Page 63 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

The next morning, Amelia sat at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers.

"It's all going to be okay, Lil’ Bit. They'll come out when they're hungry," said Ford.

She shook her head sadly. "I feel like we should have tried harder last night."

He shrugged. "I don't know what more we could have done. We asked them to come out. But..." He shrugged again.

Amelia sighed. After Cash had left last night, they'd gone upstairs to try to talk to the children.

But Nat had taken Hunter into her room with her and locked the door behind them.

When she and Ford had asked them to come out, Nat had said they were fine and that they'd see them in the morning.

She'd tried explaining that when she'd said they'd have to see about adopting them, she hadn't meant that she didn't want to.

But Nat had yelled, and Ford had said that it was best to leave it until now.

Except now it was eight thirty. They still hadn't come downstairs, and Amelia was beside herself.

Ford came and offered her his hand, wrapping his arms around her when she got to her feet. "It'll be okay," he said. "I promise you. We'll figure it out. They'll come around."

She clung to him as he lifted her off her feet, and they spun around when Nat spoke from the kitchen door. "Hey, guys."

Ford set Amelia down and she reached for his hand, clinging to him. She had no idea where to begin.

Ford smiled and said, "Morning. Do you guys want some breakfast?"

Hunter came in and nodded, looking subdued. "Yes, please."

Nat lingered in the doorway. "I want to apologize first. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you. It's not..."

Amelia went to her. "You had every right to get mad, sweetheart. No, I don't mean that how it sounds. I mean, you misunderstood what I meant. But given that you didn't understand..." She looked up at Ford, realizing that she was making a complete mess of this.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Why don't we all go and sit down? We can talk about it."

Nat nodded and went to sit at the table beside Hunter. Amelia went to sit across from them, and Ford sat beside her.

He shocked her when he said, "I think this is really all my fault."

"No, it was me," she exclaimed, and she could tell by the look on Nat's face that she agreed with her.

Ford shook his head slowly. "All Amelia meant when she said that we’d have to see about adoption was that we'd have to look into how it all works.

And the reason she didn't immediately say yes, of course we'll adopt you, was that now that Cash sorted everything out, she already is your legal guardian. "

He looked first at Nat, then at Hunter, and then back again. "I'm the problem."

Nat scowled at him. "You're not a problem."

Hunter shook his head, and Ford blew out a sigh. "Yeah, I really am. See, Amelia didn't feel like she could speak for me and say, 'Yeah, we'll adopt you' right away."

Amelia had to nod at that. "It's not that I didn't think Ford would want to," she said. "It's just that... it's complicated... legally."

Nat nodded grudgingly. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"So, you don't get to adopt us?" Hunter asked.

Ford reached for Amelia's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze as he smiled and said, "Well, things have changed a bit since last night. So, if you guys want me to, then yeah, I do get to be part of it."

Nat's chin quivered as she stared at them, and her voice cracked as she said, "We want you to." Then she turned to Amelia and said, "And we want you to, if you can. I'm sorry I got so mad."

Amelia got to her feet and held her arms out. Nat came to her, and Hunter scrambled to his feet, throwing his arms around both their waists. Ford smiled at her as he wrapped his arms around them all as best he could.

"I want us to be a family," he said.

Nat nodded with tears streaming down her face. Hunter nodded rapidly and Amelia had to swallow before she could speak. "Then that's what we're going to do."

Nat swiped angrily at her cheeks. "But how?"

Amelia looked up at Ford, and he said, "I asked Amelia to marry me, guys, and she said yes."

"Yes!" Hunter punched the air, and Nat grinned. "Really? You guys are going to get married?"

Amelia nodded. "We are."

"But..." Nat’s skeptical look was back. "Not just for us. Not just so that..."

"No," said Ford. "Yes, it'll make things easier for us to adopt you. But that's not the only reason." He leaned across and pressed a kiss to Amelia's forehead. "I knew even before we met you guys that I wanted to marry this little lady. You've just done me a favor in speeding things up."

Nat grabbed Amelia's left hand and scowled when she saw there was no ring. She looked up at Ford again. "Are you lying?" she asked.

Ford scowled right back at her. "No. I'd never lie to you."

He stepped away from them and ran his hand through his hair. Amelia went after him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head sadly. "Don't worry. I'm not mad at any of you. I'm mad at myself. I'm a damn fool. I didn't even think about a ring. I just... I came right out and asked. Didn't plan anything. Cash was right. It was the least romantic proposal ever."

Amelia wrapped her arms around his waist. "No, it wasn't. It was perfect for us. I've told you before, I don't get romance anyway."

Nat came to them and wrapped her arms around their waists again. "Don't be mad," she told Ford. "Amelia's right. It sounds like it was perfect for you guys. And it's not like it's too late to get a ring, is it?"

"No, but I screwed it up," he said.

"No, you didn't, Uncle Ford," Hunter piped up as he stood on their other side, mirroring his sister in wrapping his arms around their waists. "It's all good."

Amelia met Ford's gaze and held it. "They're right, you know. And it wasn't just you who forgot. I didn't even think about a ring myself until Nat mentioned it just now."

She had to chuckle when Nat rolled her eyes at them and said, "It's a good thing you guys have me now to help you out with this kind of thing."

"And me," said Hunter. "I can help, too."

Ford finally smiled. "I think I'm probably going to need your help, all of you guys. But I promise you, I'm going to do my best for all of you. I'll learn. I'll learn how to be a good husband and..." He looked down at the kids, and Amelia could tell what he was thinking.

She held her breath when Hunter said, "You already are a good dad."

Even he seemed to realize what he'd said. He looked at Nat and said, "I know he's not Dad . But..."

Amelia had to close her eyes to keep in the tears when Nat said, "No, he isn't. But..." She shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever be able to call you Dad." She looked at Amelia. "I even struggle to call you Auntie."

"I know, sweetie, and that's okay. You don't need to."

Ford nodded his agreement. "We’re Ford and Amelia to you."

" Uncle Ford and Auntie Amelia to me," added Hunter.

Nat shook her head slowly. "Even if we don't say the words, I love that we get you as our parents."

"I love it, too," said Amelia.

Ford nodded. "And me."

Hunter grinned at them all. "Does this mean we're a family now?"

Amelia and Ford both turned to Nat, and she brushed away the tears from her cheeks as she nodded and said, "Yeah, it does. But only if I get omelet rolls for breakfast."

~ ~ ~

After they were done with breakfast, and Amelia had gone upstairs to take a shower, Ford went to his office and started up the computer so that he could do a search.

He had an idea of what he wanted, but he needed to make sure that it was going to be possible before he took the day off to head up to town.

When he was sure that it was going to be a worthwhile trip, he called Wade.

He didn't know if all his brothers would be able to get away – and he didn't want to put this off, but he needed to at least get Wade to go with him – maybe Brody, if he called him on the way up to town and asked if he could get away for just a while.

"Hey, Ford. Everything all right?" Wade answered.

"Yeah. I... I'm headed up to town, wondered if you wanted to go with me."

Wade chuckled. "Would I be right if I guessed that you want to visit the jewelry store?"

Ford held his phone away from his ear and gave it a puzzled look before saying, "You would, but how the hell do you know that?"

Wade laughed again. "Our big brother called around last night – told all the brothers that we need to be prepared to drop everything at a moment's notice over the next couple of days because you might be asking us to go up there with you."

Ford had to laugh. "He has to get his fingers in everything."

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Nah, I wouldn't be laughing if I was."

"He told us all that we just had to wait and see, and if you decided to go by yourself then none of us was to say a word about it – that it's your choice if you don't want to follow the tradition of all going to pick a ring together.

He wasn't trying to take over – just trying to cover the bases for you – and I'd say it's a good thing he did.

Ty decided this was a good week to start delegating his trips to the wholesalers, and Kolby told Callie that her mom needs to be on standby to watch the baby if he needs to run out on short notice. "

Ford ran his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to say.

"I know the two of you have had your differences, but..."

"Yeah, he's come through for me in a big way lately."

"He loves you – he always has."

"I love him, too." Ford didn't mind admitting it.

"Then you should tell him."

He chuckled. "I already have. And since it looks like he's done most of the work for me, do you want to let everyone know that I want to go this afternoon – and you can figure out a time between you? I'm going to call Brody and..."

Wade laughed. "There's no need – Cash included him on the group text he set up – you say what time you want to go, and I can make sure we'll all be there. Want to ride with me?"

"Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks."