by Zoe Matthews
He was also pleased that he’d already done some of his father’s requests. Sheridan and his relationship was improving and they were finding common ground with each other. He and his sisters had definitely grown closer, and he was doing something that made him happy.
As for the relationship and love part of the letter, he liked where things with Emma were going, but could he really ask someone to move out to the ranch and isolate themselves like that? She said she didn’t like living in the big city, but that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted to live on a mountain ranch where the nearest town was over an hour’s drive away.
He folded the letter up and placed it back in the envelope before tucking it into the top drawer of the desk. He’d read the letter again in a few days, just to make sure he’d understood everything, but right now, he needed to go find Emma and set her mind at rest.
Chapter 12
Never go fishing with a female who can bait her own pole!
That was the lesson Spencer took away after an afternoon of fishing with Emma. He’d left the house to see her standing outside the barn while Logan saddled up two of the calmer horses. She had fishing poles, a tackle box, as well as a picnic basket full of snacks and drinks.
“What is all of this?” he asked as he got close enough to be heard.
“I ran into Kathy and she told me where I could find poles. Logan offered to saddle up the horses so we wouldn’t have to walk up to Mirror Lake, and then Kathy brought me this picnic basket.”
Matchmakers unite! Spencer knew exactly why everyone had been so helpful to Emma. He hadn’t missed the knowing looks, or the snickers and giggles behind his sisters’ hands when he returned to the house with Emma each night.
They’d made it a nightly ritual to go out walking, looking at the stars, and then sharing a tender goodnight kiss before returning to the Ranch House. It was quickly becoming his favorite time of the day.
“So, did you find any bait in that tackle box?” he asked, securing the picnic basket behind his mare’s saddle while Logan secured their poles and the tackle box to the back of the other mare.
“There is some powerbait in there, but it looks pretty dried up to me. Logan dug me up a cup of worms from the pasture there.”
Spencer gave his brother-in-law a look. “Well, wasn’t that nice of him.” Looking back at Emma, he teased her, “I guess I could be convinced to bait your hook for you.”
Emma smirked at him. “And I’ll be happy to do the same for you.”
“You don’t mind baiting a hook with a live worm?”
“No. Do you?” she asked with a slight challenge in her voice.
“No, ma’am. Logan, have you ever been fishing with a female that could bait her own hook?”
“All of your sisters can bait their own hooks. What are you talking about?” Logan asked him curiously.
“Well, since I can’t remember ever going fishing with one of them, I guess I’m talking about nothing.”
Logan gave him a thumbs up sign. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them you besmirched their tomboyish tendencies.”
“Thanks. That’s nice of you. So, Emma knows how to bait her own hook. Can’t wait to see who catches the biggest fish.”
****
Emma not only caught the biggest fish, she caught the only fish! Three hours after they left the ranch, Spencer was frustrated with his inability to bring a fish to shore, having had several bites and then watched as each one wiggled off his line before he could bring it in.
Emma had a few bites, but it was the last one that saved the day. She slowly coaxed the fish towards shore and then giggled in glee as Spencer scooped it up into the net.
“It’s so big!” she exclaimed, looking at the large trout as Spencer pulled it from the net.
“This here is definitely a keeper. Do you know what kind of fish it is?”
“Of course. I was born in Missouri, not a closet. That’s a beautiful rainbow trout.”
“That’s right. Years ago, my dad stocked his lake with several native species. The lake is fed by a spring and then it drains out to create that small river that runs next to the meadow.”
“That’s why the water is so clear and the lake is still full.”
“Yes. Because we haven’t fished here much, the lake hasn’t needed to be restocked, but that will probably change now that we have guests coming up here to fish every week.”
“So how does one go about getting a lake stocked?” Emma asked, watching as Spencer expertly gutted and filleted the trout.
“There’s a hatchery over at the base of that mountain,” he told her, pointing to the fourteen thousand plus foot peak just to the east. “We’ll probably start stocking the lake again in the spring, and do so every other month during the summer season.”
“That is pretty cool. I never knew how that worked.”
“There was talk earlier this summer about putting in another lake just a little higher up. On the other side of the meadow.”
“Are there no other lakes on the ranch?”
“Not that are easily accessible. One of the things we don’t want is for guests to be traipsing all over the ranch without proper guides and adequate resources. We decided that sending them more than four hours away from the main ranch was something we didn’t want to see occur. Too many things can happen up here.”
“So, what kind of wildlife is there on the ranch?” Emma asked curiously.
Spencer glanced at his watch and realized the afternoon was almost gone. “Come on and if we’re lucky, you’ll get to see some of them up close and personal like.”
He stowed her fish away in a plastic Ziploc bag that Kathy had graciously tucked inside the picnic basket and then secured their supplies to the back of each saddle. He led the way down the dirt trail, veering off when they reached the trail which would take them through the meadow, instead of around it.
“Why are we going this way?” Emma asked, looking around her at the tall grasses.
“This is the time of day when the elk and deer begin to get up and feed. Keep your eyes out at the edge of the trees and you just might see some of them.”
He allowed her horse to ride up next to his and then slowed their pace to a soft walk. Several minutes passed when he finally saw what he’d been looking for. Stopping his horse, he pointed to his left where a herd of elk was just emerging from the timber of the forest.
There were three cows, two juveniles, and one very large bull.
“Gosh! I’d forgotten how big they are,” she whispered to him.
He nodded his head and then pointed a little further up. “Here come the deer.”
A herd of deer, consisting of does and this year’s fawns were grazing in the tall grasses, their bodies hard to see until they lifted their heads up. When one of the horses snickered, they all lifted their heads up and then scampered back into the trees.
“How come the elk didn’t take off?” Emma asked.
Spencer watched the large bull take up a position of authority between their horses and his harem of females. “He’s not scared of us. So neither are the females who are currently relying on his protection.”
“Thank you for showing me this,” she told him, reaching over and touching his arm.
Spencer looked at her, the happiness she was feeling showing in her eyes, and couldn’t resist leaning over and kissing her lightly. “Thank you. For being here.” Now if I only knew where this was all going.
Chapter 13
That evening, the family found themselves gathered together in the large family room of the Ranch House. They had abandoned their outside gathering with the arrival of the first storm of the season. The wind had kicked up considerably during the afternoon, and while it was raining at the ranch, it was snowing up on the tops of the mountains.
“So, what did you all think about the lower line shack?” Spencer asked.
Bridger smiled. “It will be easy to turn that into a honeymoon cabin. We’ll need Stephanie to come up onc
e this storm moves on and get some ideas for the décor, but we could easily have it ready for use by the end of the month.”
“That soon?” Sheridan asked in surprise.
“Yes. The trail is in pretty good shape as well,” Hunter added.
Spencer nodded his head and felt pleased at his report. “I’ll need some pictures once it’s finished and then I can incorporate that into our next advertising campaign.”
“If everyone’s in agreement, I say we should get started right away,” Sheridan offered, looking at each of his siblings and seeing their nods of agreement.
“Perfect. Bridger, I’ll let you coordinate with Spencer on the financial needs for the project. Spencer, if you need any help, just let me know. Now, does anyone else have anything we need to discuss?” Sheridan asked as he looked around at everyone.
Spencer waited for a few seconds and then he walked over to the bookshelf and retrieved a manila folder he’d placed there just before dinner. “I do.” He had copied the report earlier that evening and now he handed each of his siblings a copy of the investigative report regarding their father’s accident.
“What is this?” Stella asked, taking her copy and looking at her brother.
“It’s the final report on the investigation into what really happened with dad’s plane.”
He watched as his siblings read through the report. He saw their looks of disbelief and sadness, and then watched as acceptance settled in. With everyone that is, except for Sheridan.
He read through the report and then shook his head in denial. “This can’t be true.”
“It is,” Spencer assured him.
Sheridan shook his head again and tossed the report down on the side table. “You’re wrong!” He stormed from the room as everyone watched.
Spencer sighed and then lowered himself back into his chair. When Emma reached over and took his hand, he gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand; grateful for her show of support.
Stella finally cleared her throat and asked what all of her sisters were wondering. “Are you sure they got it right?”
Spencer nodded sadly. “Yeah. I’m positive. I don’t know that we need to talk about every little detail; it is what it is. I also think we need to keep the details of this report just between us. This is a family situation and doesn’t need to involve anyone else.”
His sisters all nodded their heads, and their spouses and fiancé did the same.
“I think Spencer’s right. We can’t go back and change the past, so there really is no need to talk about this anymore.” Sierra looked at Spencer and then smiled at him. “Thank you for going to all the trouble to find out. I know you didn’t have to, but it is a relief knowing for sure. Now maybe we can all move forward with the future.”
“I always felt that something didn’t seem quite right with the report the authorities did,” Sierra commented sadly. “Dad was always an excellent pilot.”
Stephanie nodded. “When my doctor, who was also Dad’s doctor, asked if he had suffered in the end, I also suspected something.”
“Do you think someone should go talk to Sheridan?” Stella asked. “Just to make sure he’s okay?”
“This is going to affect him the hardest. Out of all of us, he was the closest to Dad,” Sadie agreed. “I can go talk to him.”
Spencer shook his head. “I’d leave him alone, at least for awhile. I can talk to him later.”
His sisters nodded their agreement and then slowly left the family room with their husbands and fiance, leaving him alone with Emma. He was a little surprised at how well his sisters took the news, but he figured they all might be in shock and hadn’t really absorbed the truth yet. He certainly felt that way.
“Are you okay?” she asked, still holding his hand.
“I guess. Part of me wishes I hadn’t given them all a copy of that report. But we’re supposed to be a family, and that means we need to be honest with each other. Keeping secrets of this magnitude just didn’t seem right.”
“You did the right thing. I know it doesn’t always feel good, but doing the right thing always works out for the best down the road.”
“I hope so. The last thing I wanted to do was upset everyone.” Spencer sighed and then stood up, pulling her up beside him. He needed to get his mind off the report for awhile. “Want to go sneak into the room with the kids and watch a cartoon?”
Emma laughed. “Really?”
Spencer nodded his head and pulled her from the room, leading her towards the large theatre room where all of the kids, Annie, Kathy, and Jed, were camped out watching a bunch of animated monsters trying to take over Earth.
He leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of fun to forget about being an adult for an hour or two and just relax.”
Emma grinned at him and whispered back. “Don’t tell me you like to color as well?”
Spencer shook his head. “No. Takes too much concentration to stay within lines. Give me finger paints and I’m in.”
“Uncle Spencer, I’s wants to finger paint,” Brooklyn said.
Spencer looked down to see the young girl standing in front of him, having overheard his conversation, which didn’t surprise him. The little girl was always very aware of what was going on around her. “We’re watching a movie right now. How about we do that later?”
Brooklyn screwed up her face, and Spencer inwardly groaned as he envisioned the temper tantrum that was about to ensue, but Emma came to the rescue.
“Hey, Brooklyn. Your aunts and I are going to plant some flowers tomorrow. Would you like to help us?”
Brooklyn looked at her for a moment as if trying to decide if she was serious, or just trying to change the subject. She looked at Spencer once more and then back to Emma, giving her a big smile. “Can I’s have my own shovel?”
Emma laughed softly. “I’m sure you can. How about we finish watching the movie?”
Brooklyn grabbed her hand and pulled her into the midst of the other children. “You can sit by me.”
Spencer laughed and tiptoed his way amongst the bodies strewn across the floor on large pillows and blankets. When they were all seated again, he leaned over and kissed Emma on the cheek. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“Don’t mention it,” she told him. “I’ll expect you to return the favor.”
“Count on it.”
Chapter 14
“Emma, how come there aren’t any pretty flowers to plant?” Ashley asked her as she surveyed the numerous bags of flower bulbs and leafy plants. They had been delivered by the postman the day before, and the sisters hadn’t been able to wait to see their plan put into action.
Bridger and his crew had put together a wonderful gazebo. The wood had been sealed to reveal its natural color and beauty, and the variety of flowers they had ordered would look perfect around it.
“Well, these are called bulbs,” Emma told her, holding one up for all of the kids to see.
“When we put this into the ground, and then winter comes and the ground gets really cold, the bulb will pay attention.”
Brooklyn picked up one of the bulbs and turned it over and over in her hand before saying, “This bulb is broken.”
Emma squatted down and asked, “Why do you think it’s broken?”
“You said it pays attention. Momma tells me that when I’m not listening. But this bulb doesn’t have any ears. See. H ow can it pay attention if it doesn’t have any ears?”
Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing, hearing Stephanie and Kathy snickering behind her. “Come on, let’s hear you explain this one,” Stephanie told her softly.
Emma took the bulb from Brooklyn and then told her, “The bulb doesn’t need ears because it has a heart. It hears with its heart which is inside.”
“I want to see it,” Brooklyn demanded.
“Well, we can’t do that. We’d have to cut it open and then it would die.” Emma crossed her fingers behind her back, praying that Brooklyn would be sa
tisfied with her answer and move onto the next one. She got her wish. Brooklyn took the bulb back and whispered to it softly that no one was going to hurt it.
Emma threw the other women a victorious grin and then directed her attention back to Misty who wanted to know why they weren’t planting them in the spring.
“The bulbs have to go through all of the seasons. That means they have to get cold for at least six weeks. Once the ground starts to warm up, the bulb will know it’s time to start growing and a big green stem will emerge from the bulb and poke up through the ground.”
“But how will we know what kind of flower it is?” Mason asked, looking at the brown bulbs curiously.
Emma picked up the pictures that had been affixed to each package and showed them to the kids. “These pictures tell us what kind of flowers will come from each bulb. See, these will be daffodils.”
“Those are pretty!” Alysha told her, touching the bright yellow picture with her finger.
“They are, aren’t they? They will bloom around Easter time.” She picked up another picture. “These are peonies and daylilies. The peonies get taller, so we’ll plant them at the back of the flower bed.”
She continued to point out flowers, explaining why each one was going to be planted in a very specific place. “And this is trumpet vine.”
“Trumpet vine?” Noah asked. “That’s a funny name for a plant.”
“See the flowers? They kind of look like the end of a trumpet. We’re going to plant them at the base of each arbor pole. They will grow up and over the wood framework next summer and look so pretty.”
Annie had been very quiet, and when the children all went back to work, Emma walked over and sat down beside her and Sunny. “Don’t you like planting flowers?”
Annie looked at her and then slowly nodded. “I like roses. Kathy said we would plant some roses…”
Emma smiled at her and then stood back up. “Come with me.” She led the way over to the other side of the garden where Sierra and Stella had just finished pulling up the weeds. “This is going to be nothing but a rose garden.”
