“Eight—uh—nine months later you was born, Zach. Three months after that, Hawk’s Star foaled a fine colt with a star on his forehead.”
“And Mom named him Midnight Star,” Falcon piped up.
“Yessiree, that’s the one.” Charlie One Horse looked down at the little girl asleep in his arms. Zach lay sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace. Falcon sat cross-legged at Charlie’s feet. “And that’s the story of how your mom and dad met and fell in love.”
Zach rolled over to face his father and asked, “Is that how it really happened, Dad?”
Garth kissed Candy softly on the mouth and said, “Trust your uncle Charlie, boy. It happened just the way he said. I took one look at your Mom, and I knew she was the woman for me. Now it’s time for all of you to get to bed.”
“Do we hafta?” Falcon asked.
“You can barely keep your eyes open,” Candy chided. “Come on now.”
She herded the two boys ahead of her while Garth retrieved his daughter from Charlie’s lap.
“She’s sleepin’ like an angel,” Charlie said as he gave up his burden. The old man marveled at how tenderly Garth held the girl. He wanted to be a fly on the wall when the first beaus came calling on Callen Whitelaw.
Garth caught up with Candy and slipped his arm around her waist. Charlie heard them laughing together as they followed their sons up the stairs.
“Yep,” Charlie muttered to himself as he watched them disappear, “that sure is the way it happened, all right. And the wrangler and the rich girl lived happily ever after.”
* * * * *