“You will obey. Understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“And you will love us, too.”
“Always.”
* * * *
Amber sat in the booth at Blue’s Diner with her three men. Emmett sat next to her and Cody and Bryant sat across from them. She still couldn’t believe what they’d done for her, for her boys. But right in front of her on the table surrounded by four cups, three black coffees and her hot tea with cream and sugar, were architectural plans for a dormitory.
“This is amazing. You guys are serious about this?” she asked.
“We are,” Bryant said.
“Hell yeah, we’re serious,” Cody added.
Emmett squeezed her hand. “We’ve got an appointment with Phoebe Blue today to update our wills and to get the paperwork started on donating a hundred acres to the new boys’ ranch.”
When she’d told them about all the boys at the orphanage and that they’d likely be shuffled like a deck of cards away from each other into foster homes, shelters, and other facilities, her guys had taken the reins and put this whole thing together in nothing flat.
Cody smiled. “Will you miss Chicago, baby?”
She shook her head. “My sister is here now. Juan, too, and soon all my other boys. I get to work as a counselor again, helping children. One trip back to my apartment to get my things and to end my lease should be all I need.”
“How about we head up there next week?” Cody said, clearly eager to settle her into their houses—the one in town, which was a lovely ranch style on Big Elm Street behind the Dream Hotel, and their cabin on the ranch in the mountains, which she loved more than any other place in the world.
Two elderly, nice-looking gentlemen walked up to the booth.
The one with the white hair, red flannel shirt, and pipe spoke first. “How are you boys doing?”
“Just fine, Patrick,” Emmett answered. “You and Sam haven’t met Amber yet, have you?”
“No we haven’t.” He extended his hand to her.
“Nice to meet you two.” She took Patrick’s hand, and before she could stop him, he lifted the back of her hand up to his lips.
“And you.”
“Forgive my brother, miss. He’s a bit touched.” The bald man with the white beard twirled a finger near the side of his head in the universal sign of crazy. “I’m Sam O’Leary. I thought Jason said your name is Kathy White.”
“Legally it is. I’ve decided from now on to be called by the name these cowboys gave me when they found me—Amber.”
“Nice to meet you, Amber.” Sam held out his hand as Patrick had done.
“Likewise, Mr. O’Leary.” She offered her hand to him, and like his brother, he also kissed the back of it.
Sawyer and Reed, the ranch hands and close friends of her guys, ran into the diner. The rugged mavericks wore their hair longer than most around Destiny, likely an outward sign of their inward rebellious natures. Sawyer had fierce green eyes, while Reed’s were blue and inviting. “You guys are going to the courthouse, aren’t you?”
“Of course they are,” Patrick said. “The whole town will be there to watch my wife—”
“Our wife,” Sam corrected.
“Our wonderful wife. She will be proceeding over the hearing.”
“Ethel is a great judge,” Bryant said.
“The greatest,” the elderly men said in unison.