“You don’t need to do that,” Lee said, glancing at Will for help. His brother only nodded, and Lee wondered if they’d practiced this too.

  “We can put the swing out on the back patio,” Daddy said. “We’ll be happy there, and we don’t need all the space in the farmhouse. You two will.”

  “Ford’s only with me on weekends still,” Lee said. “We don’t need the farmhouse for a while.”

  Daddy gave him a disgruntled look. “It’s decided, son. Mama’s already packing.”

  “Daddy.”

  “Do you not want the farmhouse?”

  “Of course I want it,” Lee said, not sure why this had turned into an argument. He curbed the frustration inside him. “Thank you, Daddy.” He turned and stepped into his father’s arms, glad he had his steady, strong influence in his life.

  When he stepped back, something niggled his mind. “I don’t have a back patio, Daddy. You’re thinkin’ of Will’s place.” He looked over to his brother again.

  This time Will grinned at him. “I’m gettin’ your cabin,” Will said. “It’s bigger than mine, and Gretchen and I can raise a lot of kids there if we decide to stay.”

  “Mama and Daddy are moving into Will’s cabin,” Trav said. “And mine will be built before the baby comes.”

  “So we’re all good,” Daddy said, and with all of them in agreement, they turned back to the house. All of them except for Lee. He went down the steps while they went inside.

  “Autumn,” he called, and the little girl lifted her head. Pink and purple sparkles caught the sunlight, and she launched herself out of the hammock when she saw him coming.

  “Mister Lee!” She ran toward him, and Lee laughed as he scooped her up and tossed her high into the air. She squealed and laughed, and Lee caught her and hugged her.

  “Come on, baby,” he said. “Your grandma and grandpa and Aunt Nat are here to see you.”

  Later that evening, Lee stood in Rose’s dark kitchen, kissing her. So much had changed in the past six or seven hours, and he’d never been happier for a shift in his life. “I should go,” he whispered just before pressing his lips to the feather-soft skin along her collarbone.

  She sat on the island counter, and he stood between her legs, his arms around her back, keeping her as close to him as he could get her.

  “You should,” she said, bringing his mouth back to hers. She didn’t kiss him like she wanted him to go but rather the opposite. Her parents had gone to their hotel an hour ago. His had left two before that, along with his siblings and his son. Her sister slept down the hall in Rose’s spare bedroom, which sat across from Autumn’s. Even Thumper had disappeared, leaving Lee and Rose completely alone.

  Lee had been with a woman before, and he wanted nothing more than to be with Rose, wake up beside her in the morning, and make sure her Sabbath was glorious and full of joy. She matched him stroke for stroke, but he knew it wasn’t an invitation for him to stay the night with her.

  “What are you doin’ tomorrow?” he asked, finally pulling away and getting control of himself.

  “I don’t know,” Rose said, pushing her hands through her hair. “Probably going to the beach. Nat loves the beach.” She smiled at him, the happiness in her eyes making him happy too. “Please come.”

  “Just tell me when,” he said.

  “You’d miss your family lunch?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Or you guys could come to it, and then we can go to the beach after that. Whoever wants to.”

  “Who’s cooking tomorrow?” she asked as if that would be the deciding factor.

  “Rissa,” he said. “She said anyone was invited.”

  Rose clasped her hands around the back of his neck. “You’re my hero, you know that?”

  “Hm, I thought I was just a surly cowboy.” He grinned at her, glad when she grinned back.

  “Not at all, Handsome.” She kissed him again, and Lee let her set the pace as he moved with her, enjoying every moment with the woman of his dreams.

  30

  Rosalie called her daughter’s name as she went down the hallway. “We have to get going,” she said. “Lee and Ford are going to be here any minute.” She entered the bedroom to find her daughter struggling with the fairy wings that would complete her costume. “I got ‘em, baby.”

  She dropped to her knees behind Autumn and helped her get her arm through the right loop to position the sparkly wings on her back just-so. “There.”

  Autumn turned, bumping Rosalie in the face with the pointed tip of one wing. “Oof.”

  “Sorry, Momma.” Autumn glowed with the joy that only Halloween brought to small girls who loved magical fairies and unicorns and glitter. She wore a leotard in bright pink and green, with more bedazzlement than Rosalie thought one garment could hold. Both Shay and Gretchen had helped Rosalie deck out the costume, and they’d all been there when Autumn had opened the package a couple of weeks ago at the farmhouse during one of their Sunday lunches.

  Out of everyone there, only Rosalie and Autumn didn’t belong to the Cooper family officially. She hoped Lee would rectify that soon, but so far, there had been no proposals and no mention of diamond rings.

  He’d shown up at her house about six weeks ago now, his guitar in his hand and everyone who mattered to her at his side. They all loved him too, so even if he could be distant sometimes, and proud others, and yes, surly, he was still everything in a man she’d always wanted.

  He let her pick the restaurants they went to, and he showed up with surprises for her and Autumn just to make them smile. He kissed her like he meant it sometimes, and other times, he let her dictate how fast or furious the kiss would be. He never let a day go by where he didn’t tell her he loved her, and that meant so much to Rosalie.

  The doorbell rang, and then Lee called, “It’s us, Rose.”

  Autumn hugged her tightly and she said, “Go show him and Ford what you are.” Her daughter skipped out of the bedroom, calling for Lee to come see her. He laughed with her while Rosalie got to her feet. She peered out of the doorway to watch their interaction, and her heart had never felt so full with the love she saw and experienced between Lee and Autumn.

  He would be her father figure, the man who’d raise her, and gratitude that her daughter would have someone like Lee in her life full-time overcame her.

  “You didn’t dress up,” Lee said, looking past Autumn to her.

  “No,” she said, stepping into the hallway fully. “I see you didn’t either.”

  “You’re lucky I’m here,” he said dryly. He didn’t say he disliked Halloween, though he had in the past. She knew he didn’t like it, but he’d agreed to come walk around the neighborhood with the kids.

  At the end of the hall, Ford stood in his wizard robes, and Rosalie smiled in his direction. “Let’s go get this done,” she said. “Then we can have hot ham sandwiches and caramel popcorn.”

  “That’s the only reason I came,” Lee said, bending to put Autumn down. She ran off toward Ford, and the two of them disappeared into the kitchen to get her treat bucket. “And to see you, of course.” He took Rosalie into his arms, breathed her in, and swayed with her right there in the hallway. “I saw those caramel apples in the kitchen too.”

  She giggled against his chest. “I bet you did.”

  “Are those for me, or…?”

  “You can have as many as you want,” Rosalie said. “Gretchen dropped them off earlier today, while I was at the office.”

  Lee looked down at her, something serious in his expression. “What?” she asked.

  “I’m glad you get along with Gretchen and Shayla,” he said. “Rissa too. Mama. Everyone.”

  “I am too,” she said. “Now, if someone would get his act together and ask me to marry him, I wouldn’t have to feel on the outskirts of the family for much longer.”

  His eyes danced with light. “Get his act together?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.” Rosalie backed up out of his arms and started to go past him. “We’ve talked about marriage, where we’ll live, all of that. I’m not sure what you’re waiting for.”

  “Rose.” He latched onto her hand, his fingers tight against hers. She turned back to him, surprise darting through her. “Kids. I want to talk about having more kids first.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is that something you want? I mean, I’ve got Ford, and you’ve got Autumn, and the four of us will be fine. I just…wondered.”

  Rosalie had fantasized about having a little boy or girl with Lee’s shiny, dark red hair. Maybe more like hers, with just a hint of fire in there. “Yes,” she said simply. “I’d have more children, Lee.” She reached up and tracked her fingers down the side of his face. “Your children.”

  He smiled softly into the palm of her hand. “All right, then.” He kissed her then, and Rosalie could only imagine what it would feel like to be his wife and the mother of his children.

  “Dad,” Ford said, and Lee ducked his head to break the kiss. “We can’t find Thumper.”

  “That rabbit,” Lee said under his breath. “I’m not so sure about him, Rose.” He strode away from her, barking questions at his son about the gate in the front door and where the kids had last seen Thumper.

  Rosalie stayed in the hallway, smiling to herself, because while Lee acted grumpy about the rabbit, she knew he wouldn’t get rid of him. The USS Thumper had been a gift to Autumn from her father, and Lee wouldn’t take that from her, even if James lived in California and he hardly ever saw his daughter.

  “Found ‘im!” Ford called a few seconds later, and Rosalie went down the hall to gaze upon the three people she couldn’t wait to live with.

  Another week passed where Rosalie’s left ring finger sat diamondless. Lee’s sister was only a few days away from her due date, and she pulled up to the little white cottage-style cabin out at Sweet Water Falls Farm. Chrissy Cooper was throwing a baby shower today, and Rosalie had brought a large gift from her, Nat, and her mother.

  “Ready?” she asked her sister, who rode in the passenger seat.

  “Can I carry the present?” Nat wore glee on her face, and Rosalie couldn’t tell her no.

  “Sure,” she said. “Let me know if it’s too heavy for you.” They’d gotten Rissa a set of bumper pads and bedding for the crib, though Rosalie had already been to this house and seen the nursery. It had been set up for a month, but she knew from personal experience that every new mother needed an extra set of everything. Sometimes two extra sets.

  “I’ve got my gift,” her mom said from the backseat. They all got out, and Nat collected the big box from the trunk while Rosalie and their mother waited. They started toward the cabin together, sounds of laughter and chatter coming through the open windows. The fields out here had been harvested and replanted with winter crops, and Rosalie couldn’t even imagine all of the scheduling and work that went into a farm of this size.

  She’d been in Lee’s office dozens of times now, as she came out to the farm almost every day after work to see him. He made the trip to town on the weekends to see her, and she’d really enjoyed the accelerated relationship over the past couple of months.

  At the door, she simply went in without bothering to knock. It seemed like everyone else had already arrived, even Cherry, who’d made the drive from San Antonio that morning. Lee’s older sister spotted Rosalie, and a smile brightened her face.

  “Hey, you,” Cherry said, coming toward her and embracing Rosalie. “Who’s got Autumn today?”

  “Lee,” Rosalie said, having dropped off her daughter with her boyfriend several minutes ago. “He’s taking the kids to the corn maze at the Forresters.”

  Something crossed Cherry’s face, but Rosalie held her tongue. Lee had speculated that Cherry and Jed Forrester had something going on between them, but when he’d asked, his sister had denied it. Watching her now, with her eyes flicking left and right, Rosalie was inclined to believe Lee.

  “Is it good?” she asked.

  “What?” Cherry blinked rapidly. “Is what good?”

  “The corn maze at the farm next door.” She shrugged as if she didn’t really care, because she really didn’t. “I’ve never been to it. Some are good and some aren’t.”

  “I have no idea,” Cherry said, plastering her smile back on her face. “I haven’t been to a corn maze in years.” She turned away from Rosalie, but not before Rosalie saw the hint of a lie in those deep, dark eyes. “Come get something to drink, Rosalie. Hey, Natasha.”

  Rosalie loved Cherry, because she didn’t treat Nat any different than anyone else. Some people did, and Rosalie didn’t like that. But not Cherry. Nat fell into step beside her, already talking about something Cherry probably didn’t care about. But the other woman laughed, and Rosalie stopped worrying about her sister fitting in with the Coopers.

  Her mother had gone straight to Chrissy’s side, and the two of them sat on the couch already gossiping about something. As Rosalie gazed around at the women gathered for the shower, and the soft blue balloons that wafted lazily above the dining room chairs, she felt like she belonged here.

  Even if she didn’t have a diamond ring yet. Even if her last name still didn’t match anyone’s here.

  She still belonged here.

  A couple of hours later, Rosalie walked along the side of the dirt road on the farm, headed toward Lee’s. He’d texted during the shower to say he and the kids were back from the maze and he’d love to make her dinner that evening. He’d invited her sister and mom too, but they were taking Rosalie’s car back to town to meet her father for dinner.

  Though November had arrived, the weather wasn’t terribly cold yet, and Rosalie enjoyed the yellows and browns around the ranch. Everything had been so green in the spring when she’d come for Travis’s wedding, but the farm in autumn held its own kind of beauty.

  As she approached the final curve toward Lee’s, the low strains of guitar music reached her ears. Joy moved quietly through her, because she adored Lee’s ability on the guitar. She went around the corner and found him sitting on his front steps, obviously waiting for her as he had his head up and his eyes trained on the road.

  He smiled but didn’t get up, and Rosalie told herself not to run toward him. She walked, and as she got nearer and nearer, his chords started to turn into an actual song

  In her head, she recognized it, though she didn’t have all the words memorized. Her heartbeat picked up its pace, and she slowed her feet.

  “Forever can never be long enough for me,” he sang, and Lee Cooper had a gorgeous, clear, lower-register voice. It was nothing like the lead singer of Train, who usually sang this song.

  Rosalie had a hard time breathing in, and she pressed both hands to her still-pounding pulse.

  He looked down at his fingers to get the notes just right, and then he raised his gaze to hers again. She saw the little black box sitting on the step beside him, and Rosalie realized he’d staged this proposal in the most Lee-Cooper of ways.

  Simple. Pure. Perfect.

  “Marry me,” he sang. “Today and every day.” He stood, his guitar going mute. “Marry me. If I ever get the nerve to say hello at this math night.”

  She grinned at him, her eyes burning with tears.

  “Say you will, hm-mm,” he said, taking a step toward her. “Say you will.”

  Rosalie nodded, her voice catching on itself as she said, “I will, Lee.”

  He grinned, started toward her and then quickly went back the way he’d come. He grabbed the ring box off the step and jogged back to her. “I love you, Rosalie. Will you be my wife?”

  “Yes,” she said, her whole body shaking as he opened the lid on the ring box and let the afternoon sunshine glint off the gem inside. The bright gold band held a big, round diamond, and to her, it sure seemed like it could hold all of Lee’s love for her.

  She looked into his eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He smiled as he slid the ring onto the appropriate finger, and when he looked up at her, he seemed shy and strong at the same time. Her cowboy prince, the one who held all the happiness for her future right there in the palm of his hand.

  “I love you, Rose.”

  “Love you too, Lee.” She wrapped him in her arms and kissed him, this surly cowboy who’d refused to clap for her after a presentation. Now, it seemed like all of heaven—and both of their families—applauded them.

  “Come on,” he said, his voice husky as he pulled away. “Let’s go tell the kids.”

  Keep reading for the next book in the Sweet Water Falls Farm series, SALTY COWBOY, which features Cherry, the oldest Cooper sibling!

  Salty Cowboy

  Book 4

  1

  Cherry Cooper put on her blinker to turn right about five miles before the driveway that led to her family farm. She’d lost her mind, that was all. She could schedule a few sessions with her therapist and drive Jed Forrester out of her head again.

  She’d done it before with Charlie, then with a man named Tyler, then Dr. Freeman. Then Jed.

  And yet, she turned right onto the paved road that led to the corn maze at Forrester Farms, something she didn’t even want to do. She hadn’t been to a corn maze in years, and he hadn’t invited her to stop by and get lost with him among nine-foot stalks and plenty of straw bales and scarecrows.

  Why was she here?

  The salty cowboy had told her he didn’t want to date long-distance. I don’t have time to drive to Casper every week, Cherry.

  The words stung at her brain as much now as when he’d texted them back in September. After he’d kissed her, of course. The man had likely gotten what he’d wanted, and he didn’t want her anymore.

  Cherry hated the self-defeating talk inside her mind, but she couldn’t come up with another explanation as to why Jed had been so keen on texting and calling and getting together…and then gone cold.