Page 221 of Ride the Sky

“Daddy,” Fallon says with a beam of a smile. Her limp’s barely noticeable as she rushes to him. She hooks an arm through his and helps him across the room.

“Drinks, a toast!” Dakota calls out.

“Yes,” everyone says in unison.

As I make my way across the kitchen, I dodge a dog and two shrieking kids. Meadow, wearing nothing but a tutu and pink cowboy boots, beelines for the cookies.

“How’d she get naked so quick?” Charlie wonders.

I pop a bottle of wine, open a bottle of whiskey.

Fallon starts doling out glasses and healthy pours of alcohol. “Let the good times roll,” she quips. “Just not for the two pregos.”

Reese sighs as she leans against Ford. He palms her belly, tucks her closer.

Charlie lifts his glass in a toast. Everyone follows suit. “Ten years tomorrow.”

“Ten years,” Ruby echoes, slipping a small hand over his.

Charlie’s blue eyes fall on his wife. I smirk as they go misty. If I thought he was a big softie after Ruby, nothing compares to after they had Meadow. But hell, I ain’t one to talk. Fallon and my daughter own me. Heart and soul.

Because of my wife, I’ve become a better husband, father, and brother.

“You saved me ten years ago, Sunflower,” Charlie says in a choked voice. Ruby sniffles and wipes her cheek. “And we saved this ranch.”

Davis lifts his whiskey glass. “We’ve checked off bucket lists, buried bodies, broken bones, and this ranch is still standing.”

“It’s seen a lot,” Dakota muses.

“It’ll see a hell of a lot more,” I say with a grin, pulling Fallon to my side. “We ain’t done.”

“No fuckin’ way,” Ford agrees, his palm cradling Reese’s belly.

I chuckle and look around my family. “We got old knees and bad backs, but we can still go on down to Nowhere and drink ourselves shitfaced.”

Fallon rests her head on my shoulder. “Wonder where we’ll be in ten more years.”

“More love,” Ruby says with eager eyes. “Flowers. Oh! And we’ll always have games.”

Davis groans and everyone laughs.

We all look over when, at the exact same time, Reese and Fallon both suck in a breath and hold their bellies.

The room tenses.

“Y’all alright?” Charlie gruffs.

Worry streaks across Ford’s face. “Christ. If they both go into labor…”

“Heartburn,” Reese and Fallon say in unison then giggle. Everyone unclenches.

“Just like Runaway Ranch, we keep goin’,” Charlie says, clearing the emotion from his deep voice. He reaches out, cupping his wife’s face. “We protect it, and we protect each other until the end of our goddamn days.”

I meet the eyes of my brothers, pride in their expressions. Pride for the life we’ve made. The life we’ve earned. The women we love.

It can’t get better than this.

“A-fuckin’-men,” Ford finishes, and we all clink glasses and drink.

---