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Huh, this was new. He’s asking me for
permission for once.

“Sure, Dad. Yeah, that’s fine.”

He sat down next to me and didn’t say a word
for close to five minutes.

Finally, he let out a sigh. He leaned back
and smiled.

“Do you know where my favorite place in the
world used to be when I was growing up here?” he asked as he
looking over at me.

“I didn’t know you had a favorite place here.
You always made it seem like you hated it here,” I said turning
away from him.

He’d never said one good thing about the
ranch. He’d only talked about how much he hated it.

“I guess I deserved that one.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

My dad leaned forward, putting his arms on
his knees, as he let out a nervous laugh.

“When Garrett called to tell me you were
getting married…”

He paused, clearing his throat.

“I, um…I have to admit that it killed me when
it wasn’t you who called to tell us. I mean, I understood the
reasons why it wasn’t you, but the look of pain on your mother’s
face about gutted me because I knew it was my fault. I took
something that she loved very much away from her.”

I didn’t even know how to respond to him. My
dad had never opened up to me like this before. I just sat there,
stunned.

“Then, Dad told me where on the ranch you
would be getting married.” Shaking his head, he let out another
small laugh.

“Drew, I think it’s about time I told you the
truth about why I was such a damn hard ass on you your whole
life.”

“Dad, really, it’s alright. I don’t want you
to get yourself worked up when you’re here to relax.”

My dad smiled at me, leaning back into the
chair again.

“Ever since you were little, I could see you
were gonna be just like your grandfather, kind heart but
hard-as-hell shell. I remember taking you out to a spot here on the
ranch. I sat there with you as we watched the cattle. One of the
calves was hurt, and you begged me to do something to help her. You
couldn’t have been more than five years old. I told you that she’d
be fine. I said I’d let Gramps know, so he could make her better.
You looked up at me and smiled. I’ll never forget what you said to
me then.”

I tried so hard to remember what he was
telling me. Honestly, I couldn’t recall my dad ever being at the
ranch with me. Every time I came to visit, I remembered coming by
myself. Either I’d fly on a plane on my own and Gramps and Grams
would pick me up at the airport, or if we were stationed close by,
my parents would drop me off and then turn around and leave.

“What did I say, Dad?”

He turned to look at me with
tears in his eyes.
Motherfucker.

“You stood up and put your hands on your
hips. You told me flat-out, ‘I’m gonna grow up and be just like
Gramps. I’m gonna help all the cows, and I’m gonna be a rancher, a
really, really good rancher Daddy. I’m even gonna marry me a girl
right here on this very spot.’”

I let out a laugh. I remembered telling
Gramps millions of times that I was gonna be a better rancher than
he was. I stopped saying that when I was old enough for him to slap
me on the back side of my head while he told me that no one, except
for God, would ever be a better rancher than him.

“Something happened to me in that moment,
Drew. I panicked. When I was growing up, I had wanted nothing more
than to be just like my father. I wanted to walk in his footsteps
and to take over the ranch someday. Jim couldn’t have cared less
about the ranch. He’d always wanted the big fancy house in the
city. I’d wanted the country life. I’d wanted to marry me a girl in
the same exact spot you said you did when you were only five years
old.”

I was so confused that I had to shake my
head. “Wait…you always said how much you hated it here. If I ever
even talked about the ranch, you used to get pissed at me. I always
ended in a fight, and then you’d threaten me with military school.
If you wanted to run the ranch, why did you leave?”

My dad stood up, walked over to the edge of
the porch, and leaned against the post.

“Drew, I left because I was afraid. I was
afraid that I’d never be able to walk in the footprints of my own
father. I almost killed your grandfather once. During my senior
year of high school, I was helping him bring in the cattle for
vaccinations. Dad was yelling at me to do it a certain way, but I
thought my way was better. Long story short, his horse reared up,
and he fell off. He almost got trampled to death, and it was all my
fault. He never once said it, but I knew that it was. I was a
stubborn asshole who had to prove that I could do it better than
him.”

Holy shit.
I’d never heard this story before in my life. My
dad turned to look at me, and I could see the tears glistening in
his eyes.

“I knew at that very moment, I had to leave.
I’d only ever wanted to be a rancher, so college was out of the
question for me. I went into town the next day and joined the Army.
This was my easy out. So, that day, when you were five and you
declared your dream to me, I panicked again. I thought the only way
to keep you from making the same mistake as me was to keep you from
following that dream.”

He shook his head and walked over to me. He
slapped me on the back and then sat back down.

“The only thing is…you’re a Mathews. It’s in
your goddamn blood, just like it’s still in mine. When I sit here,
I smell the country air and hear the noises of this ranch, and it
takes every part of me not to go saddle up a damn horse and rope me
calf.” He laughed again.

“Dad…I don’t even know what to say. I’m
stunned. I never knew that the story of you and Gramps or how you
really felt about the ranch. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Oh shit, Drew. Someday when you and Ellie
have kids, you’ll see the stupid shit you do, thinking you’re doing
the right thing for them. I thought I was doing what was best for
you, but in my heart, I knew all along that I was keeping you from
your dream. I was just too full of pride to admit that I was
wrong.”

“All those years, Dad…they were just
wasted.”

He nodded his head. “When Garrett told me
where you were getting married… well, I think that was the
beginning of my heart attack,” He said with a gruff laugh.

“What?” I asked, completely confused.

He turned and looked at me, I saw a tear
rolling down his cheek.

“Drew, you got married under the same tree
that you and I had sat under when you were five. I was that same
tree where you’d declared to me you were gonna become a rancher and
then marry you a girl in that very spot.”

I felt a chill run up and
down my spine.
No fucking way.

“When I was growing up, I used to ride my
horse out to that big ol’ oak tree I’d just there for hours. It was
my place to think. I knew you also went there a lot when you were
growing up. Your Gramps told me plenty of times when he saw you
sitting under that tree.”

“Dad…I don’t even…” I couldn’t even finish my
thought.

He stood up.

“I’m so damn proud of you, son. I know that
I’ve never once led you to believe that I was proud of you, but I
truly am. You knew what you wanted. You knew what your dreams were,
and you went for it, even when your stubborn, stupid old man tried
to hold you back from it. And Ellie…you lucky son of a bitch…you
sure did take after me in that area. You sure as shit know how to
pick the right woman, son. I just had to look at the two of you to
know how perfect you are for each other. I’m sorry that I wasn’t
here for your wedding, but, if you’ll have me, I loved to be here
for you to help with the ranch and to someday….” As his voice
cracked, he paused to clear his throat.

“Someday, I’d like nothing more than to sit
under that same tree with my grandson and granddaughter say how
proud I am of their daddy and the man he has become.”

I stood up, and grabbed my father, and hugged
him. I had never in my life felt as complete as I did in this very
moment.

It almost felt like a huge weight had just
been lifted off my shoulders.

“Dad, please don’t ever push me away
again.”

“Never again, Gunner...never again.”

It wasn’t lost on me that my father just
called me Gunner.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

ELLIE

Grace and I started to head out to the front
porch. I had seen Jack come out here and knew Gunner was outside. I
wondered if they had a chance to talk yet.

I was following Grace out the screen door
when I slammed right into her. Before I knew it, her hand was
covering my mouth.

What the hell is she
doing?
I looked at her and then followed
her gaze. Gunner and Jack were standing there…hugging?!

Fuck a duck.

Oh. My. God.
My eyes grew bigger as I glanced back at Grace,
who was smiling at me. She motioned her head, silently tell me to
go back inside, so I slowly started to back up as she removed her
hand from my mouth.

“You don’t have to leave, Grace,” Jack said
with a laugh. We both stopped dead in our tracks as Grace smiled at
me.

As we walked out, I saw Gunner quickly wiping
his eyes. As soon as Grace went up to Jack, he picked her up and
kissed her so passionately that I had to look away. I looked over
at Gunner. He was watching his parents with the biggest smile on
his face. He reached out, grabbing me, as he pulled me to him.

He whispered into my ear, “Let’s go home, and
try to make a baby.”

Okay!

“Sounds like a wonderful idea.”

***

We said good night to everyone and made our
way back to the cabin. Gunner told me all about his talk with his
father, and my heart was overfilled with love and happiness. I’d
never seen Gunner so happy in my life.

When we got back to the cabin, he flew out of
the truck, running over to my side. I opened the door, he reached
in, picked me up and carried me into the cabin.

My heart was beating a mile a minute. I
wondered if we would always be this way, filled with so much
passion.

After we made our way over to the bed, Gunner
slowly put me back down on the ground. As he started to kiss me, I
reached up and ran my hands through his hair. He let out a moan
that I swore caused a flood in my panties.

He slowly walked me back to the bed. He never
broke our kiss, except to take off my T-shirt. As soon as it was
over my head, he captured my lips again and kissed me with so much
love that I felt like I was going to explode at any moment.

“Ellie, sweetheart, I’m going to make sweet
love to you now.”

Oh. My.
God
. My heart was beating like it was my
first time all over again.

He slowly unbutton my jean shorts and then
slid the zipper down. The moment his hand slipped inside my
panties, I let out a gasp.

“So ready for me, Ells. You’re always so
ready, baby.”

“Gunner…” I could hardly
think to even compose any words. I pushed my hips into his hand to
help ease the ache.
God, I want him so
much.

Then, he started to take off my shorts in
that oh-so-slow way of his. After my panties came off, I was left
standing there, wearing only my bra, while his hungry eyes traveled
up and down my body. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned
me around. The next thing I knew, my bra was off, and he was
kissing my neck.

My whole body started to shake.

“I love what my touch does to you,
Ellie.”

Oh god, me, too.

“Lie down, Ellie.”

I crawled onto the bed and
turned over to lay my back. Gunner slowly placed gentle kisses
starting on my feet and then moved his lips up my legs, to my
stomach to, my chest…
oh my
god.

By the time his sweet, soft lips landed on my
mine, I was about ready to beg him to be inside me. He slowly eased
himself into me, and with each kiss, he went just a little
farther.

After he was all the way inside me, he slowly
started to move while he continued to kiss me all over my face,
neck, and chest.

“Oh god, Gunner.”

“I know, baby. You feel so good.”

Before I knew it, I was having one of the
most intense orgasms of my life. I swore that it was never going to
end. I didn’t even remember moving, but the next thing I knew, I
was on top. I smiled down at the love on my life as he gave me that
crooked smile of his.

I loved him so much that it almost hurt.

As I started to move slowly his hands were on
my waist, gripping me harder, while he was trying his best to hold
off.

“Ellie, you’re so beautiful, sweetheart.”

“I love you, Drew, so much.”

Leaning up, he put his head on my chest as he
wrapped his arms around me. I’d never felt so secure in my
life.

I knew the moment I let go, he was going to
come with me. This was one of our most amazing moments together. It
was then that I knew this man would always make me feel so loved
and wanted.

I collapsed on top of him and tried my best
to catch my breath.

Gunner let out a laugh and pulled my body
closer to him.

“Sweetheart, you need to start running with
me.”

Sitting up, I laughed and
hit him on the chest.
Bastard!
I made a mental note to myself that when Gunner
went out for the morning feedings, I would start running. Maybe I
could see if Ari wanted to start hiking around the ranch more
often. I knew she missed the gym, and now, with her being pregnant,
she’d have to make sure she was getting exercise to stay
healthy.

I wondered if Gunner and I
just made a baby. I stopped taking my pills the moment he asked me
to.
Could it happen that fast? It did for
Ari, so why couldn’t it for us?