Chapter Twenty-Four
The cold snap was over. A Chinook had blown in and wrapped Heart Falls with the illusion of springtime. Melting puddles were everywhere, dry grass poking up through holes in the snow, and the musty scent of changing seasons shoving memories at Caleb like a toppling haystack.
His parents had passed away in February, nearly eleven years ago now, and yet as he walked to where they were buried, he felt a little as if it were yesterday.
Didn’t matter all that had happened in the ensuing years—his marriage, his children, his brothers and sisters growing from youth to adulthood—it was as if none of that existed and he was still that headstrong yet innocent man who’d been tossed into responsibility so far over his head there’d been moments he’d found it hard to breathe.
Caleb slid off Lacey’s back, stepping to the plain headstones on the hillside, He knelt to clear away the dried remains of the flowers one of his siblings had left the last time they’d been there.
His family teased that he was a man of few words, but in this place it seemed he could speak and speak and never come to the end of it. Hell, sometimes he’d come out to the graveside and shout, torn and ripped up inside when he felt he’d failed in everything that he had to do.
Maybe it was easier because they never spoke back, and yet he knew as surely as if they were alive, his parents were still guiding him.
“I love her,” he admitted. “I think you’d have liked her. Tamara’s smart, and she’s funny, and the way she sees what needs to be done with Sasha and Emma makes me love her even more.”
He laughed, staring over the fields and mountain ranges. Big Sky Lake sparkled in the center where the water was still free-flowing, the wind stirring up the surface and sending darts of light toward him as if there were fireworks shooting into the sky.
“Pretty stupid, though, that I’m up here telling you instead of marching back into the house and telling her. Maybe I just needed a little practice,” he explained. “I remember you used to tell each other I love you all the time. Luke, Walker and me, we used to make all those rude noises when we caught you, but secretly, we thought it was pretty damn cool. I liked seeing it too. You didn’t just say the words, you showed it—”
And as if his parents had given him a pointed look, Caleb felt chastised as hard as if they’d spoken.
“Ah hell. You’re right. I hate to tell you both, but your oldest son is a bit of an idiot at times.” He got to his feet, slapping his gloves against his leg. “But he’s still learning. Hopefully that will be enough.”
It was time to stop procrastinating. He might be a fool, but he’d been watching closely over the last while, and his girls had to be at least halfway in love with Tamara by now. They’d have time to finish falling in love—
At the end of the road leading around the back of Little Sky Lake, a truck was parked, and a man was walking the hills. It wasn’t an area any of the Silver Stone crew needed to be, and Caleb was distracted enough to need to go and find out more.
It took a while to get down from the hillside. He returned Lacey to the barn then drove the back roads until he finally ended up pulling his truck in beside the stranger.
The man was coming down to meet him, heavy canvas bag looped over his shoulder, a set of binoculars in his hand.
“Can I help you with something?” Caleb asked.
The man held forward a hand. “Finn Marlette. You one of the hands here at Silver Stone?”
“Owner. Caleb Stone.”
The other man lit up. “Nice to meet you. I didn’t expect to see you until later.”
Caleb thought for a moment. Unless Ashton had forgotten to tell him something, there was some kind of mix-up. “Sorry, why are you here?”
“I’m doing some preliminary map work. We wouldn’t be able to get in and do any testing until the spring, but I was in the area, and I thought I may as well take a look.”
Nope. Caleb still didn’t have a clue. “What kind of testing?”
Finn’s tanned face crinkled in amusement. “Funny how often this happens. The owner’s always the last to know. Viability for oil production. It’s likely you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I know your closest neighbours don’t have wells, but you’ve got an intriguing—”
“You want to put an oil well on our land?”
Finn shook his head. “You want to lease out your rights so my company can put an oil well on your land, if there’s anything to produce. I’m the man who figures out if the investment is viable.”
While the idea of striking oil somewhere on the Silver Stone land had potential merit—he wasn’t ignorant, he knew what kind of money that might involve—but Caleb needed the conversation to rewind a whole hell of a lot. “I didn’t hire you.”
“No one hired me, at least not yet. I promised I’d do the preliminary checks as a favour to an old friend.”
The only person that Caleb knew even remotely tangled up with oil was Penny Talisman’s dad, but the idea of her coming up with something like this seemed way out of character. “Give me a name.”
“Karen Coleman.”
The warmth of the Chinook vanished in an instant, an icy cold blast cut through him. Karen, which meant Tamara. Which meant the woman had arranged for someone to come onto their land without informing him.
He didn’t trust himself to say anything to Finn at that moment, simply tipping his chin then offering a curt farewell. “Don’t set up anything else until I tell you.”
Caleb stewed the entire drive back to the ranch house, frustration and anger rising far hotter than he expected. When Tamara wasn’t in the house for him to ask what the hell was going on, it made him that much angrier.
“Anyone seen Tamara?” he demanded after marching into the barn.
Kelli and Walker looked up from where they were repairing a show saddle. “She went for a ride,” Kelli said.
“Which way she’d go?” Caleb was already moving to saddle his horse.
“Not sure, but most of the time she heads toward the falls.” Walker this time.
“How the hell do you know that?” Caleb demanded, his volume rising above anything he would normally use. “Why the hell does everybody else know what’s going on, and I’m the last to learn?”
He ignored the expressions of shock on their faces, just finished saddling his horse. He mounted and headed toward the falls while his temper to continue to boil.
He spotted her horse before anything else. Stormy wandered lazily as he pawed at the thinnest patches in the snow to get at the grass underneath.
Tamara reclined on the rocks where they’d first met, the black surface soaking up the sun’s heat and keeping the surface snow free. Caleb abandoned his horse and marched toward her.
He must’ve made a noise because she sat up from where she’d been relaxing, offering him a smile that faded the closer he got. “What’s wrong?”
“We raise horses, dammit. We run a damn community-supported agriculture program, and we’re stewards of the environment. I’m not against progress, but I expect to be asked before I let anyone climb all over Silver Stone who might simply rip her up and tear her part.”
Her expression went from concern to confusion. “Caleb. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That man wandering my land. Eyeing it to figure out where he can poke holes into the ground and suck it dry. You don’t think I can make enough money to care for my family? You don’t think I can make enough money to care for you?”
He turned away from her, dragging a hand through his hair, whirling back before she could get any words out. “Okay, maybe it’s a good idea to see if there’s oil on the land, but you didn’t ask. That’s not how we do things around here, and if you and I are going to be together, then you have got to not go around me.”
Her jaw was no longer hanging open. She’d closed her mouth and was eyeing him, head tilted to the side. Absolutely silent as she listened intently.
Which was good, because he was just building up a full head of steam. “This relationship is not going to be like the one I had with Wendy where we ignored each other then went and did whatever the hell we wanted. You and me, we’re going to talk about things, and together we’ll make the decisions. Together we’ll decide what’s right for our girls, and how to raise our future kids, the ones you and I will have. We’re going to argue, and fight, and talk it out until we make the best damn decision, and we’re going to do it all together. Do you hear me?”
She’d have to be deaf to not hear him, he was all but roaring by this point.
Tamara was still silent, but the corners of her mouth had curled up. The longer he shouted at her, the wider her grin became, and now he didn’t know if he wanted to kiss her or pick her up and shake her.
“What the hell is so goddamn funny?”
She stepped forward, placed a hand on top of his clenched fist then eased up on her tiptoes.
And kissed him.
Tamara wasn’t certain how he was going to react, but there was no way she could continue without being in his arms.
Caleb seemed to agree because he reached down and caught her, clutching her as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed. Soft and sweet moving to passionate and needy before slowing again until he put her feet back on the ground and they eased apart, foreheads pressed together as he stared into her eyes.
The specifics of what they were fighting about didn’t matter, she was just so damn happy he was fighting because it meant he’d changed.
When Wendy left, he’d shut down. Or, maybe it had even been before then he’d learned to walk away from any situation that was going to hurt or be an emotional challenge to him directly.
Now all his passion and fire had burst free, and she could work with that. He wasn’t holding back anymore, so they could finally, finally move on.
“You want to tell me again, from the start what’s got you all riled up? Please?” she asked as sweetly as she could.
He held her, bodies close. Speaking softer as if embarrassed by his earlier explosion. “There’s a man on my land who says Karen Coleman sent him to do an assessment for oil.”
A flash of anger rolled through Tamara. “Well, that’s annoying. Considering I didn’t ask her to. I asked her if she knew someone, I didn’t give her permission to start the ball rolling.” She cupped a hand against Caleb’s cheek, stroking her fingers over his ear. “I wanted to come to you with an idea, not an ultimatum.”
He looked horrified. “I shouted at you for no reason?”
She kissed him quickly, pulling back with a sincere smile. “Oh, I am so glad you shouted.”
He paused, then shook his head. “Nope. Now I’m back to having no idea what the hell is going on.”
He might not yet, but he would soon. And Tamara was beyond the point of no return. She was tired of waiting, and now that he’d crawled out from the shell he’d retreated into, she pretty much figured they could make up the rest of it as they went along. She wanted him.
No, she wanted it all. Him, the girls, more kids. “You know how I like to interfere?”
“You gave that up.”
“Yeah, bullshit on that.” She pulled a face. “The good thing is, since I’m so meddlesome and all, it means I can do this.” Tamara curled her hands around his neck, holding him trapped.
“You plan on throttling me?”
“Maybe. Not today, but maybe tomorrow. Or the day after that. Because, you know what you need, Caleb Stone? You need me. You need me in your life, causing you grief and making you crazy, and since I’m such a kind and giving person, I’m totally going to sacrifice myself and say yes.”
His lips twisted. “I don’t recall asking you any questions recently.”
“Other than how my hearing is?”
He actually flushed.
“Never mind that. Yes, I heard you, and now I’m on a different topic. Keep up,” she teased.
He cupped her chin in his hand. “I’ll try.”
“We’re both forward-thinking individuals. In fact, you’re going to get to brag a little in the future, Caleb Stone, because you know what?”
It was the craziest thing, but it was right. She dropped to one knee in front of him, holding his hand in hers.
He raised a brow, gentle smirk twisting his lips as his anger dissipated and his curiosity rose. “Forward thinking is good and fine, but you got any idea what the first thought that hits a man’s mind when a woman drops to her knees?”
She mock punched him in the gut before wrapping her fingers around his belt buckle. “Later. I’m being romantic. Hush.”
“Ahh. I’ll take notes.”
God, she loved his dry sense of humour. And his bossy demanding ways, and she loved everything about him and it was time he knew it.
“Caleb, you’re the second stubbornest ass I’ve ever met.” She made a face. “I see the most stubborn every time I look in the mirror.”
“Not going to argue.”
She’d get everything she wanted in the end, even if the route there was a little twisted. “I love you. I know you love me too, even though you’re not ready to say it. But I’m willing to wait until you realize you do, but in the meantime, you’re right. We’re going to be together, you and me. We’re going to be a family, because I love those little girls of yours with everything in me. Which is really convenient because I’m hellishly in love with their daddy as well.”
He was smiling now, face full of sunshine. All his frustration and anger gone. “Very convenient.”
She let all the emotion inside her shine out best she could. “You going to marry me, Caleb Stone?”
He sighed, long and heartfelt. Utter happiness in the tone. “Yeah.”
Tamara laughed. “I love you. Direct and to the point.”
“You want it done up fancier? Hell, yeah.” He hauled her to her feet and kissed the tip of her nose. “Better?”
“Perfect.”
He tucked his fingers underneath her chin and lifted her face so he could brush their lips together. A brief, gentle caress. Slowly growing in passion until she realized he was fiddling with the button of her jeans.
She caught his wrists in her hands. “Really?”
“I just got engaged. I think a celebration is an order.”
His logic was hard to debate, but there was another matter. “You carrying a condom?”
That pulled him up short for a moment, but then, to her utter shock, his face twisted into what could only be called a cheeky grin. “You know my little lecture earlier about talking everything out?”
Lecture. Okay, she’d go with that, but she snickered. “Yeah?”
“New topic for discussion.” He took a deep breath. “I kind of mentioned kids—and I don’t even know if you want any, other than the girls.”
Holy cow, the man went from not talking to hitting up huge issues in a few words. “You asking if I want to have your babies? Because the answer is yes.”
He closed the distance between them again, hand settling on her hips. “You mind maybe getting started on them sooner than later?”
Not at all how she expected her afternoon off to go. “Why not? I have a couple hours to kill.”
Caleb laughed, picking her up and bringing their lips together again. Tamara wrapped her legs around his hips and held on tight as he lowered them to the rock face.
The winter sun was barely strong enough to heat the skin he exposed, but the black rocks held lingering warmth. The Chinook wind caressed them with soft, heated fingers, and the sharp scent of grass and snow filled her senses as Caleb pulled off one of her boots and helped her out of a single leg of her jeans. He tugged himself free and brought her over him, quick, but perfect.
He touched her intimately, teasing and stroking as he kissed her, keeping her in the sunshine and protecting her from the hard surface under their knees until she was squirming with need.
Then he lowered her slowly, joining them. Raw and needy and nothing fancy, just them and the land. Silver Stone watching like a sentinel as they made love, the roar of the falls in her ears.
Or was that the pounding of her heart?
She rocked over him as he kissed her, tongue teasing, teeth nipping at her bottom lip. Kisses pressed over her face as he cupped her head and held on tight.
Held on as if he was never letting go.
The wind blowing past caressed them, warmth like the touch of a gentle lover, and as she came, Tamara looked into the eyes of the man she loved.
It didn’t matter that he hadn’t said it yet, not in words. He’d said it over and over again with his body, by his actions. And when he breathed out her name, Tamara kissed him fiercely.
The distant roar of the falls a blessing on their new beginning.