by Zoe Matthews
Chapter 9
The afternoon spent with Cade was as near perfect as Stella could make it. Since finding the puppies in the barn, Misty had seemed less despondent, and had even talked with Cade about the puppies several times.
She seemed to watch the older dogs carefully, and even asked some questions about the dogs and their training as the afternoon wore on. When they returned to the barn, she hurried into the puppies’ stall, giggling when they attacked her with puppy exuberance and a barrage of licks, sharp teeth, and puppy growls.
“She giggled,” Stella whispered to Cade excitedly.
“I heard. Why don’t you go do what you need to do for dinner and I’ll bring her up to the big house with me in a few minutes?”
“Okay.” Stella called to Misty. “I’m going to go get dinner ready. Would you like to stay and play with the puppies for a bit longer?”
Misty looked at her and then eagerly nodded. “Good. Cade will bring you up to the house in a few minutes then. Okay?”
Misty nodded once and then began softly talking to the puppies. Stella couldn’t hear what was being said, but she guessed it didn’t really matter. What mattered was the fact that the little girl had started talking more today after spending time with the puppies, than any time since she’d come to Colorado. Those were good things in Stella’s book!
****
Dinner was a raucous affair, although not everyone was in attendance. Sadie, Hunter, and Sierra had gone with the guests. Stephanie and Bridger had driven into Denver. Stella learned that Stephanie’s medication needed to be adjusted by her neurologist and they were planning on staying a few days in the city until she was doing better. She hoped that Stephanie’s doctor would be able to help her and that she and Bridger would be able to return soon.
Stella looked over the patio pit that Spencer had built just a few weeks ago. He had also built a large fire pit that was located in front of the lodge upon first arriving back at the ranch and where many meals were served to the guests. This patio fire pit was going to be used for only the family. Bridger had built a few picnic benches. There was also a large patio set with comfortable chairs set up in a corner. Beside the firepit stood a very large barbeque grill. The entire patio was covered to keep the sun out. This patio was an area Stella remembered spending many hours in when she was a girl. She loved doing her homework here. Lately, she liked to sit and look through her many recipe books, searching for new dishes to try.
Kathy and Jed were in attendance, as was Annie, Sierra’s girls, and Logan’s sons. Logan was in charge of all four kids, and Stella couldn’t help but laugh at the way the kids were working him to their advantage. Sheridan was also there. He sat on a chair, with his boots propped up on the patio’s railing.
Noah and Mason were cute little boys, but full of mischief and curiosity. Sierra’s two girls were eager followers, and Stella imagined there would be many an adventure in the coming years as the four kids grew up together.
Cade had shown up with Misty just before dinner, and much to Stella’s surprise, she had one of the puppies with her. “What’s this?”
“Cade said they need to learn to be away from their momma. He said I could help him by watching over this little guy during dinner. But then he has to go back and be with his momma tonight, or he might get lonely and scared.”
Stella saw an opening and crouched down in front of Misty. “Like you get lonely and scared without your mom?”
Misty didn’t look up at her, but Stella saw the tear that slipped down her little cheek. She nodded her head and hugged the puppy close.
Stella wrapped her arms around both girl and puppy, whispering in the little girl’s ear. “Anytime you get scared I want you to come find me. I’ll hug you, or you can sleep next to me. Whatever you need. Promise?”
Misty nodded her head and Stella hugged her close once more and then released her when the puppy objected to being squeezed too hard. “Why don’t you and Cade go find a place to sit and I’ll fix you a hamburger?”
Misty nodded, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of her favorite food. “Can I have cheese on it?”
Stella nodded her head. “Sure you can. One cheeseburger coming up.”
Cade winked at her and led the girl over to a lounge chair where she could sit with the puppy and still eat.
Spencer had watched the exchange and joined her at the grill. “She’s talking again?”
Stella nodded. “The puppies seemed to have loosened her tongue.”
“I wish we’d had some puppies around when we were younger. You really did think mom’s death was your fault?” he asked.
Stella nodded her head. “I still kind of do, but I don’t want to….”
She sighed when Spencer turned to Sheridan who was sitting close by. “Hey, Sheridan. Do you blame anyone for mom’s death?”
Sheridan glanced up. “What?” He looked surprise at the question.
“Mom’s death. Whose fault was it?” Spencer persisted.
Sheridan shook his head. “What kind of stupid question is that? It was no one’s fault.”
Spencer looked at his twin. “Told you so.”
“Why are you asking silly questions like that?” Katy asked from the other side of the grill pit.
“Because Stella here has been carrying around a load of guilt, thinking it was her fault mom died,” Spencer explained.
Voices erupted all over the patio as everyone present assured her she had rocks in her head. Fifteen minutes later, Stella finally managed to convince them all that she no longer believed that and the subject was laid to rest. At least as far as they were concerned.
She joined Cade and Misty, and Cade leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You almost had me convinced you meant what you just said.”
“I did,” she assured him.
“You’re trying, but not quite there yet I think.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she insisted.
Cade was quiet and then asked her. “So it wouldn’t be okay for Misty to blame herself for her mother’s death?”
“Of course not. She was killed in a car accident,” Stella stated firmly.
“An accident that might not have occurred if her mother wasn’t running to the store for her daughter.”
“How do you know she was on her way to the store?” Stella asked, looking up into his green eyes.
“I heard Misty tell Trixie. She might be thinking if she hadn’t just asked her mother to get her a special treat from the store, maybe her mother wouldn’t have been in the car in the first place.”
Stella shook her head. “I don’t see where this is going.”
“How would you convince Misty that she had nothing to do with why her mother died in that car accident?” Cade questioned her.
“I would tell her that accidents happen sometimes. No one knows they’re going to happen, or we would try to prevent them from happening in the first place…”
Stella stopped and looked up at Cade. “I get it.” She was stunned to realize that all of the angst and guilt she’d carried for so long really and truly was misplaced. Her mother’s death had been an accident. If the doctors had known she was going to get an infection, or bleed too much during the C-section, they would have taken steps to prevent the negative outcome.
But they didn’t know what would happen, therefore, making her death an unfortunate, and unavoidable tragedy. Not something that anyone could be held accountable for. Especially not her newborn daughter!
Stella felt lighter in spirit than she ever had before and on an impulse, reached over and wrapped her arms around Cade’s neck. “Thank you for helping me see the truth.”
Cade hugged her back, closing his eyes as his feelings for this woman rose to the surface. When he felt her pull away, he released his hold on her and looked down into her eyes. He had the strongest urge to kiss her, but her brothers were sitting only feet away, and there were numerous sets of young eyes around as well.
; Instead of making good on the action, he whispered to her what he was thinking. “If we were alone right now, I’d kiss you.”
Stella stared back at him and replied, “If we were alone right now, I’d let you.” She looked at him for another minute and then realized their embrace had drawn more attention than she was comfortable with. She pulled away and devoted her attention for the rest of the meal to Misty and the puppy.
She wasn’t sure where these feelings for Cade were headed, but she definitely didn’t want her brothers being witness to it when she figured it out. They might be family and growing closer to each other, but Stella was still fairly conservative when it came to expressing herself. She wanted to know what she was feeling and then maybe she could work on expressing those emotions to others.
Chapter 10
The days moved into weeks, and soon fall had arrived and with it the changing of the trees. The days were getting shorter and the nights were getting cooler. The puppies had been fully weaned and three of them had gone to their new “forever” homes.
Misty was beginning to talk more around the rest of the ranch family, and with Sierra’s help, was beginning her schoolwork. She and Stella spent two hours after breakfast each morning working together, and then they took a break until later in the afternoon.
The guests had continued to come to the ranch, and plans were currently underway to develop some holiday packages for families looking for a different type of experience.
Stephanie and Bridger had ended up staying in Denver for a few weeks. While they were there, they had married in a quiet ceremony with just Bridger’s parents in attendance. When Stella and her family had heard about this, they felt bad that they hadn’t been included in the wedding, but they also understood why Stephanie would choose to marry Bridger so quickly and quietly. She hadn’t been feeling well, and Bridger wanted to be able to help Stephanie without any legal roadblocks. Stella knew Bridger loved her sister very much and after her initial disappointment, felt very happy for both of them.
Ironically, about a week later, the change in medication Stephanie’s doctor had given her started to work, and she was doing much better. They were now both back on the ranch. Stephanie needed to rest quite a bit, but she was able to help her siblings keep things as organized as possible.
Sheridan had let everyone know he wanted to talk to everyone about something important during the weekly family meeting and she wondered what big news Sheridan had to share with them all. The family had made it a habit to meet at least once a week all together to discuss any new ideas for the ranch or any problems that needed to be solved. This meeting also included Kathy, Jed, and any employees who had a major job, which meant Cade was always there. Stella was the last to arrive and quickly took a seat near the doorway.
“Thanks for coming,” Sheridan began. “The first few weeks of the ranch have been amazing and you all need to be proud of what we’ve accomplished. Together.”
He clapped his hands and everyone else joined in, celebrating their success together.
“I have an announcement to make that I think will make you all happy. We all came back here after dad’s death because he requested it. I know initially some of you did it because of the money, but I’d like to think that now we’re all here because we’ve created something unique as a team.”
He looked around the room at the nodding heads. “It’s that team I want to talk about this morning. The dude ranch needs all of us. But I realize that we all need our own space as well. The ranch house is big, but seeing that we have already had three weddings, it’s beginning to feel a little small.”
Stella knew what he meant. Sierra and Logan were living in one of the larger guest cabins, but even that wasn’t an ideal situation with four active children. Everyone else was still living in their assigned rooms they had lived in their entire lives in the large ranch house. Hunter had moved in with Sadie and Brooklyn. Bridger and Stephanie had moved into their father’s rooms because it was on the ground floor and Stephanie sometimes had a hard time with stairs.
She and Misty were in her rooms. She had wondered what would happen when all six of them were married and starting families of their own.
Chuckles wandered around the room and he continued. “I’ve already spoken with the attorney, and at the end of the six months’ I’ve made arrangements for each of you to receive one acre of land along with the money dad promised you.”
Voices and murmurs grew. “You’re splitting up the ranch?” Sadie asked with surprise in her voice.
“No. There will be a clause attached to the transfer that requires the ranch to buy back the property at current market value should any of you decide to move away from the ranch. I am hoping that will not occur. At least, not anytime soon,” Sheridan explained.
Bridger looked at Stephanie and then asked, “And we can build houses on this land?”
“Yes. In fact, I was hoping you might have some ideas of how to accomplish that in a short amount of time. The six months that we are all required to stay on the ranch ends right in the dead of winter. Not exactly prime time to begin construction projects.”
“Well, my guys will be done with the current building projects next week. I was planning on sending all but a few men home,” Bridger told him.
“What about pre-fab housing?” Logan asked.
Bridger nodded his head as his face brightened. “That’s a great idea. Some of the new models are put together so well, it’s hard to tell they weren’t built from the ground up. And realistically, it only takes a crew of three or four men to set those up. It wouldn’t take long at all to set up a few of those houses.”
Sheridan smiled. “Even though the six months aren’t up yet, I think it would best if we started on these houses, for those who want to pursue this plan. That way, everyone who wants their own home will have one before winter hits, although the land wouldn’t officially be deeded over until the six months’ were up.”
“Where would this land be?” Spencer asked.
“The meadow at the edge of the forest. We’ll have to put in a road and all of the utilities, but I’ve already checked with the authorities, and they can start the work in a few weeks if we decided to go ahead with it.”
“What about those of us who aren’t married?” Spencer asked.
“All of you are welcome to remain living at the ranch house, if that is what you want to do. Or you can built your own home even if you aren’t married yet. I just want everyone to have a choice,” Sheridan informed them.
Sierra looked at Logan and then back at Sheridan. “I for one think it would be awesome to have a house for ourselves. The guest house we are using is fine, but we are tight for room, and it really would be nice if we could free up that house for our guests.”
Sheridan smiled. “Well, since you have the largest family, we should probably get started on your home as soon as possible.”
Sheridan looked around the room. “The ranch will be paying for the housing as well. I’ve been going over some of the financial paperwork and the dude ranch is currently seeing over a 300% return on investment!”
“That’s amazing!” Stephanie commented.
Stella smiled. “That’s great news, Sheridan. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we appreciate it. Without your vision for this ranch, we wouldn’t be doing what we are right now.” She paused and then took a deep breath. “I also would like to take this opportunity to say that I really like how close we’re becoming as a family.”
There were nods of agreement all around and even a few hugs and handshakes. “Then, if everyone is in agreement, I’ll get with Bridger tomorrow morning and we’ll put together some information to look at. There’s a lot of work to do in the next two months if this is all going to come together, but if we continue to work as a team, there’s no reason it can’t happen,” Sheridan told everyone.
Chapter 11
Other business was discussed, including the final details for another barn dance. This on
e would be a much larger event than the last one when Stephanie and Logan had married because everyone from surrounding communities had been invited, along with guests who would be at the ranch. Stella immediately got to work putting the final touches on the menu with Kathy right after the meeting dispersed.
Spencer was now in charge of the advertising for the ranch and was planning to use the barn dance as a “Grand Opening” celebration and as a way to inform the locals about the new direction the ranch was headed.
Invitations had already been sent out, and Stella was amazed at how people had already responded with an affirmative answer. Bridger’s crew would still be onsite, and Stella wondered if some of the responses weren’t because of the number of single young men who would be in attendance.
Bridger and Stephanie had brought back some supplies from Denver that were needed for the barn dance, and Stella was feeling very good about the way things were all coming together.
She was still at it when Misty came wandering into the kitchen with a puppy in her arms once again.
“Hey, sweetie. I thought you were with Kathy.”
“The boys were naughty and Kathy said they needed a time out,” Misty explained.
“Naughty, huh? What did they do this time?” Stella asked, hoping Misty wasn’t getting any ideas. She was a few years older than the other children were, but she seemed to be getting along with them well enough, even though Logan’s boys could be a handful at times.
“They tried to make a cake.”
Stella stopped what she was doing and gave Misty her undivided attention. “They did? What happened?”
“Miss Kathy showed them how to sift the flour, and Noah thought it would be fun to see if it worked sideways.”
Stella bit the inside of her lip as Misty proceeded to describe the mess the ranch house kitchen was now in. Noah’s experiment had worked, sending a puff of flour into his brother’s face. An insult that could not go unanswered, resulting in raw eggs being thrown at Noah’s head. Sierra’s two girls had joined in the melee, tossing more flour upon the egged head and then scurrying under the counter when Kathy came back into the room.