The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel)

by Cheryl Gorman

  Linc looked so handsome she nearly lost her breath. He sat on the back of his horse, Jax who was a blaze of golden glory. Linc’s gaze was fixed on her and beside him Rafe only had eyes for his wife. Lilly and JC were dressed in black satin dresses and held bouquets of lilies. Lilly stood holding Bear who had been groomed within an inch of her life with her mane braided and twined with white ribbon. Her tail flowed behind her silky and smooth. Bear looked at Kinley with all the kindest and gentleness she’d always given her. She was adorned with her championship silver bridle and saddle. Kinley smiled at both of them her heart so full she thought it might burst. She climbed up on bear with a little assistance from Lilly and JC and took the reins. A string orchestra started playing Canon in D. JC moved in close and said, “I hope you don’t mind. They played at our wedding too.”

  Kinley smiled. “It’s perfect.” She gave Bear a nudge and together they moved down the center aisle toward Linc. She had planned to listen carefully to every word, to remember everything about her wedding day but the ceremony was over before she knew it. Linc pulled her off Bear’s back and into his lap on top of his horse. He kissed her firmly on the mouth and said, “I love you, Kinley.”

  After the reception, Linc whisked her away and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t wheedle out of him where they were going.

  “Nope it’s a surprise.”

  Finally he pulled into a private air strip outside of Salvation. There was a hangar and some small planes but sitting on the runway was a gleaming jet.

  Kinley’s eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh! I didn’t know you owned a plane.”

  He laughed. “I don’t. I called in a favor. Now just sit tight for a minute.”

  Before she could get out of the truck, he picked her up in his arms and in a moment they were on board the luxurious plane. He set her on her feet while a flight attendant poured them each a glass of champagne. Kinley took a sip and the bubbles tickled her nose. “Will you tell me now where we are going?”

  “We need to take our seats and get buckled in first.”

  After the plane took off, Linc looked at her and said. “Remember you telling me you’ve always wanted to see the Lipizzaners?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, you’re on your way to Vienna.”

  She flung her arms around his neck her heart nearly full to bursting. “I love you. I’m the happiest woman on earth.”

  ***

  After Kinley and Linc returned from their honeymoon, they called Ethan into the barn. They stood by Midnight’s stall where she still nursed her foal. Linc had his arm around Kinley and Ethan was glad to see her so happy. They did have a rather serious expression on their faces and he wondered if he’d done something wrong. But he couldn’t think of anything. He’d been especially good because he knew how much it meant to Kinley.

  Linc said, “You’ve been taking real good care of Midnight and her new baby. I think it’s about time we gave that little fella a name don’t you?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Sure, I guess so.”

  “Well?” Kinley asked.

  “Well what?”

  “What would you like to name him?”

  “Me? You want me to name him?”

  “I think it’s appropriate for a horse’s owner to name him.” She looked up at Linc. “Don’t you think so, honey?”

  Linc nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Ethan swallowed. He gazed into the stall at the little horse wagging his tail and staying close to his mother. The horse looked at him with big eyes then gave his little head a toss. Ethan looked at Kinley and Linc again. “Did you just say owner?”

  Kinley smiled. “You bet. He’s all yours.”

  Ethan couldn’t believe it. He had his own horse. He really had his own horse. He never thought that would happen.

  “See, I told you if you follow a plan and work hard you can reach your dreams.”

  Ethan grabbed Kinley and Linc around the waist and hugged them tight. “Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome,” Linc and Kinley said together. “What would you like to call him?”

  Ethan looked at the foal then at Linc and said, “Star, I’d like to call him Star.”

  Linc swallowed, pulled Ethan to him for a quick hug. “Thanks, son.”

  “There is one more thing we want to talk to you about,” Kinley said. “Let’s go inside.”

  A couple of minutes later they were seated around the breakfast table. Linc had a folder in front of him. Rocky sat in Ethan’s lap and licked his face.

  Linc opened the folder and pushed some papers toward Ethan. Adoption was written across the top. The rest of the words blurred because his eyes filled with tears.

  “Well, what do you think?” Kinley asked. She laid her hand over his. “What do you think about being our son? About changing your last name to McCord? About being a brother to a little sister or brother?” She patted her stomach. “Does that sound like something you’d be up for?”

  She was going to have a baby. “You want me to be your son? Forever and ever?”

  “Forever and ever,” Linc said. Ethan rushed into their arms. “You want me, you really want me.”

  “Yes, son, we do. We just need to go to the courthouse and make it official.”

  Later that night, Ethan lay in his bed, in his room in the trailer he still shared with Linc and Kinley. She had insisted on living at Laid Back Ranch even though Linc had a big ranch house that could hold all of them. He’d never been so happy in his whole life. They had stuck by his side. They hadn’t hit him or yelled at him or kicked him out. He had relied on them and they hadn’t let him down. He was still here. They hadn’t sent him away to a foster family. He closed his eyes and smiled. He was going to be somebody’s big brother.

  ***

  Linc and Ethan waited together along with Rafe and JC in the waiting room. Kinley had gone into labor in the middle of the night and they’d raced to the hospital thinking the baby would be born quickly but several hours later they were still waiting. Cade was staying with Molly who didn’t even know any of this was going on.

  Linc paced the floor of the waiting room and ran his fingers through his hair. A television mounted in the corner squawked with some reality show. There was a large poster on the wall of a line of babies wearing white wings, sitting with their backs to the camera, their tiny butts resting on a blanket. The hallway rang with pages and the padded steps of medical personnel. Phones rang, a couple of nurses strode past on their way home. “Why the hell is it taking so long?”

  JC laughed. “It takes time. Babies come when they are good and ready.”

  She held her own newborn in her arms that slept like an angel. “Remember how long I was in labor? Fifteen hours.”

  Linc closed his eyes then opened them again. “I thought Rafe was going to come unglued. He nearly walked a hole in the floor.”

  Rafe laughed. “Like you’re doing now, but it was all worth it in the end.”

  JC and Rafe looked down at their sleeping son and Linc’s heart expanded. He would be holding his and Kinley’s baby in a little while, the child they had made on their honeymoon. He stepped into the hallway hoping to see Kinley’s doctor or a nurse heading in his direction but there was no one. He glanced over his shoulder at Ethan who sat next to JC and shook a rattle for her baby. “How can you be so calm?”

  “Kinley told me everything about having the baby,” he said.

  “Everything?”

  He laughed. “The birth process, you know.”

  Linc nodded. “Yeah, I learned about it too in Lamaze class but still this waiting is killing me.”

  “Enjoy the quiet while you can, brother,” Rafe said. “Because when that baby is born, your life will never be the same.”

  Ethan patted the seat beside him. “Sit down and relax.”

  Linc slumped to the small sofa and put his arm around his son. “When the baby is born I’ll have two children.”

  Ethan grinned. “And I’ll be a brothe
r. Hey, I’ll be a brother and an uncle.”

  “That’s right and you’re going to have your work cut out for you.”

  The boy shook his head. “It won’t be work. It’ll be fun. I’ll teach him to play baseball and basketball. He can help me take care of the llamas and the horses. I’ll teach him to ride too.”

  Linc chuckled. “How do you know it’s going to be a boy? Even Kinley and I decided not to find out when she had a sonogram.”

  Ethan lifted his chin gazing at the ceiling with his lips pursed and his eyes thoughtful. He tapped his index finger against his chin. “I know because I’m the big brother and an uncle. These things are always known to the most important people in a family. And I am one of the most important people in this family. Aren’t I?”

  Linc patted his shoulder. “You bet you are. Since you can see into the future maybe you can tell me if beef prices are going to rise?”

  Ethan leaned against the back of the sofa, folded one arm over his middle and the other he propped his elbow on his folded arm and rested his chin on his fist. “Let me think.” He twisted his mouth from side to side, looked at the ceiling for a moment then turned to Linc. “I predict a definite rise in beef prices.”

  Linc nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I can add some of that money to your college fund.”

  A wide grin filled the boy’s face. “I can’t wait to go to college. I want to be a judge just like you, Dad.”

  Linc’s heart flooded with love and pride as he gazed at his son. The old feelings of helplessness were gone for good. He didn’t think about that day years ago at the rodeo or allow that event to color his life anymore. Kinley’s love and Ethan’s had cured him of any remaining fears or doubts he had about love and family and connections. “You know I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you call me dad. And nothing would make me prouder than to see you sitting on the bench. But you’re young and you might change your mind.”

  Ethan shook his head. “No way. I want to be just like you.”

  Linc hugged him to his side.

  “Mr. McCord, you can go in now.”

  Linc snapped his head around and saw a nurse dressed in scrubs standing in the door of the waiting area. He jumped to his feet. “Is the baby here?”

  The nurse smiled. “Not yet, but soon.”

  Linc turned to Ethan and held out his arm. “You have to come with me, pal. I can’t do this alone.”

  When Linc and Ethan stepped into the room they saw Kinley hooked up to a beeping machine. Her feet and legs were resting in metal stirrups and a white sheet covered the lower half of her body. They had told them about the monitors and about each step in the birthing process but seeing her like this almost ready to give birth to their child concerned him.

  The nurse must have seen the concern on his face because she laid a hand on his arm and said, “Don’t be alarmed by the monitors. It just helps us keep track of things.”

  He nodded. “Right, I remember.”

  He and Ethan walked to Kinley’s side. Her eyes were closed and her palms resting on her belly. Linc touched her hand. “Hi, beautiful.”

  Her green eyes opened and she smiled. “Hi, you okay?”

  “I’m fine, what about you?”

  “Ready to be a mother, again,” she said looking at Ethan.

  A grimace of pain skated over her face. She gripped Linc’s hand like a vise, her fingers digging into bone and tendon but he held on. Even if she broke his fingers he wouldn’t let go. She pursed her lips and started panting. “The contractions are getting stronger,” she said through the pain. “My doctor says it won’t be long now.”

  The contraction had barely passed when another, stronger one seized her. Kinley’s eyes popped, her mouth opened and she screamed, “Get this baby out of me. Now!”

  Ethan stood on the opposite side of the bed and held Kinley’s other hand. “Midnight wanted her baby out too and she did just fine. Hang in there, Mom, everything is going to be okay. My baby brother will be here soon.”

  Kinley looked at Ethan, sweat beading her forehead, her chest moving in and out with quick breaths. “You’ve been saying the baby would be a boy for months. How can you be so sure?”

  Ethan grinned, winked at Linc and said, “Important family members know these things.”

  Kinley’s fingers pressed harder into Linc’s hand. “Just breathe through it, you’re doing great.”

  Kinley glared at him. “I am not doing great. This is like trying to push a piano through a transom!” She shook her head in short, rapid movements. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  The nurse lifted the sheet and checked her progress. “Almost time. I’ll get the doctor.”

  When the doctor entered the delivery room, he wore scrubs, plastic gloves and had a smile on his face. He settled on a stool at the end of Kinley’s bed and peered beneath the sheet. “Everything looks good. The baby’s head is crowning. It won’t be long now.”

  After a few minutes the doctor said, “Okay, Kinley give me one more hard push to clear the baby’s shoulders. You’re almost there.”

  Linc put his arm around Kinley’s back and lifted her upper body from the bed. “Okay, honey, one more push and we’re home.”

  Kinley closed her eyes, opened her mouth and screamed.

  Then a baby’s cry filled the delivery room. Kinley slumped to the bed, smiled and looked at Linc.

  “Congratulations,” the doctor said. “You have a healthy baby girl.”

  “Girl?” Ethan said with surprise. “I have a little sister?”

  Linc cut the cord and then the nurse swaddled the crying baby in a blanket and handed her to Kinley. As soon as she settled in her mother’s arms the crying stopped. Her tiny fingers moved against the surface of the blanket, her rose bud mouth opened and closed. Fine red hair covered her head. Happiness like he’d never felt before sparked inside Linc. “She’s so tiny and pink and beautiful.”

  “Yes, she’s perfect,” Kinley said gazing at their baby girl. She looked at Ethan. “What do you think? I know you’re disappointed about her not being a boy.”

  He lightly touched the baby’s hand with the tip of his finger. “I’m not disappointed. It’ll be just as cool having a baby sister. Besides, there’s always next time.”

  “Next time?” Kinley asked. “Hey, I just got done here.”

  The three of them laughed then Linc took his daughter into his arms. “Hey, little girl, welcome to the world.”

  Rafe, JC and their baby came into the room and admired the new addition to the family. After everyone took turns holding the baby, Ethan took his little sister in his arms and wouldn’t give her back. He sat on the edge of Kinley’s bed. “You’re my family,” he said to the infant with love filling his voice. Then he looked up at everyone in the room. “You’re all my family. You’re the first family I’ve ever had.”

  “Yes, we’re your forever family,” Linc said.

  “Got a name picked out,” Rafe asked.

  “We were thinking Rosalind Grace for a girl and figured we’d call her Rosie,” Kinley said.

  Linc looked at his wife, the woman who had filled his heart, his dreams, his life and made him the happiest man he thought he ever could be. “I love you, Kinley.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Cheryl Gorman is a multi-published award winning author of contemporary western romance. She grew up in Burke County Georgia whose claim to fame is The Bird Dog Capital of the World. Cheryl graduated from Georgia College and State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1979 and went to work at the Medical College of Georgia. In 1987 she moved to the beautiful state of Colorado and there her life truly began. On her arrival in Colorado, Cheryl felt she had finally come home after being away for a long, long time. She put fingers to keyboard, started writing and has never looked back. She lives in Highlands Ranch with her husband, their daughter and two little furry children named Pilot and Rocky.

 
  Cheryl Gorman, The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel)