Page 52 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

Amelia opened her eyes the next morning and closed them again when she felt Ford's arm around her middle.

She relaxed against him. She'd already gotten used to sleeping with him.

He didn't crowd her in the night, but she always knew he was there.

And when he first woke, he drew her to him, holding her close, making her feel protected and.

.. at home. She wasn't sure that she'd ever felt truly unsafe in life, but somehow, he made her feel safe.

Her eyes popped open again when it all came flooding back. Hunter and Natalie hadn't been safe. It wasn't just a dream. She, Ford, Cash and all the other guys really had gone to Florida to get them – to bring them back here. They were here at the ranch right now.

She sat bolt upright in bed, and Ford scrambled up beside her. "What is it?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

She turned to him. "I need to get up. I need to check on the children..."

He smiled. "Relax, Lil’ Bit. It's all okay. It's all going to be okay."

"How can you say that? How's it going to be okay?

I mean, we pretty much abducted them. We forcibly removed Hunter from his foster home.

We plucked Natalie out of the airport and whisked her away on a private jet.

If anyone else had done what we did, they'd be hunted by the law right now.

Oh, my God, Ford. Maybe we're being hunted by the law. "

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. "Calm down. It's all okay. We didn't abduct them. We rescued them. You're the only family they have left." He paused, a frown on his face.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong? What are you thinking?"

He met her gaze. "I want to say that we're the only family that they have left, but..."

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I guess we need to talk about that, don't we?"

His eyebrows drew together, and he looked as intimidating as she'd ever seen him.

"Don't look at me like that. All I'm saying is that we need to be honest with each other.

Our relationship is new. We're still getting to know each other.

I... I do love you, Ford. But how can I ask you to take on two children?

Two children that I don't even know." Her heart sank and she added, "And one of them hates me and I don't blame her. "

Ford ran his hand over her hair. "She doesn't hate you. She's just wary. She's been through a lot in her life, and you're an easy person to take it out on – an easy target. She's had it tough, and the way she sees it, you're the one person who could have made life easier for her."

Amelia sighed. "It's not just the way she sees it, though – it's true."

He shook his head. "No, it isn't. You couldn't have made things easier for her. How could you have done that when you didn't even know that she and Hunter existed? But Lil’ Bit, the point is, she doesn't hate you. Hunter already loves you, and Nat will come around."

She pressed her lips together. She'd fallen asleep on the plane last night, and when she'd woken up to go to the bathroom, she'd been amazed to see Ford dozing in the big club chairs – hat over his face, and Natalie asleep on his lap.

They hadn't had the time to talk about how that had happened.

All she knew was that Natalie had softened toward him – and he was now calling her Nat.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips, seeming to understand what she was thinking. "We had a bit of a chat on the plane. I persuaded her to give us a chance, and she told me she prefers to be called Nat."

Amelia nodded. This was no time for her to start feeling left out – feeling jealous that the kids already seemed to prefer Ford to her.

"But back to your question – you're not asking me to take on two kids. I'm asking you if you'll allow me to be a part of their lives. Because, in case I haven't said it in so many words before, I'm hoping that you're going to be in my life from now on. The way I see it, you're it for me."

A rush of warmth filled her chest and tears pricked behind her eyes. "Damn it, Ford. I don't think of myself as the emotional type, but you bring it out in me."

He smiled and rested his forehead against hers as he brushed his thumbs under her eyes. "Good. I'm glad. And, are you going to answer my question?"

As she stared back into his beautiful green eyes, she nodded slowly. There was no other answer than, "Yes, of course I want to be part of your life. I already see you as the biggest part of mine. But I don't know what's going to happen with them. I don't know how..."

He put his finger over her lips. "I know you don't. How could you?

Yesterday, you didn't even know they existed.

But if you'll allow me to be part of it, I want us to figure it out together.

" He smiled. "I already offered to share my family with you.

Are you saying that you don't want to share yours with me? "

She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face against his shoulder. "Of course I want to. I just don't want to ask too much..."

He ran his hand down her back. "You're not asking too much of me, I promise you."

"But you told me that you never wanted kids."

He lifted a shoulder. "I also said that with you, it wouldn't be a deal breaker." He gave her a small smile. "You said you didn't want kids either."

She brought her hand up to cover her eyes. "I know. And I also said that I don't do well with them. I think Natalie's already proved I was right about that."

"Just give it time. It'll be okay," he assured her. He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. "Let's work through it logically, why don’t we?"

She nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

"We've already established that I love you." Just hearing the words made her feel better – like this might all be possible.

She nodded. "And I love you, too."

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I know. We thought it was too soon to talk about it before, but now our hand is being forced, and I don't have a problem with that. So, is it safe to say that I already kind of asked you to live with me, and you said yes?"

She pressed her lips together. "I guess it is, isn't it?"

Any hesitation she felt melted away in the face of his smile and the way the lines around his eyes crinkled as he said, "I was hoping so.

" Then he continued, "Now that we've established that we love each other, we live together, and all of a sudden, you have a niece and nephew who have no other living relatives and need a place to live… "

She nodded slowly.

"You can see where I'm going with this, right?" he asked. "When you lay it out logically, there's no reason at all that not only should they live with us but that we should figure out how to be a family – is there?"

She shook her head slowly. "No. But isn't love and family about more than logic?"

A deep chuckle rumbled up from his chest. "Oh, hell, yeah, it is.

This will probably be the last time that logic has anything to do with it.

It'll get hard, Lil’ Bit. Don't doubt it.

There'll be rough patches, and there'll be times when we both wonder what the hell we got ourselves into.

And that's why I'm trying to lay down the logic for you now.

I know you don't need to hear it before you take them on, but I need you to understand it from my point of view, too.

I want to take them on; I want to take you on.

It's fast and it's unexpected, but that doesn't mean it's crazy or that it's the wrong thing to do, because it isn't. I'm telling you that for me, I know what I’m getting myself into and this is what I want.

" He leaned back a little. "So, I guess the ball’s in your court now. "

She reached up to run her hand over his cheek, loving the soft fuzz of what was now a beard.

"Well, you were right that I love you. And I don't mind telling you that through most of yesterday, all I could think was that I couldn't do it without you – I mean I would have, if I had to, but I wouldn't want to.

So, yes, please. If you want to do this with me," she pressed a kiss to his lips, "there's nothing I want more. "

"Okay, then. Well, I guess the first step is that we start the day."

As relieved as she felt that they'd brought everything out in the open, his words brought all the problems crashing back down on her.

"But there's so much we need to do," she said.

"I mean, you should be at work by now, shouldn't you?

I have work too, but I know Cash will be able to do without me.

And Cash... I mean, he said that he'll figure things out with the authorities in Florida.

But maybe we're criminals now. I mean, when you think about it, we really did abduct them.

I know there were cameras at that airport. I..."

"Just breathe," said Ford. "Trip told you on the jet last night that he and Travis talked to Mrs. Sanchez. Travis can charm the birds out of the trees, and Trip’s the kind of guy who everyone likes and trusts.

He has this air of quiet authority about him.

I'm sure Mrs. Sanchez isn’t setting off alarms. And Trip did say he'd talk to Shelley, since she used to be a lawyer.

And Ace said he'd get Ari to give you a call this morning.

She used to be a divorce lawyer, so I'm sure she knows a bit about family law.

I don't imagine that sorting the whole thing out will be quick and easy, but I know for sure that with Cash on the case, it's not going to blow up in our faces. You know what he's like."

She did. She'd seen that man smooth over situations that could have become major international incidents. He could make legal issues disappear like a rabbit into a hat.

She took a deep breath and said, "Okay, thank you. I think I've stopped panicking now."

He smiled. "You weren't panicking – there's just a lot to take in and a lot to figure out."