“Hi, Daring Drake!” a familiar little voice said as footsteps bounded. “I’m back to see you! How are you? How’s life?”
Amanda’s heart quickened as she rounded the “Adoptable Animals” barn at Happy Hearts Animal Sanctuary, expecting to see Robby Dalton any second since that was definitely his voice she’d heard. And yup, there he was, in an orange T-shirt and khaki shorts, standing pressed against the wooden fence where the dear old cows were grazing in their pasture.
Amanda braced herself to come face-to-face with Holt, but she looked around and didn’t see him anywhere. An entire week had gone by since she had seen him, the night he’d broken her heart all over again. Harder this time.
“Robby, wait up,” a tall man with dark blond hair and a Stetson called. When he turned, Amanda saw it was Morgan Dalton, Holt’s older brother—and the eldest of the five Daltons. Morgan noticed her coming his way and smiled. “Oh hey, Amanda. Nice to see you again.”
At the sound of her name, Robby turned around, his mouth wide open. “Amanda!” He charged for her, wrapping his arms around her. The force of him almost knocked her over, but boy, it felt good to see him. She hugged him right back.
Amanda laughed. “Hi, Robby. And hello, Morgan. Nice to see you again too.”
“Yay, Amanda’s here!” Robby said.
“Robby, did you know that Daphne, who owns Happy Hearts Animal Sanctuary, officially named your very favorite cow in the pasture Daring Drake? It was as an extra thank you for adopting Bentley and Oliver and taking such great care of them.”
“Really?” Robby said, beaming. “That’s so awesome! If I ever meet the real Daring Drake, I’ll tell him.”
Daphne came out of the barn, and Morgan turned to Amanda. “Would you mind hanging with Robby for a couple minutes while I talk some business with Daphne?”
“Sure,” Amanda said. It’ll break my heart to spend any time with Robby, but I sure am glad to. Wasn’t that the way? She and Daphne had had their meeting about a new outreach campaign Amanda had in mind for Happy Hearts, and Amanda had been about to leave. If the meeting had ended just a few minutes earlier, she might have missed seeing Robby at all. Fate and circumstances.
Robby walked back over to the fence and stared at Daring Drake. His whole expression had changed. From very happy to very sad. “I’ve been trying real hard to be better, but I guess I did something else wrong. I don’t know what, though.” He wiped under his eyes, and Amanda could see more tears welling.
“What do you mean, Robby?” Amanda asked, her heart going out to the boy.
“I musta done something to make you go away, Amanda,” Robby said, looking up at her. “My mom left and now you left.” Tears slipped down his cheeks. “Daddy said it wasn’t my fault that my mom left and never visits. I believe that. But I know I musta done something to make you mad at me. I don’t really even remember my mom but I remember you.”
Oh, Robby, she thought, kneeling in front of him, her heart pinching in her chest. “Honey, you didn’t do anything to make me mad at you. I promise, Robby. The reason I haven’t been coming by is because your daddy and I had a dumb argument about me and him.”
Robby brightened. “Really? Most fights are dumb. That’s what my gram says.”
“Your gram is right.” Amanda gave a firm nod.
“So you don’t like my dad anymore?” Robby asked. “If you two just talked and said sorry, you could be friends again like me and Ethan are.”
Robby was so sweet and adorable and earnest that despite the ache in her heart, she smiled. “I do like your daddy. Very much.”
“Then just tell him, Amanda. Just say sorry and he’ll say sorry. And then you can come over for grilled cheese. Daddy makes the best grilled cheese.” He pushed his brown bangs off his face and looked at her so expectantly.
“It’s true, he does,” Morgan said with a gentle smile. Amanda glanced up; she hadn’t realized Holt’s brother had returned. He held Amanda’s gaze for a second, and by the compassion she saw in his eyes, she knew Morgan was letting her know he’d heard most of that conversation.
“And you know what, guys?” Morgan continued, “I agree that Amanda should come over and talk to your dad. Holt Dalton can be very stubborn.”
Morgan was definitely trying to tell her something. But she’d said her piece to Holt. And he’d let her walk out of his house and life. All these days, not a word.
He was stubborn, sure. But she had her pride. Clearly Holt hadn’t changed his mind or he would have come to see her.
“Oh yeah,” Robby said, laughing. “Daddy sure is!”
Morgan grinned and ruffled his nephew’s mop of hair. “Well, we’d better get going,” he said, tipping his hat at Amanda.
“Bye, Amanda,” Robby said, wrapping his arms around her again. “I love you.”
Omigosh. He’d never said that before. Her heart was pure mush now. “I love you too, sweetheart.” Oh boy, do I, she thought, watching them leave until the last bit of Robby’s orange T-shirt was gone from view.
She sighed and turned to Daring Drake. “Should I go talk to Holt?” she asked the cow. “Even though the ball was left in his court?”
Daring Drake gave a little snort.
She smiled. “Was that a yes?”
I love you, Amanda... She heard Robby say it over and over in her mind. It was both very easy and very difficult to earn a child’s love. It wasn’t something she took lightly or for granted. She’d become special to Robby, and that meant something to him and to her.
And she loved him back. And his stubborn dad too.
Therefore, it had to be worth one more shot.
Maybe not today, though, she thought, unsure about this. She wanted Holt to come to her. He should come to her. That he hadn’t meant he wasn’t just being stubborn—he was sticking to his guns.
What to do, Daring Drake? What to do?
The day after Edward Thompson had walked off with Neal Dalton to have coffee at the main house at Dalton’s Grange, ranch hand Brody Colter came grinning his way toward Holt in the big barn.
“You will never believe this,” Brody said. “But Piper’s dad gave us his blessing!”
Holt smiled. He wasn’t the least bit surprised—now. “I’m very glad to hear that, Brody.”
“He invited me over for dinner yesterday, and the four of us—me, Piper, and her parents—sat and talked. Even though we’re both so young, her parents are okay that we got engaged. And like we talked about, I’m going to join the army and Piper will go to college, and once she graduates, we’ll get married. Piper’s mom said she was very excited to plan the wedding.” Brody shook his head, a big smile on his face. “Can you believe this? I’ll tell ya, man, just when you think people can’t change, wham—they go ahead and change. And everyone’s lives affected by them are better for it.”
Holt stared at Brody, those words echoing in his head. Just when you think people can’t change... How true was that? He thought of his father. But then he thought of himself. Holt the Unchanging.
“Mr. Thompson said he had some sense talked into him,” Brody added. “If that was you, thank you. I owe you—big time.”
Neal Dalton’s face and trademark Stetson flashed into his mind, his father’s words of wisdom turning Edward Thompson around. “Actually, you owe my dad. He did the heavy lifting.”
“I’ll thank him.” Brody grinned. “Now I know just what people mean when say they can’t wait to begin the rest of their lives. That’s how I feel.”
A delivery truck pulled up, and Brody put on his work gloves. Holt had to go check on Goldie, so he shook Brody’s hand, wished him and Piper well and told him to call if he ever needed anything. Holt wouldn’t be surprised to hear from Brody over the next bunch of years; life had a way of interfering even with the most well-thought-out plans and the fiercest of love, but he also had a very strong feeling that Brody Colter and Piper Thompson would be together forever.
As Holt entered the small barn and peered into Goldie’s pen, the sweet black-and-white goat was standing up and munching on fresh hay. She was definitely out of the woods. He gave her a once-over, making a mental note to ask the vet to stop by for a final check, his thoughts drifting back to all Robby had said when the two of them had sat outside Goldilocks’s pen two days straight, nursing the goat back to health.
I like to be happy.
Uncle Morgan said you can’t make other people do what you want, but you can make yourself do what you want...
And then Amanda and her beautiful face came to mind.
I’d lost my ability to believe in love but my feelings for you and for Robby renewed it. I’m glad I believe—even if it means hurting this bad. Because at least I feel. At least I try.
That was what he needed to teach his son.
Or learn from his son. Robby was a lot wiser than Holt in a lot of ways and seemed to know all about trying already. You had to try. Last night, during dinner, Robby had told Holt about him and his uncle Morgan running into Amanda at Happy Hearts.
Where it had all begun again.
He smiled as he recalled Robby’s words as they’d eaten their grilled steaks and baked potatoes. You say sorry and Amanda will say sorry and you’ll be friends again.
All around Holt, people were trying and believing, struggling and flailing, but putting themselves out there. From Amanda to Robby to Brody and Edward Thompson to Neal Dalton.
You couldn’t stop trying. You couldn’t give up on the most fundamental, most important thing in life: love.
Holt wasn’t going to just instill that in Robby; he was going to model it.
He jogged the half mile back to his cabin, going to his bedroom and pulling something out from the bottom drawer of his dresser—something he’d kept hidden away for ten years.
He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
When Holt arrived at Amanda’s building in downtown Bronco Heights, a couple was leaving so he’d gone straight in without buzzing to let her know he was here. He didn’t even know if she’d be home.
He was about to knock on her door when it opened and she took a step out, then froze, surprise lighting her beautiful face. She was dressed in exactly the outfit she’d been wearing when he ran into her at Happy Hearts. The yellow dress and short white blazer. Her dark hair was in a low ponytail.
“Holt? This is so crazy. I was just on my way to Dalton’s Grange to see you.”
“You were?” he asked.
She nodded. “I had something to say but since you’re unexpectedly here, I’d rather you went first.” She opened the door wide. “My roommate is at work, so this is good timing.”
He came in, barely glancing around at the condo. He couldn’t take his eyes off Amanda and wanted to tell her everything without taking a breath.
“You were wearing that outfit when we met at Happy Hearts after ten long years,” he said.
She smiled and nodded. “I thought it meant the outfit is lucky.”
He stared at her, hoping he understood her right. If she’d been on her way to see him and had put on her lucky outfit, the very one she wore when they ran into each other, then it wasn’t too late. He could still make his comeback. Their comeback.
“I came over to show you something,” he said. “And to ask you something.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little pink box and opened it. “Toward the end of camp a decade ago, I bought this for you. With the money I earned that summer. I had to give half to the state to pay my fine, but the other half went toward this.”
She gasped, staring at the tiny diamond, just a chip, really, on a thin gold band. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I had no idea.”
“I bought it back when I was still pretending to be something I wasn’t. Or thought that’s what I was doing. It took me until very recently to realize that was me that summer. The twenty-two-year-old who bought you this ring loved you, and that was all he needed to know. Then the doubts crept in and overtook him. I’m not letting that happen again.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you, Amanda. Then and now. But I love you so much. If you’ll agree to give me that second chance again, I’d like to spend the rest of my life proving to you how much you mean to me, how much I want you to be my wife and Robby’s mother.”
Tears welled in Amanda’s eyes. “You can definitely have that second second chance.”
He put his arms around her and she wrapped hers around his neck. “Robby is going to be one happy little boy.”
“We’re going to be one happy little family,” he said.
“Little? There’s Bentley and Oliver and Poindexter, so that makes six, plus I figure we might have a kid or two in the future.”
He held her tight. “I love you, Amanda Jenkins.”
“I love you, Holt Dalton. And by the way, I love that ring. I love the pink box. I love that you bought it when you believed. It symbolizes a big piece of us, Holt.”
She held out her left hand and he slipped the little ring with the barely visible diamond on her finger.
“One more thing,” he said. “I made a stop before I got here.” He reached into his other pocket and withdrew a black velvet box. When he opened it, Amanda gasped.
“Oh Holt, that is too gorgeous.”
He got down on one knee, holding the box, the beautiful emerald-cut 1.5 carat diamond sparkling. “Amanda Jenkins, will you make me the happiest guy alive by marrying me and becoming my wife?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes!” she shouted.
He grinned and stood and slid the gold ring with the much bigger diamond right behind the little one.
She laughed and held up her hand. “Not many women can say they have two engagement rings from the same guy, bought ten years apart.”
He looked at the rings on her finger, the two together symbolizing the past and present.
“Meow, me-owwww.”
Holt glanced down to see Poindexter staring up at him. He picked up the big gray cat with the white paws. “Well, not many men can say they speak cat, but Poindexter was clearly saying he wanted to get in on the celebrating. I think you and Oliver and Bentley will make fast friends. What do you think, Poindexter?”
The cat stared at Holt with his amber eyes, but Holt didn’t get another meow. He laughed and scratched the cat on his back by his tail and got a rub against his face for it. “That’s a yes,” he added.
“Definitely,” Amanda said, her brown eyes misty. “Sorry, I’m just so overwhelmed with happiness right now I can barely form words.”
“Then let’s get to Dalton’s Grange and tell Robby his daddy’s getting married and that he’s about to get the mommy of his dreams. Robby is never at a loss for words.” Poindexter wriggled out of his arms and jumped onto the back of the sofa, then meowed loudly as if in agreement.
“I promise you right now, Holt, I will be a great mother to Robby. I’ll love him with all my heart—I do already. I’ll be there for him, no matter what, in good times and bad.”
“I know it,” Holt said. “And thank you. For completing our lives.”
“You might think this is nuts, Holt, but you know where I want to get married?”
He thought about that for a moment. “Wait. I think I do know. Is it somewhere that a cow named Daring Drake could wear a bowtie around her neck during the ceremony?”
Amanda grinned. “Exactly!”
“I think that’s perfect. Happy Hearts it is.”
With that settled, they headed out to Dalton’s Grange to tell Robby—their son—that he was going to be the best man at a wedding this fall.
Happy hearts, indeed.