She was so ready for some solitude that she felt like skipping at the thought of getting out on the road by herself.
Guide me, Lord, she prayed. Help me to know if this land is my family’s or not.
Casey spent the morning checking on some new calves out in the south field. The cows hid their babies, so they could be hard to find sometimes, but there were nine new calves in the herd as of this morning—at least that he could see. Ember hadn’t come to take care of the babies today. She’d called him to let him know that she was taking a drive south to see the river, and Casey didn’t have much say in that. She had the boss’s permission and seemed intent on going.
“You sure?” he’d asked. “It’s pretty rugged out there.”
“I’m positive, Casey. I’m just letting you know where I’ll be.” There’d been a finality in her tone that told him she wasn’t interested in being mollycoddled.
One of the homeschooled girls from church came for the morning to do some babysitting, for which Casey was eternally grateful, and he’d headed off for his workday, doing his best not to worry about Ember.
She’d drive on down to the river, check things out and drive back. There wasn’t much to it. He’d called twice to check on her—he was the manager on this ranch, after all, and her safety was his business—but there was no cell service out there, so it was no surprise that she hadn’t picked up. Except, she’d been gone now for five hours, and Casey couldn’t help that stab of worry.
His cell phone rang, and Casey dug it out of his pocket, glanced at the number and picked up the call.
“Mr. Vern,” Casey said, punching the speaker button and dropping the phone to his lap. “What can I do for you?”
“Have you heard from Miss Reed yet?” the older man asked. “I just got back, and I don’t see the truck. Is she still out there?”
“It looks like,” Casey said. “I’m starting to get concerned. She might have had a flat or something. I was thinking of going out there to check on her.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mr. Vern agreed. “If you’d drive on out and get tabs on her, I’d feel better.”
“Will do, sir. I’ll head in that direction now.”
Casey pulled to the side of the road and dialed his house number. The babysitter picked up, her voice hushed.
“Are they sleeping?” Casey asked.
“Yes, finally,” the girl replied. “Diapers changed, and they’re due for a bottle soon, but I don’t want to wake them up. What do you think, Mr. Courtright?”
“Wake them up one at a time to feed them,” he said. “Or you’ll have two hungry babies at once.”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” she answered.
“I’m going to be a bit later than I thought, Jane. Are you okay to stay another hour or two?”
“Sure thing,” she responded. “It’s no problem. I’ll just call my parents and tell them.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Casey pulled a U-turn and headed back down the service road in the direction of the cow barn. It was a good forty-minute drive to the river if he stepped on it, so he had time to think. Normally, he liked the solitude, but today, he found himself frustrated and antsy. Having Ember on this ranch was turning into a real irritant. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. She wasn’t quite so self-sufficient as she seemed to think, and whether she liked it or not, he was worried about her. He wanted to keep her safe.
Last night, she’d opened up, and it was only having infants in their arms that had stopped him from pulling her close. It would have been instinct—and not the kind of instinct he had with every other woman in his life. Ember was different. She was tugging at his defenses in the most infuriating way, because while she was the one standing between him and his life’s goal of owning his own land, he also found himself drawn to her.
“You’re an idiot,” he muttered to himself.
Ember’s emotional situation was her business...but he did care, even though he knew he shouldn’t. In fact, he cared too much.
Ember’s story about the baby she’d been talked into giving up... That had stuck in his heart like a shard of glass. He couldn’t quite forget it. If Ember hadn’t lost her own mother so young, she might have had someone on her side who could have given her better advice. Or if her mother agreed that adoption was the best choice, maybe she would have been able to help her make her peace with it all. A little support might have gone a long way.
Casey had lost his mother young, too. He’d been fifteen, and she’d drowned in a boating accident one summer. So he knew what it felt like to be motherless when he still needed a mom. The difference for him was that he’d still had his father. They’d pulled tight and moved forward together.
If this land truly had belonged to Ember’s family, he knew what that would mean to her. But this land would mean the world to him and his dad, too. Will and Wyatt might grow up right here. Casey had grown up on a family ranch, and there was no experience that could compare. That was something he might be able to give these boys—a decent childhood.
For the next forty minutes, Casey drove down that long, straight road, dust billowing up behind him. Finally, ahead at
