Even with that help, it had taken until today, nearly two years after the fact, to make it legal. And in two years, a lot of things had happened. Evan and Paige had their baby… two babies, twins they named Jane and Joseph. They bring them around the farm at least a couple of times a month, the farm that was once rundown but is now thriving and working and producing crops. There is a dog we call Lucky, two house cats, one called Ginger, the other Snaps. We have egg laying hens and more than a few roosters that strut around the property like they own the place, and at sunrise every morning, they sure as hell do.
The farmhouse, the one that needed new pipes and windows and electrical work and pretty much everything, is halfway to perfection. There is always something to do, a new wall to paint, new trim to put up or any other of the endless things on our list. It may take us years more to make the house the way we want it, but even if we don’t, it’s perfect to me as it is. The most important part of the house, the part that feels most like home, is the place above the fireplace where Kate and my wedding picture hangs, right alongside the picture of her, I, and Meg.
“We’re damn lucky… all of us,” Evan says, his own throat getting a little twisted with emotion. “Look at all those kids! You’ve got Meg, and then the two J’s, and look at Pearl. Hard to believe that Emma and John’s kid has grown that much.”
“Claire and Tyler will be next,” I say, looking at Kate’s beautiful middle sister and her doting husband. “Or maybe not. A family doesn’t have to be defined by having kids.”
“Nope,” Evan says. “Plus, there’s enough to go around.”
Charlotte and Wayne are there too, running up and down the courthouse steps. Skyler is chatting with Beth, her and Ben’s two boys chasing after Pearl and Charlotte. Kate’s Mom and her husband are talking to my mom. Matt, John and my friend, Andy, are all focused on Kate’s grandmother who is sitting on a bench with Lucille II next to her in a cat carrier. Not sure what they’re talking about, but based on my own discussions with her over the last two years, I’d guess it has something to do with Dr. Phil.
And then there is Kate, my beautiful Kate. She’s standing with her arm around Meg now while Paige, Claire and Emma gather around. They’re the center of attention, and I’m so very lucky to have them.
“I’m sorry about your dad, man,” Evan tells me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I wish he could have been here.”
I sigh. “So do I.”
He’d made it for Kate’s and my wedding, but he’d never really fully recovered from that last heart attack. It’s been nearly six months now, six months of him being gone. Sometimes it’s still hard to believe.
“I bet he’s looking down on us, though,” Evan says. “You know I’m not all spiritual and stuff, but I’ve gotta believe that.”
“Me too,” I say. “And maybe Kate’s dad is with him.”
“Proud grandpas,” Evan says.
“Yeah… definitely.”
We sit there for a while, and I even have a few moments where I close my eyes, let the warm sun shine down on my face and am able to picture my father.
And he would be proud.
He is proud.
I just know it.
KATE
“She’s all worn out,” I say, looking behind me to the back cab of the truck where Meg is sound asleep in her booster seat.
“I’m going to have to carry her in,” Garrett says with a laugh. “And I’ve got a feeling Charlotte and Wayne will be heading straight to bed, too.”
“Will we have any energy left for tomorrow?” I ask aloud as we head up the long gravel drive to our house.
Garrett smiles. “We’ll pull from our reserves. It’ll be a good day.”
While today had been the one in which we’d officially adopted Meg, where everyone had gathered at the courthouse in downtown Spokane to cheer when the judge decreed us parents, tomorrow would be a less official day, one to celebrate family and friends.
“I kind of wish the house was done, especially so Claire and Emma could see the finished product. It sucks they live so far.”
“Seattle isn’t far,” Garrett says, parking the truck and turning the ignition off, then leaning over and kissing me.
I never tire of Garrett’s kisses, never tire of his presence, the warmth of his body and the nights he and I take off all of our clothes, slide into bed and feel one another in the most beautiful way two people can. To imagine I’d once tried to push him away, had allowed fear and distrust to rule me, makes me nearly sick sometimes to think what I might have lost.
“We should make more trips there, then,” I tell him once our lips have parted. “It’ll be nice for Meg to see what it’s like in a big city and for her to know Pearl better and to spend more time with her Aunt Claire.”
Garrett laughs. “Listen to the small town girl wanting to spend more time in the big city.”
I shrug and smile. “Only for visits, Garrett. If you think for a second I’d give this up for all that noise and traffic, you’re crazy!”
When we get out of the truck, Garrett lifting Meg out of her seat and carrying her toward the house, I look out to the land, the last fragments of sunlight spreading across the fields of wheat and corn, potatoes and alfalfa. It stretches to the rooflines of our big red barn and to the outbuildings that Garrett, our family and our friends have helped to fix, who have helped make this our home. A home I love and would never leave.
Lucky comes running out of the disappearing light, barking and wagging his tail. Two of our chickens follow, and we’ll have to bed them down for the night. They both nip at Lucky’s heels with their beaks, unafraid of the dog who is big enough to snatch them up in his jaw but who is also gentle enough to never want to hurt them.
“Come on, boy,” Garrett calls to Lucky, letting him inside after I’ve opened the door and we’re all in, the only sounds the gentle hum of the refrigerator, the quiet ticking of a grandfather clock and the impatient meows of Ginger and Snaps who likely want their daily allotment of sardines.
“If you tuck Meg in, I’ll feed the animals,” I tell Garrett.
“All right,” he says before taking a sleeping Meg up the stairs.
Like so many other days, I feed Lucky and the cats, then head out and gather up the hens and roosters that aren’t already in their coop. Tomorrow, Garrett and I will rise early to care for the animals and do other chores that are endless on a farm like this one. But we love doing it, all of it. I might not be a teacher or a doctor, might not have been able to carry a child in my belly for nine months like my friends and my family members, but I am still a mother and a wife. I wake up each day with purpose and a heart full of love.
“Come on upstairs,” Garrett says, meeting me back in the kitchen, the animals all content, Meg down and out for the night.
“I might be too tired for that tonight,” I tell him with a smile. Every other night, every other day, I’m more than happy to experience the pleasure we both give one another, but I’m afraid this day has taken it out of me.
“Hey, I can think about other things than just sex.” He smiles and takes my hand. “Come on… I want to show you something.”
I follow his lead, going up the stairs and past Meg’s bedroom where we both peek in to see her contently sleeping, then down the hall and past our own room. We stop in front of the closed door of one of the spare rooms that we keep all sorts of junk in, things we haven’t found a place for in the house yet or will need to go in rooms yet unfinished.
“You planning on showing me a room full of junk?” I ask, giving him a look.
He opens the door. “Just see for yourself.”
I walk in, and he turns on the light. The room has been organized, things put in boxes and storage bins, and that in itself would be a nice surprise considering how time gets away from you living on a farm, how you don’t always have time for little things like organizing.
“You did all this?” I’m impressed, even more so since he’d done it without me knowin
g.
“I did… but look over there.” He points to the edge of the room that is full of old toys, some dressers that need some love, the unassembled wooden frame for a bed and a neatly folded stack of clothes.
“What’s all that?” I ask him as he stands next to me, his arm around my waist.
“That is pretty much everything from my childhood. Mom was doing some cleaning up in the house and decided it was time for her to have a sewing room and for me to take all of the things she’d saved of mine.”
I’m somewhat confused at this being a surprise since we have enough as it is in this house, but I certainly don’t want to make Garrett feel bad for wanting to hold onto his old things. “I suppose Meg might like some of these toys,” I say, stepping forward to investigate further. “And maybe we can get a mattress for the bed and put it in a spare room. The dressers are—”
“Kate,” he says, next to me now. “Meg can have these toys and clothes if she wants, but I had a different idea.”
“You did?” I’m sure he must see the continued confusion in my eyes.
“I know it was hell fighting for Meg to be ours, but we got there, and I was thinking… well, there are lots of kids out there who need a home, maybe even if it’s only for a few months. I thought that maybe since things are finally falling into place with us, we could open our house to them. We could grow our family.”
I take a moment to absorb what he’s saying. While I’d always dreamed of a big family, that dream had been muted when I was still a teenager. And while my definition of what a family was had changed over time, that it didn’t have to mean a houseful of children, what I had to admit to myself was that it was okay to want that. It would be okay to welcome another child or two or three or four into our lives, children that would need us, would need a big sister like Meg who was strong and brave and who I knew would one day be an amazing leader.
“Yes,” I say, pretty much jumping into Garrett’s arms. “Yes! If it’s meant to happen for us, then let’s do it. Let’s try.”
“You’re perfect,” he tells me, holding me tight.
“And so are you,” I say, and melt into his arms, our future as boundless as our love.
Other Books by Stephanie Vercier
THE BASIN LAKE SERIES
This series may be read in series form or as standalone novels.
Between the Boys - Book 1 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6W5EHR
Broken by Love - Book 2 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9D9OLN
Between the Girls - Book 3 - Available Now
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N18N3L8
Acknowledgments
Thank you readers! If you enjoyed Unbroken by Love, please leave a brief review on Amazon or Goodreads.
The Basin Lake Series has been my first real foray into publishing, and I’m grateful for all of the support I’ve gotten from friends and family through this endeavor!
Since this is the final Basin Lake book, a special thank you to those of you who have made it through the entire series! If you happen to be reading Unbroken by Love first as a standalone novel, please check out the rest of the series to read the stories of Evan and Paige, Emma and John, and Claire and Tyler.
About the Author
Hey, I’m Stephanie Vercier, author of The Basin Lake Series. I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where the rain provides the perfect excuse to stay in and write!
Website: http://www.stephanievercier.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanievercier/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephanievercier/
Unbroken by Love (The Basin Lake Series Book 4) Page 27