A Family Name (25 page)

Maggie greeted them with a mixture of warmth
and worry. Charlotte realized that the Mountain View phone tree had
been hard at work. She had never experienced such camaraderie. That
was just another reason she didn't want to lose the ranch as
home.

The next few hours passed in a blur;
Charlotte's stomach tightened with worry at each tick of the second
hand. Finally she laid her head down on the rough wood dining room
table, and fell asleep. Her rest wasn't peaceful, and some hours
later she woke with a start as a door slammed.

Charlotte quickly wiped her eyes to rid them
of the bleariness as she blinked into the bright light of the
kitchen. Her neck and shoulders ached. It took her a moment to
realize where she was, but when it all came rushing back to her she
felt the fear again. What if Will got hurt? She had never told him
how she felt about him, about their family, about their future. Why
had she left so much unsaid?

Yes, words could hurt, and she had been
wounded when he said that the children were his, but to close
herself off from him had been unwise and childish. She could see
that now. Her past had held her back for so long, and she couldn't
let it anymore. If she got a chance to tell Will how she felt, she
would take it in a heartbeat.

When she had met Lexi, Charlotte had felt her
life begin to change. A family had been born that day. The fact
that Will was part of that family along with Sierra and Shane…
well, that just made the world a sweeter place. Her heart had
opened in ways she had never allowed herself to be open. The day
the two of them started to rely on one another as partners, she
knew she had found her forever. And she suspected he felt the same
way.

She heard Karen's voice from the next room,
followed by a deeper voice that she recognized as Bill's. Her heart
started to race, and the staccato pulsed loudly in her ears. If
Bill was there, maybe Will was on his way. With shaky limbs,
Charlotte unfolded herself from the kitchen chair. Several joints
cracked as she stood up, making her wonder what time it was.

Hurrying into the living room, Charlotte saw
a grimy Bill hugging his wife. Karen turned and gave Charlotte a
shaky smile.

"We're lucky," Bill said. "A unit from Rapid
City got here quick. The boys are all washing up, and heading over
here now. The fire's pretty much out. Hopefully we'll be able to go
home soon."

Charlotte felt her eyes well with tears. She
blinked hard to keep them from falling. When she heard footsteps on
the front porch, Charlotte nearly broke into a run. She crashed
into Walker as she pulled open the screen door.

"Whoa, Charlotte. He's right behind me, don't
worry."

She barely registered Walker's voice as she
barreled out onto the porch, and ran straight into Will's arms.
Though he was startled he held his balance well. Wyatt chuckled as
he skirted the two of them.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay," Will said.

Charlotte let the dam burst forth. She buried
her face in Will's chest, wrapped her arms tightly around him, and
sobbed. All the worry and frustration and unsaid things bubbled out
in a flood of tears.

Will just held her.

As her tears subsided, her anger flared. She
pushed away from Will, and glared up at him. "I was so worried
about you. I love you, and I was scared I'd never have the chance
to tell you."

"I love you too."

"And, what if something had happened to you?
What about the kids?" Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself,
and began to pace within the small confines of the front porch.

"It wasn't that bad, and the fact that we got
there so quickly reduced the severity of the blaze. I'd never do
anything to hurt our family. Charlotte, I promise…"

"Wait, back up. Did you say that you love
me?" Charlotte felt her heart begin to race as she waited for her
response. Sweat broke out in a light layer along the back of her
neck.

Will stepped closer. "Well, yeah. Of course I
do. I sort of thought you might have picked up on that. I think
I've loved you since that day I rear ended your car. I just wasn't
ready to acknowledge it. But, I mean, we're a family. You, me, and
the kids. Love is what makes a family. And I promise, I have never
loved anyone the way I love you."

Tears blurred Charlotte's vision again. "I'm
such a mess right now. Look at me blubbering. I just can't believe
you feel the same way. I've spent so long closing myself off that I
didn't even recognize happiness when it was staring me in the
face."

Cupping her face in his hands, Will captured
her lips in a tender kiss. As she leaned her cheek on Will's chest,
she inhaled deeply. The slightly pungent scent of sweat mixed with
wood smoke mingled with the lilacs growing in a nearby garden. The
combination was potent, searing itself into Charlotte's olfactory
memory. That moment, both sweet and tense, would forever be
ingrained on her soul.

"Everything I always thought I wanted turned
out to be not so important once the four of you came into my life,"
Will said. They stood in silence for a while longer. Then he asked,
"Why were you so mad at me earlier?"

Charlotte felt her face flush with the heat
of embarrassment. "You… you made a comment about how the kids were
yours. Not ours. I was being silly and childish. I'm sorry. Not
that it's an excuse but I think that growing up the way I did, I
just learned to expect people to let me down, shut me out, and move
on without me. That's what it felt like was happening."

Will stilled. "I in no way meant that. Those
three are ours. Yours and mine. We've built this family, and if
you'll have me, I'd like to ask you to be my wife."

Through her wildly swinging emotions,
Charlotte laughed. "Yes, I'll marry you."

****

Peeking out the window, Lexi grinned as she
watched her parents kiss. That's what they were. It didn't matter
if Charlotte wasn't her biological mom, she was real. And she loved
them all so much. That's what really made a mom. Lexi was glad that
she had met Mary, and she wanted to get to know her better. But the
dream of having a family had finally come true. Sure, the family
she had now didn't look like the one she had imagined back in
foster care. No. This one was better. It was real.

Six
months
later…

Will ran a hand through his hair and realized
it had been too long since he'd had a haircut. The surveyor's
results lay spread on the table in front of him. He glanced at his
watch. The men from the zoning committee would be there soon. If
everything went according to plan, the dig site would be up and
running as a tourist attraction by the next summer.

"Are you looking over the plans again?"

Before he even turned he felt a grin
stretching across his face at the sound of his wife's voice. He
relished the thought that in just a few more months they'd have a
new baby to add to the wonderful chaos of the lives.

Pulling Charlotte into his arms, he captured
her lips in a slow, sweet kiss. When he straightened back up he
said, "Everything has to be perfect."

"The fact that this is a wooly mammoth leg
bone is pretty significant. Do you think that will help the cause
at all?" Charlotte stroked her subtly rounded belly absently. As
usual the movement mesmerized Will to such a degree that he had to
shake his head to regain his sense of equilibrium.

"Uh, yeah. Hopefully. The wooly mammoths are
a lot rarer around here than the Columbian mammoths. I have a
member of the staff of the Hot Springs Mammoth Site coming up to
help me out with the presentation. They've been great, but I'm
still nervous." Will smoothed the sheet that showed the dig site.
"There'll be a lot of construction in these parts if they agree. I
still can't believe how amenable my dad was to the whole
situation."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, and bumped him
with her hip. "Maybe you just decided to do some growing up.
Besides I'm sure your mom had something to do with the willingness
to turn this ranch upside down while you pursue this."

Will chuckled. "I know Walker isn't too happy
with me still, but he got in a new herd of sheep. They'll keep him
busy for awhile."

If the deal went through, Will knew his
family would forfeit profits on a huge chunk of land. The fire had
wiped out the south pasture, and that would be the best path to the
county road that could lead to the dig site. The rest of the ranch
land to the north would remain under Walker's steadfast control,
sheep breeding being his latest obsession.

"This could save Mountain View," Will
murmured.

"It really could," Charlotte agreed leaning
against him.

The back door banged open, and all three kids
tumbled inside, pulling off winter gear as they walked. Wyatt
followed them, limping slightly, a wry smile curving his mouth.
"These kids of yours are brutal, dude."

"What'd they do to you?" Charlotte asked.
"Bury you in a snow drift?"

Wyatt laughed. "Naw. They convinced me to
jump from the hayloft."

Charlotte's eyes narrowed, but Will saw the
corners of her mouth twitching. "I'm glad you aren't hurt, but I
think I need to have a chat with our children."

As she bustled out of the room, Will paused
to watch her leave. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of the
miracle of having a family of his own. On realizing that Wyatt
hadn't left, Will focused his attention on his younger brother.

"What can I do for you, Wy?"

Wyatt pulled the baseball cap off his head,
and ran a hand along his newly cropped hair. "Well, I was actually
wondering if you'd agree to be a character reference for me. I
finally got word that the county has an opening for a deputy
sheriff. Thought I'd apply, you know, so all that time that I spent
at the training academy wasn't a total waste."

"Absolutely," Will said, giving his brother a
congratulatory thump on the back.

"Thanks. I'll, um, get you the info later
today. I really appreciate it. Good luck with your meeting. I hope
it works out. It'd be the best thing Mountain View has seen in
years, maybe even decades." Wyatt grinned at him. "Well, I've got
to get up to the barn before Walker realizes I'm gone."

Will laughed. As he watched his brother
leave, he knew that they were all turning a corner into the future.
No matter how slowly they progressed on this journey, the fact
remained that nothing would ever be the same again. A year ago Will
would have laughed if he had been told that he'd have a family, and
be readying himself to open the dig site to the general public.
Yet, never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined that'd he'd
be so happy. And in the end that was all that mattered: the love
and happiness of his family.

Liz Botts
was born, raised, and still
lives in northern Illinois with her husband and three small
children (two boys and a baby girl). When not writing, she enjoys
reading, sewing, trying new recipes, and home schooling her kids.
She is proud to pass her love of stories on to her children, and
makes several trips to the library each week. After working with
teenagers for several years, she decided to write stories about
them instead.

Sunday

Sheriff Bronson Andrews released a long
breath, slammed the door of his aging department-issued black and
white SUV, and walked slowly up the well-lit sidewalk toward the
Fried Pickle Café. As the recently appointed sheriff in Big Creek
County, he was determined to uphold the law. Granted, it wasn't
hard to do in the small, sparsely populated West Texas county. He'd
been welcomed with open arms by the residents. Made to feel like
one of their own even though he came from about two hundred miles
away and had never even been to Big Creek before taking office.

And he liked it.

Well… most of the time.

Like any law enforcement officer, he had days
when his job made him feel like he was really making a difference.
Then there were the days when he pondered his choice of profession
and the wisdom of the decision to make it a career. While most of
the calls he had responded to during his time as sheriff could
truly be classified by his fellow officers as "real police work",
the guys back in Austin would have a hearty chuckle if they knew he
also spent a number of hours herding cows on county roads and
settling disputes between neighbors about who rightfully owned the
wisteria growing along a shared fence line.

The brass bell above the door to the café
jangled as he stepped out of the sweltering summer evening and into
the air-conditioned haven. True to its name, fried pickles were on
the menu, along with about any other southern battered and
deep-fried goodie he could think of, right down to fried green
beans and fried green tomatoes.