“Truth be told, I can’t imagine living life without you, either. I told myself it would be enough to give you a kidney so that you could live and raise Katie, regardless of who it was with or where you were. But I was deceiving myself, pretending not to care because I didn’t want to get hurt.”
He took her hands in his. “I want to spend my life with you. Yes, I wanted you to live for all the reasons I’ve said, but I would really love for you to live so I can share your life with you.”
The smile lighting up her eyes made all the pain, emotional and physical, worth it. No, he hadn’t given up a kidney for her to have one so she’d want to be with him, but he had done it so she could live, and now she would—with him.
“Then I guess we’re both on the same page,” Rachel said.
The joy on her face was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. None of the doctors’ instructions on his post-op care said anything about kissing the woman he loved.
Ty put his hand on her cheek, feeling the silky softness of her skin and thanking God that despite all Ty’s stubbornness, God had still seen fit to save Rachel’s life.
“I love you,” Ty said. “I know we just were talking about making a relationship work, but I would really like it if we were making it work in the direction of marriage.”
Rachel giggled. “I kind of thought that’s what we were talking about all along. But if we need to make it official, will you marry me?”
He grinned. “I thought I was supposed to say that. But since you asked, I sure will.”
Rachel leaned forward. “I know what I want. And I’m not afraid to fight for it.”
Just as he was leaning in to kiss her, she kissed him, and it was better than anything he could’ve initiated. Her touch spoke of absolute love for him, and as they kissed, he couldn’t stop the overwhelming feeling of gratitude washing over him.
It hadn’t been an easy road, and he’d almost lost her. But he could either dwell on his mistakes or accept the gift she was offering him here and now.
He broke off the kiss and smiled at her. “Well, since you asked, I would love to marry you. I know we still have work to do, but I think we can both agree that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get through the good times and the bad. Together.”
“I like the sound of that,” Rachel said, bringing him in for another kiss.
Epilogue
The wedding was small, but it was everything Rachel could have hoped for. Just her, Ty, Ricky, Ty’s parents and their close friends at the ranch.
They’d just finished with the pictures when she spied Katie and Sam arguing.
“How did you get Ty to be your dad?” Sam asked, looking angrier than Rachel had ever seen him with Katie. “I’ve known him since I got borned, and I’ve asked God lots of times to make Ty my dad. It’s not fair.”
The poor little boy looked like he was about to cry, but Katie put her arm around him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to steal him from you. But Ty loves my mom, so he gets to be my dad.”
Janie must have overheard the kids, as well, because she stepped in. “I’ve told you lots of times that Ty and I don’t love each other the way moms and dads do. We should be happy that he and Rachel found each other and that Katie finally has a daddy.”
“But I want a dad, too.” Sam’s eyes filled with tears.
Katie gave her friend a hug. “Just like you were going to share your Poppa and Gramma with me, I’ll share my dad with you. And, now that I have another grandma and grandpa, we can share them, too. They said they’re excited to have someone to spoil, so they can have two someones to spoil.” She looked over at Rachel. “Right, Mom?”
Rachel tried not to laugh, especially since Janie was doing her best to hold in her own laughter.
Before Rachel could answer, Ty joined them. “I have always promised that I’d be there for Sam. But I think it might be confusing to others if he called me Dad.”
Katie ran over to him. “But I get to, right, Dad?”
The happiness on her daughter’s face brought tears to Rachel’s eyes. But they started to fall at the sheer joy in Ty’s expression.
“You sure do.” Then he looked over at Rachel, giving her the heart-melting smile she loved so much. “We’re a family. Today just made official what we all felt for each other.”
When they’d signed the marriage certificate, they had also signed adoption papers, making Katie officially Ty’s daughter. And as Katie hugged her new dad, Ty held his arm out to Rachel.
“Come here. Let’s make this a proper family hug.”
Rachel did as she was asked, but after one tight squeeze, Ty opened his arm again. “Come here, Sam. You and your mom are part of our family, too.”
Even though he hadn’t needed to, Ty had made the effort to make Sam feel special on this big day. When they all finished hugging, Katie took Sam by the hand.
As the two children walked off, having seemingly made up after their fight, Rachel heard Katie say, “And now we’ll work on finding you a real dad, too.”
It didn’t seem like Janie overheard, which was probably a good thing since she’d sworn off men, but Rachel couldn’t help adding a prayer of her own that Janie would find a love as deep as the one she’d found for herself.
Check out the series that first introduced the
Double R Ranch and the town of
Columbine Springs—Three Sisters Ranch!
Her Cowboy Inheritance
The Cowboy’s Faith
His Christmas Redemption
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