"I'm sorry. I guess I distrusted all men because of what Dad did."
"I know, and I guess I was deliberately a little evasive because I wanted you to learn to trust me. From now on we discuss things openly, all right?"
"From now on," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
A tall thin figure strolled around the side of the house. Cassie glanced at the familiar figure and then gasped.
"Pete!"
Pete hugged her and looked at Bordeaux. "Welcome home, boss. I see you've been out shopping again."
Bordeaux grinned. "Yeah, but from now on I'm leaving the shopping to someone else. Fighting a band of renegade Indians isn't half as hard as lassoing this little filly."
Pete chuckled. "Yeah. Now that you caught her, it will be even harder to train her."
Cassie drew her brows down to feign a stern expression. "Train me?"
Pete guffawed. "Boy, the fight ain't half out of her."
Bordeaux slipped an arm around her waist. "Chasing after eight or ten kids should keep her busy."
Cassie gazed around at the ranch. "It looks like a fine place to raise children."
A quail punctuated her statement with its crisp call. She was home again, and it would be even better than she had imagined.
That evening everyone met in Springtown for an engagement party. Afterward they moved Darcie's things to Bordeaux's ranch. Cassie went back to the ranch to live with her father and the twins until their wedding day. She said she forgave her father, and she was trying to. She had spent too much time hating him to do that all in one day, though. The twins would be close, and that was something good that came of his return. If only she could forgive and forget the way they did. She had forgiven Chauncey easily enough. Maybe love was like that. She had once loved her father - probably still did.
A few months ago she wouldn't have realized that forgiving her father was important to her marriage - but then, a few months ago she didn't know Chauncey. A few months ago she didn't know the true meaning of love. A lot had happened in the last few months. Her life was on a new course now, and the future looked brighter than it ever had. Most of that was due to Chauncey, but part of it was due to her change of perspective. A person couldn't avoid fate, but they could control the way they responded to it. Chauncey was right. They would have disagreements - even fights, but they would forgive each other. That was the only way to keep a relationship healthy.