The Cowboy’s Return

by Aarsen, Carolyne

  “Not a chance. She wants to be alone and I need to respect that.”

  “Do you think she’ll…” Glenda let her question trail off, and she shook her head.

  “It’s not our business, is it?” Lucas asked. “And given how that baby was conceived, we can hardly put our expectations on her. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “No. I suppose not, but still, that little girl is such an innocent little thing. I have a feeling I’ll never forget her.”

  “Neither will I.” At that, Lucas swallowed a knot of panic at the thought that Summer might go through with giving her up.

  And if that was what Summer thought was best, he had to let it go. Just as he had promised her he would.

  “So how long can I stay here?” Glenda was asking.

  Lucas stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You talked about selling the place, and I’m guessing you aren’t anymore. So I’m wondering if your offer to stay still stands?”

  Lucas had to shift his thoughts to align with what his grandmother was asking. “In the granny suite?”

  “If that’s okay with you. If not, I understand.”

  “Of course it’s okay. But you can stay here in the main house, you don’t need to move.”

  “I don’t want to have to keep up such a large space,” Glenda said, looking around. “It’s a beautiful house, but too big for me to keep tidy.”

  “So you’re thinking I’ll be better at keeping it clean?” Lucas asked, struggling to put some humor in his voice.

  “I’ve seen how immaculate you keep the suite. You’ll do fine here.”

  Lucas looked around, remembering how, at one time, it was supposed to be where he and Summer lived. How, for the last week or so that hope had been resurrected. He and Summer and that little—

  He choked that thought off.

  Suddenly restless, he stood. “I’m going to town. Do you need anything?”

  “Just some milk, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure enough. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I might stop at Mug Shots for a bite to eat now that Carmen’s is closed.”

  “Okay then. Enjoy your lunch.” She looked up at him and, for a brief moment, as their eyes held, he felt a flicker of an older emotion. A connection to the grandmother she had once been to him.

  He paused, feeling suddenly awkward. Like he should do more than just say good-bye and be off. So he gave in to an impulse and bent over and gave her a quick hug. When he pulled away, he saw her blink and place her hand on her chest.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Lucas gave her a gentle smile, petted Misty and told her to stay, then left for town.

  As he drove, however, the brief moment of connection he felt with his grandmother was whisked away by the thought that Summer was staying in Rockyview. With her little girl.

  He prayed as he drove, not sure how things would fall out. Wondering if Summer could deal with the repercussions of her decision to be alone. Would she accept his support? He had heard nothing from her since he sent the text.

  Let it go. Release.

  He sucked in another breath and slowed as he drove into town.

  Main Street was finally plowed, and he found a parking spot not too far from Mug Shots. As he walked down the street, he glanced over at Carmen’s Café. As Glenda said, it was closed with a sign on the door that said, “Opening soon under new management”.

  But as he stepped inside Mug Shots, he felt like he was coming home. He and Summer used to come here when they were dating. Sometimes they would skip school and have coffee and just talk, hoping no one would see them and tell their parents.

  Kerry, the owner, greeted him with a huge smile, adjusting her bandanna on her graying hair. “Hey, handsome, good to see you again.” Lucas returned the smile as he looked over the offerings written out on the chalkboard behind Kerry and laid out in the glass coolers.

  “Are you going to join Summer?” she asked as he tried to make up his mind.

  His heart jolted at the mention of her name. “What do you mean?”

  Kerry pointed to a table tucked in the back. “Summer is there with her baby and Eve, the social worker.”

  Lucas’s heart dropped into the black hole in his chest as he looked over at the two women. Eve was holding the baby, nodding at something Summer was saying. Then Summer handed her the diaper bag, her expression serious.

  Why was she meeting with Eve if not to finalize the adoption process?

  He couldn’t breathe.

  He couldn’t be here.

  Without a word to Kerry he turned and left.

  * * *

  Summer wiped her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and clutched the steering wheel. She stared straight ahead at the mountains at the end of Main Street.

  It was done.

  Over. She had made one of the hardest decisions of her life. Had finally chosen.

  Now what?

  She thought of the text Lucas had sent her and with a prayer for help, support, and strength, she started her car and drove down the street.

  Lord, give me strength and wisdom, she prayed, knowing that more than ever she would need God’s help. She prayed that what Lucas had told her was true.

  That he would stand beside her no matter what.

  * * *

  Lucas glanced at his phone, and his heart jumped when he saw Summer’s name on the screen.

  But he waited, afraid of what she might have to say. All he could think of was Eve holding the baby. Summer passing over the diaper bag as if giving her the supplies she needed before Eve took the baby away.

  But this was Summer, the only woman who’d ever truly held his heart. His life had fallen apart when she walked away from him the first time and, despite what might’ve occurred, he couldn’t let it happen again. He would just have to find a way to deal with whatever she decided.

  He swiped to answer the call.

  “Are you at the house?” Summer asked.

  Hello to you too, Lucas thought. But he quashed that and forced himself to smile.

  “I’m helping Glenda move her stuff into the suite.”

  “Can I come over?”

  He swallowed down a note of despair, wondering how she could sound so casual after everything that had happened.

  Dear Lord, help me get through this, he prayed. I love her, and I don’t want to let her go. But this will be a struggle. I’ll need Your help.

  He pulled in a long slow steady breath, then said, “Of course you can. I want to see you.”

  “I want to see you too,” she whispered. “I need to see you.” Then she ended the call.

  He looked down at the phone, trying to understand her.

  Glenda came out of the suite and was about to reach for a box when Lucas held his hand up to stop her. “I’ll take that. I don’t want you hurting yourself in any way, shape, or form.”

  “You’re just scared you might have to take care of me if I do,” Glenda said. She gave him a cautious smile, as if knowing that her joke had the potential to fall flat.

  “I could do it if I had to, but I prefer not to,” Lucas said playing along with it.

  He grabbed two boxes and carried them through the connecting door.

  “Once I move in,” Glenda said. “I think we should do something about that door. Maybe we should just close it off.”

  “Doesn’t matter to me,” Lucas said. “I know you won’t invade my privacy. Besides, I can lock it from this side if that’s a concern.”

  “That’s true enough,” Glenda said.

  “Now where do you want me to put this stuff?” Lucas asked.

  They worked together for the next fifteen minutes, sorting and rearranging.

  “So I guess I’ll get my duffel bag and take it to the bedroom,” Lucas said. “Seems weird. All these years, and everything I own I can carry on my back.”

  “This ranch and the house won’t fit into that,” Glenda teased him. “You do realize all of this belongs to you.”<
br />
  Lucas looked around the house, seeing it differently now. Though he had been staying here for the past few weeks, it never felt like his. Now that he and Glenda had swapped places, now that he and Zach had spoken about joining the two ranches together, he realized the reality of what she was saying.

  “I guess you’re right,” he said. “I’ve been moving toward that the past week or so. Time to make it real.”

  Then Misty jumped up from her nice, cozy warm spot in front of the fireplace, her ears up, head cocked to one side. Just as Lucas heard the car’s engine, Misty released one sharp bark and stood at the door whining.

  Glenda looked out the window, and her expression shifted. “It’s Summer’s car. She’s coming here?”

  Lucas nodded.

  “I’ll be in my suite, settling myself in,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

  Before Lucas could say anything she walked through the connecting doors, and closed her side.

  Lucas wanted to call her back. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to be with Summer by herself yet. He would’ve preferred to have the buffer of Glenda’s presence.

  Instead, he walked to the kitchen and filled up the kettle. Coffee. That’s what they would both need. A cup of coffee to soothe the conversation they would have. With shaking hands he pulled mugs out of the cupboard and set them on the counter.

  Misty barked as the door opened, a cold gust of air swishing along the floor.

  Lucas sucked in another breath and then turned to see Summer closing the door.

  And setting a car seat on the floor beside her.

  Lucas just stared, not sure what to think. Hardly daring to believe…

  Summer knelt down, slipped the cover off the car seat without a word, then threaded her baby’s tiny arms out of the straps, picked her up, and held her cradled to her chest. She brushed a kiss on her downy head and then looked up at Lucas.

  “Emma,” she said, a self-conscious smile on her face. “Her name is Emma.”

  Lucas stared at them both, struggling to reconcile his thoughts with what he was seeing now. Then he shook off his reaction, ran toward her, pulled both of them into his arms, raining kisses on her face, brushing Emma’s little head. Kissing her as well. Hardly daring to believe this was happening.

  Summer laughed self-consciously, then pulled away, tears glistening in her eyes. “I couldn’t let her go. She’s mine.”

  With his arm still around her, they looked down to see little Emma. Despite the hugs, she was still sleeping, her perfect little rosebud mouth pursed and a delicate frown between her barely visible eyebrows.

  “She’s so perfect,” Lucas breathed. He gently took her from Summer, cradling her in his arms, wonder and joy coursing through him. He pulled in a slow sigh, then turned to Summer. He brushed a kiss over her lips and looked deep into her eyes. “Summer, you know I love you, and I would have loved you if you came home without her,” he said, repeating the same words he had sent her in the text.

  “When you sent me that text, I had already made up my mind,” Summer said, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She sniffed, then laid her head on his shoulder, looking down at little Emma cradled between them. “But it was so good to know that you supported me no matter what I would decide. That meant a lot to me.”

  “I have to say I’m confused. I saw you with Eve at the coffee shop. I thought you were…I don’t know, giving her up.”

  Summer shook her head, pulling herself even closer to him. “I told Eve I had decided to keep Emma. That I had to think of myself and my baby first.”

  Summer slipped her arm under Lucas’s so they were both now cradling the little baby. Lucas could hardly absorb the sudden shift in what happened. But he knew what he needed to do next. Immediately.

  “I had all kinds of plans for this moment,” Lucas said, his tone bemused. “I was going to get Tricia and Faith to help me set it all up.” He drew in a long, slow breath, willing Summer to look up at him.

  And she did.

  Holding her eyes with his, their foreheads touching, he said the words that had been trembling on his lips. “Summer Auger, I love you so much. I always have. I don’t ever want to go through what I went through when we were apart. I never want that to happen again. Summer, will you marry me?”

  Summer swallowed and nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, with all my heart.”

  They sealed their promise with a long, slow kiss. When they finally drew apart, Lucas was breathless, his heart pounding a mile a minute in his chest.

  Then he bent over and, pulling Emma close, he pressed his cheek against hers.

  “We’re going to be a family,” he said to her. “You and me and your mom.”

  Summer sighed, her arm around Lucas’s waist tightening. “In all my imaginings, in those horrible dark moments, I never figured on this kind of ending.”

  “Me neither,” Lucas agreed.

  Then Misty nudged him, as if reminding him that she was here too.

  Lucas chuckled and knelt down to show Emma to his dog. “Isn’t she beautiful,” he said. “When she gets bigger you two are gonna have lots of fun together.”

  Misty barked softly then, as Lucas straightened, Glenda came into the suite, her eyes shining.

  “Oh my goodness. We finally all made it here,” she said, her hands clasped over her heart.

  “That we did,” Lucas said, smiling at Summer. “We finally made it home.”

  Epilogue

  “Just smile naturally, Glenda,” Kinsley was saying as she focused her camera then lifted her head to look at the people grouped in front of the photography backdrop.

  Umbrellas with lights flanked Kinsley and cords snaked everywhere. Summer had been worried about navigating it all, but thankfully, Glenda managed quite well.

  Now she sat in an upholstered wing chair, Summer and Lucas posed behind her.

  “Let your great-granddaughter know you love her,” Kinsley encouraged.

  “I do love her, but Emma’s little dress is all wonky,” Glenda muttered as she tried to shift the baby she held on her lap.

  “Just a moment,” Kinsley said. “Let me help you.”

  “No. Stay there,” Summer said, waving their photographer off. “I’ll take care of this.”

  She stepped around the chair and her husband, her silky hair slipping over her shoulder as she lifted her baby daughter, adjusted her ruffly dress and the matching bow on her head, stroked her cheek, and settled her back in Glenda’s arms. “Just keep your one arm over her stomach and you should be okay,” she said to the older woman.

  “But then we can’t see the dress I bought her,” Glenda said.

  “That thing has so many ruffles, Grandma, it’s hard to tell where it quits and Emma starts.” Lucas leaned forward to grin over his grandmother’s shoulder at Emma who was now waving her arms, her movements jerky.

  Summer chuckled at the sight. Her daughter was only a month old, but she had already changed so much.

  And every hour she spent with Emma, Summer’s love expanded even more. She didn’t know it was possible to love this much.

  Glenda shifted Emma, and Summer returned to Lucas’s side. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, grinning back at her. He brushed a kiss over her forehead, his smile growing.

  “Hey, my beautiful wife,” he said.

  “Okay, you two, just stop now,” Kinsley said, her tone teasing.

  “Hey, we just got back from our trip,” Lucas said.

  “Still can’t believe you guys eloped,” Kinsley said, snapping a few pictures. Every time the flash went off Emma startled, but thankfully, she seemed unperturbed overall.

  “That’s because as a wedding planner and photographer you can’t imagine people don’t want to spend almost a year working on a wedding as well as not documenting every step of the way,” Lucas teased.

  “Thank goodness ours won’t take that long,” Elliot said as he joined them, nudging his fiancée.

  “I don’t know, I might ch
ange the date,” Kinsley said, her expression serious.

  Summer had to laugh at the look of horror on her now-brother-in-law’s face.

  “No. Please. Not again.”

  Kinsley seemed to ponder this as Summer went to pick Emma up, but Lucas beat her to it.

  “Please?” Elliot asked, his tone pleading now.

  Kinsley chuckled, and she shook her head. “Relax. I promised Tricia we would have a double wedding with her and Mason to save the family another celebration, and I’m not going back on that.”

  Elliot placed a hand on his heart, sighing. “Yay for me.”

  “What is your problem?”

  Kane came to join them, his arm draped protectively over Faith’s shoulder as he frowned at his brother.

  “Just dodged a bullet,” Elliot said, grinning at Kane. Then he glanced at Faith’s stomach. “What? Still no baby bump?”

  “I’m only eight weeks,” Faith said, shaking her head at Elliot’s comment. “Give it time.”

  “Looking forward to being an uncle for the fourth time,” Elliot said, glancing over at Emma now resting quietly in Lucas’s arms.

  Summer again felt a rush of thankfulness at how easily the Tye family had accepted both her and her daughter. At how they were as willing to take her in as they were Lucas, Elliot, and Kane.

  “We’re done here, right?” Lucas asked, juggling Emma in his arms.

  “For now. I think Zach wants a group family shot once I’m done with Faith and Kane. But you have time to go over to the table where Tricia is, and she’ll show you the preview pics on her computer. You can decide which ones you want in the church directory and which ones you might want for yourselves. Keep in mind that the ones for yourselves will be edited as will the directory pictures, so it’s just a rough concept for now.”

  “Good enough,” Lucas said as Glenda pushed herself off the chair. “Looking forward to seeing what magic you created with us all. Especially little Emma.”

  “She’s adorabubble,” Kinsley said. “I know I got some good pics.”