Jake (Demented Souls #16)

Epilogue

Two weeks later

H eather placed a hand in the small of her back and stretched. As much as her back ached, she was glad to be doing something again. Today had been her second day at her new employer, the vet Lurch had told her they used at the ranch, and so far, she liked Dr. Kurt, as well as the rest of the staff.

After making sure everything had been taken care of, and checking in with the nigh tech, who’s name she couldn’t recall at the moment, she grabbed her coat and headed out. She was tired, but it was a good tired. As she made the twenty-minute drive back to the ranch, she couldn’t help but be glad she wouldn’t have to worry about dinner. Either they would join the rest of the hands and have whatever was being served, or Aaron would fix them something. She was good either way, as long as she didn’t have to do it herself.

Thinking of Aaron, she smiled to herself at how he’d taken care of her, and worried over every little thing. Yes, it was irritating sometimes, but also endearing. It told her he cared. He also didn’t seem to care that she couldn’t get in the habit of calling him Jake like everyone else did. The one time she’d brought it up, he’d said he liked her calling him Aaron, it was their thing, so she’d quit trying.

Heather pulled up outside her borrowed trailer and sat for a minute, wishing for the first time since she’d arrived here, that she had either an apartment or a house. If only so she had room for a proper bathtub. Because right now, nothing sounded better than a soak in a tub of steaming water to ease her sore muscles.

The truck door beside her opened, startling her. She couldn’t help the way she jumped or the high-pitched squeak that escaped.

“Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you pull in, but not get out and I got worried.” Aaron wrapped one arm around her and tugged her into his embrace. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired and was wishing on stars.” She tipped her head back and kissed him, losing herself for a moment in his taste, then pulling away. “How long do I have before dinner?”

He checked his watch. “About half an hour, why?”

“I’m in desperate need of a hot shower.” She wrinkled her nose as she thought of the things she’d gotten on her today at work. “Can I talk you into clearing the bathroom for me?”

Matt had shown her how to use the hot water in the trailer, but that tank was tiny, and she wanted more than it gave her in hot water.

He watched her for a moment then nodded. “Sure. Want time to yourself or you want me to come talk to you while you shower?”

“I wouldn’t say no to talking, but you’re keeping your clothes on this time. I’m hungry and have no intention of missing dinner again.”

“But it was fun,” Aaron said with a laugh as he stepped back and gave her space.

She climbed down from the truck and shot him a grin as he headed for the door, and she went into the trailer. “I’ll be right there.”

By the time she went into the bunkhouse, there were a couple of Aaron’s brothers in the common room of the bunkhouse, but the bathroom and showers were empty. She waved as she ducked inside, eager to get clean. She’d stripped out of her dirty clothes and turned on the water and was waiting for it to warm up when Aaron came in.

“How was your day?”

“Good. We were busy, so the day went quickly.”

“And you got dirty.”

“Babe, I’m a vet tech. I get dirty every day.”

“So this shower as soon as you get home is going to be a regular thing?”

“Yeah, probably,” she said, stepping under the spray.

“I can deal with that. If you’ll let me know when you leave, I can make sure it’s available when you get home.”

That was sweet. And just another of the many reasons she loved him.

“I’ll do that. Tell me about your day.”

“Ranch work mostly, but I did get a couple of interesting calls.”

“Oh?” She poured shampoo into her hand, then worked it into her hair, biting back a groan at how good it felt to work her fingers along her scalp.

“First was a call from Cowboy telling me he’d heard through the grapevine that the Wandering Sons had been raided. Word went out on the grapevine that any and all offers slash contracts they’d put out might as well be void because they were no longer in a place to honor them.”

Heather froze for a moment, then used her arm to wipe soap suds from her face.

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

“It does if you think it means that having to look over your shoulder for someone out for the reward is over, for good.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be. I heard the same news from the Tucson chapter, and I called Hex to be sure.”

She rinsed her hair and applied the conditioner, moving on auto pilot as she processed the news.

“I could go back if I wanted,” she said, not sure she could believe it.

“You could.” He fell quiet while she rinsed her hair and body. When she shut off the water, he stepped in with her towel, gently blotting her dry, a habit they’d gotten into over the last couple of weeks. He didn’t always join her in the shower or in the bathroom, but when he did, he didn’t let her dry herself, but took care of her. “Do you want to go back?”

Heather turned and looked at him, searching his face for any sign of what he wanted. But she saw nothing. He’d carefully schooled his expression to blankness.

“No.” The words came out as barely more than a breath. She watched his face a moment longer. “Not unless you do too. I don’t care where I am, as long as you’re there too.”

“Thank God.” Aaron lowered his head and covered her mouth in a searing kiss that stole all thoughts of being anywhere but here, from her mind. All that mattered was the two of them, here and now. “I have something I need to ask but wanted to make sure you wanted to be with me first.”

“What?” She frowned at him.

“Marry me. I want you to stay forever. I’m trying to convince your cousin to sell me the trailer, or I’ll pick up another somewhere else, but I don’t ever want you to leave. I want you with me always. I can’t imagine anyone else I want to ride through life with.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him as he gazed down at her.

Her heart thundered in her ears. Had he really just asked her for forever? To be a permanent part of her life? She’d hoped for this, but hadn’t dared think he might want the same thing.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be. As stupid as it sounds, I’m glad Mitch turned out to be as stupid as he did.”

Aaron growled.

“I know you don’t like me talking about him and I won’t even disagree that he got what was coming to him. But if he hadn’t done what he did, I never would have come north and found you again. And I’d go through a lot more than I did to have what I have now.”

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“I did, but not in the way you wanted.” She smiled and lifted one hand to cup his face. “Yes, I’ll stay with you. I’ll take your growly moods and cranky scowls, because you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m not going to walk away from that, ever.” She stretched up and placed a peck of a kiss on the end of his chin. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she’d missed lunch. “Now I’m hungry, so let me get dressed. After we eat, I’ll let you drag me to bed so we can celebrate.”

“Put your clothes on, woman. I’m making plans for that celebration already.”

Heather shook her head and smiled to herself as she pulled on her clothes and combed out her hair. She never would have guessed things would end up this way as she’d fled Alabama, but she wouldn’t trade a single moment with Aaron for anything. This was where she was meant to be and where she intended to stay.