by Nancy Howard
“It would,” John says.
“Are you upset at us for springing all of this on you, all of a sudden like we have Logan, especially with Gavin still being in such bad shape,” Catherine asks?
“No. Like I just said not at all. I am just completely blown away by all of this. Completely,” Logan comments, wiping tears that have finally subsided.
Then she says to them, “are you guys sure about this? I mean about adopting me?
“We've never been more sure about anything Logan. This just seemed like the right time to do it, that's all.”
“Are you comfortable with all of this Logan,” Catherine asks, again. “With Gavin on your mind and all.”
“Oh yes, yes I am,” she smiles, then sniffs. Her nose clogged from crying.
Logan sets there for a second and looks at these two wonderful sweet people, who have done everything for her, and now this. Shes sets for a second, and looks down at the paper in front of her that will allow this to take place. She shakes her head yes, then picks up a pen and signs the document.
“There done. I love the sound of it. Logan Marie Sanderson.”
Then she and Catherine get up from where they're setting and hug each other tightly as they have done many times before.
John hugs Logan and says, “I have to take this back to Jordan tomorrow morning. He will have to present it to the court, and once the judge grants it, this will all be legal.”
“How long?”
“Well Missy he told me that if you signed this right away, and you did. The circuit judge will be here on Friday, so until then. He said he'd send the judges signed papers out here to the ranch by courier on Friday.”
“We sincerely hope you're happy with all of this Logan,” Catherine says.
“Are you kidding me? I am on cloud nine now.”
“And Gavin,” John asks?
“That's the only thing, if he will just come back to me, I can't wait to tell him about all of this.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
An hour passes and he slowly opens his eyes. He is still pretty weak, but Logan can see the improvement.
“Hey you.” he says to her, reaching for her hand. She takes it and then kisses it, holding it tightly.
“I'm so thankful that you're getting better Gavin. When I was in here last week after you got shot, and you were in that coma, I thought I was going to loose you for sure.”
“How long was I out?”
“Ten days.”
“John. How's he doing?”
“He's okay. He left on the cattle drive this morning. He's the trail boss.”
“He's doing my job.”
“Yeah, well you don't worry about doing your job for now, you just concentrate on getting well.”
“Yeah Doc Burroughs says I'm gonna be okay eventually. I'm just gonna be here a while longer.”
“Yeah you're in no shape to go anywhere, that's for sure.”
He pauses. He's very week but wants Logan to tell him about what happened.
“So tell me what happened with Hogg?”
“I killed the rotten bastard. Point blank. That's what happened.”
Gavin starts to laugh when he hears her say that, but it hurts to much.
“That's my girl,” he says, and she smiles.
“There were still three of them left when I got here to town that day. Hogg, Charlie, and Doak, they were hold up in the saloon.” She stops talking and shakes her head. “They killed all five people that were in there Gavin.”
“That doesn't surprise me.”
“Anyway I originally went after them by myself. I'd told the town to not go with me, because if I got killed they'd have to fight Hogg by themselves, and save the town. But John told them to ignore me and follow me anyway.”
“And?”
“Well I walked down Front Street to confront Hogg by myself as I'd planned. I got behind a column across the street but when they started shooting they had me pinned down. It was all I could do to keep from getting killed. Thankfully the towns folk had ignored my advice to not help me, and followed John's instructions. They followed me and gave me cover I needed, so I could take out Hogg. They shot Charlie and Doak in the gunfight with them.”
“So I didn't do it alone that's for sure. I had a lot of help.”
“I'm glad they helped you.”
“Who's Sheriffin' the town.”
“No sheriff, Sheriff Case and that one deputy Goins got killed. Bill Chatfield wired the territorial Marshall in Santa Fe' about the situation here, and he sent down a deputy, until we can elect a new sheriff. The guys name is Jerry Gray.”
“What happened to the other deputy?”
“I know he got shot, but no ones seen him since that day. Can't say as I blame him.”
They paused.
“Girl you do remember that there was a seventy-five hundred dollar reward on Hogg and his gang. Don't you?”
“Yeah I do. Marshall Gray gave it to me the other day. I'm still given you your half Gavin, but I'm gonna go back out to find the Johnson girls and give them my share, I promised them.”
He was quiet thinking about what she said, “yeah go ahead and give em my share too.”
“You sure?”
“I'm sure.”
She sat there for a second and said, “there's more. I have more stuff to tell you.”
“What?”
“After I got home last week John and Catherine told me they had Jordan Whiles draw up some legal papers, that they wanted me to look at. I said okay, and that afternoon when they got back we were in the office. They told me that they had him change their wills.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah and they made me the soul heir to the ranch Gavin.”
He turns his head slowly and looks at her, managing a big grin, and says, “congratulations.”
“That's not all.”
He looks at her again and raises his eyebrows, wondering what else she has to tell him.
“The legal papers they wanted me to read and look over.”
“Yeah.”
“They adopted me Gavin.”
Gavin was all ears now.
“All I had to do was sign the documents, and it was done. Of course a judge had to sign them to make it legal.”
“What did you do?”
“I signed them.”
“He smiles at her, “that's fantastic Logan. I am so happy for you. They've always treated you like a daughter since the day you got here anyway. Hell I could see it, everyone could.”
“Yeah they have,” she says, as they squeeze each others hands, which they've been holding all this time. Looking at each other.
“I'm Logan Sanderson now.”
“He looks at here grinning from ear to ear, “I like that. I love the sound of it. Logan Sanderson.”
“Me too,” she smiles
“When I get out of here and get well lady, we're gonna celebrate big time. I promise.”
Logan shakes her head in agreement. Then kisses him.
CHAPTER THIRTY- ONE
The next week Logan is content in her mind that Gavin is on the mend, so she takes the reward money and rides east, to try and find the Johnson Girls. As she approaches the small ranch where she found the girls that day, she remembers the carnage that Hogg and his gang of sadistic murders had left behind. She rides closer to the ranch, and she can see that the barn has been completely rebuilt, and the place is completely peaceful now. A far cry from what she saw before.
Logan sees a man with a hoe in a garden about a hundred or so yards away, she decides to ride over and see if he knows the whereabouts of Connie and Libby. He looks up to see Logan riding toward him.
Logan tips her hat in friendship, “howdy.”
“Howdy to you mam. What can I do for you?”
“Sir my name is Logan Sanderson of Sanderson's Hill Ranch over by Rio Doso, and I'm trying to locate Connie and Libby Johnson.”
“Big John Sanderson?”
“Yes si
r.”
“You're his daughter?”
“Yes sir I am.”
“Nice to meet you Ms. Sanderson. I'm Carl Ross, this is my wife Kendra. Kendra had just come out of the house and is standing next to him.
“Nice to meet both of you,” Logan says back.
“She's Logan Sanderson, big John's daughter,” He says to Kendra, who is pregnant. “You said you're looking for Connie and Libby.”
“Yes sir I am.”
“Well they of course don't live here anymore, they live with Pastor Stowe and his wife. The church and the parsonage are about five miles in that direction. Take the left fork in the road you can't miss it.”
“Much obliged,” Logan says tipping her hat and riding off.
Fifteen minutes later she found the church just as Carl had described. The parsonage is right next to it, and Logan rides over and dismounts, then walks up to the front door and knocks.
She waits a couple of seconds, then the door is opened by a lady.
“Yes. How can I help you young lady?”
“Mam I was told this is where I could find Connie and Libby Johnson. I'm Logan Sanderson and I have something for them. Are they here?”
“Yes, yes they are,” she says, and invites Logan inside. “I'll get them for you.”
A couple of seconds Later the two girls emerged, and the first thing Logan noticed is how much they'd grown. Libby is now nineteen and Libby is seventeen.
“Logan,” Libby exclaims! “We thought we'd never see you again.”
“Yeah well I had wondered that myself a few times. You of course remember what I said, that if there was reward money on the men that killed your folks, I'd bring you my share. Well they had a reward on them alright, and I did catch them, though I had some help. I came to find out after I left here, that they had a seventy-five hundred dollar reward on their heads. I have that reward right here for the two of you.”
Logan hands the money to the girls, who were overjoyed at Logan's keeping her promise to them. Logan spent the rest of the afternoon with them, catching up on each others lives, and when Logan left late that afternoon, she had a really good feeling down inside about what she had done. Those girls needed the money, and she knows the preacher and his wife will make sure they put it to good use.
Logan is glad Gavin relinquished his share too. She knows she doesn't need the money, she's a Sanderson now. It made her feel good when she told people here what her name is now. The response each time she tells them her name, is one born out of respect, they know the name John Sanderson. That respect is something Logan once yearned for, and now she has it. Now she is Logan Sanderson, John and Catherine Sanderson's daughter.
CHAPTER THIRTY- TWO
Three months have quickly passed and fall is setting in as the temperatures cool. Gavin is is home and still on the mend, but has begun to work some. He uses a cane to get around still and he's kinda slow, as Logan tells people when she goes into to town.
She has made several trips into town lately, as John and the men arrived in Abilene with the herd. He is trying to get the best price he can for their cows. He's been haggling with a couple of cattle buyers out of Chicago, who are low balling him on price. He has wired Logan and told her what is going on, she tells him to hold out for the best price he can get. She tells him the price of where to start negotiating with the buyers. John has some doubt in what she's telling him, but does her bidding. She told John to tell the buyer, that next year we would supply him with all the beef he needs, in return for her price. She instructed John to tell him, he will be their primary buyer, and that he could be assured that they would deal with him first. When John presented that idea to the the buyer he liked it, and agreed to it, giving John Logan's best offer for the entire herd.
WITH THAT, ALL AT SANDERSON's Hill could do is wait for John, Brock and a few of the boys that always stay on to return from Abilene. They are do back any day now.
Catherine is setting on the front porch enjoying the warm sunshine. She looks out at the top of the rise, and she sees several horseman riding toward the ranch house. She recognizes John right away, and his big appaloosa Trooper. She could see Brock along side John, and about seven or eight other riders behind them.
“Their back,” she calls out. “Their back.”
Logan and Gavin are in the office and hear her, they quickly get up and go out the front door to welcome them home. Logan first, then Gavin and his cane.
John and the men reach the ranch house and dismount.
After hugs and kisses and tears, from Catherine and hugs and smiles from Logan. John looks at Gavin and extends his hand. “Bye-God it's good to see you up and around sir.” As the two men shake firmly, and greet each other.
“Yeah it's good to be up and around, and it's equally good to have you back John.”
They all go back inside after the other men shake Gavin's hand and pat him on the back. All are glad to see that he's recovered so well, after being shot up like he was.
Logan goes behind the desk and sets down, Gavin and Catherine set down, and John walks over and gives Logan the receipt, for the deposit he just made at the bank in Rio Doso.
“Here Missy, you can put that in your ledger book. I deposited that much at the bank before we came home.”
Logan took the piece of paper, smiled and raised her eyebrows, “Well I will tell you all with this, we will be more than able to make it through the winter.”
“You know girl you had me worried pushing that buyer like you did. But bye-God you got him to agree to your price, plus we don't have to look for a primary buyer for our cows next year.”
“I'm glad it all worked out for us.”
“Now if the two of you don't mind I am going to take my lovely wife's hand, and she and I are going to take a walk down by the creek, and then we going to come back up here and just set in the porch swing. And I am going to do absolutely nothing for a longtime.”
He's standing in the door way as Catherine get up to joins him and takes his hand. Before he leaves he says, “you need me for anything else Missy?”
“No. No I don't. I have everything I need right here,” she says. Looking directly at Gavin, smiling from ear to ear. Then she looks at John and says, “dad.”
“Awe,” He exclaims!! Closing his eyes and turning away, pretending not to show that what Logan just called him he loved hearing. Thus solidifying their relationship even more as father and daughter. A relationship that has existed for a longtime now.
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Did you love Sanderson's Hill? Then you should read Logan's Bounty by Nancy Howard!
The Sequel To Sanderson's Hill
Logan Kincaid settles into the idea, that she and Gavin Sloan are going to get married. But instead they begin to bicker and grow apart, causing their once loving relationship to sour badly. Gavin suddenly departs Sanderson's Hill, causing Logan to confront the notion that he may never come back to her.
But after a couple of months apart Gavin suddenly shows up, and is now a deputy territorial Marshall. He wants Logan back, and wants make up with her, if she will. They quickly settle their differences,which finally leads them to their highly anticipated marriage.
Logan give birth to their first child, and three years of marriage quickly pass, before Logan and Gavin have to deal with loss. The death of John Sanderson, the tower of a man in Logan's life who became her father, long before he adopted her.
Gavin too reaches out to his past, by contacting his long lost sisters, something he's wanted to do for a longtime. After some searching he finds, and reunites with them. And they, like everyone else end up with Logan and Gavin in the grasp of Sanderson's Hill Ranch.
But before any of that happens, Logan b
irths a second child, that adds to her and Gavin's growing family. Then out of the blue, just when she thinks things will settle into a normal family life. She receives a note that leaves her grasping for answers, and the decision to confront an old nemesis from years ago. His name is Travis Belcher, and he's alive. His note lures Logan to him, to a place called Connor Junction.
She and Gavin then begin the journey there together, where Belcher is waiting with the reason Logan must go there to confront him. After a short gunfight, where Logan kills Belcher, she finds out what he said in his note to be true. It is an occurence and experience, that will change Logan's life, and those around her forever.