A Forever Love (Wanted 5)

I faced Emma and smiled. When she grinned back up at me, I knew what I was about to do was the right thing. I leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek before facing Dr. Birk and David.

“Dr. Birk, I know you don’t think I can provide a good future for your daughter since I gave up on school and all, but I promise you, I work my butt off every day on this ranch. My father built one of the best cattle ranches in the area, and I intend on making it even better. I want to give your daughter the world. I want to take her places where she’s only dreamed of going. My goals in life are simple, sir. Work hard, build an even better name for this ranch, and wake up every day and thank God for what he has given me. The most important goal though is to love Emma more than life itself, to shower her with attention, and to do my best to keep her safe, healthy, and happy.”

I saw the corner of Dr. Birk’s mouth turn up, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. When I glanced over at David, he nodded his head once at me.

Dr. Birk looked down at the ground and then back up at me. “Son, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say all of that. It’s important to have goals in life. Simple or not, they are our driving force to better ourselves. I have goals of my own as does Mr. Bauer over here.”

David nodded his head and placed his h

ands in his pockets.

“Now, I’m not saying I’m okay with my daughter coming home one day and saying she is dropping out of college. I think it is very important for her to get an education, and the same goes for you.”

I wanted to say something, but he held up his hand. “Garrett, I know what it took for you to walk away from your scholarship, and I know why you did it. I commend you for being the man you’ve become. But…you want something that is mine, and there is no way I’m going to give her up without some negotiations.”

My heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure everyone could hear it. “Negotiations?” I asked.

Now, it was David’s turn to talk. “Garrett, you know your father and I were best friends since we were ten years old. I respected him more than anything.”

I nodded my head. “Yes, sir.”

He cleared his throat and continued, “This past year has been hard on all of us, especially you and your mother. I’ve tried my best to be there for both of you, and…well, something has been happening over the last few months.”

I already knew where David was going with this. I’d seen him and my mother together. I’d noticed how he was the only other person besides me who could make her smile. For the last two months, whenever David had walked into a room, my mother would light up.

I nodded my head and smiled. “I’ve seen y’all together, David. I see how happy you’ve been making her.”

Relief spread across David’s face. He smiled and then looked away before quickly looking back at me. “Yes, your mother makes me very happy as well, Garrett. I’m happier than I’ve been in years. We’ve been talking the last few weeks, and with Billy going to college and planning on moving to Austin, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my own ranch. It’s much smaller than the Mathews’ ranch. Your father and I had actually talked about him buying me out.”

I tilted my head. “Buy you out? You mean, he was going to take over your ranch?” I looked at Emma.

“Yes, the deal was that I would sell but remain on as a ranch hand to help your father until you were out of school and could begin taking over full-time.”

My head was spinning. That would make our ranch one of the biggest cattle ranches in Mason County. I smiled at the possibilities that could bring to our ranch.

David let out a chuckle. “Garrett, I can see your mind already working. Yes, that would make the Mathews’ ranch the biggest cattle ranch in the area.”

Dr. Birk smiled. “Garrett, I have a proposition for you. Right now, you don’t have the monetary means to buy out Mr. Bauer, but I do. We talked this morning with your mother, and we’ve all come up with a plan.”

Emma reached for my hand and stood up next to me. “Daddy, what kind of plan?”

“Now, I want you both to just listen to me before you say anything.”

Emma and I both nodded our heads. I didn’t even realize that I had been holding my breath until I slowly let it out as I waited for Emma’s dad to tell us his plan.

“I will help with buying out Mr. Bauer’s ranch, and in exchange for buying him out with cash, Mr. Bauer will come on as the ranch hand for the Mathews’ cattle ranch. He will be in charge of running the ranch daily while you and Emma are attending school at the University of Texas.”

Emma and I both said at the same time, “What?”

Dr. Birk took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Garrett, I’ve never thought that you were not capable of taking care of my daughter. I knew you didn’t get into Texas A&M just on a football scholarship. I’ve seen your grades, and I know you were third in your class in high school. Son, I want to see you succeed to the best of your ability. It’s very clear to me that my daughter is in love with you. I want the best for her, and I want the best for you. I want to see the two of you fulfill your dreams, but I firmly believe you both need to have college educations—not only for you but for my grandchildren.”

Emma sucked in a deep breath and said, “Daddy—”

Dr. Birk held up his hand and shook his head. “My grandchildren that y’all will be giving me after you graduate from college.”

I quickly said a prayer that Emma wouldn’t get pregnant because of my stupid mistake last night, but if she did, we would deal with it. Right now, I was just trying to take everything in.

“Dr. Birk, I don’t…I mean, I can’t afford to go to school. All the income coming in goes right back into the ranch.”