Read Ever After at Sweetheart Ranch for Free Online Page A

her lip, just like Daniel had. Coincidence? Will would have to ask later.
    And then he realized that he and Grandma Sweet were the only unattached ­people in the house. He suppressed a laugh. He asked if anyone else needed a drink, then went and got himself a bottle of beer.
    The guests of honor stood near a laptop on the dining table, pointing at the little picture of their smiling faces on the screen and saying something about it to Heather. Nate had his arm around Emily, and they seemed to glow with enthusiasm and excitement. Nate ran the business empire part of the Silver Creek Ranch. He was a genius at investing, and he’d shored up the shaky finances of the business a few years back. He’d fallen in love with Emily when she’d moved to town, ostensibly to sell a family property. She’d ended up staying after falling in love with Nate, opening a bakery—­and discovering that Will’s dad was also hers.
    Joe’s high school girlfriend had left town and married someone else, pretending that that guy was Emily’s father. Only after her mom’s death was Emily able to follow the clues and discover the truth. Joe had missed out on thirty years of her life, and in the weeks after he’d first found out, he’d been sadder and more distracted than Will had ever seen. But he’d bounced back as he’d gotten to know Emily, and now she was just as much a part of the family as any of them.
    Will joined Nate and Emily. “Congratulations,” he said, shaking Nate’s hand and giving Emily a hug. “Why don’t you show me this website? Read the info out loud so we can all hear.”
    Everyone gathered around as Emily read with an excited voice. She had their dad’s blue eyes, adding her own tint of strawberry blond hair to the family’s various blond hues. Only Daniel had their mom’s darker hair.
    â€œIt took us a while to decide how we really wanted to go,” Emily continued. “Foreign adoption or private, a baby or any age child. After a while, we realized we wanted a baby and we wanted to try to make it happen here.”
    â€œSo how long can a private adoption take?” Faith asked, after taking another sip of wine.
    â€œThe average wait time is eighteen months,” Nate said. “Basically, you just wait until you’re chosen.”
    â€œBut we’ve already had the home visit and been approved—­that’s a major hurdle,” Emily added. “We’re even considering starting our own website for the adoption, with more details about us and our lives. They say it helps the moms decide who to choose for the adoption.”
    â€œHere’s to a quick success!” Grandma Sweet said, lifting her glass in a toast. Everyone else followed suit.
    After a few more minutes of adoption excitement, everyone settled down for dinner. Will grilled steaks on the patio with his dad and listened to the highlights of Joe’s latest projects, from the high school garden program to the farmers’ market in Silver Creek Park and the newest restaurant joining the organic food network he coordinated. Joe and Grandma Sweet even had some investments on Main Street that they kept track of. Will was glad all those interests made his dad happy, but he wasn’t much like his dad. As Will kept telling Chris, he was all about the ranch. He worked hard as a cowboy, and he loved his life, whether it was riding fence or herding cattle or rebuilding the engine of the feeding truck. Every day was different, and he was outdoors—­even if that meant rain or snow.
    Sometimes he worried he was disappointing his dad, since he wasn’t involved in the inn or any of the other businesses. But he had brothers and cousins who wanted to deal with those things. Even his mom seemed to be spreading out, recently becoming a partner in the Mystic Connection, the New Age shop in Valentine. Since she spent enough time there, he thought as