The same type of people who had come to Ward’s funeral.
She turned to look at Nate and found tears streaming down his face. Her heart broke in that moment, but it was a new and different kind of crack she’d never experienced before. Sure, she’d had her heart broken by a man before, but not because he wasn’t afraid to show the world how he felt.
In her lap, Connor started to cry too, and Nate reached for him. She passed the child to him, and Nate put their heads together and whispered to Connor things Ginger couldn’t hear. Connor twisted and pressed his back into Nate’s chest, and Nate wrapped him up in a big hug. Someone got up and started talking, and all Ginger could think about was providing Nate and Connor with the safest, happiest place on earth.
She pulled out her phone during one of the hymns and texted Emma, the assistant on the ranch—and Ginger’s best friend. They’d been working at Hope Eternal together for a decade, and there was no one better than Emma at making someone feel loved and special.
How’s Nate’s room coming? she asked.
All ready for him, Michelle responded. I gave him the two bedrooms on the main floor, with the bathroom between them. Dylan moved to the basement with Josh. They were both glad to do it. Jill, Jess, and your sisters are working on a babysitting schedule for Connor now. We should have it ready by the time you arrive.
Ginger’s stomach growled despite the greasy breakfast sandwich Nate had bought for her. And dinner? she texted.
All set. Steak and baked potatoes. I even got Michelle to make her layered salad by telling her she had to bring a peace offering if she wanted to go over all the legalities with Nate tonight.
Ginger smiled at her phone. Michelle Trent was the ranch’s lawyer, and she didn’t really like it when Ginger participated in the BOP’s program to help convicts get back on their feet and make a good transition from incarceration to real life.
The poor man. How’s he holding up?
Ginger didn’t need to look to her left to know. He’s dealing with a lot, she said. The song ended, and Ginger quickly added, Gotta go. Thanks, Em. You’re the best, before tucking her phone back into her pocket.
By the time the services ended, they’d gone to the cemetery, and they’d eaten a lunch that was cold but supposed to be hot, Ginger was ready to get out of her skirt and on the road. Hope Eternal Ranch sat down the highway about fifteen minutes—maybe ten if there was no traffic and no cattle—and she’d been gone for almost twenty-four hours.
She stood near the truck while Nate hugged everyone for what felt like the millionth time, coaching herself to be patient. She might be observant and quick to learn, but her impatience could really bring out the worst in her.
She employed every ounce of kindness she had, and then distracted herself with her phone until Nate finally came over. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Thank you for waiting for me.” He opened the passenger door and helped Connor onto the bench seat.
Ginger could hardly believe this man had broken the law and then gone to jail for any amount of time. She’d never met an inmate like him before, and she’d housed a couple dozen at Hope Eternal.
The drive happened in silence, but because summer was almost upon them, it wasn’t dark when they arrived at the ranch. “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath a moment later. “Here we are.” She pulled onto the dirt lane that led back off the highway. Around another bend, and the ranch spread before her. “Everything you see now is Hope Eternal land.”
“Wow,” Nate said, and he genuinely sounded awed. “It’s beautiful.”
“Well, we are here when the sun is hanging in the west,” she said, easing the truck to a stop. “But it’s a great view right now.” The golden sunlight spread across the land like honey, bathing everything in a yellow shine.
“Do you raise cattle?”
“No,” she said. “We have a few cows, of course, but mostly for milk. Dairy cows. We grow crops here that we sell to neighboring farms and ranches, and we have horses, chickens, goats, and pigs. And birds.” Boy, did they have a lot of birds at the ranch.
Being so close to the water did that, and there were plenty of ponds and rivulets on the ranch too. “We do a variety of programs for people,” she said. “Horseback riding lessons and excursions. Bird-watching. Nature experiences. Hummingbird demonstrations. Monarch butterfly classes.”
“Oh, so you’re more commercial.”
“You could say that,” she said. “I run the ranch with five or six other women, and there’s definitely an aspect of ranching here. We have people to take care of the animals behind-the-scenes and all of that. I have cowboys who run my riding programs too, and we do a hog hunt four times a year in March and April. Last one was last weekend.”
Nate nodded, his eyes scanning the landscape in front of him. She wondered what he was thinking, what he could see here that he hadn’t seen for so long. She didn’t ask.
“I’d like to respectfully request not to be involved in the hunting,” he said quietly. “And to have something to do outside.”
Ginger looked at him, another round of surprise moving through her. “You don’t like hunting?”
“Not particularly.” He met her eyes, and Ginger couldn’t help leaning toward him, as if he possessed a powerful magnet and she had no other choice but to get closer to him. Her heart started screaming a warning, but it took her brain several long seconds to get the message.
She cleared her throat. “Well, seeing as how our last hunt was last week, and you’re only obligated to be here for five months, I don’t think being involved in the hunt will even come up.” She released her foot on the brake and let the truck inch forward again. “And something outside…I’m sure we can do that.” She glanced down at Connor, who’d fallen asleep at some point during the drive.
A smile touched her mouth, drying up when Nate said, “He’s cute, but I have no idea how to take care of him.”
Ginger heard the apprehension in Nate’s voice, and she once again didn’t know what to do with it. “You did great today,” she said. “You held him when he needed you, and you helped him with his lunch, and you kept him right beside you.” In fact, watching Nate do all of those things had warmed Ginger toward him considerably.
“Will you help me with him?” Nate asked.
Ginger glanced at him, her eyebrows shooting up. “What?”
“I saw you with him,” he said. “You’re great. You know exactly what to do.”
She started shaking her head, but Nate continued anyway. “You showed up with chocolate, and you handed him a napkin before I even knew he needed one. You knew when to take him from me, and when to give him back, and you picked up his tie when I didn’t even see that he’d dropped it.”
“Nate,” she said, but she stopped. Of course she was going to help him. Hadn’t she already decided to make this transition for him as easy as possible here?
She had, and she knew it. Instead of answering, she eased around the corner and said, “There’s the homestead.”
Nate finally took his eyes off her face, and Ginger felt the weight of them go. “Oh…wow,” he said again. “Look at that place.”