“It didn’t stop Hunter,” Trace said pointing toward the cowboy on the left side of the herd. “He was a father right out of high school, and he’s found the love of his life.”
“Thanks,” Marissa said suddenly wishing that Trace was holding her hand because he cared for her. It was a crazy notion to think of marrying him so that she wouldn’t feel all alone during this trying time. As much as she loved her sister and knew she would help in any way she could, Michelle had a life and a family of her own. Trace was offering her a safety net. A way out after everything was said and done, and she longed to grab it with both hands.
Despite her education, her career, and her knowledge that she was a strong woman she wanted someone she could count on if she needed them.
“I’ll do it,” she said quietly looking at him again. “I’m probably crazy, but I don’t want to do this alone and I don’t want to be a burden to my family.”
Trace squeezed her hand again, his heart beating a happy rhythm in his breast. It was all going to work out. He was sure of it. He just had to help her see the light.
A strange sense of peace seemed to settle over Marissa, and she smiled feeling good about this decision. She had time now. Time to sort out what came next, and a friend who would lend his name to the future, even if she found out she was unprepared to be a mother, Trace could find a loving family for her child, and wearing his ring, she wouldn’t have to answer so many awkward questions.
The sound of cowboys taking over the cattle drive made Marissa peer past the setting sun as Kade and some of the hired hands drove the cattle out into the prairie while others led the excited guests toward a small campfire on a hill.
The drive was ending and the chuckwagon dinner beginning. She hoped they had music at this one. Maybe she could get Trace to dance.
***
Trace always enjoyed the chuck wagon meals. Eating out under the stars and listening to the guests and wranglers laughing and joking about the mock drive made him feel more connected to the land. Where he came from his extended family still raised sheep on their ancestral farm.
“Hey cowboy,” Marissa called as they finished their meals, and the musicians tuned up their instruments. “How about a dance?”
Trace smiled feeling the confidence that Marissa exuded now that she had made a decision and got to his feet noting the unfriendly glares of some of the other girls.
“You may regret this,” he said pulling Marissa into his arms and stepping out onto a dusty dance area. “I’ve been told I have two left feet.”
The sound of Marissa’s laughter was like cool rain after a scorching day, and Traces’ heart soared.
Chapter 13
Trace finished brushing out the last horse from the night’s ride then turned it into the corral with a slap on the rump.
He had enjoyed his ride tonight. It had been fun to have someone riding with him, and the added benefit of not having a gaggle of girls trailing him had been a blessed relief.
Once the guests had settled in for the dinner and dancing Kade and some of the younger wranglers had gathered up the horses bringing them back to the barn before Kade hitched Jack and Scott to the big red wagon and drove back to collect the happy dudes and dudettes.
Trace had stayed on at the chuckwagon even dancing with Marissa a few times, as he reveled in her joyful laughter. He loved to see her smile and couldn’t help but be drawn to her.
She was tough in her way, but still so vulnerable. Trace understood Marissa’s fear. She had plans, hopes, a whole life spread out before her. This was not the way she had seen her future. He was glad she had let him in and that she would allow him to help.
He still wasn’t sure how he was going to explain the whole thing to his sister, but deep down he believed she would understand. His life was not his own anymore. He’d turned over all of the anger, hurt, and disappointment to a loving God long ago and he wasn’t turning back now.
If Daisy, with the knowledge that she hadn’t been wanted by her mother, and all of her medical issues, could find joy in her salvation, how much more could he.
Tomorrow he had the afternoon off and planned on taking Marissa out again, maybe a picnic or a day in town. He would have to figure that out, but he knew he was excited about spending more time with the girl he was going to marry.
Shaking his head as he turned toward his pickup truck, Trace grinned and cast his eyes toward a bright star-filled sky. “I hope I’ve got this right,” he said to the bejeweled darkness above. “I’m trying to understand, but I wouldn’t mind a burning bush or even a staff that sprouts a few green leaves.”
***
Marissa flopped into the comfortable hand-carved bed in the room she used at the Ballard home and smiled up at the ceiling. She had had a good time with Trace at the cattle drive and chuckwagon dinner, and the feeling of contentment filling her heart was a relief from worry and doubt.
She wasn’t sure how this whole thing had happened, but she had told Trace that she was ready to go through with his crazy plan. Her heart was so full of love and for the first
