“Bindi!” Liz called, waving the little skater over to them.
Bindi made a sharp turn and started blazing towards the two of them. Wyatt couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t matter that he was standing on a block of ice, his heart was as warm as could be. His daughter had taken to his skating lessons like a natural and he beamed with pride watching her do her thing.
“Whoa there, cowgirl,” he chuckled, reaching out for Bindi’s hand to help her stop before she hit the boards. “You’re faster than lightning!” He picked her up and sat her on the top of the benches, so that she was facing the ice.
Wyatt and Liz stood hand in hand in front of her. Ever since school had started, Bindi had become far more interested in finding out who her father was. Liz and Wyatt had done countless research and talked to dozens of experts just to figure out the best way to tell her.
What would they say if she asked them why Wyatt hadn’t been around for the past six years? What would they do if Bindi didn’t want Wyatt to be her dad? They had prepared answers for every scenario. Wyatt didn’t care about his own feelings on the matter, he just wanted to make the whole thing as painless as possible for Bindi.
That’s why, when Bindi had asked, completely out of the blue, just minutes ago, if Wyatt was her dad, Liz and him had decided that it was about time to tell her the truth.
The little girl had barely waited around for an answer though. Instead, she had almost immediately skated off down the ice like a wild horse, lost in her own thoughts. Wyatt and Liz had quickly conferred and realized that it was now or never.
“Bindi,” Liz started. “You know mommy loves you very much, right?”
Bindi nodded, unfazed by the question. “I love you too, mommy!”
Liz took her hand, now it was Wyatt’s turn. He’d always had trouble with vocalizing his feelings and emotions before, but there was nothing he wouldn’t try for his little girl.
“Do you know that I also love you very much?” he asked. His heart was pumping through his chest. Bindi’s response meant more to him than any hockey game ever could.
Bindi smiled brightly and nodded. “Yes! I love you too, Wyatt!”
Wyatt took Bindi’s free hand and smiled back. His heart was melting with pure love.
“You know, Wyatt and I also love each other very much,” Liz said. “And we have for a long time. In fact, just over six years ago, we took that love we had for each other and we made you with it!”
Bindi’s eyes immediately went wide with wonder. Wyatt rubbed the back of her hand and patiently waited for a response. Just as quickly as her eyes had brightened though, Bindi’s brows furrowed and her little hand fell away from Wyatt’s. She lifted her finger to her lips and thought long and hard about what she had just heard.
“Does that mean you’re my daddy?” she finally asked, turning to Wyatt.
Wyatt nodded. “Yes,” he said, calm and coolly, but inside his heart was racing at a thousand miles per minute. He felt Liz squeeze his hand and he leaned on her for support.
“How do you feel about that?” the two of them asked Bindi, almost at the exact same time.
“I like it!” Bindi immediately responded with a big grin. “Wait,” she paused again, before Wyatt could fully bask in her wonderful response. “Can I call you daddy or do I have to keep calling you Wyatt?”
Wyatt’s heart melted; he couldn’t contain himself anymore. He swooped the little girl off the top of the bench and held her in his arms. “You can call me whatever you want,” he told her.
“Okay, daddy,” smiled Bindi.
Epilogue
Elizabeth
Soft flakes of snow fell over the sweet prairie hills as Liz walked hand in hand with the two most important people in her life.
It was below freezing outside, but she couldn’t have felt warmer. Her daughter skipped to her left and her man led the way beside her. They were on the way to a very special place.
“Are you sure we’ll be able to?” Bindi asked her father again, for the billionth time.
“I’m not sure,” Wyatt answered, looking down at his daughter like she was the most precious treasure in the universe. “But there’s only one way to find out, right?”
“Right,” Bindi confirmed.
The three of them made their way off the main path and onto a partially hidden trail. Their footprints were the first and only to disturb the fresh snow in the area. Liz walked alongside the two loves of her life and got lost in her daydreams. Everything was so perfect. Bindi was doing well at school, Liz had a good class of students this year, and Wyatt was talking about building his own school at Gold River. He wanted to keep everyone close, and since Liz and Bindi had already moved in with him on the ranch, he’d decided that he might as well help out the ever-growing population of Watford in his effort to be nearer to his family. The city needed more room for students and more teachers to teach them. With Liz’s help, Wyatt was working to provide a state-of-the-art facility and higher-end salaries for educators. It had always been one of Liz’s dream to do something so grand, but she’d never thought she’d get the opportunity. Now, with Wyatt by her side, the world was full of endless possibilities.
Before long, Wyatt was holding up the bare hanging branches of the bent tree for his two girls.
“Thanks, daddy,” Bindi said, as she ducked under the veil.
“Thanks, babe,” Liz said, before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She followed her daughter to the pond and smiled when she saw what had become of it.
It was Christmas break—Bindi’s first Christmas break as a 1st grader—and the water on the pond had frozen over.
Bindi jumped around with joy. “Mommy! Mommy! Look! Do you think we can skate on it?”
Wyatt lugged the gym bag full of skates and pads up from behind them. It had been his idea to come up here after Bindi had seen some older kids playing pond hockey. She’d wanted to join in, but she was too young and not quite good enough yet. Liz had tried to tell her she could practice all she wanted at the Gold River Ranch arena, but Bindi wasn’t having any of it. She wanted to play outside. Wyatt understood the call.
“Let daddy check first,” he said, taking out a drill from the gym bag. Liz watched as Wyatt kneeled over the edge of the pond and slowly cut a hole in the ice. Bindi circled him with great anticipation and Liz couldn’t help but just smile.
She loved those two so much.
Wyatt prodded the ice and then stood up with the results of his test. The ice was thick. “Let’s go skating!” he announced.
“Yay!” Bindi shouted, so loud that snow fell off a nearby tree.
“Why don’t you go help your mom unpack the skates,” Wyatt said.
He didn’t have to ask twice. Bindi bounded through the snow towards the gym bag back by the bent tree. Liz turned around to help her. She shuffled through the assorted equipment until she found the little girls skates. She handed them to Bindi and then pulled out her own. “Do you want me to grab yours too!?” she shouted after Wyatt.
“Yeah,” he responded. “Can you bring them to me?”
Liz grabbed the two hulking skates and turned around to bring them to her man.
She immediately dropped them when she saw what he was doing.
Wyatt smiled up to her from one knee. In his hand was a lush black box. Liz gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “Wyatt...” she whispered. Her legs were barely working, but she managed to shuffle through the snow towards him. When she was close enough, Wyatt opened up the box, revealing a stunning white diamond ring. The precious gem glistened against some unseen light source as snow fell all around them.
“Elizabeth Turk, would you do me the honour of making me the happiest cowboy in the entire world?” Wyatt beamed.
Liz could hear Bindi jumping around in excitement behind them, but she couldn’t hear much else, the world was perfectly still and quiet; everything felt just right.
“Will you marry me?” Wyatt asked.
Liz could bare
ly get the words out. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes and then started to run down her rosy cheeks.
“Say yes, mommy! Say yes!” she heard Bindi encourage her from behind.
Liz laughed through her tears and Wyatt joined along.
“Yes. Of course. A thousand times yes,” she finally managed to say. She took off her winter glove and held out her trembling hand. Wyatt took her in his palm and the warmth of his touch steadied her nerves. He slipped the ring on her finger and when he rose to his feet again, they were officially engaged.
“I love you so much, Lizzy,” he said as he stepped towards her.
“I love you too, Wyatt Sounder,” Liz said through her frosting tears. She closed her eyes and felt Wyatt’s warm lips press gently against hers. They kissed in the falling snow and Liz felt complete.
She didn’t want the moment to ever end, but when Bindi spoke up between them, Liz happily turned to their little girl. There was no sense in getting stuck in any one moment anymore, she figured—their futures were too bright for that. The three of them could tackle anything that came their way now, because now, they were together and together, they were strong; together, they were a family.
“What now?” Liz asked, admiring her shimmering ring.
“Let’s skate!”
The End
A Cowboy's Secret Baby Page 16
