by Amy Vastine
“Fifteen? Holy moly. How did I not notice that Mom was taking you to doctor appointments?” Peyton asked.
“You probably had your hands full watching the other three while she was taking care of me because that’s what you always did. You were Mom’s backup.”
“We’re all here for you now, Amanda. You don’t have to go through this alone,” Lily said, wrapping her arm around her waist. “We are going to find a way to get you all the kids you and Blake want.”
“I could be a surrogate!” Fiona offered. “It would be a way better job than I have now. You and Blake can make a whole bunch of babies in a petri dish and I will be your incubator. I would do that for you.”
“That’s very sweet of you, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.” Amanda wasn’t even sure Blake would choose to be in her life at all. She wouldn’t fault him for staying with Nadia. Why wouldn’t he want things to be easy? Being with Amanda was never going to be easy.
“Are we not going to talk about this Blake thing? Since when are you in love with Blake?” Peyton asked.
“Since forever,” Fiona said.
“I seriously doubt that,” Georgie challenged. “She has not been in love with him forever. I don’t think Amanda even realized that boys could be more than friends until junior year of high school.”
“Not to mention that man has always been dating someone else,” Peyton said. “I want to know—when did he fall in love with you?”
“They started out friends and somewhere around college they both fell in love with each other,” Lily chimed in.
“Wrong,” Fiona said. “Always and forever. You two wouldn’t admit it, but he’s always been your person and you’ve always been his. Always.”
Amanda was holding on by a thread. Listening to them dissect a relationship that might not exist by the end of the day was too much. “I can’t talk about Blake right now, you guys. I love you and thank you for being here. I appreciate it.”
“Love you!” they all said at the same time before all signing off.
Lily turned and hugged Amanda. The twins stood there for several minutes in silence. It was exactly what Amanda needed.
“Leave it to Fiona to offer up her uterus as a backup,” Lily said eventually. They both laughed.
Amanda pulled away. “I have done a lot of research about freezing my eggs. The bad news is that eggs from a woman with endometriosis are way less viable. The chances that a baby with my egg would survive are low. I don’t know if I could go through that or put Fiona through that. She would blame herself if it didn’t work.”
“Then you’ll use my eggs.”
“What? No.” Amanda scrunched up her face. “No, I’m not taking any of your eggs.”
“Why not? We have identical DNA. I would do that for you because I know if the tables were turned, you would do the same for me. Don’t give up on Blake because you can’t have his babies. We can figure out a way to make you guys babies.”
Lily’s phone rang, but she ignored it.
“I’m not taking your eggs or using Fiona’s uterus. I don’t even know if Blake is going to still want to be with me.”
“He’s going to because he loves you.”
Lily’s phone rang again.
“Someone really wants to talk to you. You should answer it,” Amanda said.
“It’s Conner. Hey, can I call you back? My sister needs me right now. Oh! We totally forgot. Stuff has happened over here. I’m not sure we can eat cake right now.”
The cake tasting. Amanda had completely forgotten that they were on their way to do that when Tyler showed up. Cake sounded delicious. Maybe if she ate enough cake, she could go into a sugar coma and forget all about her problems.
“Let’s go eat cake. I want to eat cake,” she said to Lily.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Never mind—we’re coming. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Amanda needs to wash her face.”
Dried mascara was not a good public look. She went back into the bathroom and freshened up. She felt like a new woman, or at least a woman whose entire life had flipped upside down but she now had a clean face.
Cake would be a sad replacement for what she really wanted, which was Blake. She wanted Blake to want her even though she wasn’t what he deserved. She was proud of herself for not falling for it when he said none of it mattered. She could have taken advantage of his empathy and fear. She hadn’t done that, though. She’d told him to think about it. She allowed him time to get clarity. Clarity that could lead to him not being a part of her life anymore.
That could have been the biggest mistake of her life.
* * *
“I WANT YOU to remember that these are our traditional flavors, but if there is something you want, all you have to do is let us know and we can get it made for you.”
Hadley had everything perfectly arranged as usual. The ranch had a baker in house who, based on the photos they had seen, could make wedding cakes that rivaled anything they’d seen at the fanciest bakeries back in San Diego.
“Let’s start with the classic white cake with vanilla buttercream.”
Amanda didn’t even care about being a third wheel today. She was going to eat her feelings away one piece of cake at a time. So far, she was in love with the butter pecan cake with caramel filling. She was going to have Hadley order her an entire cake to take back to the cabin.
“Amanda.” Blake sounded out of breath. “I’ve been looking all over for you guys.”
“Cake?” Lily offered.
“No, thanks. Can I steal Amanda away or do you need her to help you pick?”
“We got this,” Conner said.
Blake took her by the hand and led her outside. They walked in silence for a bit. There were several guests playing with the animals in the petting zoo. Another group had just returned from the morning adventure ride. Two little boys were playing catch with a baseball.
Finding somewhere private to talk proved more difficult than Amanda had thought. Blake took them past the main house, which Tyler and Hadley called home. They went up a hill to a lookout spot. There was a wooden bench under a huge weeping willow tree.
The sun shone bright today, casting its glow on the grazing fields. Amanda thought it was beautiful, but it made her homesick at the same time. She missed the way the sun danced on the waves of the ocean. She missed the smell of salt water in the air. She missed how things seemed easier when they were back home. Although coming here to Montana had given her peace of mind about her sister’s well-being, she was ready to go home.
“Nadia left for Bozeman. She flies home tomorrow morning.”
Amanda was surprised but unsure if she should feel relieved just yet. “Are you going with her?”
He shook his head and sat down on the bench. “I told her I couldn’t be with her. I felt like a real jerk, but I had to be honest with her. I am not in love with her the way a man should be in love with his wife.”
Guilt mixed with relief, making Amanda feel more confused. “I’m sorry. I know how excited you were at first about the prospect of getting married and starting a family.”
“Can you sit down?”
People told others to sit when they were going to give them bad news. That was a universal sign that whatever came next was going to be so bad that the person might pass out or become so distraught they wouldn’t be able to stand.
Cautiously, she took the seat next to him. He could have sent Nadia home and planned to walk away from Amanda, as well.
“When Big E and your dad come back with Thomas Blackwell, are you going to stop loving your dad?”
Amanda straightened and cocked her head. “Why would you ask me that? Of course not.”
“Do you think that once you get to know Thomas, it will make you love your dad any less?”
&
nbsp; “No. Nothing will make me love my dad any less than I do. In fact, once I meet this guy who left his wife and kids to fend for themselves, I will probably love my dad even more. Rudy Harrison was there for us, cared for us, taught me how to tie my shoes and how to ride a bike. He helped me when I couldn’t figure out algebra. He dried my eyes when Tommy Garfield broke my heart senior year. He’s the best dad I could have ever asked for.”
“I hate Tommy Garfield,” Blake said. “But that’s beside the point. The reason I’m asking you about your dad is because for someone so set on me being a dad, you seem to have forgotten how you define family.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I love you, Amanda. I’ve loved you longer than I realized. I know you think I can’t grasp what it means that you have to have this hysterectomy, but what I do get is that we’re going to have to do things differently. My son might not have my eyes, but he’s going to love watching all the superhero movies with me because I am going to teach him that those are the best movies ever.”
Amanda’s heart knocked against her rib cage. She had sat through more superhero movies because of Blake. It was only fitting that he would watch them with his children, as well.
“All I want is for you to be happy,” she said, reaching up to trace the line of his jaw.
He took her hand and kissed it. “I am happiest when I am with you. No one else laughs at my bad jokes the way you do. You’re the only one who makes me smile by simply breathing.”
This was the biggest risk she was ever going to take. She had to trust that Blake knew what he was doing. “I’m so afraid that you’re going to regret choosing me.”
“Do you believe that your dad regrets marrying your mom? Raising you and your sisters as his own? Any fears I’ve got that I can’t have the family I want disappear when I think about the Harrisons. Your family is the family I have wished I could be a part of for sixteen years.”
Amanda ran her fingers through the hair above his ear. She couldn’t remember the exact moment she fell in love with Blake. Maybe it was when they were thirteen and he helped her rescue a runaway family of kittens or when they were eighteen and he danced one dance with her at prom even though he was prom king and they were both there with other dates.
“I love you, Blake. And I want nothing more than for you to be part of my family.” She leaned forward and he didn’t hesitate to capture her lips with his. It wasn’t their first kiss, but it was the sweetest. It was the kind of kiss that made her believe that anything was possible. Families began when two people dared to love one another. Blake and Amanda could do that. Would do that.
EPILOGUE
“YOU WERE SUPPOSED to turn right.”
“We’re supposed to turn right at the next right,” Rudy said. He was exhausted, not because he was physically tired but because Elias Blackwell was the single most annoying human on the planet.
“I’m not even sure this is a good idea. What is this guy going to tell us that we don’t already know?”
Rudy couldn’t care less about what Elias thought was a good idea or not. Thomas Blackwell’s commanding officer had retired last month. He’d had a very large party, and many of those who had been under his command came from near and far.
It was possible that Thomas was at the party. It was also possible that he wasn’t. Someone who had been there may know more about where Thomas might be. Navy men and women stuck together even after they were done living side by side on a ship.
“Is it hard to earn one of these medals?” Elias folded and unfolded the certificate that had come with Thomas’s Medal of Honor. Rudy had known that Peyton had it, kept it hidden somewhere. That child had always wanted to stay connected to him. Probably because she was the only child who remembered that he existed.
“It’s hard. You never would have been able to do it.”
“Pfft! You don’t know me, Harrison. When I put my mind to something, there’s no stopping me. If I had wanted a medal, I would have gotten a medal.”
“That’s not how it works. You don’t get one because you want one. You earn it because you put your life on the line for someone else. I don’t know you that well, but you don’t come across as the kind of guy who would stick his neck out for anyone other than himself.”
Elias wore a scowl. “You said it—you don’t know me very well.”
“When we get there, can you please let me do the talking? We will get more information out of him if he hears from a fellow officer, not some cowboy.”
“Why do you always act like being a cowboy is such a bad thing? Lily fell in love with a cowboy. I bet Amanda would, too, if she stayed longer.”
“Amanda loves the sand and the surf as well as her best friend, who rides those waves. Blake and Amanda are happy and we’re going to leave it that way.”
Rudy checked the mailboxes that lined the street for the number 501, home of Admiral Cole Larson. He was their best lead yet, but there was no guarantee he’d have any information. Finding Thomas was proving to be harder than they’d thought.
Rudy put the RV in Park and put the keys in his pocket. “Don’t embarrass me, Elias.”
The old man got a chuckle out of that one. “Who—me?”
* * *
Don’t miss Montana Dreams, the next installment of The Blackwell Sisters, coming next month from USA TODAY bestselling author Anna J. Stewart and Harlequin Heartwarming!
For more great romances in the Harlequin Heartwarming series, visit www.Harlequin.com today!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Rescuing the Rancher by Claire McEwen.
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Rescuing the Rancher
by Claire McEwen
CHAPTER ONE
AIDAN BELL GRASPED at his old, straw cowboy hat, but he was too late. The wind lifted it right off his head and out of his reach. He watched in dismay as it sailed through the barn’s wide open doors. He’d just finished hosing off the barn floor and the hat landed in a murky puddle on the uneven cement.
“Darn wind,” he muttered and ran to retrieve it, shaking out the battered straw. He’d had this hat for years. Sheila had given it to him when they first bought the ranch. Said it made him a real rancher, and not just a city boy anymore. Though with everything that happened to them after that, maybe drowning by way of manure water was an appropriate ending for the dingy old thing.
He had to go into town later, maybe he could grab a new one at Coast Feed and Supply. Aidan hung the dripping, stinking hat on a nail on the barn wall and went back outside.
Instantly the wind lifted his hair on end with dry, crackling fingers. The Diablo winds only showed up in fall. Diablo meant devil in Spanish, a fitting name for a wind that sucked in heat from California’s Central Valley and blasted it out over the coastal hills. It was like standing too close to an open oven.
Most of the year, Bellweather Ranch came with its own air-conditioning—thick fog from the nearby Pacific that drifted inland at night. But every fall, when the wind shifted and the mercury rose in the thermometer, Aidan realized anew just how much he took nature’s AC for granted.
Just thinking about it made him hot. Too hot. The air was pressing in on him, stealing his breath. He grabbed the hose and turned it on himself, gasping as the icy well water sluiced over the back of his neck. Chip, his gray-and-black cattle dog, pulled himself up out of the shady patch he’d been hogging all afternoon. He put his pink tongue out and carefully lapped up some water from the hose. Then he ambled away to flop down in the shade again.
“Yeah, get some rest, buddy.” Chip had earned it. This morning they’d moved some of his sheep and cattle to an irr
igated field close to the barn. Chip had run like the Diablo wind itself to get the stragglers down the hill and through the gate.
Smiling at the memory, Aidan glanced over at Payday. The big buckskin quarter horse had finished his grain and was nosing at the bucket, turning it upside down, as if that would magically produce more of the special treat. “Pay, here’s something else you’ll like.” He showed Payday the hose, then ran water over the horse’s legs and back, washing away the sweat marks from their earlier ride. Payday didn’t normally love baths, but today he nuzzled Aidan’s shoulder as if to say that he, too, appreciated the chance to cool down. Not that the relief would last long for either of them, in this hair-dryer wind.
Aidan turned the hose off and untied the horse. “You can hang out with your buddies for a few hours. No sense putting any of you in the barn until it cools down a little.” The gelding’s ears pricked forward, as if he understood. Aidan walked his horse down a grassy lane, past the pond, to the pasture where he’d turned out the rest of the horses this morning. The land here sloped down gently toward the valley below. There was a lean-to shelter that could block the wind and several big oak trees for some deep shade. Aidan opened the gate and led Payday through. Unbuckling the big guy’s halter, he gave him an affectionate swat on the rump. “Have fun out there.” Aidan watched as Payday’s black tail came up, his dark ears pricked forward and he trotted off to join the five other horses that Aidan kept on his ranch.
Six horses were a few more than one man really needed, but Aidan was a sucker for a lost cause. He’d purchased Payday from a breeder, but his other horses were adopted from various rescue groups around the area. He had the acres and the time, so why not?
A glance toward the sun, blazing overhead, told him it was just after noon. He had several hours until dark. Enough time to get cleaned up and into town, to get his errands done before feeding time. Maybe if he was quick, he’d have time to grab a bite to eat at the diner. It would be nice to have a break from his own cooking.
