Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3), Kahlen Aymes [essential reading txt] 📗

“Me, too!” Remi exclaimed.

“Take it easy,” Ben mentioned. “Remember what I said about moving too fast and spooking them.” He lifted them down one at a time. They both climbed up and I stood right behind them with a hand around them.

“Okay, put your hand out like I did. It’s okay Siri, girl,” I said to my horse.

She snorted and moved her head from one to the other.

“She’s so smart!” Missy proclaimed.

“Hi, Siri,” Remi murmured, rubbing her head. “You’re a good mommy, aren’t you?” She bent and placed a kiss on Siri’s face as Dylan rubbed her neck.

“Are they all this tame?” Missy asked.

“Most of them. Dark’s daddy is more aggressive, but only in that he likes to run fast.”

“You guys want to help me feed them? It’s time,” Ben asked.

“Cool!” Dylan said.

“Okay! I get to feed Siri!” Remi jumped down from the railing.

“Wow! Look at all the special help I have taking care of my horses! Thank you!”

Missy and I chatted while the kids hauled multiple buckets of oats to the horses. Ben had to lift them up in order to allow the children to dump them into the feed bins on the other side of the stall walls. It took a lot longer than normal, but it was a joy to watch his gentle interaction with the children. He was so patient and kind in every word and action. It only made me fall more in love with him.

“Ben seems to have a knack for this ranch life,” Missy observed, knowingly. “It’s about time,” she murmured with a satisfied exhale.

After the horses were fed and Dark was happily nursing with both kids installed back on the top of Siri’s stall gate, Ben walked over to us. “What do you think, sis?”

“I think it’s great! I can’t wait until Jensen and Chase show up and you make them muck out the stalls!”

“What?” Ben casually butted shoulders with his sister. “I was leaving that part for you.”

“Hahaha! Um… nope,” Missy protested.

Ben laughed and locked eyes with mine. “I’m starving!”

I offered a smile in return, my heart soaring. “Well, the chores aren’t done, ranch hands! Don’t you have a tent to pitch and a fire to build? I’ll go rustle us up some grub to cook on the open fire! How do hotdogs and beans sound?”

“That’s real cowboy food!” Dylan was so happy, and I could see the same joy reflected in Ben’s features.

“Okay, come on crew!” Ben called. “You heard the boss! We have chores to finish. We can’t eat without a fire.”

Dylan jumped down from the gate with excitement and Remi waited beside Ben.

“Mom, this is the best vacation, ever!” Dylan shouted as he and Remi started after Ben.

“Yeah! I think we should come here every summer!” Remi announced.

I giggled happily. It was so amazing to see this excited reaction to the place I grew up.

“Wow,” Missy said with raised eyebrows. “You even beat out Disney World. That’s a major accomplishment.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” I said, proudly. Uncle Leonard would have loved these kids and their exuberance for his ranch. That dude ranch idea was looking better and better. Of course, I’d need a ranch hand or two. I couldn’t wait to discuss it with Ben.

BEN

As I watched the firelight flicker across Marin’s face, I knew there was nowhere on earth I’d rather be then right here beside her. I wanted to see that face every day for the rest of my life. I was thankful for Davis insisting I move to Wyoming, thankful for being a firefighter and even thankful for the awful blaze that brought us together. As far as I could tell, it was destiny and part of a bigger plan.

I used my pocketknife to carve points on a few limbs I’d taken from a live oak behind the house and passed them out for everyone to use for dinner by the campfire. They needed to be green so that they wouldn’t burn while roasting the hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire.

Earlier, Dylan found some large rocks and made a circle while Remi’s job had been to collect dead sticks for kindling, and later, they both helped me pitch one tent about twenty feet away. They struggled and it was a job, but we’d finally managed to get it up in the yard between the pasture and the farmhouse. It was still closer to camping out than either one of these kids had ever experienced and I was wary of taking a pregnant woman into the wilderness, at least until her husband showed up and came with us.

I was amazed at how well the kids got along, worked together, and shared food or their things. They were raised side by side, but in different households. They were best friends but didn’t fight like brother and sister.

It was incredible how, even at this young age, Dylan was so protective of Remi. When her hotdog fell into the fire, he offered her the one he’d just finished roasting and then wiped off her stick with a napkin and asked Marin for another dog and began the roasting process all over again for himself. I was extremely proud of him and admired the job that my sister and her new husband were doing in rearing such a fine young man. I had an intense desire to be a father during my observation of his behavior. Maybe it was Dylan, Remi, and Jace’s cuteness that got me thinking about it, or maybe it was meeting Marin that spurred the desire. I sighed at the intense emotion that overtook me.

Marin’s face reflected how awed she was at the gesture of the little boy as she reached into the cooler and handed him another. As Dylan put the second hotdog on the stick and returned to sit on one of the six logs we’d placed in a circle, a safe distance from the fire, I winked at her. Her smile only got wider, the adorable dimples I’d grown to