He had looked beautiful, strong, and capable. Of course.
“I didn’t know she was going to do that,” he said, wiping his mouth and chin with his strong hand to hide his bashful smile.
“You should frame it,” she suggested.
“Definitely not,” he balked with a soft scowl.
“Okay the Strong men really have this handsome and humble thing down pat,” she teased.
“Not that again,” he drawled.
The ladies had filled her in on their confrontation of Kaleb at the cookout. “They weren’t wrong, Kaleb. Although the number of pictures with Lordan in them for the article may be revealing Greyson’s true crush is him and not you.”
“I noticed that too,” he said with a chuckle.
They shared a look and shook their heads.
Zaria wouldn’t doubt that the woman-loving foreman had caught the young woman’s eye and just a sniff of her interest would send Lordan on her tail with the same enthusiasm of bloodhounds released during a deer hunt.
They fell silent and the sound of the rain pelting against the ground echoed around them as their eyes locked for long countless moments before they both looked away.
“Seriously though, Kaleb, the article was insightful and well-written,” she admitted. “I’m sorry that I had to learn some things about you in an article and not in a conversation that should’ve happened between a man and his woman—a husband and his wife.”
He nodded. “I agree,” he said, looking at her again. “We both played a role in that not happening.”
“I agree,” she countered.
“It’s been a tough year for us, Zaria.”
She nodded. “And I think it’s time to decide once and for all if our marriage survives it or not, Kaleb.”
He stiffened.
She understood the movement—or lack thereof—because at that moment she felt as if her entire body was covered in supersensitive nerve endings. The importance of it all could not be overlooked or lessened.
“Stay or go? The choice of whether to stay together or not is up to both of us. We each have a right to feel how we feel and have that respected by the other,” she said, looking down at the tip of her boots.
“And?” he asked.
“It just might be my last straw.”
She looked up at him wishing she could get a read on what he was thinking. Still, she was quite sure of her own feelings.
All or nothing, Zaria. All or damn nothing.
She fell silent as several people exited the building and walked past them before tackling the rain as they raced to their cars. She waited until they were alone outside again before she reached in the back pocket of her jeans to remove folded papers that she handed over to him.
“More paperwork,” he muttered.
“Huh?” she asked in confusion.
“Never mind,” he said, opening them.
Her heart wildly pounded.
He frowned. “Divorce papers?” he asked.
This time his eyes on her was a hard and unrelenting stare.
Here we go.
Zaria nodded as she looked out at the rain before casting her gaze back upon him. “Yes, and I’ve already signed,” she said, now reaching for a capped pen from her back pocket as well.
He didn’t take that.
Hope was lit inside of her.
Zaria wanted her husband and her family back but she was done playing in the middle. “We’ve both made mistakes and had the worst year of our marriage, but even in the lowest of places there are lessons to be learned and I think we discovered a lot about each other that we can build on and get even better,” she said with conviction. “But school starts next week and our children are coming home which means we will have to sit them down and tell them the big summer secret about our separation—and I’m ready to do that if need be—but I’m also ready to come back home. So now the choice is yours.”
Kaleb studied her with those deep-set eyes. “Can I have a day to think about it? You’re catching me off guard at a hospital where my sister is in labor.”
The disappointment came. She was taken aback. She hoped for more fight from him. More emotion.
“It just might be my last straw.”
She forced a smile but it felt weak even to her. “Yes, I thought all summer was enough time to decide but if you need more...”
“I do,” Kaleb insisted.
“Okay,” she agreed.
Zaria refused to beg. She loved Kaleb Strong and forgave him his missteps but if a divorce was what he wanted she was already determined to accept it and move on as best she could.
All wounds heal. Time is the key.
“Let’s go up. Maybe the baby is finally here,” he said, folding the papers and tucking them into his back pocket as they walked inside.
“Picture Lisha not calling to tell you.”
He chuckled. It was deep and rich. “She’s excited like she doesn’t already have fifteen grandchildren.”
“I think your parents would love fifteen more,” Zaria said.
The elevator doors opened as they crossed the lobby. He quickened his pace to hop on and hold the door for her.
“Ever the gentleman,” she said with an incline of her head in thanks.
“Ever and always.”
She leaned against one wall and he the other as they stared at each other. She warmed when his eyes took her in from head to toe, pausing at the spots he treasured best. When he bit his bottom lip and gave her that wolfish smile as his eyes darkened, she felt those all too familiar flutters in her hot spot.
Her heart swelled with love for him as she realized something.
“Why are you playing? You are not going to sign those papers, Kaleb Strong,” she said.
He shrugged one broad shoulder. “You did,” he countered.
“I also shoveled shit today,” she said.
He smiled as if the very thought of that tickled his funny bone.
“You know you’re going to tear those papers up. You do not want anyone else to experience the swallow,” she baited him.
Let’s see if he keeps that smile.
His face hardened.
Thought so.
“And you don’t want me to give this dick to anybody else.”
“True,” she admitted without hesitation with an arch of her brow.
Kaleb reached in his back pocket and held the papers in his hand before crushed the papers with all his strength inside his fist into a large wad.
Her clit applauded his might.
“I just wanted to make you sweat a little bit,” he admitted, taking a large step towards her.
“There are much better ways to make me sweat,” she said, closing the distance between them with a large step as well.
With one strong arm around her waist, he picked her up and pressed her body against his. She followed his lead and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Their kiss was hungry and hot with the promise of more to come later.
Ding.
The sound of the elevator doors sliding opened echoed around them.
“It’s a girl!” Lisha exclaimed.
Zaria and Kaleb reluctantly broke their kiss. They both turned their heads to find the entire Strong clan scattered in a small waiting area outside the elevator where they had obviously claimed their domain during the wait. Kasi, Kalel, and Kaliya ran over to join them on the elevator.
“Now this is what I’m used to,” Kasi said looking up at them with a huge smile at his father holding his mother.
The doors began to close.
“We do not need witnesses to this reunion,” Zaria whispered in his ear.
Kaleb reached over to hit the button to open the door. The entire Strong clan looked at them in surprise as he gently pushed his children off of the elevator. “We’ll be back,” he said with a wink.
Zaria felt her face infuse with heat and she buried it against his neck in embarrassment. “To the car?” she asked with
all of her pulses already pounding in anticipation.
It had been a long two months.
“With a quickness,” he promised as hit the button.
“Well thank the Lord that’s over,” Kael said as he lightly applauded.
“Thank you, Lord,” the entire clan said in unison just before the elevator doors again.
∞
“Have you chosen a name?” Lisha asked from her spot sitting on the foot of the bed with her brand-new granddaughter swaddled in a blanket and snuggled securely in her arms.
Kaitlyn reached for Quint’s hand, glancing up at him standing by the bed before she looked at her mother and then her father. “We’ve decided to name her after a very special person to someone who is very special to us,” she began.
Every member of the Strong family waited patiently for her answer—except the smaller children who were being watched in the waiting room.
“May we present to her grandparents, all her aunts and uncles,” she continued, eyeing each one with soft and loving eyes. “And her cousins that are finally old enough to stay in the room—”
“Amen,” Kadina and Lei said in unison.
“Ivy Strong,” Kaitlyn finished, her eyes resting on her father.
“Oh,” Kael said in surprise and obvious joy, coming around his wife to press kisses to Kaitlyn’s head and shake Quinton’s hand. He moved back to his wife’s side and look down at his granddaughter. “You hear that Lisha? She named her after my mother.”
“I sure do,” Lisha said. “I love it. It’s a perfect name.”
Kael Strong was beaming with love and pride for his wife, their children, and the family they created together that was made all the more special with each new addition. “None of you got to meet your grandmother, but she was a pistol. And she carried one,” he said, tearing up a bit at losing her even as he chuckled. “In fact, one time she pulled that pistol on Grandpa Logan.”
Kade laughed as he hugged Garcelle and Kadina to his sides. “Oh yeah? What did he do?” he asked.
“What else? He charmed his way right out of it,” Kael said, remembering very well the story of his parents’ meeting that they used to share with him and his sister, Kellie, when they were growing up. “I’ll have to tell you all that story one day.”
“Please do, Pops,” Kaleb encouraged as rested his chin atop Zaria’s head as she leaned back against him.
“My parents were my first example of true love. Hard fought love. Lasting love. It made me want it,” he said, gently patting Lisha’s cheek as he locked his eyes with hers. “And then we set the example for our children and made them want it. And now we have all these new examples of love for our grandchildren.”
He moved about the room and clasped the hands of all the couples. Kahron and Bianca. Kade and Garcelle. Kaeden and Jade. Meena and Armstrong. Neema and Dane. He lingered a little longer at Kaleb and Zaria before he pressed their hands together. Last he moved over to Kaitlyn and Quint.
“See, love is this family’s legacy,” he said, his voice emotional as he eyed everyone in the room once more before landing his gaze back on his wife. “Strong love.”
No one could disagree with that.
∞
Hours later, Kaleb and Zaria lay atop one of the oversized ottomans in their living room naked as they pleased and just moments from an explosive reunion that left them both shivering, sweaty and sated. Their children were fast asleep in their beds and the house was theirs to enjoy as they slumbered. “Welcome home, baby,” he said with his eyes locked on their wedding photo hanging above the fireplace.
She pressed a kiss to his hard chest and eased her bent knee atop his legs. “It’s where I belong,” she said.
Kaleb agreed. Lord knows he had patiently waited long enough for her to realize that and make her way back to him.
“With all the love, commitment, patience, forgiveness, and devotion needed for a lasting union, I still take you, Zaria, to be my lawfully wedded wife,” he said, his eyes still locked on their picture.
She raised her head from his chest to look down at him.
The love and wonder in her eyes caused his gut to clench.
“With all the love, commitment, patience, forgiveness, and devotion needed for a lasting union, I still take you, Kaleb, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” she said easing her body atop his and sliding up until their mouths were aligned.
He brought his hand under her hair to cup her head and bring it down so that he could taste her mouth. Slowly. Lovingly.
“I missed the hell out of you, Zaria,” he whispered against her mouth before kissing her again.
This is where she belonged. In his arms and in his life.
“And I believe in you and our ranch,” she said.
“Ours,” he agreed.
“Us. Ours. We,” she said. “We’re all the plural pronouns.”
He chuckled.
“And that’s why I want to invest in us,” she said.
“Invest?” he asked, his curiosity definitely piqued.
“I’m selling the Summerville house and we’re going to use the money to help the ranch,” she said.
Kaleb eyed his wife, honestly trying to gauge how he felt about her generous gesture. He was a man’s man.
“We stumbled into a pitfall but we got back up. We figured out. And we’re going to be stronger than ever,” she said with a hint of fierceness in her tone. “I don’t need my own personal little safety net, but our business—our family—does.”
Prideful masculinity stepped up, of course, but he always wanted to know Zaria believed in him and loved the ranch just the way he did. The fact that she was making such efforts to prove to him that she could offer that very thing to him made him love her all the more. He was moved and had to take a deep swallow to not show just how much.
“I must have put good karma into the world because I was offered two blessings today,” he said.
He explained the sacrifice his father and Kade made...and how he and his brothers had finally decided to accept the goodwill of family.
“That’s what its all about, Kaleb. Good people and good deeds being rewarded, especially by those who love you,” she said.
“I still feel the weight of it on me. You know?” he said, admitting his unease to his wife.
“Not alone. Not anymore,” she promised.
His eyes searched hers. He saw strength, determination, and love. Lots of it.
“Let’s grow the dairy and creamery—that will be my focus. You focus on the farm-to-table initiative you told me about,” she said, easing her body off his to sit beside him and look down at him with fire in her eyes that he was sure also burned in her belly. “Let’s use the money from the Summerville house. Save your inheritance for the kids—”
“Or if something goes horribly wrong with Strong Ranch and Kade and Garcelle need us,” he added, wanting to protect his big brother the way he stepped in to provide for him.
“Absolutely,” she agreed. “Without question.”
He smiled up at her, feeling content with their new vibe. They had been through the fire and came out even better because of it. “We’re going to be okay, you know,” he said, pulling her back to lay atop him before he turned them to pin her body beneath his.
She lightly bit his chin as she spread her legs to wrap around him. Opening herself to him.
That simple move and the feel of her body stirred him to hardness.
“With all this strong love we don’t have a choice,” she said as he guided his inches her with a powerful thrust of his hips.
They both released a hot little gasp.
“No choice at all,” he said before getting them both lost with each delicious stroke inside of her long into the night.
EPILOGUE
Two months later
Zaria released a breath and massaged her lower back as the latest customers of KS Dairy Farm’s store took their leave. She didn’t bother with a break as she grabbed the broom and quickly sw
ept the polished wood floors free of dirt inadvertently tracked in by the customers. At a glance at her Apple Watch to check the time, she made her way out the door and across the front yard to stand by the side of the road just as the school bus pulled to a stop. The doors opened.
She waved to the driver as her little ones eventually made their way off the bus to come running at her full speed. She smiled and hugged each one as the bus pulled off. Before she could ask about their day they took off to the store.
A couple in a minivan pulled up and parked before entering the store.
“Hello!” she heard the kids say to the customers just before she entered.
“Y'all take your time and look around and I’ll be right with you,” Zaria said, giving them a warm smile before she joined her kids in the back room Kaleb converted into a study area/playroom for them to use until the store closed at five and they all went home.
“Momma, can I have a mini cheesecake today?” Kwasi asked as he removed his colorful Fortnite bookbag to sit on the table.
“Me, too,” Kaliya added, climbing up on her seat.
“And for you, Kalel?” she asked.
“Butter cookies, please,” he said with his head bent as he was already focused on identifying colors on his homework sheet.
Zaria went out to the store to grab the kids’ selections from the dessert table and small containers of milk for each. Lisha’s homemade desserts with a focus on dairy were a hit. Just as Zaria though they would be.
The dairy store was doing well. Although things with the ranch hadn’t yet recovered, Kaleb had forged numerous relationships with local eateries for bulk farm-to-table orders that would help. Above all, their spirits were high, they were hopeful, and they were in for the good fight together.
And all seemed to be well for the entire family.
With the summer well over and the kids focused on their schooling, Lisha and Kael were on a two-week-long cruise together with plans to travel more. Good for them. They deserve it.
The transition between Kael owning Strong Ranch and Kade taking over was seamless with no early signs of any trouble rising. The entire family was so proud of his sacrifice—especially Garcelle. Plus, the poker playing woman was always up for a good gamble. Hopefully, things will stay that way.
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