Page 37 of A Heart Falls Cowboy Christmas

“Well, I don't know about the fool part, but that’s a relief.” Sasha eyed him hard. “It seems as if something is bothering you.”

When Caleb paused, Tamara offered him a nudge to the shoulder for encouragement. “You can do it.”

“I know I can. It still feels like a sharp turn in the road that I never saw coming.” He turn to Sasha. “Nothing is wrong, and I mean that. Your old dad’s got himself tangled up thinking things through a million times without all the information he needs.”

Patiently, Sasha waited.

“Uncle Frank's really interested in making sure Crooked Creek keeps going, and part of being a responsible rancher is legacy planning. There's a whole lot more details we still need to figure out, but one possibility is that you could end up running that ranch. If that's something you might be interested in,” Caleb said.

Sasha's jaw opened. Closed slowly.

She swallowed hard. “Me?”

“Silver Stone will always be your home,” Tamara assured her. “Nothing will change that, but think of this as a ranch discussion. Just like you’ve started to sit in sometimes when your uncles, aunties, and dad and I talk about the direction Silver Stone needs to go in the next few years.”

Eyes still wide, Sasha nodded. “Long-term planning and the rest of it.”

“Exactly. Uncle Frank is doing that now, and he wants to do it with us. He’s right to ask us to be involved, and we plan to do everything we can to help Crooked Creek continue. Uncle Frank isn't stopping what he's doing any time soon, but planning ahead is important.”

“Of course it is. I understand that.” Her gaze narrowed thoughtfully. “What about Uncle Dustin? Uncle Frank must want him.”

Smart girl. Tamara smiled at her.

Caleb paused but told the truth. “Uncle Frank did talk to Dustin to get this whole conversation started, so that’s where it began. But it always comes back to family.”

Still considering, Sasha frowned before speaking slowly. “Uncle Dustin doesn’t want to move, does he?”

Like Tamara had thought before, smart girl. “Leaving Silver Stone to do something else isn’t wrong, but it might be wrong for some people.”

Her daughter stared her in the eyes, pure honesty reflecting back. “The idea sends butterflies tumbling in my belly, but it also makes my heart beat faster, as if I’m about to start a race. Not terrified because it’s wrong, but because it’s a huge challenge.”

Caleb stood. He pulled Sasha to her feet and enveloped her in a tight hug. “Good reactions.”

He held her, squeezing with his eyes closed for the longest time as Tamara soaked in the love passing between them.

Father, on unsteady ground. Daughter, striving to be stronger than she’d ever been before. United in love.

Tamara’s throat tightened.

Back in the time before, when she was growing up, she would have given anything to know that her father loved and trusted her to the end of the world. Thankfully, her dad had learned better, but the memories⁠—

No matter that she would have liked to spare Sasha the worry of the past few weeks. In spite of not wanting the coming days to hold fear or anxiety.

Tamara wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. Knowing that the family she’d joined was solid to the core?

Priceless.

If Sasha chose to leave, she would do it with a rock-solid foundation and a forever home to return to anytime she needed to be surrounded by people who were one hundred percent behind her.

Tamara rose and joined the hug. She pressed a kiss to Caleb’s cheek. Leaned her forehead against Sasha’s. “It’s a big idea that you have time to think about. We’re with you, no matter what.”

Sasha nodded. “I know. I love you.”

Next to them both, Caleb took a deep breath. “You take as much time as you need. School comes first. Summer will be soon enough, and even then, there’s no rush.”

“Okay.” Sasha leaned into them both, and Tamara met the gaze of her husband.

Rock-solid, firm, and no longer silent.