Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Reaching for a more modern-looking photo from the mantelpiece, he thumbs a line of dust off the top edge as he admires it with affection.
“And this is Millie’s great-grandson, Bo, and his wife, Emily.”
I don’t know why, but there’s just something in the way he says it that makes me realize these aren’t just strangers to him somehow.
“Bo and Emily ran the ranch, building the main homestead you were in last night,” Mack explains.
And placing their portrait back with some reverence, he shocks me with how he fits in with all this.
“They used to take in wayward kids, fostering them sometimes, but mostly just having them out here for a few weeks to work the ranch and get some discipline as well as fresh air.”
He suddenly goes quiet. Instantly lost in his own history. In his own past.
“Were you one of those wayward teens?” I ask softly, a smile blooming on my face that makes me feel nostalgic for some reason when he nods.
“I was. And when Bo and Emily adopted me as their own, well…I didn’t just find a family I’d never had. I found a forever home too. Silver Fox Ranch.”
My throat itches, and I can feel a lump in it. Like I want to cry but in a good way.
“What happened?” I ask after a while, hoping it’s not the one question I should never ask.
But Mack’s quick to answer, proudly too.
“Oh, they passed a long time ago. Both of them well over a hundred,” he remarks casually, making me cringe internally.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I didn’t mean to….”
“It’s alright,” Mack assures me. “They had more life than there are years allowed, and they sure made the most of every minute of every day.”
We both fall silent again, even the chirping birds and swaying treetops outside seem to stop long enough to be noticeable.
The only sound is an antique clock ticking on the other side of the room.
“Sooo?” I finally ask. “You’re not really just the ranch hand at all, are you, Mack?”
My question breaks into his thoughts, and he gives a little smiling grunt with just a hint of irony in it.
“No. I own Silver Fox now,” he sighs. “Left to me by the only family I ever had.”
On one hand, it’s a shock, Mack acting so humble about everything. Only ever coming across as some random guy who just happens to work at the place.
But when I really think about it, he’d be the same. Whether he owned it, ran it all, or was just passing through.
He’s just that kind of a man.
Never one to big note himself, and I can see now that family means the world to him over things like property or money.
And by the looks, he has plenty of one and none of the other right now.
Loads of money and property, but no real family to share it with.
The idea makes me sad for some reason. But it still hasn’t clicked that Mack’s not just telling me this for fun.
“Old Mrs. Corbett is Emily’s cousin, but she has no real interest in running a ranch,” he adds with a fresh smile.
“She’s more interested in keeping everyone fed and the doorknobs shiny. She made a deal with her cousin that she could live out her days at Silver Fox, giving up any claim to the title as long as…,” he starts but breaks off.
Suddenly ending the story I was just getting interested in. And bringing himself back into the present, he suggests he shows me where everything is.
But I can’t leave it there. I need to know what he was about to say.
“Mack? What were you going to say?” I ask, pressing my hand against his arm.
He turns to face me, taking my face in his huge hand as he looks down at me.
“It was left to me, but only if I promised to keep it as it was, like it always will be. And also, that I marry and raise a family here. Just like all these folks before us,” he says.
I hear myself swallow hard at the word us. Feeling myself suddenly zapped into the faded sepia-toned pictures of Silver Fox Ranch.
Realizing just how serious Mack is about me.
About a future together.
Putting a baby in your belly….
His words ring in my mind again, making perfect sense.
Making me feel a little dizzy too, and I lean against him for support before he helps me to a chair.
Making me know for sure what I guess I really knew all along.
That Mack, just like his great, great relatives, has staked his claim, and the only ‘mine’ on his mind is me belonging to him, forever.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mack
“You did want to know the whole story,” I remind Tina, kneeling next to her and stroking her hair. Kind of kicking myself for telling her so soon about the promise I made to old Ma and Pa Macintyre.