Texas Free (The Tylers of Texas 5)

With Bull, she was more restrained. They had been enemies for a time, but friends in the end, and once again he had saved her life. “Take care of my land,” she said. “You can never tell when I might come back and want it.”

“My offer to buy it from you is still open,” Bull said. “Just let me know.”

She shook her head. “Tanner and I talked about it. We could use the money, but when the land’s gone, it’s gone. Not yet. Not without a very good reason.”

“We’ll leave it at that, then.” Bull shook her hand and Tanner’s. Then Tanner helped Rose into the truck. She waved good-bye and then lost sight of the little group. She was still wiping away tears as he drove down the lane toward the highway.

“Are you all right?” he asked her.

“Never better.”

“So, Mrs. McCade, are you ready for an adventurous new life?”

Laughing, she leaned across the seat and kissed him. “Bring it on!” she said.

EPILOGUE

Wyoming, three years later

ROSE LEANED FORWARD IN THE SADDLE, WIND SWEEPING THROUGH her hair as she galloped her buckskin horse across the meadow. The runaway yearling calf dodged and twisted, but the well-trained gelding cut off its escape and herded it back to the branding pen.

Tanner, astride his tall bay, gave her a thumbs-up as she galloped off after another animal. There was no need for Rose to help with the roundup, especially now that Clint and Ruth’s two older boys were old enough to do a man’s work on the family ranch. But she loved being out in the fresh mountain air, riding through grass that was almost tall enough to tickle her horse’s belly.

Behind her, pine-skirted mountains, still snowcapped in early summer, rose to the sky. A red-tailed hawk circled overhead and settled in the gnarled top of a dead lodgepole pine. A marmot whistled from its den in a clump of rocks.

Rose had fallen in love with this country the first time she’d seen it as a bride. She’d learned a great deal since then—how to rope a steer, how to make venison jerky with meat and brine, how to keep animals alive in a winter storm, and so much more.

She, a lifelong loner, had learned how to fit in with the big, noisy, close-knit McCade clan—when to step in, when to give advice, when to listen, when to lend a hand, and when to stand aside.

And she had learned how to be a mother. Rose and Tanner’s two-year-old daughter, Maria, was a handful, but she had cousins to keep an eye on her while her mother helped with the roundup. In the McCade Ranch family, everybody pitched in. And thanks to the extra help Rose and Tanner had brought, the ranch was finally beginning to prosper.

Sometimes Rose thought of her own lonely, miserable childhood. What a blessing that her children—and there would be at least one more—would grow up surrounded by love and family.

Now the sun was low in the sky. It was time to end the roundup for the day, to douse the branding fire, box up the tools and medicines, and ride the horses back to the barn.

Tanner rode up alongside her and slowed his bay. “Good job today,” he said, “but are you sure you should be riding with the baby and all?”

“The doctor said it shouldn’t be a problem this early,” Rose said. “Don’t worry. I’ll know when it’s time to hang up the saddle.”

They rode down the slope toward the big, sturdy barn. Tanner had built a beautiful three-bedroom log house on the far side of the ranch compound, close enough for easy access to the rest of the family but distant enough to afford some privacy. “I’ll put your horse away if you want to ride ahead. You can get Maria and take her home,” he said.

“Thanks,” Rose said. “I put a pot roast in the oven this morning. With luck, it should be nicely done and on the table by the time you get to the house.”

Nudging the buckskin to a trot, she headed downhill and left the horse at the hitching rail outside the barn. At Clint and Ruth’s house, she picked up Maria, a curly-headed cherub, and carried her back across the yard.

“Da-da?” Maria pointed toward the barn. She was a daddy’s girl from the get-go.

“Yes, he’s taking care of the horses.” Rose gave her a kiss. “You can help me fix supper. Okay?”

“Okay.” It was her new favorite word.

Carrying her child into the house, Rose looked forward to sharing supper with Tanner across the table and Maria in her high chair, then, after putting the little girl to bed, snuggling in front of the TV with her man while they wound down from the day. At last they would go to bed, make tender love if they weren’t too tired, and drift off in each other’s arms.

Sometimes Rose thought of her old dream—living a solitary and independent life on her little strip of land. That dream had long since faded into the past. This was her life now—a life of honest work, family, and love.

It was the best life of all.