Daddy's Girls (76)

“Ranch business.”

“Oh.” He nodded and smiled at her. “How are you feeling?” She was three months pregnant and everything was fine. He had gone to the doctor with her and the sonogram looked great. One healthy baby. Not twins, which was a relief, since women her age frequently had multiple births. And from a test she’d had, they knew now it was a girl.

“I feel great,” Caroline said, delighted with their decision not to sell the ranch.

“I’m going to be the oldest father at nursery school, and in a wheelchair for her college graduation.”

“No, we’re not. And even if we are, so what? It’s a gift. It was meant to be. It happened when we got back together.” She was excited about it now after the initial shock. And they had told Morgan and Billy. They weren’t thrilled, but they were okay with it, which was good enough. Morgan would be out of the house and in college when the baby was a year old anyway, and Billy would leave when she was five. It was a sign of hope and renewal. It was the baby of their reconciliation, Caroline couldn’t turn that away, and it meant a lot to Peter too. They were both grateful to be back together.

    “Are you coming back to bed?” Peter asked with a look of particular interest and she laughed.

“If you make it worth my while,” she whispered.

“That’s how you got in trouble in the first place,” he reminded her, and they both laughed, closed their bedroom door and locked it. They had an hour before she had to wake the kids, and they could do a lot with that.

A few minutes later, they did. And even better than that, Kate and Caroline were keeping the ranch. And that was something to celebrate!





Chapter 18


On Memorial Day weekend, three weeks after the actual anniversary, they unveiled the memorial to their father, James “JT” Tucker, it said with his dates. Founder of Tucker Ranch, beloved father, companion, and grandfather, “We will always love you.” It was a gentle sand-colored granite, and looked just right for him. They placed it to one side of the barn where the driveway ended, and people would see it when they drove up. It stood about four feet tall, and the family stood staring at it, still unable to believe that he was gone.

Juliette had flown in from Paris as she had promised, Rufus and Gemma had come from London, Caroline, Peter, Morgan, and Billy had come from San Francisco, and Scarlett and Roberto from Santa Barbara. Caroline was almost six months pregnant and you could see it now. The baby was due at the end of September. Caroline and her family were coming for the summer. Gemma would be off then and was coming, and Rufus had promised to come with her. Kate had offered Juliette her house if she wanted to come back in the summer, and she said she might for a few weeks. She said she missed the ranch terribly. And they all missed JT. So much had happened since he left.

    Kate and Thad had taken over the ranch, Gemma had found Rufus and was on new wings in her career. Peter and Caroline almost didn’t make it, got back together and were having a baby, and Juliette had gone home to France.

“I’d like to say something,” Gemma said, stepping forward to stand next to the handsome stone they had just unveiled. Kate and Thad had approved it, and everyone loved it. “We always used to tease about my being ‘Daddy’s Girl.’ Dad would say it sometimes. I thought it was a compliment. I’m not so sure it was. We fought about a lot of things. We had different opinions, and when I turned eighteen, I ran like hell. So did Caro, and we stayed away, in our own ways, for a long time. Dad wasn’t an easy man. He liked to have his way, and he expected everyone to do what he told them to do. Kate, me, Caro, Thad, our mother, Scarlett, Juliette. It was his way or the highway. And some of us took the highway.

“But one thing I do know, and it’s taken me a long time to figure it out. He loved us all. Not just me. I wasn’t his favorite. I was the one he liked to fight with, because I fought back. And Kate was the one he liked to work with because she didn’t fight back. She just waited until now. She and Thad can run the ranch the way they want.” She smiled at them. “And Caro was the smart one, and he admired her for it. She just went about her business, wrote her books, and went around him. Our mother gave him three daughters. He couldn’t take that away from her in the end. Juliette was the woman who loved him, with all his flaws and faults, she never let him down. We all loved him, and he loved us. As for his daughters, we were all Daddy’s Girls, and if he were standing here today, he would say that himself. May his memory, our love for him, and his love for us, shine brightly forever.”

    She stepped back into the crowd then, and both her sisters thanked her and everyone hugged her. She had said just what needed to be said, and what they needed to hear. And with that, everyone walked to Kate’s house, where they were having lunch. On the way there, Thad hung back, and touched Kate’s arm. She stopped walking and looked at him.

“It’s been a year, Kate. We said we’d give it time. Don’t you think it’s time we got married? I do. We’re going to have a new house soon. We have a life and a ranch. I want a wife. When will you marry me?” He looked worried. She stood looking at him for a moment, and knew he was right. She hadn’t meant to wait this long, but so much had happened. They’d been busy.

“What about this summer when everyone’s home?” He smiled as soon as she said it and kissed her.