Welcoming her into the family, and making an old lady’s wish, as well as my own, come true.
That Silver Fox Ranch would live on, with a herd of my own and a woman at my side I’d also be glad to call my wife as well as my best friend.
EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
Tina
Mom was so wrapped up with Ben, still is. So, it was no real news when I called her and told her I was moving in with Mack.
Not in the end anyway. At first, she was a little shocked, but not totally surprised.
She could see for herself the change in me that day we came back from the cabin.
And once she found out Mack actually owns Silver Fox Ranch and isn’t just some ranch hand drifter type, mom changed her tune pretty damned quick about Mack.
Especially when she saw my ring for the first time, and I let it slip that the diamond was from the family mine.
A secret I made her swear to keep to herself.
Since then, it’s been the bum’s rush from mom for Mack to put a gold band on my finger.
Make it official.
And as much as I hate to have her boss me around, today hasn’t come quick enough.
I don’t think I could’ve sat through another wedding dress alteration without losing my mind.
Mack’s a big guy. Huge.
And from the size of me so far, I’m wondering if it’s just one giant baby he’s put in my belly or a ‘whole herd’ as he likes to call it.
But Doc Wilson, whose mare Mack helped to foal, assures me that there’s only one heartbeat, and without us wanting to know if it’s a boy or a girl just yet, he assured me there’s just the one.
“A big ‘un alright,” he agreed. “But just one healthy little baby growing in there,” the doc assured me.
And once Mack proved to me I wasn’t imagining it, that he really did put a baby in me our first time, he wasted no more time in joining forces with my mom to make our wedding day happen sooner rather than later.
And here I am, only three months to the day since our first night together. About to marry the man I love after everything worked out perfectly in the end.
Ben did propose to mom. But they’ve decided to hold off on their wedding until next year.
Mom’s idea, not Ben’s.
I think she likes the idea of the romance of an engagement, but they sure do make each other happy as a couple.
A not-so-gentle rap on the door tells me it’s time.
Looking at myself in the full-length mirror, I notice my smile.
Something I never knew could be almost permanent until I moved out here.
Until I met Mack.
His face appears around the doorframe. His eyes moving over me as he smiles wide.
Neither of us believes in it being ‘bad luck’ to see your bride before the wedding.
Kind of hard not to as we spend practically every second of the day and night together.
Plus, Mack and me make our own luck. We’re the luckiest people I know now that we’ve found each other.
“You look beautiful,” he croons. Moving closer to me and hugging me from behind. Admiring me in the mirror as I fold my hands over his arms across my not-so-little baby bump.
“You’re not so shabby yourself,” I say. Feeling a shiver when I see him in his perfectly tailored suit he’s had made just for today.
Knowing it’ll probably be the only time I see him in one too. Same for my dress.
Ranch life is just way easier in jeans and a shirt. Boots and not heels.
“Are we ready?” he asks us both, and I nod without hesitation.
“I know it’s soon, but I want to make sure they have a proper mom and dad before they even come into this world,” Mack reminds me.
Always apologizing in his own way if he thinks he’s rushing me or pressuring me. But the truth is I would’ve run away with him and married him our first night if he’d wanted.
He knows what’s best for me, and for his family….
“Wait. They?” I ask him. Rethinking what he’s just said.
“Sure. You do want lots a kids, right?” he asks, cocking a brow and shifting his head back. Making me giggle.
“You sure like trying to have me put ‘em in yer belly,” he challenges me, putting on a ridiculous country accent. Making himself sound like a toothless hick.
I tell him not to make me laugh or my makeup with smudge. But I also let him know I want as many kids as he wants.
“Then let’s go make it official, Mrs. Macintyre,” he says, a little emotion in his voice as he takes my hand, leading me downstairs where our rides are parked.
Ruby and Lucy have never looked prettier, or more behaved.
It was Mack’s idea to have Ruby as ‘best mare’ instead of a best man, and I couldn’t have Lucy missing out.