Page 106
Story: The Cowboy Who Came Home
Finn slid from the saddle, the time here. He better just say whatever lingered in his heart. “She’s yours,” he said as he walked toward her.
“She’s mine?” Edith stepped all the way to the side of Cocoa now, her eyes wide. “What does that mean?”
“It means I bought her from Uncle Pete and Courage Reins for you. Cocoa lives at my ranch now, and she’ll be there any time you want her.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I am not,” Finn said with a smile. He slid one hand along the side of Edith’s neck and leaned down to kiss her. “And I thought of the perfect name for our ranch.”
“Mm, okay.” Edith kissed him, and Finn sure hoped the recording hadn’t started yet. Cocoa tried to stick her face in there too, so he felt reasonably sheltered. Cocoa snuffled, and Edith broke the kiss as she giggled.
She shoved Cocoa back. “You’re too close, my friend.”
The horse certainly was, and that would obstruct some sight lines.
“So what’s the name of the ranch?” Edith asked as she turned Cocoa in the same direction as Reagan.
Finn did the same with Apollo. “Legacy,” he said. “Legacy Ranch.”
“Oh, I really like that,” Edith said as her whole person lit up. “That’s perfect, Finn.”
“I thought so too.” The air between them turned silent, and suddenly the diamond in Finn’s pocket weighed enough to make his shoulders sag forward.
He cleared his throat and glanced over to his aunt’s house. The recording had commenced, and he turned to Edith. She looked at him too, her eyebrows raised. “What?”
“What?” he asked back.
“You’re nervous,” she said simply.
Finn was, and he didn’t like that Edith knew it. Or maybe he did, because it meant she knew him well enough to know his energy.
“Edith,” he said, and he worked hard not to clear his throat. “We have a date on the calendar for our wedding.”
She said nothing, which he’d learned was her way of letting him say everything he wanted to before she interrupted.
“You have the perfect horse to ride for that wedding.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the diamond, then took a couple of running steps in front of her. “April fourteenth is about six months from now, and you’ve said that’ll be enough time to plan the perfect spring wedding.”
“It will be,” she murmured.
Finn dropped to both knees right there in the pasture and held up the ring. “I’m so in love with you. Going home to sleep in my bed alone is terrible. I want you at that ranch—our ranch—our Legacy Ranch—with me. I want to work beside you, and I want to raise a family with you, and I want us to be a family.”
“I want all of that too, Finn,” she said with a sniffle.
“You are what it feels like to come home for me,” he said. “We could go anywhere and do anything, but if you’re there, it’ll be home for me.”
Tears ran out of her right eye, and she quickly reached up and wiped them away.
He held up the ring as if she hadn’t seen it yet. “Will you marry me?”
She nodded, sniffling and tears flowing freely now. “Yes,” she said out loud. “Yes, Finn, I’ll marry you.” She held out her hand and he clumsily slid the ring onto her finger. “Oh, it’s so pretty.”
“You’re so pretty.” Finn got to his feet and took Edith’s face in both of his hands. “I’m so glad I came home to Three Rivers, to you.”
“I’m glad you did too.”
“I love you, Edith.”
“And I love you, cowboy.”
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