Page 66 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

She pursed her lips and then nodded slowly. "It's not that I don't want to. But if we're all MacFarlands, then there'll be no Danforths left, right?"

Amelia swallowed – she was right.

Ford went to Nat and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Then you should stay a Danforth, kiddo. You should..."

She shook her head slowly. "It's not that I don't want to. See, the thing is, I do want to be a MacFarland." She blew out a sigh. "But..."

Ford glanced over at Amelia. "How do those double-barrel things work? Can she have both?"

A rush of warmth filled her chest – a mixture of both relief and love for her wonderful man.

She nodded. "I don't think there are any set rules," she said, "but there's no reason whatsoever you can't have MacFarland-Danforth or Danforth-MacFarland. Whichever way you think sounds best."

Nat smiled. "I like them both. I'll have to think about which way around it should go." She smiled at Ford and said, "Yes, please. If I can do it like that, then I want to take your name."

~ ~ ~

Ford stood on the deck, looking out across the backyard where all of his family were hanging out – his brothers and sisters, and his own new little family.

Ty called to him from where he was standing by the grill. When Ford joined him, he grinned and said, "Hey. It suits you – this. I like it."

He nodded happily. "I like it. In fact, more than that, I love it. Thanks, Ty."

"Shay should be here soon, but if she doesn't make it for a while, she wanted me to tell you that she's happy to watch the kids for you whenever you and Amelia need a break." He chuckled. "I’m saying, we are. I'm not saying that I'm not... you know what I mean, right?"

Ford laughed with him. "I'm not sure that I do know. I mean, I know Shay's always ready to help, and she's great with kids. But I don't want you to feel like you're getting roped into something you don't want to do."

"Nah," said Ty. "I want to help. I don't know much about kids, but Shay's great, and I need to learn."

"Okay. Thanks, then. I'll keep that in mind.

Although, we might have to present it to Nat that you're coming over to hang out.

I don't think she'd take too kindly to the idea of a babysitter.

" He shook his head, not wanting to think about the responsibility she'd had in life already – taking care of her brother and herself.

He chuckled when a hand came down on his shoulder. "Hey, Cash, how's it going?" he asked without turning.

Cash gave him a shake. "It's going great. I have to take off here in a minute. I need to get the plane back to Mav and Blane. They're ready to start moving things out here now."

"That's great," said Ford. "How long do you think it'll be before you guys are all set up here?"

Cash shrugged. "How long’s a piece of string?" he asked. "It shouldn't take long, but with those guys, who knows?"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ford asked.

"No, it's all good. Thanks."

Ford frowned. "Are you going to move down to Mav's place?"

"Hell, no."

“Then what? You’re not planning on staying…” Ford looked around “…where you are, long-term, are you?” He’d remembered just in time that most of them didn’t know that Cash was staying on Jim Sheridan’s ranch.

Cash smiled. "I don't have any long-term plans yet. I'll figure it out." He held Ford's gaze as he added, "There's only two things I can tell you for sure. I won't be moving down to Mav's place. And I won't ever be thinking about moving back here."

Ford inhaled sharply, but Cash smiled. "Don't go taking that the wrong way on me.

What I mean is that I never planned to move back here – you know that.

For the longest time, I wasn't sure I'd ever set foot on the ranch again.

I'm glad I didn't stick with that. But I never wanted to live here again.

And now..." He looked around and smiled when he spotted Amelia talking to Harper and Everly.

"Now that you've got her and the kids... "

Ford looked around for them and relaxed when he saw Hunter running off with Ashton toward where Mateo was waiting for them, and Nat sitting on the top rail of the fence with Laney.

Cash followed his gaze and chuckled. "You know, you might be setting yourself up for big trouble there. Nat has enough attitude of her own without picking anything up from our dear sister."

Ford chuckled. "You might have a point, but there's not a thing I could do about it."

"True. Anyway, I should get going. I just wanted to come by before I leave. Wanted to see you happy – it suits you."

"Thanks, Cash. It wouldn't be possible without you."

His brother shook his head. "Nah, I may have meddled a bit, but it's all thanks to you guys." He gave Ford's shoulder a shake. "Anyway, I've got to run. Love you, brother. See ya later."

"Love you, too."

Ford stood there watching as Cash made the rounds, saying goodbye to everyone before he left.

Tanner came to stand beside him. "It's good to see you guys getting along so well."

"It is," Ford agreed.

After Cash climbed into his Suburban, Ford turned to Tanner and said, "Listen, I feel bad that with everything that's been going on, I haven't had Ashton over for dinner."

Tanner laughed. "Don't worry about it. He's worked his way around you."

"What do you mean?"

Tanner jerked his chin toward where Amelia was talking to Everly and Harper. "Since Ash wasn't getting his way by asking me to ask you, he asked Hunter to ask Amelia."

Ford had to laugh. "That kid..."

Tanner looked more serious as he said, "I hope he's not going to be a bad influence on Hunter. Hunter seems quieter, less … outgoing."

"I don't think it'll be a problem," said Ford. "You're right, Hunter's a different kind of kid. But he's his own person."

"Will you do me a favor and come and reassure Everly about that then? She's feeling bad."

When they reached the girls, Ford went to Amelia and wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her temple. "You doing okay?" he asked.

She nodded happily. "I'm enjoying this. Oh, and I've invited Ashton over and volunteered you for making spaghetti."

Everly let out a short laugh. "The truth is that Ashton invited himself over. Sorry about that."

"I'm not," said Ford. "It'll be fun."

"Maybe so," said Everly, "but I don't think Nat will thank me for it."

Harper smiled. "Well, if she doesn't want to hang out with the little guys, I'd be happy to entertain her for an evening." She chuckled. "Since she’s deemed that I’m not a ‘cow person’, she might go for that."

"Thanks," said Amelia. "I think she might. She seems to have taken a shine to you."

Harper smiled. "It's mutual. She reminds me of myself when I was her age."

Ford raised his eyebrows, and Harper nodded. "I might be a glamorous lady from New York City these days, but you might be shocked if you knew my roots."

Amelia smiled. "You should come over and hang out with us sometime. I'd enjoy that."

"So would I. Thanks," said Harper. "For now, though, I should get going. I only came to drop Tanya off." She smiled at them. "Nat has my number. I'll let you guys decide how you want to play it." With that, she turned and walked away.

Tanner gave Ford a puzzled smile. "Do you know what the deal with her is? I thought that she and Emmett were... you know. But Emmett just pulled up." He pointed to Emmett's truck. "And Harper hightailed it out of here like her ass was on fire."

Ford shrugged. "No idea what's going on, but I thought she was avoiding him at the bakery when we were all in there, too. Maybe she's changed her mind about him."

"Oh, I hope not," said Everly. "I thought they'd be good together."

Ford shrugged. He had no clue, and it really wasn't any of their business. He watched Emmett greet the family as he made his way over to them.

"Thanks for letting Tanya come and hang out with you," Emmett said.

"You know she's welcome anytime," said Ford. "And so are you. It's not a case of letting her hang out. You're both welcome, and Alana, too, to any of these Sunday lunches."

Emmett nodded. "Thanks." He looked over to where Tanya was sitting with Laney and Nat atop the fence. He chuckled. "Looks like we might all be in trouble if Laney starts training them."

"Training them?" Amelia asked. "What do you mean?"

Ford didn't get it either, but his heart sank when Emmett said, "Laney and Frankie were both barrel racing when they were Tanya and Nat's age."

Tanner laughed out loud and slapped Ford's shoulder as he said, "And this is just one of the many reasons why I'm so glad that Ash is a boy."