Afterward, the house seemed…too empty. The guest wing takes up an enormous amount of space, and with only two people occupying the wing I claim for myself, I know it can’t stay that way forever. The changes my girl has made to the homestead have affected us all, in the best of ways, despite how we got here.
Or maybe that’s the point, that this is the path we took because life has built up to where we are now. I don’t believe in fate or destiny, but it seems like I was always headed in this direction. I’mjust glad Lanie was at the other end of this ride to catch me when I landed.
Even with only us in the house, it’s far from a quiet space. The blender cranks as she makes smoothies for us both while I finish the last of my stretches. The PT cleared me of major issues a week ago, and my brain unjumbled on its own, just as Lanie described that first night back home on the ranch. As long as I don’t do anything too sharp or jarring, I should be fine.
Like ride a bull. Or fall off one.
“I thought about maybe filling the house. You know. With people.” I lean in to kiss Lanie, sliding my hands beneath her wild-cherry hair to bare her shoulders and find a tender spot that makes her draw in a sharp breath when she slides a green smoothie my way.
“You’re a tease, Cordell Rand,” she berates me tartly. “Wait. Family people, orpeoplepeople?”
“Family people. The little people sort that belong to us,” I clarify, snagging her waist. Her curved hips mold to mine as I breathe her in. That perfect Christmas-morning scent I’ll never get enough of fills my head to intoxication point. “Ourlittle people sort.”
Lanie’s eyes widen. “You want us to start a family?”
“Yeah. One day.” I press a kiss at the corner of her mouth. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since I came home, knowing that I want the homestead to fulfill its original purpose. Because I’ve finally found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. “Not too soon, but not too far in the future, either.” I stroke her hair gently, hoping I’ve read her right. “We haven’t talked this over before, so I’m kinda flying blind.”
Lanie knots her hands in my shirt, her thick lashes jeweling with unshed tears.
“You really want me to stay that long?” she asks in a quiet voice I almost miss as the blender stops.
The silence is deafening, blanketing the homestead in its pensive presence.
I haul her against me, needing to remove that seed of doubtthat’s been in her since the day we met. “Lanie, I want you to stayforever. I can’t imagine being without you. Coyote Falls won’t be right without you here.”Neither will I.Ignoring her protests, I trail kisses along her collarbone. “Help me make this place noisy. Help me break things. I want to fix things badly. Make West a grumpy old man, if he wants to stay. Hell, I wanna break things and curse about shit. But mostly, I want to love you. Will you do that with me?” I run my fingers along her cheek.
She nuzzles into my palm, releasing a sigh. “I love you, too, because that’s what I think you just said? And yes, I’d love to fill the house with children, as long as they stay off bulls, Cord. But you might have to put up with other people in the interim. You get that, right, you old hermit?” She sends me a sassy smile, standing on her toes to press a kiss to my lips. “Actually…” Lanie bites her lip and pulls away, her fingers winding through mine.
I frown. “I know that look. What did you do?”
She shakes her head. “Um, nothing?” Her voice pitches an octave or two higher than usual.
“Bullshit,” I call her out, stroking her cheek tenderly to take the sting out of my words. “Tell me,” I demand, winding her into me.
“Come with me?” She takes a tentative step toward the front door, her smoothie forgotten.
I follow her, smiling when I spot Winnie’s car parked in the yard. Sally hops out, making a beeline for me, and then diverges at the last minute and aims for Lanie instead. I let out a bellowing laugh that feels damn good to release.
My humor dies a short death as I realized my sister’s car isn’t the only one parked in the yard. The white sedan is easy enough to recognize because I bought it.
Lanie offers me an encouraging nod, taking Sally’s hand to draw her over to Billy, who begins a game of Red Rover on the veranda. I love seeing the boy who came from a string of foster homes find himself a version of family he can accept here, even if it’s not a forever home. I hope he’ll find what he’s looking for one day.
But there’s more that I need to deal with than someone else’s domesticity right now. I have my own family to deal with, of the immediate sort, and for me, that’s rare. My feet move down the steps without my permission. I’m surprised to find I move with them, reaching the bottom as my father emerges from the driver’s side of the car I bought for him years ago.
My lips tighten in a stiff smile. If this is what Lanie wants, I’ll give it a go, but I could have saved her the trouble of setting up the family reunion. Hell, no wonder West took off for the week. That man’s heart always belonged to the drifter in him. I’m surprised he’s stayed at Coyote Falls as long as he has.
“I’m shocked you drove this far out.”
“Your mother refuses to let me give up on you,” my father grouses. A hand shades his eyes, lines crinkling the edges I swear weren’t that deep the last time I saw him. “Lanie called, said we need to settle up some things.”
“Some things, like what?” I halt a few steps away from the man who sired me, but Dad never moves once he’s planted his feet.
He never gives any indication of affection or that this is the first time we’ve spoken since I’ve been out of the wheelchair…nearly eight years ago.
“Cordell.” My mother stands slowly from the car, her hand on her hip as she takes increasingly small steps.
I break the impasse, heading straight for her, and wrap her in my arms. Hell, she’s tiny. Fragile. “Feed her,” I hiss at Dad, trying not to break Mom.
She sighs, thin arms rising as she pats at my shoulders.
