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Bowen looked stunned.
“Wait,” I said. “Are you serious?”
Dad nodded.
“Why not? He’s put in just as much work building this place as I have. And I get the feeling I’ll be calling him my son-in-law one day very soon. Might as well cut to the chase. He earned his fair share of the business by now.”
Bowen faltered.
“Now hold on. I don’t know anything about the financial side of running a ranch.”
Dad gestured in my direction.
“Avery has a good head for numbers. Between the two of you, everything is nicely covered.”
I stared at him, bewildered that he’d changed so completely since this morning.
“Dad,” I said. “Why are you doing this?”
He glanced at Birdie. She reached up and held his hand.
“Because you’re not my little girl anymore,” Dad said. “And I forgot that. I thought I could protect you the way I protected you years ago. Someday, you’re going to have a family of your own, and your husband will be the one to protect you, instead of me. When your daughter falls in love, you’ll realize how hard it is to let her go. I’m used to digging my heels in and fighting with everything I have.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. Dad opened his arms. I flew to him, burying my face in his chest.
Epilogue
Avery - Ten months later
A warbling cry dragged me from the depths of sleep. The weight of Bowen’s hand settled on my thigh.
“I’ve got her,” he murmured.
The bed shifted as he rose, pushing the sheets aside. I managed to rouse myself into consciousness long enough to crack one eye open. The silhouette of Bowen’s figure crossed the room to little Amber’s crib in the corner. The muscles in his bare back flexed as he bent over and gathered our daughter into his arms. Only a few weeks old and she already had her daddy wrapped around her finger.
“It’s all right, little one,” he whispered. “I’m here. Don’t wake your mama, okay? She needs her rest.”
Amber whimpered and hiccupped. Then she yawned and snuggled against him. Bowen retrieved a blanket from her crib and tucked it around her tiny sleeping body. I loved watching the way he held her, locked securely in his arms. He looked at her like she was the most precious creature he’d ever laid eyes on.
“Does she need to be fed?” I asked, fighting to stay awake.
Bowen shook his head and came to the foot of our bed, curving his hand around my ankle with a squeeze.
“She’s just fussy, that’s all,” he said softly. “I’ll take her for a walk.”
My eyes slipped closed as Bowen tiptoed out of the room, taking Amber with him. Between the ranch and our newborn daughter, he didn’t get much sleep these days. He never complained though, and he took the baby off my hands as often as he could.
It felt like the last few months had gone by in a whirlwind of changes. Bowen moved into the house. When calving season started, everything became so hectic that I forgot to take my birth control pill. As soon as I announced I was pregnant, Bowen proposed on the spot. Dad made him promise we wouldn’t elope, and we had a big autumn wedding at the ranch, just as I was beginning to show.
Two hours later, I woke to the golden light of sunrise. I stretched, reaching out to Bowen’s side of the bed. The sheets were empty, cold. Amber wasn’t in her crib either. The faint ache of missing them began to grow heavy in my chest. I got dressed and went looking for them.
The smell of coffee greeted me as I made my way toward the kitchen. Birdie had an array of flowers spread across the counter as she put together a bouquet for the table.
“Good morning, sweetie,” she said. “Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?”
I shook my head.
“Have you seen Bowen and Amber?”
