by Liz Isaacson
“Let’s table Oliver for just a moment,” Bishop said, his voice gruff. “Can you say that last part again, please?”
“I love you, Bishop.” She pushed away from him and looked down at him. He gazed up at her, his angel with white-blonde hair, bright blue-green eyes, and a spirit made of pure light.
He’d been right—he felt special when Montana told him she loved him. There were no better words, in fact.
“I want to design our house. I want to build it with you. I want to live at Shiloh Ridge Ranch and build our life there together. I want your children, and I hope they’re all boys so they look like you and we can teach them not to be stupid cowboys.” A wobbly smile touched her lips. “I want my aunt and uncle in my life still. I want to marry you in that beautiful barn. I want to co-parent with you. I want a career in carpentry, but the scale doesn’t matter to me. If it’s building barns on the ranch we love, then so be it.”
Tears tracked down her face. “I want to be right with the Lord, and I want to be a forgiving, kind person. I want to be the mom my kids will come to and tell me what’s troubling them and what’s happening so I can help them riddle through how confusing it is to be fifteen years old.”
Bishop grinned at her, his own emotions so close to the surface. She loved Shiloh Ridge too.
“Basically, I want it all,” Montana said. “But most of all, if I have you, then it doesn’t matter about the rest. We’ll figure it all out together.”
“I think you just described heaven,” Bishop whispered. “I love you to the moon, sun, and stars and back, Montana Martin.”
“I love you, too, Bishop.” She kissed him, and Bishop knew exactly what was different in her touch.
Love, forgiveness, and faith.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Montana said.
“He is not,” Bishop said, glancing toward Judge, who stood a few feet away.
“We only have this week to make it right,” Judge continued. “If the construction hadn’t gone on so long—” He tossed a glare at Bishop, who just smiled back at him. The man had gotten his house fixed for free. Months of work, thousands of dollars of pest control treatments. A new roof. Custom cabinets from the best carpenter in the state.
If it took longer than normal, so be it.
“We would’ve had our regular testing stages,” Judge said. “But we didn’t. We have this week. I need everyone—and I mean everyone, Cactus—to come watch the show and provide notes. Preacher and I are working the lights together this year to reprogram them faster.”
“He’s speaking another language,” Montana murmured, causing Bishop to chuckle. That earned him another glare from Judge, but he honestly didn’t care.
“It makes a great date night,” Judge said next. “Get dinner, go for a drive, watch the show.” He nodded around at everyone. “Okay, that’s it. I need your notes by Sunday night. The sooner the better, obviously.”
Obviously, Bishop thought but didn’t say. Judge was already on-edge, because the mistletoe he normally had hung around the ranch by now had not come into the florists on time. Or rather, it had, but it had been full of beetles, who’d eaten the plant almost to nothing.
Judge had freaked the heck out. They always decorated Shiloh Ridge for Christmas starting in October, usually with the mistletoe first and the light show at the Ranch House second.
To compensate for the late construction and the lack of a noxious weed, Bear and Ranger had agreed to this family dinner and angel tree set-up a week before the harvest was set to be finished. That alone testified how much Bear had changed, and how much more important his family was to him than the ranch.
They’d also decided to have their first family meeting before dinner. All “serious significant others” were invited. Bishop noticed that Cactus had not invited Violet, and Ace did not have Holly Ann there.
He’d texted twenty minutes ago to find out what was going on, and he’d seen both of them look at their phones and then put them away. Bishop felt like he’d been left out of the friendship, and his muscles tensed again.
The feeling only intensified when Bear said, “Bishop’s going to go over our construction plan for the next few years.”
“Right.” Bishop stepped away from Montana and nodded to Ward. He pressed the button on the remote control and the TV brightened, with Bishop’s presentation right there. “Nothing is set in stone, obviously. Bear, Ranger, and I have spoken with each of you, and this is what we’ve gathered. If it’s wrong, just say so.”
He took a deep breath and focused on the screen. “Ranger and Bear will live here, in the homestead that was designed for them to do so. Ward is going to keep Bull House.” He looked around at everyone, hoping his concern for them showed in his face. “Obviously, that doesn’t mean Ace has to move out tomorrow. We’re thinking future plans for the ranch. Future, like, Ward has found a woman he loves and wants to have his own life, in his own house, with his own family. He’ll have Bull House. Make sense?”
“Yes,” several people chorused.
“Okay.” Bishop looked at the screen. “Ace will need a new place. So that’s one new build. We’re going to partner with Montana and Micah. You can have either of them, or both, design the house. There is a budget that Ranger and Bear will go over with you, when the time has come.”
He flipped slides, and his name sat there. “Montana and I are building our house out by True Blue. She’s in the design stages right now, and we’ll be doing the construction of that, along with the remodel on Bull House in the first six months of next year.” He tapped to go to the next slide, where Cactus’s name sat.
“Now, Cactus—”
“Can we pause for a moment?” Cactus asked. “Are you and Montana engaged?” He looked from Bishop to Montana and back.
Bishop grinned at her as her face flushed. “Not yet, Cactus.”
“Why not?” someone else called, and Bishop was going to kill Etta where she slept tonight.
“Well, if you must know,” Bishop said. “I’m waiting for her to ask me.” He cleared his throat and added, “Now, Cactus wants to keep the Edge Cabin. It’s far too small for a family or even a dog, so he’s going to work with Montana to expand that.”
“We have three designs already,” Montana said. “He just needs to pick one.”
“Callin’ me out, I see.” Cactus grinned at her.
“You did the same to me,” she shot back, and Bishop burst out laughing. To his great surprise, so did Cactus, and most people in the family stared at him.
Bishop cleared his throat. “The Ranch House will go to Judge, so he can keep doing the light show until the day he dies.” He grinned at his brother. “Preacher and Mister will need new houses, which makes three, because of Ace. Etta, Ida, and Zona will also need new places, should they decide to stay here or join us.”
“Duke has a place,” Zona said, and that caused everyone to whiplash toward her.
“Are you engaged to Duke Rhinehart?” Bear asked, plenty of surprise in his voice.
“Not yet,” Zona said with a coy smile.
“Brady and I have started talking about marriage,” Ida said, and Etta sucked in a breath. “Since I do the school programs, and he’s a cop, I think we’ll live in town.” Ida smiled around at everyone, and then Brady. “I just hope we’ll always be welcome up here.” She reached up and wiped a tear from her eyes.
“Of course you will be,” Ranger said. “Always. Everyone in this room will always be welcome at Shiloh Ridge.”
The moment felt full of love and acceptance, and Bishop let it linger for a moment. He changed the slide.
“We have the old homestead from the Kinder Ranch. It’s in pretty bad shape right now, and down the hill a ways, and we’ve talked about fixing it up for a foreman. But I think Ward’s going to step into that role, and possibly Preacher, so this could be a place for someone who also doesn’t mind being a bit further out. We’ve talked about building a little community down there for our career cowboys too,
since it’s right off the highway and we have the land for larger homes.”
In his mind, Preacher would take the Kinder Ranch Homestead. Once Bishop and Montana could get it fixed up, which was at least a year away.
He clicked and said, “We have the house that came with the Cornish Plantation. It too is in bad shape, and it’s farther out than the Edge Cabin. But it might be nice for someone who maybe likes a little more privacy.” He deliberately didn’t look at Mister. To his knowledge, he and Judge had not spoken in months. Mister had taken one of the newly built cowboy cabins in the south sector, and he lived up there alone. He’d met with Bear, though, and all Bear would tell Bishop was that Mister would most likely take a house farther out from the epicenter of the ranch.
“We have the Top Cottage,” Bishop said. “Mother lives there now, but we’d like to move her to the homestead with Ranger and Bear once my house is finished. Then, whatever happens with Zona…that house opens up. It’s also a little removed, and not nearly as large as some of the others. We could expand, or it could be perfect for someone who doesn’t mind cozy.”
He flipped to the next page. It only held a question mark. “So we have three potential places for the three houses we absolutely need. Etta, we haven’t forgotten about you. There’s always the possibility of more homes, especially down on the Kinder Ranch. Same for the other locations. If Ace or Preacher don’t want to live way the heck out of the way, they don’t have to. I was just told to detail the properties we have, and the possibilities.”
“Thanks, Bish,” Bear said. “We’ll continue to collect input from everyone, especially as current construction projects start to wrap and Bishop needs to plan the next one. Circumstances change all the time, too, so be communicative and flexible, okay?”
Murmurs of assent ran through the group. Bear turned to Ranger, and said, “Ranger?”
“Our last item for this family meeting is where we want to invest our ranch money this year. Usually, Bear and I simply choose a Texas-based company that we think could use some funding, that we think has major potential for growth. That’s what makes us the most money. A small start-up that basically has nowhere to go but up.”
He cleared his throat, and he looked at Bear with pain in his eyes.
Oakley stood up. “This year, Bear suggested y’all take the money and invest in Two Cents.” She beamed at her husband. “Ranger is uncomfortable with it, because he has no idea what kind of gold mine he’s sitting on.”
“That is not true,” he said, giving her a dirty look. “It’s because if we invest ranch money into Two Cents, you’re investing it in me. I grow richer.”
“So does the ranch, right?” Ward asked.
“Well, yes,” Ranger admitted.
“So it’s a double-win,” Judge said. “How is this even a question?”
“Get your phones out,” Bear said. “Bishop, put up the link.”
Bishop clicked on his computer, and the link to vote to invest in Two Cents came up.
“Vote,” Bear said. “It’s a simple yes or no question. We typically invest twenty percent of our calf sales in this way. This year, we had a great day at market, and this would be a sixty thousand-dollar investment.”
Cactus whistled, and Bishop felt the same way. He quickly called up the link and voted yes. This money would help Ranger expand his app from Three Rivers to other cities and towns. He wanted it to stay a small-town app, but Bishop knew that sometimes things took on a life of their own.
“Done?” Bear asked, and everyone nodded.
“Just a sec,” Preacher said. “My internet is being dumb.” He swiped and tapped, finally looking up. “Done.”
Bear surveyed everyone. “Some decisions for the ranch have to be unanimous. This is one of them. When Range and I meet, we come to a consensus. When we call in Cactus and Ward, all four of us have to agree before major decisions are made. For example, where Bishop wanted to build. We lost farmland there. All four of us have to sign off on that.”
He paused for a moment. “Bigger decisions like this have to have family input, and we’ve decided that with this much money, it has to be unanimous. So if even one of you voted no, we’ll find another company to put our money into. No one will know who voted which way, so don’t worry about that. There are no explanations needed. Questions?”
No one said anything, and Bishop got ready to flip to the next screen and click on the link there.
“Show us, Bishop,” Bear said. He flipped, clicked, and everyone waited while the survey site loaded.
Relief rushed through him when he saw fourteen votes in the affirmative to invest in Ranger’s app. No one had voted no.
A cheer went up, and Ranger grinned out at everyone. Bear took him in a hug and clapped him on the back, his smile wide. Oakley whooped and embraced her husband when Bear released him, and Bishop was happy to join his voice to that fray.
“All right,” Bear said. “Etta, we’re ready for food. Zona’s then going to lead us in the angel tree decorating.”
“Wait,” Ace said. “You said we were eating at six. Holly Ann’s coming.”
“My family is coming too,” Montana said.
“Well, what time is it?” Bear asked, practically growling the words.
The doorbell rang as someone told him it was ten minutes to six, and Ace left the family room and kitchen space to go see who it was.
“Zona,” he yelled. “It’s for you.”
She squealed and went to meet Duke. Bishop shut down his laptop and turned off the TV. Once he’d put everything away in his suite, all he wanted was to return to Montana’s side.
She was talking to Sammy about her pregnancy, with Oakley hanging on every word. “You’re so lucky you weren’t sick,” Montana said. “I threw up for six solid months.” She looked up at Bishop, her eyes sharp. “I’m not asking you to marry me,” she said. “If that’s what you’re waiting for, you’re going to wait forever.”
Both Sammy and Oakley twittered with laughter, and Bishop scoffed and pretended to be hurt. “I can’t even—I don’t know what to say.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Oh, Aunt Jackie’s here.” She got up from the table, pausing before she went to greet them. Bishop would go with her anyway. She put one palm on his chest, and said, “And you better make it a good proposal. I heard Ranger snuck into a forbidden garage, with dozens of chocolate desserts, all dressed up with roses and racecars.” She sighed. “And Bear showed up in a suit for a simple date and was on both knees when Sammy opened the door, ring at the ready.” She patted his chest and walked away.
Bishop looked at the two women who’d joined his family. “I was gone for five minutes. How fast can you guys talk?”
“Oh, Bishop,” Oakley said, standing up. “I have that woman’s number. I can—and have been—talking to her any time I want.” She grinned at him. “If you need some ideas for great proposals, we’re right here.” She gave Sammy a meaningful look and took a couple of steps away. “You want a waffle with lemon curd, whipped cream, and raspberries?”
“Yes, please,” Sammy said, smiling at Oakley’s back as she walked away. She looked up at Bishop. “My best advice? Include that teenager.”
Bishop turned around as Aurora called his name, and he said, “Thanks,” to Sammy, already distracted by the people he wanted in his life permanently. He just had to figure out the perfect proposal to merge Montana’s family with his.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Montana stood near the steps in the homestead, watching as Bear and Ranger lifted a beautiful, white-flocked Christmas tree out of the box. She didn’t know anyone who set up their holiday decorations in October, but she supposed she didn’t know anyone like the Glovers, period.
“It’s white,” Bishop said quietly to both her and Aurora. “Because this is our angel tree.”
“What’s an angel tree?” Aurora asked.
“It’s our way of putting up a physical reminder of where we came from,” Bishop said. “
We hang my grandmother’s crocheted ornaments and remember her. She was a powerful influence on the ranch, and on all of us.”
Montana gazed at him, this handsome, strong, and oh-so-loyal cowboy.
“Grandmother had two sons,” Bishop said, still speaking in barely above a whisper, and Ward said, “Bishop is going to explain the angel tree.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t have a chance to explain it to Montana and Aurora.”
“No foul,” Ward said. “I’d love to hear the stories.” He smiled warmly at Bishop, and Montana got the feeling that this was a very somber and silent affair, thus Bishop whispering, even off to the side, felt wrong to Ward.
“Okay,” Bishop said, still watching Bear and Ranger put the sections of the tree together. “Grandmother had two sons,” he said. “One was my father, Stone, and the other was Bull, my uncle. They both had a lot of kids.”
Several people twittered, and Arizona, Etta, and Mister stepped forward to start straightening the branches and pulling them into a proper tree configuration once the tree was together.
“I have five brothers and a sister. Uncle Bull had three sons and two daughters. Grandmother taught us all something.” Bishop paused for a moment, and Montana marveled at the emotion he allowed to show on his face.
Looking around, she saw similar expressions of love and missing on all of the Glovers’ faces.
He cleared his throat. “She taught me to cook, which I still love to do to this day. She taught Mother how to deal with a lot of boys at the same time.” He put his arm around his mother, and Montana missed her own mom for maybe the first time that year. Maybe in the last five years.
She mirrored him and put her arm around Aurora. Her daughter looked at her, smiled, and leaned her head against Montana’s shoulder.
“She taught Daddy how to talk to his sons, and how to treat them like equals,” Bishop said. “We come from a long line of Glovers who’ve lived here and worked this land, raising crops and cattle and families.”