When they separated, Cole rested his forehead against hers.
“You did that.”
Sarah smiled.
“I noticed.”
“I was trying to be respectable.”
“You were doing badly.”
“I own a ranch.”
“That does not make you respectable.”
He laughed.
She had never loved the sound more.
They told the children carefully.
Sarah did not know what she expected.
Shock perhaps.
Concern.
Jack stared at them.
“Finally.”
Sarah blinked.
“What?”
Ben laughed.
Emma and Ella giggled.
Grace smiled.
Jacob looked confused.
Lily climbed onto Cole’s lap.
“You gonna marry Mama?”
Cole nearly inhaled his coffee.
Sarah covered her face.
“Lily.”
“What?”
Cole looked at Sarah.
She looked at him.
“No pressure,” Martha said from the stove.
Everyone laughed.
Except Cole.
He was thinking.
Two weeks later, he took Sarah to the hill above Blackwood Ridge.
Wild grass had begun emerging through the thawed ground.
From there, she could see the entire ranch.
The house.
Barns.
River.
Pines.
Children playing near the corrals.
Cole removed his hat.
Sarah immediately knew.
“You look terrified.”
“I am.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Why good?”
“Means you understand the situation.”
Cole reached into his coat.
He did not produce a diamond.
Those were rare and absurdly expensive.
Instead, he held a simple gold ring.
Rebecca’s?
Sarah’s face changed.
Cole understood.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“This isn’t Rebecca’s.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I know.”
“I bought this in Deadwood.”
Sarah breathed again.
Cole continued.
“I loved Rebecca.”
“I know.”
“I love Anna.”
“I know.”
“That part of my life doesn’t stop.”
Sarah nodded.
“And I know Daniel doesn’t stop either.”
Her eyes filled.
Cole stepped closer.
“But I spent nine years thinking loving people was just agreeing to eventually lose them.”
He glanced toward the children.
“Then eight strangers invaded my house.”
Sarah smiled.
“Seven children and one very difficult woman.”
“Exactly.”
He took her hand.
“You filled every room I had spent years keeping empty.”
Sarah began crying.
Cole continued.
“Jack argues with my ranch hands.”
“Ben steals my horses.”
“He borrows them.”
“Without asking.”
“Continue.”
“The twins have taken over Martha’s sewing room.”
“Martha encourages it.”
“Jacob may eventually destroy the entire property.”
“That is possible.”
“Grace puts books everywhere.”
“She likes reading.”
“And Lily follows me into places no four-year-old belongs.”
Sarah smiled.
“You love it.”
Cole looked toward Lily.
“Yes.”
Then back at Sarah.
“I love all of it.”
His voice lowered.
“I love them.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
Cole’s eyes met hers.
“And I love you.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I don’t want to take Daniel’s place.”
“You couldn’t.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want them calling me father unless someday they choose it.”
Sarah nodded.
“I don’t want you staying because you’re grateful.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I want you because you make this place feel alive again.”
He held out the ring.
“Sarah Dawson, will you marry me?”
She laughed through tears.
“You forgot one thing.”
Cole looked panicked.
“What?”
“You’re supposed to kneel.”
He stared at her.
“On this ground?”
“Yes.”
“It’s mud.”
“Then perhaps love requires sacrifice.”
Cole muttered something under his breath.
Then lowered one knee into the mud.
Sarah laughed harder.
He looked up.
“Happy?”
“Very.”
“Will you marry me?”
Sarah touched his face.
“Yes.”
A scream came from behind them.
They turned.
All seven children were hiding badly behind a wagon.
Emma and Ella jumped.
Ben cheered.
Jacob shouted:
“She said yes!”
Jack shoved him.
“We heard.”
Lily ran toward Cole.
He barely stood before she crashed into him.
“You marrying Mama?”
“Yes.”
“Then you gotta marry us too.”
The adults became quiet.
Cole crouched.
“What does that mean?”
Lily wrapped her arms around his neck.
“All of us.”
Cole’s eyes closed.
When he opened them, Sarah saw tears.
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“All of you.”
They married in June.
Dry Creek attended.
Some came because they loved Sarah.
Some because they respected Cole.
Some simply wanted to see whether the famously cold rancher could survive a wedding involving seven children.
Barely.
Sarah wore deep ivory because pure white reminded her too much of snow.
Emma and Ella carried wildflowers.
Grace held the ring until Lily took it from her.
Jacob lost one shoe.
Ben found it.
Jack stood beside Sarah.
Before they walked toward Cole, Jack whispered:
“Pa would like him.”
Sarah nearly broke.
“You think?”
Jack nodded.
“He doesn’t try to be Pa.”
Sarah kissed her son’s forehead.
“No.”
“That’s why.”
Cole waited beneath the cottonwoods.
When Sarah approached, the expression on his face made the entire noisy gathering disappear for her.
They exchanged vows.
Not promises to forget.
Promises to continue.
When the preacher asked Cole whether he accepted Sarah, laughter came from the children before he finished.
Cole looked at all seven.
“Apparently.”
Sarah punched his arm.
Everyone laughed.
Then he kissed her.
Blackwood Ridge changed permanently.
The western sitting room reopened.
The piano was tuned.
Emma learned first.
Then Grace.
Anna’s nursery remained untouched for another year.
Cole eventually opened it himself.
Sarah stood beside him.
A small wooden horse rested on a shelf.
Old dresses remained in a chest.
A faded drawing hung on the wall.
Cole cried.
Sarah did not try to stop him.
They packed some items carefully.
Others remained.
Lily received the wooden horse.
“Was this Anna’s?”
“Yes.”
“Can I play with it?”
Cole hesitated.
Then smiled.
“She would have liked that.”
The locked room became a bedroom again.
Not because Anna had been erased.
Because memories no longer needed an empty room to remain real.
Years passed.
Jack grew tall.
At eighteen, he left for agricultural college before returning to help manage Blackwood Ridge.
Ben became one of the finest horse trainers in the territory.
Emma and Ella eventually opened a dressmaking shop in Dry Creek.
Jacob somehow survived childhood despite every fence, roof, horse, creek, and ladder attempting to stop him.