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But fear didn't come with logic, it was just there like a stone in my chest.
Thanksgiving at the Ledger Ranch would be the gathering point for everyone involved in the previous shitshow; Ace, Caitlyn, Deb.
I smiled when I thought about Amy and Carla. I wanted to meet them.
Maybe we wouldn’t have to go into the main house at all. We could hang out with the ranch hands in the bunkhouse. Rowan could teach Flora how to ride. I knew how to drive in America now, unlike last time when I was petrified of driving on the wrong side of the road. I could borrow a car and explore the ranch and town with Flora.
Winter in Montana would be beautiful. Flora would love seeing the mountains, the snow, and the vast beauty of Big Sky Country.
I owed it to Rowan and Flora to give this a proper chance. I wasn't a naïve little ingenue any longer. I could handle the Ledgers, especially with Rowan at my side.
Chapter 30
Rowan
Iwatched Flora as she walked into the bedroom I'd set up for her with help from Amy and Carla. I'd moved my office out from the second bedroom, and set it up in one of the rooms in the main house. Amy had said that pink was too girlie, and that I had to go with yellow and purple. And since Flora meant flower, she recommended a floral theme.
"Rowan, this is for me?" Flora looked at me with brown eyes so wide that I worried for a moment she was going to cry.
I crouched in front of her. "You like it, sweetheart? We can change anything you want."
"I don't like it," she smiled big, "I love it." She hugged me and thanked me with kisses all over my face. It was fucking awesome.
She dragged Isha into the room, and pulled out all the books from the yellow bookshelf. She climbed onto the bed to read one with her mom; the bedding was purple with yellow and white blossoms, which Amy had picked out.
So, yeah, I was a little nervous that I'd gotten design help from a five-year-old and three-year-old sitting next to me on my computer as we clicked away on the "buy" button on online stores.
While Flora familiarized herself with her room, Isha came to me. She slid her arms around me. "What have you done, Rowan Ledger?"
"What have I done?"
"You've made my little girl fall madly in love with you."
I hugged her back. "Damn right." I watched Flora from the doorway where I stood with her mother. "It’s good, since I'm madly in love with her and her mum."
I looked down at her face which was lit with pleasure and happiness.
"Thank you for coming here. I know it wasn't easy."
She went on tiptoe to kiss me. She'd started doing that a lot, and I loved that she felt free to touch and kiss me. In the beginning, she didn't initiate physical contact, and I worried she never would, but as she began to trust me, she'd let go.
My woman was beautiful, sensuous, elegant, and sweet. I felt like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.
I had the cook from the main house stock the fridge and get dinner to my place. We had brisket with mashed potatoes and green beans that first night and, to Flora's delight, a chocolate cake for dessert.
Sitting in my house with my two girls was like walking into a dream. I couldn't believe, after pining for Isha for years, here she was. Mine. And she'd given me her daughter. For a man who never thought he'd ever have a family, this was a fucking miracle.
"I have my own bathroom," Flora gushed on a video call with Mick. She'd shown him the whole house, the porch, and the mountains. "And tomorrow, I get to ride on a horse. A horse, Uncle Mick. Did you see the sunflowers on the wall of my room? That's because my name is Flora, and it means flower."
She was talking a mile a minute while Isha and I sat in front of the fire in the living room. Isha had her head on my shoulder as she drank wine, facing the tall floor to ceiling windows. It was dark and there wasn't much to see, but the feeling of the wide open spaces enveloped us.
"This is real," she whispered.
"I know the feeling," I agreed. "I'm worried that I'm going to wake up and you and Flora won't be here. That it'll just be a dream."
She drank some wine as I nuzzled her hair with my chin. "Who'll be there for Thanksgiving dinner?"
I knew she was worried about it. Just saying, hey, it's gonna be fine, wasn't going to cut it. To make sure everything went smoothly, I had warned everyone that Isha and her daughter were visiting. Deb had been good about it, now that she knew about the stupid stunt Ace had pulled. Caitlyn was livid.
