Oma and Opa were Cain’s parents, Grampa Jim was his mother’s husband. Gramp and Gramma were Ranger and Magnolia, and Auntie was Cain’s Aunt Sophie.
Despite being invited, Aunt Sophie had refused to attend Cain and Ginger’s wedding, but when little Josiah was born a year and a half later, for reasons unknown to all but Sophie, she’d accompanied her sister, Sarah, to the hospital to meet her grandnephew. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was that she couldn’t resist the chance to see her twin sister’s grandson.
Likely, she’d never expected for baby Josiah, named for her son, with his blond hair and green eyes, to snare her heart on sight. With tears of gratitude flooding her eyes, she thanked Cain and Ginger for honoring Woodman’s memory, and from that day she’d worked to mend her relationships with the McHuids and with Cain. Through her love for little Josiah, and now for Kelleyanne too, she’d found a way to be part of her family again, and Cain was grateful for it.
“That’s right,” said Cain. “We’re all gonna sing to Momma.”
“I wuv her, Dada.”
“Me too,” said Cain, smiling at his son with soft eyes, full of love. “She sure is easy to love, little man.”
The bathroom door opened.
“Lord, we’re gonna be late!” said Ginger, bursting into the sitting room of the tack room, holding out a pumped bottle of breast milk for Cain. She reached into her shirt to reclasp her bra, then smoothed her blouse, grinning at Cain. “Do I look all right?”
Cain nodded, blown away, as he always was, by his wife’s natural beauty. “You look stunnin’.”
“Byooteeful Momma.”
Ginger smiled at their son and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his head just as someone knocked at the door to the tack room, where they always stayed as a family whenever they visited McHuid Farm overnight. Klaus, at Ranger’s insistence, had moved up to Kelleyanne McHuid’s old cottage a couple of years ago, and joined Ranger and Magnolia regularly for dinner at the manor house.
“I guess it makes sense,” Magnolia had said, finally welcoming Klaus into their social lives and inner sanctum, “since we’re family now.”
Ginger opened the door to find Magnolia, Sarah, and Sophie standing outside, three mother hens champing at the bit to spoil their grandbabies.
“Happy birthday, Ginger,” said her mother, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before marching inside and beelining for Cain. “You give me that child, Cain. I’ll take her up to the main house so you and Ginger have a moment to breathe before the festivities begin.”
Carefully Cain handed over his daughter and gave her bottle to his mother. “Make sure she gets this when she wakes up, okay, Mom?”
Sarah smiled and nodded as her sister, Sophie, called, “Josiah Woodman Wolfram, you come on over here to your Auntie Sophie now.”
Josiah looked up at his mother for a second, waiting for her to nod before racing to his Oma and Auntie and taking their hands.
“We sing to Momma!”
“That’s right!” said his oma. “How about you and me and Auntie practice as we walk up to the manor house?”
“Happy birfday to youuuu . . .”
The sound of three happy voices singing faded away as Cain’s mother, aunt, and son left the barn hand in hand, singing the “birfday” song.
Cain closed the door and locked it, then turned to his wife with a wolfish gleam in his eyes, and Ginger grinned back at him, her sweet lips tilting up in a smile.
“How long do you think we have?” he asked, stalking her a step at a time.
“Cain . . .”
Her voice held a warning, but her feet were already backing up toward the bedroom, her brown eyes sparkling.
“I mean, at least a few minutes, right?” he asked, following her lead. “And it is your birthday, princess. Anythin’ special I can do for you?”
“We’ll miss the cake,” she said, giggling as she fell back onto the bed, her eyes beckoning him to join her.
“You’re sweeter’n cake,” he said, straddling her hips as he cradled her face in his hands, leaning closer and closer to kiss her, “my lionhearted woman.”
THE END
A Letter to My Readers
Dear Reader, Thank you so much for reading Ginger’s Heart. I hope you enjoyed reading about Ginger McHuid’s journey to true and everlasting love!
I had always intended that Woodman and Cain enter the military, and the choice to make them damage controlmen came from the belief that it was one of the many Navy careers that could segue organically into small-town employment at a local fire department. Every small town has a local fire department, right? Right. Stay with me here.