She stood there a moment, watching him leave, her head buzzing with too much information. Too many thoughts.

  Though what he had promised sounded appealing, she knew better. She knew that no matter how fancy the bus, how nice the hotels, it was still a transient life. It was still exhausting, and she wondered how much applause, how much money, could make up for the jagged loneliness of life on the road. No community other than a band who got on each other's nerves. No sense of place or permanence.

  Even though she had balked at her grandfather’s restrictions and Kane’s support of them, at the same time she recognized that deep down, she wasn’t cut out for such a fugitive life. Her faith life and her trust had been badly battered by life on the road. The loss she had experienced had cut her deeply and had left her lonely and yearning for someone she could share the pain with. Someone who would understand. The past weeks on the ranch and going to church had fed the part of her that had yearned deeply for spiritual nourishment, for community and permanence.

  And more than all of that was Kane.

  He turned his back on you when you tried to tell him everything.

  She held that thought a moment, then switched her point of view. Tried to see it through his eyes.

  This was a lot to deal with. She could hardly blame him for reacting the way he did. His view of her had to deal with a drastic switch. A huge change.

  And yet, his rejection of her had cut her to the core. When Tricia had arrived, announcing Gavin’s presence, Faith saw it as a small gift from God. A chance for her to catch her breath and try to figure out how to regain Kane’s trust and love. To explain to him what had happened.

  She heard voices coming from the house. She walked over to the French doors and stepped inside the kitchen.

  Tricia sat at the table with Hope and Cash, cutting up a hot dog for them.

  “Is Kane still sitting with Misty?” Faith asked, looking around.

  “No, she’s doing well.” Tricia gave her a careful smile. Faith wondered if Kane had told her what she had told him. “Dad was happy about that. And so were we all.”

  Faith looked around the kitchen, listening. “Is Kane in the house then?”

  “No, he and Dad had to go to town. They had to talk to Floyd. Something about signing the sales papers.”

  Were they selling the ranch after all? Was Kane that upset with her?

  “Kane also told me before he left town he wrote you a letter. I think it’s in Dad’s study on the desk."

  "A note? As in a letter?" That sounded forbidding.

  Tricia shrugged. "Who knows? He seemed kinda distracted. Like he had lots on his mind. I know he talked to Dad about the ranch."

  Faith's heart skipped a beat at that. "Yes, your dad told me they talked last night.”

  “Well, they were talking about it again this morning. I’m not sure what’s going on, but Kane didn’t look too happy.”

  Faith fought down a troubled reaction. Was everything falling apart? Had her news been that hard on Kane?

  She had to read that letter. Then she had to call him.

  “Excuse me, I should go,” she said to Tricia, then scooted to the study and shut the door behind her. Sure enough, an envelope leaned against a picture of the Tye family. Zach and Grace with Elliot, Tricia, Kane, and Lucas.

  She grabbed the envelope, her fingers shaking as she ripped it open. She yanked the paper out and unfolded it, her eyes flying over the neatly penned words.

  “…Love you… Should have been more supportive… So sorry for your loss… Wish you the best… Thankful you can use your talents… Will pray for you… Hope God will bless you… Watch over you… Then her eyes slowed, and she read the next sentence more slowly.

  “I love listening to you play, and I want you to use your talents to the best of your ability. I hope that this tour will bring you more happiness than the last one did. And I hope and pray it will bring you success. I have my own decisions to make, and I don’t want them to interfere with yours. I don’t want to hold you back, and I only wish the best for you.”

  Her heart flipped over at that last sentence. His own decisions to make?

  He and Zach were at Floyd’s office. Had he changed his mind about taking over the ranch? He seemed to think she was going on tour with the band. Did that mean he no longer wanted to work on the ranch?

  She didn’t know what to think, her mind twisting and turning, stumbling over every thought that jumped into it.

  She had to go find Kane and talk to him properly. Not worry about his reactions and let him know exactly how she felt about him. She realized he must have heard them talking and how it must’ve sounded to him He seemed to think that Gavin was the one who had been her boyfriend.

  It would’ve been funny if she wasn’t feeling so upset right now.

  At the bottom of the letter were four words that fell like water into her parched soul.

  “All my love, Kane.”

  She folded the letter and shoved it into her pocket. She pulled her phone out to text him, to ask where he was, to tell him to wait until she got there.

  Then groaned when she saw the battery was dead. She ran out of the study. Tricia was still at the table.

  “Are you good to be on your own?” Faith asked.

  “Yeah, I’m going to lay the kids down and have a nap myself.” Tricia looked puzzled. “Why? What’s up?”

  “I need to go to town right now. Where does your dad keep the keys to his truck?”

  “Where he always does, in a cubby in the truck.”

  “I’ll see you later then,” Faith said and, without another word, ran out of the house.

  Chapter 22

  Where were the keys? Where would Zach keep the keys?

  Faith scrabbled through the console between the seats, but nothing. Then she yanked open a small cubby below the stereo. There they were.

  She fitted the keys into the ignition, and a few heart-stopping moments later she had the truck backed up and was headed down the highway. She felt tiny in the huge truck, but she sat as straight as she could, fighting a need to step on the gas. She realized with a sinking heart that she had left her backpack at the ranch. Which meant she didn’t have her driver’s license with her or anything. The last thing she needed was to be stopped by the cops.

  Twenty minutes later she slowed as she turned onto Main Street and was greeted by a line-up of vehicles. She felt doubly nervous now driving this huge beast of a vehicle as she passed small cars and slowed for jay-walking pedestrians. She tried not to rush, fighting down her inclination to panic.

  “Please, Lord, don’t let him sell the ranch. Don’t let him sign those papers before I get there.”

  Finally she found a spot she thought was wide enough for the truck. Thankfully, all the parking on Main Street was angle parking. It was just a matter of pointing the nose in the right direction and turning it in.

  But she underestimated the size of the beast and ended up taking up two parking spots. No matter. She jumped out of the truck, ignored the guy behind her honking his horn as she slammed the door and then ran down the street.

  Kane’s truck was still parked outside the Realtor’s office. She yanked open the door and stepped inside. A woman at the front desk looked up with a broad smile, “Can I help you?”

  “I need to see Kane Tye right now. Please.”

  “They’re with Mr. Picthall, right now,” the woman said.

  “Which room?”

  “Well, they are rather busy,” she said primly.

  Faith ignored her, listening for voices. Thankfully, she heard Kane talking.

  Ignoring the woman’s protests, she hurried down the carpeted hallway, looking through the doors to each office and then, there he was, scrawling his signature on a piece of paper.

  Without stopping to knock she burst into the room. “Don’t sign any more papers. Don’t sell the ranch,” she said. She held her hand up as if that would make all the difference.

  Floyd’s, Kane’s, and Zach’s heads all spun around, and they looked at her with amazement. Kane got up, looking puzzled. “What’s the matter? Is everything okay?”

  “No, everything’s not okay. You can’t sell the ranch. You and I have to move onto it. We have to live there and raise our kids there. We have to have our happy ever after there.” The words spilled out of her in one long rush. “I’m not going on some stupid tour, but thanks for giving me your permission.” She stopped herself there, realizing how bad that sounded. Her thoughts were such a jumble.

  “You’re not going on the tour?” Kane asked, latching onto one thing she had babbled out.

  “No.” She paused, catching her breath, her eyes pleading with him to understand. “I don’t want to live that life. I want to be on the ranch with you. And I don’t want you to sell it.”

  “So you’re staying here,” Kane said, as if he couldn’t believe it. “But your music—”

  “I can play music here. Teach music. Finish my degree. Teach music in school. Write songs. Play with the worship band, maybe start a band of my own.” She lifted her hands and let them drop. “I don’t care. I’ll find an outlet. But it will not be on the road, and it won't be touring. I want to live here, in Rockyview, with you. On the ranch.” She stopped there, catching her breath, holding Kane’s puzzled but curious gaze. “Just don’t sell it. Please.”

  “But we’re not selling it,” Kane said.

  Faith blinked as his words registered. She looked from him to Zach to Floyd sitting at his desk. Floyd looked annoyed, and Faith didn’t blame him. Having some irrational woman bursting into his office was probably not how he expected this meeting to go.

  “Well then, what are you guys doing here?” she asked, pulling in her breath, flushing with embarrassment now.

  “We’re signing off on the papers we had set up. But not to sell the ranch. To cancel the whole deal,” Kane said.

  Relief prickled through Faith, like blood rushing through a dead limb.

  “Cancelling? You’re cancelling the whole deal?”

  Kane nodded, taking a step toward her, laying his hand on her shoulder, making the tenuous connection. “Yes. I want to make my life on the ranch. Dad is working me in slowly.”

  Faith felt like her bones had turned to rubber. And behind that came a sense of foolishness. She had rushed all this way, made an idiot of herself, for nothing?

  “Well, that’s good to know. I’m glad. So, I guess I can go back then.” She flashed them an awkward smile and took a stumbling step backward. She really had to get out of here. But then Kane stopped her, curving his hands around her shoulders. “I guess you can, but why don’t you go back with me?”

  “How did you get here?” Zach asked.

  “I took your truck,” Faith said, blushing. “I hope that was okay.”

  “Sure.” Zach gave her a pained look but, thankfully, said nothing more. “So why don’t you give me the keys, and I can go back to the ranch, and you and Kane can go somewhere, just the two of you, and sort a few things out.”

  “Excellent idea,” Kane said, smiling gently at Faith, his fingers stroking the side of her neck.

  As their eyes locked and held, Faith thought of the last words of his letter.

  All my love, Kane.

  “So, are we done here?” Zach asked Floyd.

  “Yes. Everything is completed. If I need anything more, I’ll let you know.” Floyd shuffled the papers on his desk, tapping them once and giving them all a polite but forced smile.

  Faith almost felt sorry for him, so she mustered up a returning smile.

  Then Kane said goodbye to his father, shook hands with Floyd, and ushered Faith out of the office.

  “My truck is right outside the door,” he said.

  Zach was right behind them. Faith dug into the pockets of her blue jeans and handed Zach the keys. “I didn’t speed with it,” she said.

  Zach smiled at her. “I’m sure you were careful.” He turned to Kane. “So we’ll see you sometime later on?”

  Kane nodded, draped his arm over Faith’s shoulder, and escorted her to the truck.

  Minutes later they were headed out of town, down the highway.

  “Where are we going?” Faith asked, fidgeting with her seat belt.

  “To the lookout point over the river.”

  They were on the highway now, and the turnoff was a few kilometers ahead. Faith loosened her seat belt and, ignoring the warning dinger, shifted to the side and clipped it up again so it would stop.

  Then she moved closer to Kane, tucked her arm in his, and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “That’s not very safe,” he murmured, brushing his cheek over her head.

  “We’re almost there, and I couldn’t stand being away from you one second longer.”

  She clung to his arm, inhaling the clean scent of his shirt, the underlying smell of his aftershave and soap.

  True Kane.

  He turned off the highway, the truck bouncing through the ruts leading to the opening in the trees ahead.

  Then he stopped the truck at the guardrail, switched the engine off, and turned to her.

  He pulled her close, and as their lips met, she leaned closer, her arms twisting around his neck, pulling him as close as she could. His hand cradled her head, his fingers stroking her hair, his other arm wrapped around her waist.

  Their kiss deepened, lengthened, then to her dismay, he pulled slowly away. He dropped gentle kisses on her cheek, her forehead, and then one last light one on her parted lips.

  Then he leaned back against the door of the truck, curling his hand around her head, pressing it to his shoulder. She lay against him, her hand on his chest. His heart thumped below her ear, a steady reassuring rhythm. Kane’s heart that gave her all his love. She pulled in a long, slow breath, then another, a sense of peace that had eluded her the past many years settling over her.

  “I’m glad you’re not selling the ranch,” she said.

  “I’m glad you’re not going on tour,” Kane replied, his voice a deep rumble beneath her ear.

  She lifted her head, pulling back from him, her hand still resting on his chest. “I want to thank you. For giving me the space to do that. To head out.”

  His expression grew serious as he fingered a strand of hair away from her face, letting it drift through his fingers. “I wanted you to realize that I understood how important your music was. I stood in the way before. I didn’t want to do that again.”

  She laid her head back down on his chest, closing her eyes. “Thanks. That means so much to me. I know how hard that was for you to do.”

  “I was terrified.” His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath. “But I wanted to give you space to make your own decision knowing that no matter what you decided, I was behind you.” Then his arms tightened. “But I’m so thankful you're staying.”

  She smiled, rubbing her cheek against the rough material of his shirt, reveling in this moment of quiet closeness. It felt so right, she never wanted it to end.

  But other thoughts crowded into their space. Other events they had to deal with.

  “I’m sorry about something else too,” he said before she could say anything. “I reacted badly when you told me…when you said what you did about your baby.”

  She grew still, thankful she was in Kane’s arms when he said this, trying to stifle the chill that slithered down her spine.

  “It was a surprise…well…a shock, I guess. It wasn’t anything I would have…would have…” He stumbled along, and Faith felt bad for him.

  “Would have expected from me,” she said, finishing the sentence for him.

  “Yeah. I guess. Though that’s not fair to you.”

  She toyed with the button on his shirt, twisting it around while she tried to grab a coherent thought. “It wasn’t who I was,” she admitted. “And my relationship with Keith wasn’t a quick thing. But we spent so much time together, and he made no secret of his interest in me. I was lonely, and one thing led to another—”

  “So it wasn’t Gavin who you were dating?”

  “No. Never him. It was a guy named Keith. You see-“

  “You don’t need to explain,” Kane said, breaking into her confession, stroking her head as if to connect with her. “You don’t have to act like you’ve done something horrible. My life on the rigs wasn’t something I was proud of either.”

  “Maybe not,” she said, looking past the truck to the river valley below them, her mind slipping backwards. “But I want it out of the way. I don’t want you thinking I’m pining for him or anything like that. He really wasn’t a good guy. In fact, after I had the miscarriage, he grew verbally abusive.”

  “And the baby…how do you feel about that?”

  She waited before replying, testing her emotions, hoping he understood. “I was sad. It’s always hard, but there was a part of me that was relieved. I know that sounds horrible,” she hastened to explain, hoping, praying he understood. “I wanted the baby…but not like that. Not living on the road. And not, not with him.” She drew in a shuddering sigh, struggling to maintain control. “I knew exactly what he was, and he was not husband, let alone, father material. In fact, when he found out I was pregnant, he told me to get rid of it.”

  “Oh, Fiddy,” Kane breathed, his hand cradling her face, turning her head to look at him. His eyes were brimming with compassion and love. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with all of this on your own.”

  She held his gaze, thankful for the caring and sympathy she saw there. Not one shred of condemnation.

  “Thank you,” was all she could say.

  He kissed her again, his lips warm, soft and gentle, moving slowly over hers in a long, lingering kiss. Finally he drew back. “I’m so thankful you’re back here,” he said, his mouth shifting into an easy smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I want to help you deal with this, and I’m hoping that spending time at the ranch will help you.”

  “I am so thankful for you,” she said, returning his smile. “I think being at the ranch with you will definitely help. Now that I know I’ll be staying.”

  “I hope to take you riding up to the hills for picnics,” he said. “I hope we can spend so much time together. Of course, you’ll be a bit busier in a few months.”

 

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