Page 67 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

As soon as Amelia settled into Ford's spot on the sofa, Hunter climbed on beside her and snuggled up. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

"Hi, little man. We should probably pack you off upstairs for a shower soon." The kid smelled like wood smoke and ranch. Not that it was an unpleasant smell. Amelia had already gotten used to it. She'd come to love it. She smiled when it hit her that she'd come to associate the smell with home.

Hunter rested his chin on her shoulder and looked up into her eyes, and her heart overflowed. It was easy to see that he was beat, but he'd had such a good day. He seemed to have cemented his friendships with both Ashton and Mateo. And Amelia liked that all three boys included little Maya, too.

"I'll go up soon. I just wanted to sit with you. Today was a good day, wasn't it?"

Amelia touched the ring on her finger. "It was a fabulous day."

Hunter sighed happily. "I hope you and Ford get married soon. And then you can adopt us."

"I don't know how fast we'll be able to make it all happen, but we'll get there," she assured him.

Nat came wandering in, and when she saw them, she came to flop down on Amelia's other side.

"Did you have a good day?" Amelia asked.

Nat nodded. "I did. Thanks. Everyone was nice."

Amelia wished that she didn't say it as if she'd expected them all to be mean, but it was a start.

Nat reached for Amelia's hand and ran her finger over the blue sapphire.

Then she smiled. "When he said it was a Montana sapphire, I thought that was cool.

But what he said about the land..." She nodded. "That's really cool."

Amelia had to agree with her. Ford was right that she wasn't a flashy diamonds kind of girl, but the Montana sapphire meant the world to her – especially once he explained it.

"Where is he, anyway?" Nat asked. "I'm going to go up soon." She held up her phone. "I want to go through all the photos from this morning and figure out the best ones for you."

"Thank you," said Amelia. "I want to go through the ones that Sierra took of the four of us together this afternoon. I want to get some printed and put them up around here."

Nat smiled at her. "When you do, can I have one? For my room."

Amelia swallowed as she nodded.

"I want one, too," said Hunter.

"We'll go through them all together," Amelia told them. "Decide what we want to print and where we want to put them." She checked her watch. "And as for where Ford is, he had to go down to the bunkhouse for something or other. He said he'd try not to be too long, but maybe..."

"And he wasn't too long," Ford said as he came through the door from the kitchen. "Sorry it took me a while, but I'm here now."

All three of them smiled at him.

"So, did we have a good day?" he asked.

They nodded. "We were just talking about that," said Amelia. "I think it was a success all around."

"What did you enjoy about it?" Ford asked Hunter.

The kid gave it serious consideration before saying, "I can't decide what I enjoyed the most. But all of it. I had fun with Ashton, and Mateo, and Maya. She's cool, too. And everyone was nice to me. And... oh, I got a grandpa, too."

He said it so casually that Amelia wondered if she'd misheard. She looked at Ford, but from the way he was smiling, he seemed to understand. When she glanced at Nat, she was relieved to see that she was smiling, too.

"He means Jim," she explained. "I really like him."

"What did he say?" Ford asked.

"I was telling him that I never had a grandpa," said Hunter. "And he said he's never had grandkids."

"So, they decided between them," said Nat, "that since pretty much everyone has just made up their families around here, they could decide to be grandpa and grandson if they wanted to."

Amelia studied her, trying to figure out if she was okay with it. Nat turned to her with a smile. "Don't worry. I'm good with it. He even asked me if I minded. I told him I don't – and that I've never had a grandpa before either."

Ford had come to join them and sat on the corner of the coffee table facing them. "So, you both got a grandpa, huh?"

Nat nodded happily. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"Mind? I love it," he said.

When he met Amelia's gaze, she nodded. "I do, too. I really like Jim. He's a good man."

"He is," Ford agreed. "And what about you, Nat? What did you enjoy about today?"

She wrinkled her nose as she thought about it. "I'd have to say pretty much everything. Of course, this morning was the best part."

Hunter nodded rapidly. "Yeah, of course. I didn't mean that part wasn't. I just..."

"It's okay," Nat told him. "I know what you meant. We all do, right?"

They nodded.

"But apart from this morning?" Ford asked.

She laughed. "I like Laney. She's cool."

Ford rolled his eyes. "She is cool," he said.

"I thought you'd be happy," said Nat. "If anyone's going to convince me that being a cowgirl is cool, it'll be her. She says cowgirl means the same as badass."

Amelia laughed at the look on Ford's face as he put his head in his hands. When he looked up, his eyes twinkled as he told her, "You might be laughing now, but you don't know the trouble we're in for if she follows in Laney's footsteps."

Nat just shrugged happily. "I don't follow in anyone's footsteps. You should know that by now. I make my own trail."

"Yeah, I know that, kiddo," said Ford. "I'm only playing with you."

Nat smiled as she started to push up from the sofa. "Well, I think I'm going to go and take my shower."

"Hang on a minute," said Ford. "There's something I didn't get around to doing this morning."

He’d brought the three boxes out when he gave Amelia the ring, but then the day had moved on and he hadn't gotten around to the other big thing that he wanted to do.

Hunter grinned at him and went running over to where he'd left the boxes next to the fireplace. "Is it these?" he asked as he came back with them. He looked a little disappointed as he said, "They're not very heavy."

Ford chuckled. "They don't need to be heavy."

Nat leaned forward. "Why? What's in them?" she asked.

"You have to wait and see, but hang on a minute." He went back to the kitchen and grabbed his hat from the hook by the door. "I got you guys something. Here you go." He handed the smallest box to Hunter. "There's no point in me trying to explain. You'll see when you open it."

Hunter opened the box carefully and his little face lit up as he took out a hat. It was a black cowboy hat – a mini version of Ford's own. Hunter stuck it on his head and grinned. "Thanks, Uncle Ford. Ashton said you got him his hat and it's just like yours. I..."

When the kid looked up at him with big, sad eyes, Ford scooped him up and hugged him to his chest. "You think I wouldn't get one for you?" he asked. "You're my boy."

Hunter wrapped his arms around his neck and clung to him for a moment before whispering, "Thanks, Uncle Ford."

Ford opened the next box himself and set the new hat on his own head. "I've needed a new one for a while," he said.

Amelia and Nat were both watching him curiously. He chuckled. "Are you wondering who the last one's for?" he asked.

Nat made a face. "It's okay. It's for Amelia. I mean, why would he get me one when I said so much crap about cow people?"

Ford handed her the box and said, "Because I hoped you might come around eventually, that's why."

She grinned as she pulled the hat out of the box and set it on her head. "Is this how you wear them?" she asked.

"It looks fine to me," he told her, "but you might want to check in with Laney. There may be some badass way that I don't know about."

She rolled her eyes at him before turning to Amelia. "Do you like it?"

Then she looked at the three empty boxes before turning back to glare at Ford. "You didn't get Amelia one?" she asked incredulously.

He shook his head with a smile and met Amelia's gaze. "I think you know why, don't you, Lil’ Bit?"

She nodded. "I think so."

"Why?" Nat demanded.

Ford reached for his own hat and leaned forward to place it on top of Amelia's head. "That's why," he said. "Because Amelia’s not the kind of woman to wear a cowboy hat. Not until I claimed her with mine."

"Aww," Nat turned to Amelia. "He's kind of sweet, really, isn't he?"

Ford made a face as Amelia laughed and said, "He is – unbelievably sweet and considerate."

When she smiled at him, Ford grinned and touched the brim of his hat as he said, “Why, thank you ma’am.”

"Oh, wow. You're going to have to teach me how to do that," said Hunter, touching the brim of his own hat.

Nat laughed. "All the guys around here do that. It's kind of cool, don't you think, Amelia?"

Amelia nodded and met Ford's gaze. "I think it's more than cool. I like it – a lot." The way she ran her tongue over her bottom lip told him loud and clear that when she said more than cool, she meant sexy.

He checked his watch. "Are you guys headed up for your showers?" he asked. "Should we all call it an early night?"

Hunter yawned. "Yeah. I want to go to bed."

Nat reached for her phone. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Come on, Hunter."

Ford felt bad when it struck him that she knew exactly why he was trying to hurry everyone off to bed.

After they'd gone, he held his hand out to Amelia, and when she took it, he hauled her to her feet. "Do you need to do anything before we go up?" he asked.

"No, I think I'm good."

"I know you're good," he told her with a chuckle. "You're the best – the best thing that's ever happened to me." He curled one arm around her shoulders and hooked the other behind her legs as he scooped her up. "You want to go to bed?" he asked.

"I do," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Take me away, cattleman."

When he reached their room, he closed the door behind them with his heel and sat down on their bed with her on his lap. "Did you enjoy today?" he asked.

She nodded. "I enjoyed everything about it.

You were right this morning when you said it was going to be an unforgettable day.

" She held her hand up to show off the ring.

"I'll remember this day forever. Yes, because of the ring, but also.

.. just everything about it. The way the family welcomed the kids.

" She smiled. "You giving them their hats – and me mine.

But most of all, just knowing that through the middle of it all, there's you and me. I love you, Ford."

He closed his eyes as a rush of happiness filled his chest. "I love you, Lil’ Bit.

You've changed my world, and I couldn't be happier.

You know, when you left after that first time you were here with Sierra, I told myself that I should just forget about you.

Especially when you started working with Cash. "

She cupped his cheek in her hand. "I'm glad you didn't. I never forgot about you. I just didn't know..."

"No, I didn't either." He smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips. "But now we both know. We didn't forget because this..." He waved his fingers between the two of them. "You and me. What we share. It’s a once in a lifetime. It's unforgettable."

She leaned in to kiss him, and he rolled them over as he reached for the buckle on his jeans. "I love you, Lil’ Bit."

She chuckled as she pulled her top over her head. "I love you, too. Now show me."

When they were both naked, he held her close to his chest and a rush of emotion clogged his throat.

"Are you okay?" she asked, running her fingers through his beard.

"I've never been better. I just … I never knew my life could be this good."

And it was true. Not so long ago, he'd been content. His life was good; he was happy to take care of the ranch and look out for his siblings and their families. Now, with Amelia and the kids, he knew what happiness really was;

I hope you enjoyed Ford and Amelia’s story. It’s become one of my favourites – I didn’t want it to end. But we’ll be seeing more of them and the kids as the series continues.