Page 141 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

Amelia's hand came up to cover her mouth in an attempt to keep in the sob. Ford's eyes were shining as he made a face at her, making her laugh.

"Show her the ring, Uncle Ford. Show her what it says," said Hunter.

"Oh, yeah, right." Ford held the ring up, and Amelia's breath caught in her chest. "Oh, it's beautiful," she exclaimed.

"Isn't it? But look inside," said Hunter. "There's a special message for you in there. I helped with it."

Nat chuckled as she wrapped her arm around her brother's shoulder. "Let him show her, Hunter."

Ford got to his feet and held the ring up close for Amelia to see, running his finger around the inside of the band.

run(mainProgram: Lil Bit)

"Oh, my goodness, Ford!" she exclaimed.

He leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. "I need you to know that you're not some subroutine. Not to me."

"Not to us," added Hunter.

"You're the reason we're all together and that we're a family now," said Nat.

Amelia swept away the tears from under her eyes. "I love it. It's perfect. Thank you."

Ford slid the ring onto her finger, and she held her hand up to admire it. "I love the engraving, and I love the ring, too. It's beautiful. What is it?"

"It's a Montana sapphire." Ford looked a little bit concerned. "I didn't have you down as a flashy diamond kind of girl."

"That's because you know me," she told him. "This is absolutely beautiful. I love it. Thank you."

He nodded. "To me, it's special because it's of this land, and I hope that someday you'll feel that you're of this land, too."

She reached up to kiss him, and when he curled his fingers around the back of her neck and took the kiss deeper, she melted against him as the rest of the world faded away. She soon came back with a jolt when Nat called, "Okay, you guys, you can save that for later."

She and Ford broke apart, laughing.

"There's one more thing I want to say," said Ford. "You know how I said you might have to change your username? Since you're not a subroutine anymore, you're the main program."

She nodded, wondering where he was going.

He met her gaze and held it, and she could see the hesitation in his eyes. "I don't know if you'd want to..." He looked over at the kids. "This is a question for you guys, too, since I don't want you to be rootless anymore."

"I should have talked to you all about this before now, and you should all say no if you don't want to do it. But... when we get married and when we get the adoption thing sorted out, do you guys all want to be MacFarlands? When I talked about changing your name, that's what I meant."

Amelia hugged him. "I do. I like that."

She looked over at the kids, not knowing how they'd feel.

Hunter nodded eagerly. "Mateo and Ash already told me that being a MacFarland is a good thing to be around here. I want to be one." He looked up at Nat. "Don't you?"

Amelia held her breath, agreeing with Ford that it was probably a discussion they should have had before putting her on the spot like this.

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..."