Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 17
“Don’t forget to stop in and see Amber in town.”
Casey stood in the kitchen of the ranch holding a cup of coffee. It was Saturday, and Ash was up early to enjoy his first day off since returning home. The ranch still demanded attention, but Rowdy and Gunnar had hired a weekend crew to spell the regulars, and rotated managers to oversee the workload.
“Her storefront, Amber Waves, is very popular with locals and tourists,” Casey continued. “It’s just down from the mercantile. Amber asks about you all the time.”
Ash only had a few friends in West Gorge, and one or two seemed mighty close to retirement age. But he planned on going to the town, to say a howdy or two.
Kat sat at the table flipping through magazines with Paislee, and Casey joined them. The three liked talking about decorating trends, among other things, as Kat was continually improving the ranch house, and Casey had her houses in West Gorge as well as her Phoenix house.
“Stop by the Arts and Culture Center,” Paislee said. “Pike has new paintings on exhibit.”
Ash nodded.
“Where’s Willow, Sun and Ford?” He couldn’t help but notice how quiet the kitchen was without the exuberant voices of his little nieces and nephew.
Kat smiled. “Saturday mornings, the kids all go to Auntie Liu’s house for Chinese cooking lessons and language school. She started teaching little Sun, but Ford and Willow did not want to be left out.”
“Of course, Liu’s baby is due in a few months,” Casey said. “She might want to slow down a little.”
Then after a pause for affect, everyone in the kitchen broke into a laugh at the thought of the energetic Liu ever slowing down. The chef took the ranch by storm when she arrived five years before, and maintained her demanding job even after marrying Colton West. It wasn’t until their new home on the West River was completed that Liu helped Kat hire her replacement.
These days, Liu worked her kitchen garden, created videos for her food blog, and looked after her husband and extended Chen family—now permanently installed in the guest house adjacent to her own sprawling home, eagerly awaiting the birth of Liu’s first baby.
Liu still brought over large platters of food to the ranch house, prepared by herself and the Chen women, “for our family.” Every morsel was appreciated and devoured by Kat, Gunnar, Willow, and whoever else happened to be under the roof at the time. Often Ridge and Casey, and now Ash.
In warm weather, Liu served garden-to-table dinners in the cool shade of her custom tea house; a gift from Colton. Hers was an idyllic life, according to the million-plus fans following her videos and social media posts.
Before Ash left for town, Casey stood up from the table and gently took his arm. She pulled him close and kissed his cheek.
“It’s so good to have you back, Ash,” Casey said. “We’ve all missed you.”
Ash smiled and returned the affection. Since marrying Ridge, Casey had doubled down on her friendship and maternal gestures. Having no children or siblings of her own, Casey gladly traded any reticence she had about joining such a close family for an openness that was without guile or agenda. She just wanted to be with the man who made her heart skip a beat, and would navigate any other relationship that stood between them.
Turned out, everyone wanted to be her friend—eventually.
Casey wasn’t going to challenge queen bee Kat to be the head of the extended family—she didn’t want that role. She wasn’t going to take on Liu’s cooking dominance, or try to one-up Paislee’s sense of style and design. She wasn’t going to tell anyone how to raise their children or love their spouses. Casey was learning these things for the first time herself.
Early on, Casey decided to allow the West sons the time they needed to accept her in the family; to smile and be an extra hand when one was needed, and then practically run to whatever bed Ridge West was laying his head on any given night, and fall into his arms.
Four years before, he had saved her life, in more ways than one. They had been inseparable ever since.
Liu Chen’s mother, Ling, once told her that according to a Chinese proverb, if somebody saves your life, they are responsible for the rest of your days. But later confessed that she and her husband, Zhang, may have gotten their wisdom from David Carradine in a Kung Fu episode rerun.
“Either way,” Ling said with a smile and a shrug, “Ridge West is a catch.”