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“Let’s have some cake,” Gerty’s daddy said, and because his voice always seemed to carry more than others, it helped Gerty pull on the reins of her runaway feelings.
“I’ll take them,” Opal said as she took the phone from West before he could drop it. “Time for cake, Westy.”
Gerty pulled out the chair right next to West and sat down. Daddy brought her some cake, and she smiled gratefully up at him. “Thank you, Dad.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Love you, Gerty-girl.” He beamed at West like no brighter star had ever shown. “And you, little man. I love you too.” He kissed West as he growled playfully, and West giggled and shrieked out laughter.
Mikey sat down with them, and Gerty met her mom’s eyes. “Would you take our picture?” She wanted to remember this version of her family forever. Her, Mike, and West, on his first birthday. She had no idea what life would bring her, if they’d stay on this farm forever, or if they’d be blessed with more children.
But she wanted this moment to live on. So she leaned into West in his high chair on one side while Mikey did the same on the other, and her mother took their family picture. She handed Gerty her phone back with, “You guys are my favorite family.”
Gerty looked at the picture while Mikey encouraged West to dig into his cake with his bare hands, and as she looked at herself—so pale and blonde and light, she smiled. Mikey was her opposite, with all dark hair, the sexy beard, and those shining-from-within eyes the color of good, rich earth.
And right between them, smiling like the charmer he was, sat West. With Mikey’s brown eyes, but Gerty’s blonde hair, he bridged the gap between both of them. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them back as she stuck her phone in her back pocket.
“Send me that picture, love,” Mikey said. “Would you?”
She met his eyes, and she knew he’d just seen everything brewing and boiling inside her. Alarm crossed his face for just a moment, and then it smoothed away into a soft smile. “Not so nurturing, huh?”
She just shook her head and smiled. Then she picked up her cake and took a bite while she took in the rest of those she loved in the farmhouse. Tag touched his lips to Opal’s in a quick kiss, and for some reason, that startled Gerty.
“They’re getting along,” she said across West’s tray to Mikey.
He looked over to where Opal stood laughing in Tag’s arms. Neither of them had cake yet, as Daddy was still cutting and serving up slices. “Yeah,” Mikey said. “Seems so.”
“I’m glad,” Gerty said as a sense of supreme satisfaction streamed through her. “Opal needs someone like him in her life.”
“Maybe he needs someone like her.”
Gerty studied Tag for a moment. She’d liked him from the moment he’d walked into Mike’s office here at the farmhouse for his initial interview. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Maybe they both need each other.”
“Guess we’ll see how it works out,” Mike said just as West yelled.
Gerty looked at him, because it wasn’t one of his usual happy yells. He wore a wild look in his eyes as he grabbed a fistful of cake and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. Gerty blinked and then burst out laughing.
“You get that cake, buddy,” Mikey said between his chuckles. And West did exactly that.
eighteen
Tag stood on the outside of the ring, watching Steele as he worked with Cinnamon. “Keep the flag lower,” he coached. Cinnamon was well-trained, but he didn’t like the flag. Tag hadn’t thought he’d find himself in the outdoor ring at the beginning of February, working with one of the horses he and Gerty had brought back from Coral Canyon.
And he wasn’t in the circle. Steele was. Tag was training Steele on how to work with horses, using horses who could use some exercise, wouldn’t give Steele a problem, and who did need to be oriented to how they did things here in Colorado.
Steele didn’t look at him, because that lesson had already been learned. Don’t look away from the fifteen-hundred pound animal in the ring with you.
“He doesn’t need the flag,” Tag said. “You’ve got it in case something spooks him, but you’re trying to get him to read your body cues. Follow your voice commands.”
“Got it,” Steele said, his voice deep and rumbly. One could construe it as grumpy or growly, but Tag had learned that was just how Steele operated. He didn’t say much to begin with, but he liked getting together for breakfast sandwiches in the evening, and he never missed a morning of stopping by for coffee.
He claimed he couldn’t make the stuff to save his life, and Tag had enjoyed getting to know him in the few minutes before their days got away from them. Steele had trouble keeping track of things, like his keys, his phone, and his wallet. Tag had been to his cabin many times in the past couple of months, and the man didn’t have much to have lying around.
He did his dishes every day, and Tag hadn’t detected any foul odors. He’d talked about getting his own dog, which Tag had encouraged him to do. If Tag wasn’t seeing Opal in the evening, he and Steele might get together and watch TV or play cards.
But Tag saw Opal most evenings. He either came to the farmhouse and hung out there, or he took her to dinner in one of the neighboring towns. More often than not, Opal came to his cabin bearing her blow-up couch, a smile, and questions about his day.
He’d teased her that he had his own couch, but he never complained about cuddling into her on the cushy thing he’d given her for her birthday. The air-filled furniture sort of mashed them together, and Tag really enjoyed holding her close and blaming the couch for making her sit practically on top of him.
Tonight, though, Opal was meeting with a builder, as she’d decided to move forward with plans to construct a house right here on the farm. Gerty and Mike were selling her three acres of land near the epicenter of the farm, where their farmhouse and personal lawn stood.
