“Not any more than the photos of the girls,” she muttered.
“What’s that about photos?” Cade asked from the deep shadows.
She turned quickly to see his silhouette leaning against the post at the far end of the porch. “Where did you come from? You were in the house when I slipped out.”
“Went out the back door and hopped over the porch rail. Are you okay? You looked like you were going to cry just before you left the dining room.”
She walked up to him and looped her arms around his neck. “I hate good-byes.”
He folded his big arms around her and rested his chin on her head. “Me too, darlin’.”
“Hey, Retta, guess what?” Alice poked her head out the door.
Retta took a step back. “You finished your scrapbook?”
“Yes, I did but not really. Skip and Mavis say that after church they’re takin’ us to get hamburgers tomorrow and then we’re going to a movie all together and then we’re going to get ice cream after that.”
“Well, that sure sounds like fun.”
“But it’s just for us and them,” Gabby yelled as she bounded out on the porch.
“I’m not invited?” Retta stuck her lower lip out in a pout.
“Nope, you have to stay home.” Sasha joined the party. “I’d bring you ice cream but it would melt.”
“That’s sweet of you, darlin’.”
“I’ll stay home with you,” Faith offered.
“No, you won’t. I was pretending to be upset. I’m glad that y’all are going with Skip and Mavis and you can tell me all about your afternoon when you get home.”
“I wish it was home,” Alice said. “But I’d want to bring my sisters and my mama and all my friends with me.”
“Betcha I can beat all of you back to the bunkhouse,” Gabby said.
“Not with them short legs.” Faith hopped off the porch. “Line up and we’ll see who’s the fastest.”
The girls got in position like they were about to set off on a marathon. “You call it, Cade,” Gabby said. “And I’ll show her just how fast these legs can go.”
“Ready, set…” Cade paused a second and then shouted, “Go!”
After they’d taken off in a blur, Cade drew Retta back into his arms. “I was about to tell you about the Sunday evening movie business. It’s not on the regular agenda, but Mavis and Skip wanted to take the kids to their house to see where Benjy would live. We decided this would be the best way to handle it.”
“I thought they were doing burgers, movie, and ice cream,” she said.
“Burgers and movie in Wichita Falls. Ice cream is going to be at their house near Sunset. They’ll be home at supper time and we’re ordering pizza for their last Sunday on the ranch,” he said.
“Kids’ description of heaven. Burgers, ice cream, and pizza.”
Cade kissed her on the forehead. “And the added bonus is that we get an afternoon to ourselves. Want to go out for lunch after church and then take in a movie?”
She leaned back. “Are you askin’ me out on a date?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her on the lips this time.
“Then the answer is yes but I can watch movies anytime. I vote that we take a picnic out to the cabin. I’d rather spend my time with you here on the ranch.”
“Retta!” Sasha’s angry voice floated across the yard. “Faith is being bossy again.”
“Maybe I don’t want a yard full of kids after all.” Cade laughed.
“Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn’t it.” She tangled her hands into his hair and pulled his lips down to hers for another kiss. “Good night, Cade.”
“Night, Retta. I’m lookin’ forward to tomorrow.”
“Not as much as I am. I have a date—the first one in a very long time.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Retta tossed her cute little red-and-white-polka-dotted sundress on the bed and kicked off her sandals. She flipped her dark hair up into a ponytail and then dressed in jeans, a tank top, and boots. She started to reapply a touch of makeup but decided that would take too long. She still needed to pack a picnic lunch to take to the cabin before she and Cade could slip away for what would probably be their final time alone.
She heard the four-wheeler engine coming toward the bunkhouse. Starting toward the door, she remembered her hat and grabbed it from the back of the sofa, crammed it on her head, and had her hand on the doorknob when someone on the other side rapped three times.
She settled the hat onto her head and opened the door to find Cade standing there with a gorgeous yellow rose in his hand. “Why did you knock and is that for me?”
“Because this is a date and yes, it is. I picked it from a rosebush at the church this morning as we were leaving,” he answered.
“Stealin’ from the Lord?” she teased.
“God understands the heart of a man who’s infatuated by a lovely woman.” He put the rose in her hand. “Are you ready?”
“As soon as I put this in water. Come on in and give me a minute. I need to go up to the house before we leave and pack our lunch. Where are Levi and Justin today?” She talked as she found a glass, put water into it, and slipped the rose into it.
“They both went different ways, but I think there’s a woman involved for each of them. It was a don’t ask, don’t tell. I didn’t ask them what they were doing and they returned the favor. Not that I wouldn’t have said anything. I’ll stand in the middle of the street in Sunset or Bowie either one and tell the whole world I’m going on a date today with you if you want me to,” he said. “And I’ve already got a cooler of food strapped down to the four-wheeler so we’re ready to go now.”
“Roses and food. You are a romantic, Cade Maguire,” she said.
He held out an arm for her and she lopped hers into it. “Ahh, shucks, ma’am, it’s just a yard rose and some cold fried chicken and a bottle of wine.”
She leaned in closer to him. “Don’t you get all shy with me. I know how bold you are.”
“And I know how stubborn you are, so we make a pretty good match,” he teased.
Cade had always thought of himself as a risk taker but not necessarily a bold cowboy, but hey, if she wanted to give him that quality, he’d take it. He helped her onto the four-wheeler before he settled into the driver’s seat. Then he reached around, picked up her arms, and brought them around so he could kiss each palm before he tucked them against his chest.
When they reached the cabin, he hopped off, scooped her up like a bride, and carried her across the lawn and onto the porch.
“You’re going to break your back,” she protested.
He shut her up with a long, hot kiss but didn’t miss a single step across the porch.
“Honest, Cade, you should put me down,” she managed to get out when he threw the door open and carried her over the threshold.
“Food or dessert first,” he asked as he laid her or the bottom bunk.
“I’ve always been partial to sweets.” She pulled her shirt up over her shoulders and tossed it at the sofa.
“And you think I’m bold?” He kicked off his boots.
“We’ve only got this one afternoon before this party ends and I’m not wasting a minute of it,” she said.
“We’re going to make every minute count, though, darlin’.” He pulled her up into his arms and removed the ponytail holder, then combed her hair with his fingers. “Soft as silk.” He bent forward and nibbled on her earlobe.
She turned her head and captured his lips with a searing kiss that made the whole room spin. “It’s hot in here. If we don’t get this show on the road, we’re going to be playing slip and slide all over each other’s bodies.” During the next kiss, she undid his belt buckle and unzipped his jeans. Then she tugged them down over his feet, taking socks with them and threw them in the general direction of her discarded shirt.
He stood up and whipped off his shirt and then hurriedly crossed the room, pulled bac
k a curtain, and turned a dial on a window air conditioner. “A little cool air will keep us from setting the cabin on fire.”
She propped up on an elbow. “I wondered if you might have a fire extinguisher in here.”
“Nope but maybe we won’t need it with the A/C unit.”
Retta looked like one of those statues of a woman lying on a long chaise lounge, only instead of a sheet draped over one breast, she was totally naked from the waist up and wearing jeans and boots on the bottom. A cowboy’s dream lying right there waiting for him. He wouldn’t think about this being the ending party for them, but he’d make it a day that she couldn’t walk away from.
He strung kisses down her body and removed her jeans and underpants an inch at a time. She was panting by the time he worked his way back up those beautiful long legs, across her belly, and to her lips once again.
“Oh, darlin’, I don’t know that I can take much more,” she said. “Please make love to me.”
If she’d asked for the moon at that point he would have tried to lasso it for her, so making love, not merely having sex with her was an easy thing to do. Not wanting it to end, he did all he could to make it last for a long time, and when it was over, he collapsed beside her on the narrow bunk bed and held her close.
“I’ve fallen in love with you, Retta. I know it’s crazy and it’s too soon to say the words but I have and I can’t hold it in any longer,” he said.
She rolled even closer to him and raised up so that their noses were practically touching. “I love you, Cade. I didn’t believe in love at first sight and I’ve fought it but I’m tired of fighting now. I love you and we’ll make this distance between us work. I promise.”
“And I give you the same promise,” he said.
Retta yawned and her stomach growled. “Nap or food?”
“Better have some food first, sweetheart. We got to have fuel for round two and three.”
“With a short nap between each one. What time did you say we have to go home?”
“Mavis said they’d be home at six,” he answered.
If hearts ever smiled, his was grinning really big right then. She probably didn’t even realize that she’d begun to think of the Longhorn Canyon Ranch as home.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The girls rattled on and on about their Sunday afternoon until bedtime that night. They didn’t write letters home that evening. But after they went to sleep Retta took out her stationery and a pen.
Dear Daddy,
I wish you were here tonight. I’m in love and I actually said the words out loud. You’d like Cade. He’s a hardworking, kind man but I tease him about being a bold cowboy. He takes charge and
She laid the pen down and relived the feelings she had when he took charge of her body that afternoon. She’d felt as if they were the only two people left on Earth and it didn’t matter if they ever saw family or friends again. If they could have stayed in that cabin forever she would have died a happy woman.
Picking the pen up again, she thought for a few minutes and continued.
Daddy, I don’t want to leave, but I’ve got to. It’s a driving force inside me that has to continue down this path. I appreciate Cade for letting me be myself and not demanding that I change. We’re going to have a long-distance, well, not really such a long distance since it’s only a little more than an hour to Dallas, relationship. I’ll come to the ranch every weekend I can and he’ll try to get down to the city once a week to see me. It’ll work because we are determined. You told me once that love conquers everything. I wish now I’d asked you exactly what you meant. Did Mama have dreams of something other than being a farmer’s wife? Did you have dreams that you had to lay aside? Even if I could talk to you, I know that you’d tell me to follow my heart and not just to listen to it. Right?
I’ve enjoyed writing letters to you these past weeks. I wish we’d done more of this when you were still alive so that I’d have them to read over and over.
Missing you,
Retta
On Monday morning they were still talking about it when the whole bunch of them plus the boys, Mavis, Skip, Cade, and Retta got into the borrowed church van again to go to the shopping mall in Wichita Falls to buy school supplies and clothing.
“It’s getting them used to being away from the ranch in small doses,” Mavis told Retta as she sat down on the same seat with her.
“How did yesterday really go?” Retta asked.
“Benjy was a delight. He loved our little place and asked a thousand questions about why Levi moved away when he had his own room and could even have sheep or steers to show at the county fair. This is going to be good for me and Skip both,” she answered. “How’d your afternoon go with Cade?”
“What makes you think we had an afternoon?” Retta blushed.
“You’ve got the glow of a woman either in love or pregnant,” Mavis said bluntly.
“Well, I’m not pregnant.” Retta’s cheeks turned even brighter red.
“Hmmph,” Mavis snorted. “I’ll keep prayin’ for you then.”
“Mavis!” Retta exclaimed.
“Well, I will. Woman gets to a certain age, they need children. I ain’t blind. I see the way you are with those girls. You’ll make a great mama,” she said. “But changing the subject here. I’m gettin’ antsy to be back home and have Benjy there with me and Skip.”
“He’s goin’ to love it.” Retta was glad for the change of subject matter.
“Benjy will have the best of two worlds, since he’ll get to come to the ranch pretty often. I just can’t tell you how much I’m lookin’ forward to having him. Skip is already talkin’ about how he’ll take him to school and go get him in the evenings. It’ll give that old guy something to do every day,” Mavis rattled on.
Retta listened with one ear but she couldn’t keep her mind or her eyes off Cade, who was sitting right across the narrow aisle from her. More than once while they were in the cabin, he’d said that he loved her. Emotion, passion, fire, heat—they’d all been wound up together in one amazingly wonderful afternoon. She’d replayed every nuance and every word until well after midnight the night before.
“Okay, kids.” Cade stood up in the front of the van when Skip parked it in the mall lot. “Here’s the deal. I figure you’ve each worked extra hard these past five weeks, so your bunk parent, either Skip or Retta, has been given an envelope with your money in it. The envelope has one half of that money you’ve earned and must be spent on school clothes and supplies. The rest will be given to you on Thursday morning when you get in the vans with your social workers to go home. Promise me it won’t be used for drugs or alcohol.”
“Promise,” eight voices singsonged.
When they filed out of the bus, Retta handed her four girls their envelopes. “You don’t have to compare notes. You each get the same amount, and it all has to be spent like Cade said, but whether you want to shop for sales and get more for your money or spend it on high-dollar items is totally up to you.”
“I want more,” Alice said.
“Let’s hit the sales,” Faith declared.
Gabby opened her envelope and gasped. “This is a lot of money. I ain’t never been shoppin’ with this much. I want five new pairs of skinny jeans and new shirts so I can wear something different every day the first week of school.”
“I want new shoes, not used ones,” Sasha whispered. “And then new things to wear too.”
They started in one end of the mall and made their way through store after store until they reached the other end. Alice spent the last five dollars of her money on a package of socks with kittens on them. Faith probably had the most in her bag but she’d hit a fantastic end-of-season sale on jeans and shirts.
At exactly five o’clock they crawled back into the van—tired, more than a little irritable, and hungry. The boys had been waiting for nearly an hour so they weren’t happy campers either. Cade rolled his eyes at Retta who shot him a look that said he’d better not say a w
ord.
“We thought we’d have to send out the army to get y’all. What’d you do? Buy out every store in the whole place?” Kirk asked.
“Cade said we could go to the buffet if y’all got here on time and I ain’t never been to a place like that so if you done ruined it, I’m going to have to kick your butts,” Nelson said.
“Well, bring it on, big boy!” Faith did a head wiggle.
“They’re here on time and the buffet is only two blocks from here.” Skip ended the argument before it got off the ground. “So sit down and get ready for takeoff.”
“Is it really all you can eat?” Nelson asked. “Like you can go back as much as you want? And they have desserts too?”
“Yep,” Benjy answered. “It’s like eatin’ at home on the ranch only there’s lots more of it. My granny used to take me to one for my birthday and sometimes we’d go on Thanksgiving. I like the mashed potatoes and the hot rolls. They’re almost as good as the ones Mavis makes us.”
There was that word again…home!
Retta liked it because she’d begun to feel the same way Benjy did about the ranch. It was home and might be permanently someday when she was ready to start a family.
“Thank you, son,” Mavis beamed. “But you have to all mind your manners while we are in the restaurant. Show everyone around you that you are little ladies and gentlemen.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Faith agreed. “But hungry as I am right now, I hope they’ve got a whole helluva—” She covered her mouth with her hand. “I mean heck of a lot of food in that place.”
“How about you? You going to have dessert or real food first today?” Cade leaned across the aisle and whispered softly in Retta’s ears.
“Dessert if I had my way but we should set the example for the children, right?” she answered.
“I suppose so but I’d rather have a ham and cheese sandwich in the cabin as all the food they’ll offer us on the fancy buffet line,” he said.
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