Chapter Seventeen
“So I’ll meet you in Pueblo a week from today?” Holly asked Rusty on the other end of the phone line.
“Looking forward to it,” the other woman agreed.
“Great.” Holly hung up with a satisfied sigh.
After Solario had such a good showing, she’d debated what to do with both her horses, knowing that her job didn’t give her nearly enough time to ride them herself in competitions and races. She’d started asking around and had found Rusty, who had an excellent reputation as a barrel racing trainer and rider. A perfect fit for Mischief. Even better, Rusty was looking to break into the racing world with her training skills.
After talking, they’d decided Rusty would start working with Mischief immediately. Solario was a different story. Will was going to work with him and Holly together for the next few months until Rusty could come down and see him.
“Holly, can you come up to the front?” Jan’s voice sounded over the phone intercom.
Looking up from the report she’d been typing about a lame horse she was treating, Holly stretched. Writing reports was her least favorite part of the job. Necessary for records and future treatments, but mind-numbingly boring.
Reaching for the phone, she pushed the button for the intercom. “Be right there.”
Upon finding no one in the front office with their admin, Holly raised her eyebrows. “What’s up?”
“This was dropped off for you a few minutes ago.”
Holly frowned at the box sitting on Jan’s desk. She peeked over the edge to discover a tiny kitten, eyes not yet open, mewling inside.
“Oh, the poor baby,” she crooned. Reaching in, she picked up the tiny animal and cradled it to her chest. Newborn kittens needed constant warmth. “Who brought it in?”
Jan shrugged. “I came back from lunch to find it on the front doorstep.”
“No note?”
“Not that I saw.”
Holly reached back into the box and rooted around. Her fingers found a folded piece of paper underneath the blanket.
Unfolding it, she gasped then groaned.
The note said, “Dear Holly, The mama cat rejected this poor little guy. Probably the runt. Sophia insisted you can save it. Love, Cash.”
She didn’t know which part she was more flustered about. The kitten, Sophia’s faith in her, or the love part of the note.
“Well,” she said to the animal, who’d curled up in the palm of her hand, “I guess we’re stuck with each other.”
She headed to the back of the office and gathered some of the supplies she would need. A tiny bottle and some formula close to a mama cat’s milk. She then went into Luke’s office.
“Check out what I’ve inherited.”
Luke looked up from his computer and groaned. “You know how much time raising a kitten takes?”
She looked around them wide-eyed as if searching for something. “Who is the other vet in this office? Oh yeah. It’s me!”
He chuckled. “Have you ever raised one?”
“Nope, but I’m going to anyway.”
“Get one of the high school kids in 4-H to help. Otherwise, you won’t get any sleep.”
Holly shook her head. Something inside said she needed to do this. Mothering animals was something she could do. “Nah. I’ve got it.”
“All right. But I bet you’ll take me up on that offer after one night with it. It’s like having a newborn baby in the house.”
Holly laughed. “Probably.”
*
The next morning, Holly cracked a bleary eye and checked the clock on her bedside table. Eight in the morning, way late for her, but she felt as if it were much earlier.
With a groan, she levered up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Luke had been right. She’d been up half the night with the kitten, which had to be fed frequently and stimulated to relieve itself. A mother cat would do this by licking it. Holly used a warm, damp cloth. She’d set up a box with a heating pad for it to sleep in, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to use it, worried about overheating or underheating the tiny thing. So she’d slept with it curled up on her chest all night. That meant being very careful not to move or roll over, which meant deep sleep was impossible.
Exhaustion didn’t begin to cover what she was feeling.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Ugh,” Holly groaned. “Go away.”
She wasn’t fit for human interaction, but the knocking didn’t let up. Gently, she placed the kitten in the box before she stumbled her way to the door.
“Sophia?” she gasped when she opened it.
“Hi, Holly.” The adorable five-year-old grinned.
“Why are you here?”
“I want to see the kitten.”
Holly poked her head outside, but no one else was there. “Where’s your dad?”
“He dropped me off. He had to go to work.”
Irritation spiked. “Oh, really?”
“He said you had the day off and wouldn’t mind help with the kitten.”
“Aren’t you in school yet?” Wasn’t Kindergarten supposed to start soon?
“Nope.”
Holly shook her head in total consternation.
“Don’t you want me?”
Holly dropped to her knees and pulled Sophia in for a big hug. “Of course I do, sweetie. I’m surprised is all.”
Sophia hugged her back, her tiny arms wrapping around Holly’s neck. She smelled like strawberry shampoo and little girl.
Holly felt a tug somewhere in the region of her heart. “Let’s go see the kitten.”
Sophia grinned and followed her back into the bedroom. She dropped to her knees beside the box and peeked inside. “Isn’t he cute?” She looked back at Holly.
“Adorable.” Holly smiled. “And with that black and white coat, he’ll be mighty handsome when he gets big.”
“How long till his eyes open?”
“Sometime next week. About eight days or so. Where did you find him?”
“Daddy brought him home yesterday morning.”
“Oh? I thought one of your cats had him.”
Sophia shook her head.
“Maybe at your grandparents’?”
Sophia shrugged. “Dunno.”
Huh. Odd. A sneaking suspicion started to creep into Holly’s thoughts. She’d have a thing or two to be asking Sheriff Cash Hill when he came to get his daughter. Whenever that was going to be. He was damn lucky she had the day off today and no plans.
*
But it wasn’t Cash who came to get Sophia much later that afternoon. She and Sophia had had a blast all day. They’d taken turns holding the kitten and feeding it. Since the baby animal kept them inside, Holly decided they’d do some baking. Sophia had gotten covered in flour making sugar cookies, but she’d giggled and laughed through it all. Worth every ounce of the mess they left behind.
Somehow the day flew by until the doorbell rang. Holly left Sophia with the kitten and went to give Cash a piece of her mind but pulled up short when she found Evaline at the door.
“Hi, Holly,” the older woman greeted with a smile and a hug.
Holly returned both before saying, “I thought Cash would come get her.”
“No.”
Huh. Okay.
“Is he working late tonight or something?”
“I’m honestly not sure. He just asked me to pick her up.”
He hadn’t wanted to face Holly, more likely. Chicken.
“My, my, what’s been going on here?” Evaline asked in amused surprise as she followed Holly through the house to the kitchen.
“We made cookies!” Sophia enthused. “Look!” She ran over to show her grandmother the cookies cooling on the counter.
“These smell wonderful.”
“I’ll send you home with some for her,” Holly said.
Evaline smiled. “Now, let me see this kitten that’s causing such a fuss.” She leaned over Sophia and crooned over the tiny animal huddled in the girl’s hands.
“Do you know where Cash got it?” Holly asked.
“No.”
“So, it didn’t come from your ranch?”
Evaline bit her lip. “I got the impression Cash called around to see if anyone had any animals that needed help.”
“Oh, really? Why would he do that?”
Holly’s confusion must’ve shown in her face, because Evaline shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Cash.”
“I was going to when he came to pick up Sophia. Guess I’ll have to call him.”
Evaline nodded and gathered Sophia up to go. The girl didn’t want to leave the kitten but promised to come back and visit it again.
As soon as they were gone, Holly pulled out her cell phone and called Cash. She wasn’t too surprised to be put straight through to voice mail, though.
“I know what you’re up to, Sheriff, and it won’t work.” She hung up after leaving the cryptic message. He’d get the idea.
*
Two weeks later, Holly didn’t know up from down. Cash had managed to drop Sophia off at her house every day she had off without her ever seeing him. She knew what he was up to, giving her both a kitten to mother as well as the most precious little girl ever. At first, she’d been determined his ploy wouldn’t work, but the more time she spent with Sophia, the harder it was to watch her go home at night.
And now the kitten, who she’d been raising this entire time, was starting to get more independent. She felt a sense of pride and love toward the tiny animal who was exploring his world more each day. Only a few weeks and he’d be old enough to find a home for. Sophia had indicated she wanted him.
It would break Holly’s heart to part with the creature but, for Sophia, she could do that. If it made her happy.
At the moment, she was sitting at her desk in the clinic, staring blankly at the computer screen. She’d known since the first day what Cash was doing. Trying to show her she could be a wonderful mother. And she’d tried to fight him every day, but still, Sophia had wormed her way into her heart more and more with each passing hour. Maybe…
But no.
She knew herself. She’d hold strong. Sophia started school in another week, and the kitten wouldn’t be with her much longer.
The phone on her desk rang, and she gratefully picked it up. Work had been slow the last week or so, and she needed something else to focus on. “Tribble Veterinary, Holly Jensen speaking.”
“Holly, Will here.”
“Hi. What can I do for you, Will?”
“I have a mare that’s having trouble with her foal. I could use your help.”
Strange. She knew Will’s breeding schedule pretty well and didn’t think any of his animals were due yet. “Which one?”
“Whippoorwill.”
“She’s early,” she commented, surprised.
“Yeah. That’s part of the trouble, I’m thinking.”
“Got it. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
“Thanks, Holly.”
*
As soon as she got the vet trailer hitched up, Holly was on her way to the Hill ranch. Forty-five minutes later, she pulled up next to the barn. She wasn’t too surprised when Will didn’t meet her there. He’d be in with his mare, so she headed into the barn.
“Will?”
Silence.
“Hello?”
Frowning, Holly started walking down the aisle. She peeked her head into each stall, searching for Will and the horse in trouble. Quickly, she walked the entire length of the barn but didn’t find them. Next, she poked her head into the arena, but it too was empty.
Giving up, Holly jogged up to the house and rang the doorbell.
“Come in!” Evaline called.
Even stranger. Not personally answering the door was an act of bad manners that Cash’s mom usually wouldn’t like. With a frown of concern, Holly let herself inside.
“It’s Holly,” she announced. “Will called. He needs help with a mare?”
Not getting an answer, she moved deeper into the house. As soon as she crossed the threshold to the family room, she skidded to a halt. Her heart slammed into her throat, blocking her airway. Not that it mattered. The two people standing there took every breath from her body anyway.
“Kris?” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Noel?”
Her brother and sister stood in the middle of the room. She barely recognized them, although they’d talked on the phone periodically and sent a few pictures. She hungrily drank in the sight of them.
Kris was…well, huge. Tall and muscled, clearly a warrior. There was a hardness in his face she knew came with his position as a Navy SEAL. She struggled to see the scrawny fourteen-year-old he’d been when she left for college. Noel looked the same but completely different. She’d grown up, lovely in a white sundress, her long dark hair, so like Holly’s, pulled back in a messy bun.
Still struggling with her shock, Holly hadn’t moved from where she stood in the doorway.
Noel grinned before she ran across the room and threw her arms around her. “Hey, big sis,” she whispered in her ear.
Kris followed and wrapped his big arms around both girls.
Tears stung the backs of Holly’s eyes. Pulling back but taking them both by the hand, reluctant to lose the contact, she gaped at them. Stunned.
“What—” Holly cleared her dry throat. “What are you doing here?”
The two exchanged a glance, their smiles disappearing as they sobered.
“Cash told us what you’ve been thinking. That you abandoned us. That you don’t deserve a family,” Kris said.
“We’re here to tell you that’s a bunch of crap,” Noel tacked on.
The way she tipped her chin stubbornly reminded Holly suddenly of that mannerism when they’d been kids. She knew it meant Noel considered that statement to be an absolute fact.
Holly stared back, all the guilt filling her up again. “I left you.”
“You were eighteen. Few people are ready to be a parent at eighteen,” Noel assured her with a squeeze of her hand.
“Plus you made sure our foster parents took good care of us,” Kris reminded her. “I remember you dropping by to check on them without warning all the time that first year.”
Huh. She had done that—she’d almost forgotten. The Grants, who’d taken her siblings in, had seemed like nice, decent people.
Noel gave her arm a little shake. “And I’d say we turned out pretty okay.”
“Not because of me.” Holly shook her head.
“Entirely because of you. You made sure we were safe, had a home and had good people who cared for us. Now I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense about your abandoning us.”
“We never see each other,” Holly pointed out.
The two exchanged another look, this one a guilty grimace.
“Not because we’re angry with you or don’t want to,” Noel said.
“No?”
Both brother and sister shook their heads.
“We all got busy. That’s all our fault for not sticking together better,” Noel said.
“But that ends as of now,” Kris followed. “Social media means we can keep up with each other day to day, and we’ll have a family reunion at least once a year, if not more often. Our schedules and how far apart we all live will make it tough, but we’ll figure it out.”
A lightness filled Holly in a way she hadn’t felt since before Grams died. She bowed her head, thanking God and Cash for bringing her family back together.
She wrapped her arms around Kris and Noel. “I’d really like that.” She smiled.
Kris pulled back, giving her a serious look. “No more crazy talk about having abandoned us or not getting a family of your own, got it?”
Holly laughed as she wiped away the wetness on her cheeks. “With proof like you two standing in front of me, how could I keep thinking that?”
He nodded brusquely, the military man apparently ready to do battle if she’d needed more convincing.
“You might want to tell Cash that,” Noel advised.
Holly’s pulse quickened. Cash. She needed to find him. Thank him.
“Where is he?” She craned to see out into the hallway.
“I think you’ll find him out in the barn.”
“The barn?” She gave her sister a confused frown. “I was just in there and didn’t see him.”
“That’s where he said he’d be waiting if you wanted to talk to him.”
“Oh?”
She was desperate to get to Cash, but she also didn’t want to leave her siblings so soon after reuniting.
Kris gave her a push. “We’ll still be here. Go talk to him.”
She moved to leave but stopped. “I love you guys.”
Twin grins beamed back at her.
“We love you too,” Noel said. “Now go.”
*
“What on earth is going on?” Cash heard Holly’s voice from below and his chest swelled. His heart felt as if it were doing a tap dance on his lungs as nerves took over. She had to be here now because he’d convinced her, but he couldn’t be sure.
If anything was going to do it, her brother and sister would, though. At least, he hoped so.
“Sheriff, there’d better be a good reason for this!”
Cash’s grin widened. There was a very good reason. “Up here.”
“You expect me to climb up there?”
He chuckled but refused to show his face. “I’m sure you can do it. It’ll be worth the effort. I promise.”
She huffed, but he could tell she didn’t mean it. Then he listened, heart in his throat, as she made her way up the ladder.
As soon as her head popped over the top of the floor, she gasped. She paused, took in the space in a daze, lit by the sparkle of the lights he’d strung throughout the hayloft. Bouquets of flowers in wild arrays of colors were tied to the beams, with swaths of some fluffy white material that his mother and sister had helped him with. The sweet smell of the hay mixed with the perfume of the flowers. Music softly played from hidden speakers—a specific song for her, “Give In To Me,” because that was what he needed her to do.
Holly spotted Cash and gasped again. He stood there in the same outfit he’d worn the night he’d first asked for a date, holding a bouquet of flowers identical to the one he’d brought that night. Was it only two weeks ago? That amount of time without her had felt interminable. The air seemed stuck in his lungs as he waited for her reaction.
When she didn’t keep coming, he grinned. “You planning to hang out on the ladder all night?”
She blinked then giggled, the sound going straight to his heart. Then she proceeded to climb the rest of the way up into the loft. What little breath was left in him whooshed out. She looked incredible. She was just in her jeans and the T-shirt she wore for vet work, but he hadn’t seen her in weeks. Everyone else in his family had, but not him. He’d missed the sight of her. Even the hot pink streak in her hair.
“You look gorgeous,” he choked.
She smiled, a sexy smile full of promise and laughter. “I look like I do every day.”
“And that’s gorgeous.”
Then, before he could lose his nerve, and because he couldn’t wait a second longer, he went down on one knee before her.
Holly gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Cash?” There was a tremble in her voice.
He’d worried this was way too much way too soon, but he knew exactly what he wanted—this woman in his life forever. Her showing up in the barn told him she’d opened her heart to the idea. He prayed he was right.
“Holly Jensen.” He needed the ring, but he was still holding the flowers. He searched around for a second, shrugged and put the bouquet on the floor. Then he pulled the box from his pocket and opened the lid to reveal a perfect diamond. On either side of the stone was a rainbow of other stones—to match his colorful woman.
Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t run away screaming, so he held on to his nerve and kept going.
“Holly Jensen,” he started over. “You’ve brought laughter back to my daughter and sunshine into my life. You’ve fitted into my family as if born to them. Most important, you’ve stolen my heart, and I pray you never ever give it back. Now I want to give you what you most deserve. A family. I beg you to make me the happiest man on this planet by agreeing to be my wife.”
She didn’t say anything for a second, seemingly overcome.
Cash smiled and stood, moving to stand in front of her. “Holly. I know it’s fast and you’re probably overwhelmed, but I love you with everything in me. Please, darlin’. Marry me?”
He was glad he’d stood because she threw herself at him so hard he stumbled back a bit before wrapping his arms around her. He managed to hold on to the ring.
“Is that a yes?” he whispered into her hair.
She pulled back and nodded her head, laughing and crying at the same time. “Yes!” she cried.
Cash stepped back and carefully pulled the ring from its box. Then he slid it on the trembling hand she’d lifted for him. His heart swelled with pride and pure happiness to see his ring on her finger. He brought her hand to his lips and laid a reverent kiss on the ring. Then he pulled her into his tight embrace.
“You must be a witch doctor, because you’ve definitely put a spell on me. I’ll love you for the rest of my life, Holly.”
“And I’ll love you for the rest of mine, Cash.”
The End