Page 118 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

"Maybe you should give her a bit of a break," Wade suggested. "We can get all the kids together if you want, and Sierra and Amelia can go have some girl time."

"Thanks," said Ford. "I'll suggest that to her. She could do with it. But she feels like she has to be there with them the whole time, as though, if she just works hard enough, it'll all work itself out."

Tanner gave him a wry smile. "It doesn't work like that."

"I know," said Ford. "Amelia does, too, but she feels so damn guilty."

"It's not her fault," said Wade.

Ford let out a short laugh. "I know that, too. Thanks, guys. I appreciate you wanting to help, but it's just going to take time." He looked at Wade. "Maybe you should tell Sierra to give her a call and suggest that the two of them get out for a while."

Tanner smiled. "I'd suggest that you should do it the other way around."

"What do you mean?" Ford asked.

"It's just something that I've learned from Everly. If I say she should do something for herself, she won't, because she wants to take care of me and Ash. If I take him out of the way for a while, she has no choice but to do something for herself."

Wade grinned. "It's true. Sierra’s the same way. So how about I bring Mateo and Maya, and you grab Hunter and Nat, and we'll all go do something."

Ford pursed his lips. "It's a good idea, and if it were just Hunter, it'd be no problem. But I don't know how Nat will feel about being bundled along with a bunch of little kids."

"Well, until you said that, I was going to suggest that I can bring Ash, too." Tanner looked a little disappointed.

"Then you should. It'll do Hunter good to make friends with them. He's a bit reserved." He pursed his lips. "But that's even more little kids for Nat to deal with."

Wade raised his eyebrows. "You could ask Emmett if Tanya wants to come – she's the same age, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is. I've been thinking about getting them together, but Tanya's kind of... I don't know, easygoing. And Nat's... cynical, to say the least. And besides, at this rate, we're going to have a whole herd of kids. Where would we even take them?"

"We could hang out at the barn with them," Tanner suggested. "Get your two used to the horses."

Warmth bloomed in Ford's chest at the description of Hunter and Nat as his two. They weren't, but still... He shook his head slowly. "I think that might make things worse instead of better. Hunter and Nat aren't used to the ranch yet. They don't know the first thing about horses or anything else. I think it’d make them feel even more like outsiders."

"We could go over to Bozeman," Wade suggested. "Mateo and Maya love the Museum of the Rockies."

Ford could just imagine Nat's face if he suggested going to a museum with a bunch of little kids. He was glad he didn't have to explain that one, since Tanner said, "I'm going to have to veto that. Ash and museums don't go. That kid would probably knock over a dinosaur skeleton or break some thousand-year-old priceless piece of something or other."

Ford and Wade both laughed; Tanner had a point.

Ford wracked his brain.

"Go on," said Wade. "You're having an idea, I can tell."

Tanner chuckled. "It's either that or he's about to fart."

He reached out and slapped the back of Tanner's head. "I was thinking about the bakery. I know it's not exactly a big outing, but that wasn't the point, was it? It was just to get the kids out of the way so that Amelia and Sierra can hang out." He looked at Tanner. "Do you think Everly would go with them?"

Tanner nodded eagerly. "I think she'd love that. She's been wanting to come over and see you guys since the kids arrived. She feels bad that she wasn't the most welcoming toward Amelia at first, but that was only because she didn't know her motives toward you. Now that she knows that you guys are all in and you have kids to deal with, she wants to do whatever she can to help."

Ford turned back to Wade with a smile. "I'm not going to get in the middle of that one – it's totally outside my wheelhouse. But if you want to talk to Sierra about it, ask her if she wants to invite Everly along with them..." He shrugged. "They can figure that part out for themselves. What I was going to say is that I think the bakery could be a good idea. All the kids will be happy to get cookies or donuts or whatever. Nat might be a bit happier because it's not somewhere that's kid focused. And..." He hesitated, wondering if he should mention the main reason he'd thought of the bakery or if it was even a good idea.

Wade smiled at him. "And maybe she'll be open to having a chat with Rocket and Spider."

Ford nodded. "Exactly."

Tanner gave them a puzzled look. "Why..." he began. "Oh..."

Wade nodded. "When Mateo and Maya first arrived, they immediately took to Rocket and Spider."