by Zoe Matthews
Brooklyn nodded her head in agreement and then reached out a small finger and touched the fish’s head. “Bye Matilda. Thanks for coming to see me.”
Hunter released the fish, rinsed his hands in the lake water, and then took the wet wipes Sadie handed him.
Not sure what was next, he finished stowing her hook away, and asked, “Who’s ready to eat?”
“Me!” Brooklyn shouted, running up the small hill to where the food was ready to be served.
“Thank you,” Sadie told him, acknowledging that he’d done everything he could to make sure the fish was able to swim away from the encounter with their daughter.
“No problem. Let’s eat.” Hunter passed off her thanks, the emotions it had evoked causing a new set of worries to start up. He could easily see himself rekindling the feelings he’d once had for Sadie, but he couldn’t let himself go down that road if she was going to kick him out of their lives in ninety days. It would hurt too bad!
Pushing those thoughts aside, he kept the conversation playful and light over lunch, and the roasting of marshmallows. After lunch was picked up, Sadie suggested they measure off some areas that would be good for pitching tents in the future.
She’d packed away a can of spray paint and together, they measured out the space needed for the four-man tents they would be lending the guests, and then they sprayed the boundaries so that a work crew could come up and make sure the spaces were level and free of things like snake holes and such.
As the sun started to set, Hunter noticed that Brooklyn’s energy was beginning to lag. “Somebody’s getting tired.”
Sadie nodded her head. “She didn’t get her nap today. We should probably head back. I doubt she’ll make it without being carried, but we can try.”
“I don’t mind carrying her,” Hunter said, thinking that there was nothing he’d rather do at the moment. The hug he’d exchanged with her by the lake was the first he’d shared with his daughter, and he found himself longing to hold her close and tell her how sorry he was he hadn’t been around.
But, Sadie didn’t want Brooklyn to know who he was, so he had to keep his distance. Unless she was so tired that she was unable to walk back, and then he’d happily carry her in his arms, on his back, however she was most comfortable. Just as long as he got to finally hold his little girl.
Chapter 12
Over the next few days, Sadie went out of her way to avoid Hunter. She still knew where he was and what he was doing most of the time, but their trip to the lake had her emotions doing funny things, and some of the original reasons she’d fallen for him originally kept rising to the surface.
He was a very handsome man, with his dark hair and eyes, and the easy way he laughed and found joy in things hadn’t changed. But he had changed, in ways that truly mattered. He seemed to look at life from a different perspective now. As if he’d suddenly realized that life was about more than an adrenaline rush.
She found herself softening towards him, but she wasn’t ready to forgive him or forget how he’d tossed her so carelessly to the side while she was pregnant with his child. She just couldn’t forget that had ever happened.
So she kept her distance, watched him interact and grow closer to her daughter, telling herself that he was destined to leave again. It was just a matter of time before he became bored.
She was standing on the patio watching Hunter push Brooklyn on the tire swing he’d hung the day before when Spencer came up behind her.
“Whatcha watching?” Spencer looked at the man and girl playing and then smiled. “He’s good with her.”
Sadie nodded and then changed the subject. “So Sheridan told me you talked to him about offering sky tours to the guests?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be something unusual and fun for them to see the Rocky Mountains from above.”
“Sounds cool. Can you take me up and show me what you have in mind so that I can include it in the activities brochure?”
“Sure. How about this afternoon?”
Sadie nodded her agreement. “I’ll see if Sierra or Steph can watch Brooklyn. After lunch?”
“That works. I need to go find Sheridan, but I’ll be back for lunch. Kathy’s already prepping the grill for hamburgers on the deck.”
“Sounds good. I guess I better go get Brooklyn washed up as well.” Sadie stepped off the patio and approached the tire swing. “Hey, Brooklyn. It’s time to come inside and wash up for lunch.”
“I’s don’t want to,” Brooklyn pouted, even as Hunter reached out and stopped the swing.
Hunter lifted Brooklyn off the swing. “Hey, we can do this again later. But right now, you need to go mind your mom. Besides, lunch sounds good.”
Brooklyn’s lower lip came out even further as she eyed both adults to see who looked like they could be swayed first.
Sadie knew exactly what her daughter was doing and shook her head at her. “Not going to work. Go inside and let’s get you cleaned up. Miss Kathy is making hamburgers on the deck. If you hurry, maybe she’ll let you help her put the cheese on.”
Brooklyn considered the offer for another moment and then her expression cleared and she bolted for the patio doors. Sadie watched her daughter go and then turned to see Hunter watching her. “What?”
“You are very good with her. She’s a terrific little girl, but I see what you mean about giving her an inch. She’s almost too intelligent to keep up with.”
“Tell me about it. At least once a day I wonder how I’m going to fare when she’s a teenager.”
Hunter’s eyes went wide and Sadie laughed and then headed for the patio herself. “Don’t panic yet. She’s only three.”
****
Over lunch, each of the siblings gave a brief report of how their part of the dude ranch conversion was coming along. When it was Sadie’s turn, she mentioned that she and Spencer were going to be researching offering sightseeing plane rides over the immediate area. She didn’t even think about the fact that Hunter was sitting there, and before she knew what had happened, Hunter had invited himself along. Since the entire family was present, Sadie couldn’t very well disinvite him, but he could tell she wanted to.
He chose to sit in the back of the plane, allowing Sadie to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, next to her brother. As they reached their cruising altitude, he told Spencer, “This is a great idea. I think a lot of guests will enjoy this bird’s eye view of the mountains.”
Spencer turned and grinned at him. “I hope so.”
Sadie had been relatively quiet, but after a while she commented, “You know, father loved flying small planes. It’s kind of ironic that he would have been killed in one, what with all of the hours he spent in the air.”
“Yeah.”
“I never did understand why he never taught any of us to fly.” She looked over at Spencer. “I’m really glad you didn’t listen to him and did it anyway. Even though it still puts Sheridan on his ear.”
“He’ll get over it. Speaking of dad’s crash, I don’t buy it.”
“What do you mean?” Sadie questioned him.
“Well, to someone who doesn’t know how to fly, the report sounds all nice and thorough. But it’s not. There’s no way dad crashed his plane like that report says he did.”
Sadie shook her head, glancing back to see Hunter listening in, but not saying a word. “I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
“The police report said they suspected his engine stalled for some unknown reason. They ruled it an accident, and for an inexperienced pilot, that might have held true. But not for dad. He knew these mountains like the back of his hand and he would have been able to correct for a stalled engine. There has to be something else.”
Sadie started to ask more, but Spencer shook his head once and changed the subject. “So, enough about that. I’m looking into things and will let everyone know what I find out when I’m finished.” He made a few changes to the instrument dials and then asked her, “I do have one question that y
ou might be able to answer for me.”
“Sure.”
“You lived at the ranch and helped him with the financial end of things. Did you know he was ill?”
Sadie shook her head in confusion. “No, but in the weeks before the crash he looked pale a lot and didn’t seem to have his usual energy. But he never said anything about being ill. Why?”
Spencer shook his head. “Just a question that I thought of. So, what do you think about the plane ride?”
Hunter could tell Sadie wanted her brother to elaborate, but he could also see that Spencer was trying to keep his speculations to himself until they became fact. He admired that and jumped in to help steer the conversation in a different direction.
“I think this is a great idea. We’ll need to figure out the costs involved and such, but this is something unique that most dude ranches don’t offer.”
The talk turned to the different places Spencer could fly their guests, and after another thirty minutes of flying over the ranch and surrounding areas, he turned the plane around and headed back to the ranch.
Sadie had actually enjoyed herself during the flight, and by the time they landed, the conversation between herself, her brother, and Hunter was flowing naturally and freely. She’d found herself laughing more than once, and that scared her. She was becoming too comfortable in his presence once again, and her heart was starting to remember the old feelings she’d had for him. You still have feelings for him! Be honest, the only reason you’re still keeping him at arm’s length is because you’re afraid of getting hurt again.
She pushed the voice away, firming her resolve to remain distant and aloof around him. She couldn’t trust him, and she couldn’t trust herself. Not again. The first time had almost undone her. The second time would finish her off. No. It was better this way. Nothing ventured, nothing lost.
Chapter 13
A few days later, Stella announced at breakfast that she was going to be trying out the various Dutch oven recipes she’d put together, and that everyone was needed at dinner to give their opinion and vote. This was going to happen at dinner that evening.
The family was used to getting together most nights for dinner, and at least once a week, their evening meal was taken around the big fire pit Spencer had built in front of the new guest lodge.
Per Stella’s orders, everyone gathered around the fire pit that night, filling their plates from the Dutch ovens she’d assembled on the brick ledge. The food was delicious, and it was decided that all of the varieties were worth keeping. Some of the choices were barbeque spare ribs, an orange chicken and rice dish, and pulled pork, with cherry and apple cobblers for dessert.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Sierra asked after everyone had filled their plates. Sadie noticed that her sister was standing near the fire with Logan by her side. When everyone quieted, Sierra continued. “Logan and I have decided we want to get married as soon as possible.”
Everyone was very happy to hear this news. Sadie knew that Sierra had fallen in love with Logan, a man Sheridan had hired to be over the horses for the ranch. Logan had two twin sons, Mason and Noah. They were going to have a large family with Sierra’s twin daughters, Ashley and Elysha. Sadie could tell that Sierra’s girls were delighted with the news because they were jumping up and down and hugging each other and then Mason and Noah who didn’t look all that thrilled with the hugs.
“When is this great event going to take place?” Sheridan asked them when the congratulations had died down.
“Well,” Sierra smiled mischievously as she looked at Logan. “One of the events I would like to provide for guests is a good old-fashioned barn dance. I thought we could clean out one of the barns over the next few days. We would like to get married as soon as possible. Maybe we can have a barn dance this Saturday and invite some of our friends and neighbors. We could get married then. We don’t want a big wedding. Just something small will be fine.”
Sadie loved this idea. She remembered Sierra coming to her a few weeks ago with the idea of offering barn dances, and she thought it was a great idea to turn their first one into a wedding.
Evidently, everyone else also did, and over the next hour, plans were made. The barn Sierra wanted to use was small and only housed animals when they were sick and injured. Sadie knew it would be easy enough to convert it to a barn for dancing.
Bridger, Stephanie’s fiance, offered to make sure the barn was sound and to build a wood floor for dancing. Stella offered to make the wedding dinner and refreshments. Stephanie wanted to do the decorations. Sadie told everyone she would make sure there was good country music, along with sound speakers.
****
Eventually, everyone began to gather up the leftover food and dishes and head back to the ranch house. Sadie watched as the last of her siblings departed for other parts of the ranch, before turning her eyes back to stare into the fire as the wood crackled and popped.
She couldn’t help but remember her marriage to Hunter. It had been a quick affair. They had been hiking and rock repelling in the Grand Canyon for a few days. Hunter proposed to her while they were hanging from a ledge. When she accepted, he decided they should stop off in Las Vegas and get married. She agreed, thrilled that Hunter had wanted to marry her so quickly. It never occurred to her why neither of them even thought about putting it off and having their families involved.
The marriage was quick and they spent their wedding night in a fancy hotel. After their marriage, their life went on as it had when they were single, except they did more things together. Now, as she saw the happiness Sierra had as she shared her good news with the family, Sadie wondered if they had included their families, if their marriage would have turned out differently. I guess I will never know, she whispered to herself.
She looked across the fire where Hunter sat on a camp chair with Brooklyn on his lap, a content look on his face as he spoke to her softly. She watched as Hunter interacted with their daughter. A daughter that still didn’t know she had a daddy! That thought was weighing heavy on her. What right did she have to keep that knowledge from Brooklyn? It was clear that they both adored each other.
Brooklyn sought Hunter out every chance she got, and even during dinner, rather than sitting with the other kids, she sat on Hunter’s lap, eating off his plate rather than her own.
She watched as Brooklyn let her head fall back against Hunter’s shoulder and Sadie realized she was being unfair to them both. She made up her mind that she was going to tell Brooklyn tonight. Whatever the future held, Brooklyn deserved to know that she had a daddy, and that he loved her.
Sadie stood up and then walked over to sit down next to them. “Sleepy, pumpkin?”
Brooklyn turned and nodded her head, but her words directly contrasted to what her body said. “I’m not tired.”
Sadie and Hunter both chuckled. “So you say.” Sadie brushed a hand down her arm and then took her hand. “Momma needs to tell you something.”
She felt Hunter’s stare on the top of her head, but she couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t look at him and do this calmly and without a lot of emotion, so she avoided his eyes.
“Brooklyn, you know how a couple of months back you wanted to know why you didn’t have a daddy?” she asked the child.
Brooklyn nodded her head, some of her sleepiness slipping away as her little mind began to pick up on the seriousness of her mother’s voice. “My daddy had some really important things to do, but he loves me.”
“Yeah.” Sadie nodded, wondering how Hunter was going to interpret that statement and then decided she didn’t care. He’d left her to raise Brooklyn without him there, and she’d been doing the best she knew how to.
Pushing forward with the reason for this conversation, she asked, “What if I told you that your daddy’s done with his important things and is back?”
Brooklyn pushed herself into a sitting position on Hunter’s lap, looking towards the house. “Where is he?”
Sadie did look up a
t Hunter then, the sheen of tears evident in both of their eyes. “He’s holding you, baby girl. Hunter is your daddy.”
Brooklyn frowned at her mother and then looked up at Hunter’s face, touching his cheek with her little hand before breaking into a big grin. “You’re my daddy?!”
“I sure am, sweetie. Is that okay?” Hunter asked, clasping her tiny hand to his cheek and holding it there.
Brooklyn appeared to consider it for a moment and then asked, “Do’s I still gots to call you Hunter?”
“Well, that depends. What did you want my name to be?” Hunter asked, feeling completely inadequate for the coming question.
“Daddy. I want your name to be daddy.” Brooklyn pulled her hand away and then wrapped her skinny little arms around his neck, squeezing tight. “I love you, daddy.”
Daddy? Has any name ever sounded so good to my ears? Hunter lost his battle to control his tears as a few slipped over his cheeks, and he watched as Sadie ducked her head and wiped at her own cheeks to remove the evidence of her tears.
His voice was husky as he answered her. “I think I would really like it if you called me daddy.”
This was the happiest day he’d had in years, and deeply emotional. He hugged his daughter to his chest, soothing her with gentle pats to her back, as she gave no indication of letting go of his neck anytime soon. He glanced at Sadie and mouthed Thank you to her when she finally met his eyes.
A few minutes later, he felt Brooklyn’s body relax as sleep claimed her. “Did she fall asleep?” he asked, amazed at how quickly that had occurred.
Sadie laughed softly. “She’s a good sleeper. She never gave me any problems when she was little. I should probably take her inside and put her to bed.”
When Sadie moved to take Brooklyn from his arms, he shook his head at her. “Let me carry her,” Hunter offered, surprised when Sadie merely nodded and led the way.