"Maybe we get to just live now, build our life together without constantly fighting for survival." Kelly leaned her head on his shoulder. "That sounds almost too good to be true." "Then maybe we should make it true anyway," Bo said.
"Starting with finishing that wheat harvest. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can move to the ranch and start our new life properly." The next day they returned to the harvest with renewed purpose. Bo cut wheat while Kelly bundled and shocked it, the physical labor a welcome relief after the emotional intensity of the previous days.
The children helped in small ways, Thomas bringing water, Sarah watching the younger ones, even the twins collecting dropped grain heads for the chickens. By evening, the entire field had been cut and shocked, standing in neat rows to dry before threshing. Bo straightened up, his back aching but his heart full, and looked at what they'd accomplished together. "We did it," Kelly said, standing beside him and surveying their work.
"We actually did it." "You doubted we would?" "Maybe a little," Kelly admitted. "Everything's happened so fast, Bo."
"Sometimes I worry I'll wake up and find this was all a dream. That you're not really here, that we're not really married, that I'm still alone trying to figure out how to harvest this wheat by myself." Bo pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "Not a dream."
"I'm here, we're married, and you're never going to be alone again. That's a promise." The wheat dried for three days, during which Bo divided his time between Kelly's farm and his ranch, making arrangements for the family's move. Jack supervised the preparation of rooms for the children.
The ranch house had eight bedrooms, most of which had stood empty for years, and all of which needed to be cleaned and furnished for young occupants. "Boss is turning the bachelor palace into a family home," Bo overheard one of the ranch hands say, and the words filled him with unexpected pride. Yes. That's exactly what he was doing.
The big empty house he'd built for Catherine, that had stood as a monument to his wealth and isolation for seven years, was about to be filled with life and laughter and love. It felt like redemption. On the fourth day they threshed the wheat using equipment borrowed from Tom Pritchard, who insisted he owed Kelly a favor for standing up to the gossips. The final tally was even better than Kelly had projected, 560 bushels of premium wheat worth just over $450 at current market prices.
Kelly stood at the grain elevator watching Pritchard write out the bank draft, tears streaming down her face. "I did it. I actually did it. I saved the farm." "You did more than that," Bo said softly.
"You proved to everyone, including yourself, that you're stronger than any circumstance life can throw at you." Kelly folded the bank draft carefully and tucked it into her pocket. Then she turned to Bo with a mischievous smile. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"What?" "I don't owe you anything anymore. I paid the debt in full, half in wheat money, half in marriage." Her eyes sparkled. "You came here to collect $800, and you're going home with a wife and five children instead."
"Some might call that a poor business decision, Mr. Callahan." Bo laughed and pulled her into his arms right there in front of Pritchard and half the town. "Some might call it the best decision I ever made, Mrs. Callahan." The move to the Callahan ranch happened over the course of a week.