rather foreign to her.
“After that, I’d like to come work the ranch. All of my siblings have careers. Yes, they help with the ranch, we’ve proven we can all work together to run the place, but this isn’t their dream.”
“But it is yours?” Working with him, she’d noticed a different level of satisfaction in Kade than when she worked with any of his siblings. He was right, they loved the ranch, but working it day after day wasn’t in them.
His head bobbed. “And I think yours.”
She couldn’t stop the smile that took over her face. Everything any foster kid had ever dreamed of was here at the ranch. The family, the love, the camaraderie, the land and the animals, all of it gave her more grounding than any college degree, or fancy job in a big city.
“Thought so.” His smile widened. “So, Carson introduced me to a buddy of his. This house is Mom’s. It’s her home, but eventually, it will be more than even she needs.”
Cassie nibbled on her lower lip, not sure where he was going with this.
“Don’t worry. I chatted with Mom first.” He sighed. “Maybe I should have told you first, but I thought, if Mom wasn’t in agreement, there was no point.”
“Okay…” It made sense. Her gaze followed his fingers on the papers—blueprints, actually.
“This here is the main house. And this,” his finger moved, “is a mother-in-law suite. Two bedrooms, two and a half baths, small living, kitchen and dining.”
“You want your mother to live there?” She didn’t understand, he just said this big old house was her home.
“Not yet.”
Now she lifted her gaze to meet his. She wasn’t following.
“I thought we could live here once I’m fully separated from Uncle Sam. You can make any changes you want, we’d have our own private place, but be close enough to the hub of the family and the house. Then, when the time was right, we’d swap.”
Her gaze returned to the plans. A cozy cottage-like home attached to the main house, just the right size for a couple. Her mind looked more closely. Every single line and drawing seemed…perfect. And then, some day, they’d raise a family in the big house.
