She pointed at her jean pocket. “I brought my bear spray just in case.”
“Let’s go!” Cooper cried.
She jolted when Cooper grabbed her hand and started dragging her off. He was so sweet. Warm and openhearted, not treating her like a stranger. She’d heard about him over the years, but seeing him, chatting with him, was both wonderful and complicated.This is Ben’s son. Not theirs.
But Cooper didn’t seem to know or care that she had a past with his father.
Maybe she needed to act the same way.
Because being here today—the temptation to stay and build everything Will planned—was as overwhelming as the sulfur in the air.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ben felt morethan a little choked up watching Cooper holding Hannah’s hand as they headed toward the woods.
His boy had clearly embraced her, and from her radiant smile, she’d clearly fallen for him. Funny how that seemed to make his heart pump louder in his chest. They were together. Woman and child. A vision he’d had so many times when he’d thought about him and Hannah having a family.
Together.
On McAllister land.
Working toward the same goal.
Neil followed the pair with Tank, who was attempting to herd them along. Ben had to respect him for coming up and helping—even though his jealousy of the man still was as unwelcome as a late spring frost.
“You planning on getting off your behind and saying hello to Hannah?” Gramps bit out.
“She seems to be moving along now,” he only answered. Besides, he didn’t want to ruin the moment.
His grandfather gave a wince as he twisted in the cab to face him. His eyes were keen despite the wrinkles and agespots surrounding them, a testament to all the sunrises he’d seen.
He was leather hard and good to the core, and as he’d grown older, Gramps had come into a softer side of himself. He was quick to lay an encouraging hand on a shoulder or sit in a chair and sing to Cooper when he was colicky. But there was no softness today. Only keen understanding, the kind that made Ben want to throw up more walls and light out of the cab.
“You want to get your heart and head straight, you need to work it—like you would the land. Ben, your heart has lain fallow all these years after Amber tore through it like a bunch of prairie dogs.”
He gave a rude snort. “More like a pack of wild dogs.”
“You get the idea, sonny. Now it’s time to re-till and plant what you really want. A happy home. A loving wife. A beautiful family. I know your father didn’t fare well in the love department, but your grandma and I have. So did my parents and Grandma Elena and Grandpa Turner. When I used to watch you and Hannah run around, I knew you two could go the distance.”
Well, now he knew for sure the older man hoped for the same reconciliation that Will did. “Gramps…”
“Oh, don’t ‘Gramps’ me.” He held up his hand and pointed at his plain gold wedding ring. “Some working men don’t wear rings so they don’t catch it on barbed wire or anything else that could tear a finger off.”
Ben had used that excuse with Amber to never wear his when they’d been married. Not because he stepped out on her, but because he couldn’t stomach the reminder of his mistake.
“I chose to trust that the ring your grandmother put on my finger on our wedding day carried a special blessing. One that would never allow me to be hurt. I’ve worn it since that day seventy-two years ago. You do your work with your headand your heart, most of which involves Hannah… You’ve got a shot at your own special kind of happiness.”
His overstimulated heart started thudding in his chest. “Gramps, I’m just trying to do the best I can every day—by Cooper and everyone else here on the ranch.”
“Bullshit.” Gramps poked him in the chest. “I know you’re your own man, Ben, but your grandma and I agree on one thing, and we can’t hold back saying it with Father Time ticking away. Stop squatting with your spurs on. You made a mistake by not going to Scotland with Hannah. Admit it. Tell her you’re sorry. Then make up.”
He finally turned off the tractor and stared out across the way to where Hannah stood holding her son’s hand, Neil by her side. “What if she wants to love that damn Scot?”
Gramps sputtered. “She might wish otherwise, but she can’t. She loves you—even if she’s madder than a wet hen at you reneging on going along with her. You step back and think a second, you’d be pretty mad in her place.”
He grunted. “We’d planned to marry after college?—”
“Sonny, you have to give your woman purpose—even when it’s tough. You two were young and still finding your purpose. Your grams and I married young. When that happens, you have to make extra space for both people’s hopes and dreams. Her getting that scholarship changed things. Which is why everyone on the ranch was ready to support you stepping away from your duties to go with her.”
