Emma nodded after she stepped back, and Ginger headed for the rectangle of bright light that signaled the doorway. Her nerves weren’t cut out for court hearings, she knew that. She’d only been to the one, but it had taken a miracle to get herself dressed that morning. If Connor hadn’t been there, looking at Ginger with those wide, hopeful eyes, she might not have gone.
She honestly didn’t know.
But she was going to go today, and she looked left as soon as she exited the stable. Only a moment later, Nate came out, peeling his gloves from his hands. “Ready?” he asked.
“Ready to go get changed,” she said. “Where’s Connor?”
“He should be at the Annex,” Nate said. “I told him to stay in bed when he woke up. We put Pop-tarts and his dinosaurs on the bedside table last night.”
Ginger grinned as Nate reached her. He bent down and kissed her, smelling like horses and oats and leather. She loved the sight of him, the smell of him, the taste of him.
“Mm,” he said, pulling away. “Come on. He’s probably been awake for about fifteen minutes.”
“I guess you’ll know by how many crumbs he has in the bed.”
Nate groaned. “This was a bad idea.”
“But we got the horses fed,” Ginger said as they started back toward the house. “Emma will finish, and she’ll get the chickens taken care of too.”
“We should stop and get her one of those bundt cakes she likes.”
“She’d like that,” Ginger said, impressed that Nate remembered Emma liked the miniature bundt cakes from a shop that didn’t make anything else. “She really doesn’t like working on the ranch.”
“We’ll get her two then,” he said. “Because she had to help so we could go to court.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it tight, a clear indication of his nerves.
“It’s going to be okay,” Ginger said. “It’s all approved.”
“I’ve never been to an adoption hearing,” Nate said.
“Neither have I, and neither has Connor. It’ll be okay.” Ginger had to keep telling herself that as they separated to go to their respective parts of the house to get ready. Twenty minutes later, Ginger hurried down the steps and into the garage. Nate and Connor waited in her truck, both of them wearing dark suits, complete with a white shirt and matching striped tie in blue, maroon, and gold.
“Wow,” Ginger said, sliding behind the wheel. “You two match.”
“Daddy bought us the same suit,” Connor said. “But mine is small.”
“It sure is.” Ginger grinned at the little boy, whose blond hair had been buzzed into a respectable cut only a few days ago. He’d sat in the kitchen in the West Wing while Jess used the clippers and then the scissors to get his hair just right. She’d then cut Nate’s hair too, and they both looked clean-cut and respectable.
Ginger drove them to the county courthouse, where they went through the metal detectors and then into the elevator to go to the fourth floor, where the courtrooms were for family court. There was nowhere to sit on the fourth floor, and Nate paced toward the window and back several times before Ginger took his hand in hers and forced him to stand still.
Some people already milled about, and more kept coming and coming. Ginger realized in that moment that this was not going to be a private hearing, and she wondered if the judge would know Nate wasn’t quite out of prison yet. Her stomach jiggled and dropped, but she said nothing. He was already keyed up, and she didn’t need to add to it.
“Where is he?” Nate asked, craning to look at the elevator bank. His lawyer was supposed to be there that morning, but they hadn’t seen him yet.
“He’ll be here,” Ginger said. Lawrence might wear snakeskin sometimes, but he did a good job. He’d always done right by Nate, and surely he’d arrive any minute now.
Finally, the door opened to courtroom seven, their assigned courtroom, and a bailiff came out into the hall. “We’ve got our ten-thirty group entering,” he said, stepping back. “Any requests to go first?”
“We’d like to go first,” a man said, and Nate made a startled noise. “It’s the Mulbury adoption.”
“That’s Lawrence,” Nate said, but Ginger had spotted him on her own. “I didn’t even see him.” He released Ginger’s hand, and said, “Come on, bud,” to Connor, scooping him into his arms a moment later. He hurried toward the door and Lawrence, and by the time Ginger made it through the press of people to one of the rows inside the courtroom, Nate, Connor, and Lawrence sat at the front table.
“Guess we’re going first,” she muttered, taking a seat on the end of the row as the bailiff kept telling everyone to move down. Keep moving down.
People filled the room, and Ginger was suddenly glad Lawrence had stepped up and demanded to go first. At the same time, Ginger wished she had a moment to catch her breath, and she’d like to have seen how this procedure worked before it was Nate and Connor on the hot seat.
She reminded herself that she didn’t need to know the procedure here. That was why Nate paid Lawrence.
Once everyone was settled, a silence descended on the room. At least until the door in the back opened, and out came two women. Everyone scrambled to their feet to show respect. One woman took her place in a booth on floor-level, and the other sat behind the bench.
“Ready, Randy?” she asked, a smile on her face.
The bailiff grinned back at her. “Everyone’s here, ma’am.”
“And we have our first case already seated,” she said, gesturing to Lawrence, Nate, and Connor. “So I guess we’re ready.”
“The Mulbury’s,” Randy said, before turning to the courtroom. “This is courtroom seven, with the honorable Judge Denise Jerry. You’re up, sir.”
Lawrence stood up and asked the judge how she was. “Fine,” she drawled, still shuffling papers on her bench.
“All of our paperwork is in order,” Lawrence said. “There was no contest from Jane Copeland, Connor Mulbury’s birth mother. No contest from any of her family members, or any of Nathaniel’s. Both Connor and Nate want to form this family unit and start new when the time comes.”
The judge looked up, first at Lawrence and then to Nate and Connor. “Sir, please stand up.”
Nate did, quickly buttoning his suit coat. He nudged Connor, who also stood up. Nate smoothed his hair and they both faced the judge again. “Your Honor.”
“This is your late brother’s son?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“His will named you the legal guardian, with specific instructions to adopt Connor as soon as you could.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
She looked down at her papers again, a tiny crease appearing between her eyebrows. Ginger pulled in a breath and held it.
“You’re still in state custody,” the judge finally said.
“Yes, ma’am. Until February seventeenth.”
“You’re at Hope Eternal Ranch?”
Ginger glanced away from the bench when Nate didn’t answer. He was bent over whispering something to Connor. He straightened, and Connor said, “Yes, Your Honor. We live at Hope Eternal Ranch.”