Camila was the public face of the family these days with her ever-popular restaurant. He was content to stand back, wait for her orders for the fruit and vegetables she needed him to grow for the dishes she wanted to serve and then fulfill them the best he could. With the help of his old business partner, Sven, and a rotating cast of visitors from Mexico, as Camila’s family took turns helping out and going home, he had been able to transform part of his Montana ranch into a paradise of geothermally heated greenhouses in which to grow the ingredients of all Camila’s favorite Mexican dishes.
He loved the adventure of it all. Loved ranching cattle, too. Loved always having people around and getting the fun of pampering Camila whenever she took a break—which wasn’t often.
And then there was Ivy.
“I like being a stay-at-home dad,” he said to Noah. “Along with being a rancher, of course.”
“And a purveyor of fine vegetables,” Noah said with a grin. “And hot peppers and avocados and whatever else it is you grow over there.”
“That’s right.” But it was getting to spend much of his days with his tiny daughter that brought him the most joy. He’d come to marriage and fatherhood later than lots of men, and he was soaking up every last minute of it.
Camila caught his eye from across the room and raised a questioning brow. Carl nodded. All was well with him. A few minutes later, she appeared with two plates in hand, passed one of them to Noah and handed the other to Carl.
She took a seat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. “I’m getting sleepy, too.”
“Midnight on New Year’s Eve should come at ten o’clock for ranchers,” Noah said, digging in to a piece of chocolate cake. “We’ve all got to be up early tomorrow.”
“It’s worth it to be with everyone tonight, though. I wasn’t sure if this would work out. Wondered if everyone would prefer to be at the Dancing Boot or something like that,” Camila said.
“Too many kids among us for the Boot,” Carl said. “I think this is perfect. There’s still dancing, still drinks to be had, but you don’t have to pay a bundle for the babysitter.”
“Or stay home alone,” Noah agreed. “I think it’s perfect, too.”
“I think everything’s perfect,” Camila said, reaching up to give Carl a kiss on the cheek, the swell of her belly pressing against his hip. They were expecting a boy in a couple more months. Were still fighting over names.
“You got that right,” Carl said and kissed her back.
Camila couldn’t believe how lucky she was. She had a career she adored, could be as creative as she wanted with the meals she offered at Fila’s, and had a wonderful business partner and coworkers. Now that they were coordinating with the ladies of Elms to mentor two to three teenagers each semester, teaching them the workings of their restaurant and how to cook, Fila’s was always lively. She loved the teenagers’ energy and loved the sense of community it brought. Add in her cousins coming and going and the constant round of community events they attended, and her life was full.
Four years ago she’d thought she might spend her life alone. Now she woke up every morning next to a man who seemed determined to make all her dreams come true. At first when they’d moved to Laurel Heights, Camila hadn’t known what to make of it, feeling like it was Carl’s concern. He’d made it clear very quickly that he wanted to raise the ingredients that she craved to make authentic food.
These days she knew that the more difficult the request, the more enjoyable the challenge for Carl, and she worked to come up with dishes that required unusual vegetables and fruit that no one in Montana had ever heard of. Carl happily went about the process of figuring out how to grow them in his greenhouses.
She’d been a little afraid that having a baby would make it hard to keep up with the restaurant, but she hadn’t counted on how much Carl would take to parenthood. Of course, he had a lot of help. Sven and her cousins loved having Ivy around. Her daughter was already confident with growing things in the greenhouses and being around the horses and other critters on the ranch. She was around grown-ups so much that she was equally confident around them, too, and often could be heard demanding attention from one of them.
Soon a little boy would join them.
“What are you thinking?” Carl asked, murmuring in her ear since Ivy seemed to have fallen asleep despite the clamor of the crowd.
“I’m thinking I’m happy. Just one-hundred-percent, completely happy.”
“That makes me happy.”
“I love our home, our ranch, our little family…”
“Our growing little family.” He caressed her belly.
“Our neighbors, our town…”
Carl slid his hand down to wrap his fingers in hers for a moment. “Let’s remember this night, whatever happens. This perfect night in our perfect lives.”
“Absolutely.” And she kissed him again.
Noah turned away from Carl and Camila and got up to look for Olivia. He found her with Mary, Enid and Leslie in the kitchen, where happy chatter competed with the thump of stove doors and the clatter of dishes coming out of the dishwasher.
“Can I help?” Noah asked, trying to stay out of the way of a trio of teenagers who were putting away dishes as fast as they could.
“Can you carry these trays out to the main room?” Olivia asked, handing one to him that was laden with more desserts.
“Sure thing. Then I’m going to come steal you for a dance.”
“I can’t dance now,” Olivia protested. “There’s too much to do.”
“And a million hands to do it. I need my wife.” His wife. The words still made him happy after all this time. Life with Olivia was everything he’d dreamed it could be. At work he’d been promoted to head up
