Epilogue
Robyn
Six months later
The sound of her alarm brought Robyn out of dreamland, but it took her a moment to walk across the bridge from dreamland into reality. She stretched and smiled, thinking that ever since she’d met Rooster, the two were pretty much the same.
Last night had been the first time they’d slept in the renovated house on The Flying W. Her body was still a bit tingly from all the ways she and her Daddy had christened almost every room in the place. Her hand swept across the mattress beside her and finding nothing, she opened her eyes. “Daddy?” When no response came, she pushed up to sit and looked toward the door, but it was closed. The door to the bathroom was ajar but the interior was dark. Had she overslept?
No, the alarm was still pealing. She reached for her phone to shut it off and that’s when she saw it. A folded piece of paper tucked beneath the bell that normally resided on her desk at the B&B. She had no clue why he’d brought it to his place, but the fact that he did had her smiling with the memory of the first note she’d found waiting for her to wake. Picking it up, she unfolded it.
Little bird,
If you’re ready to get out of bed just ring the bell and I’ll come running.
Love, Daddy Rooster
PS: You don’t have to worry about Ms. Ethel learning that I had a great time taking advantage of you last night because I’m not one to kiss and tell. Remember, I’m a gentleman.
PPS: If your feet hit the floor for any reason, I’ll not only hear them, I’ll be up here with one of those thick wooden spoons I stole from your kitchen.
PPPS: I hope you read this before dawn breaks so we can begin a new day just as we ended one last night—together.
She smiled and read the note again, recognizing he’d basically duplicated the first note he’d ever left her, even including a reference to Ms. Ethel as he had that night. God, how had she gotten so lucky? The man she’d once run from had been the man of every dream she’d ever had. It had just taken a while for her to recognize his face, to yearn for his touch, to love him more than she loved life itself. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she was about to ring the bell when the sheet dropped down and she remembered she was naked.
Her gaze circled the room before landing on the dresser against the far wall and she smiled. Ten minutes later, she ran her fingers through her curls to comb them into some semblance of order before she twisted the knob on the bell. Releasing it, she listened to the ring that never failed to summon her Daddy. By the time she heard footsteps, she was posed and ready.
Well, she thought she was ready. But when the door swung open and she saw her Daddy standing on the threshold completely dressed from the hat on his head to the boots on his feet, she remembered they were supposed to be going on a ride up the mountain to watch the sunrise.
“Oops. Guess I’m a little underdressed for our ride.”
Rooster’s right eyebrow rose. “I’d say you are very much overdressed as I distinctly recall looking at your beautiful and completely nude body before I went to make coffee and saddle the horses. And, I’ll add that unless some little bluebirds flew through the window to dress their Robynella, some little bird is in quite the pickle.”
With that image in her mind, she forgot all about her sexy pose and rolled into a ball as she burst out laughing.
When she managed to utter just the occasional giggle, Rooster said, “You know, my grandmother always said that it’s only funny until someone starts crying.”
“Wh-who’s crying?” Robyn asked, concern doing a good job of stilling the humor of the situation.
“No one, yet, but I believe some little bird is going to be having her wings clipped because she can’t seem to keep her feet off the floor.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Daddy Rooster.”
“Baby bird, it’s kind of hard to declare your innocence when you are actually wearing the evidence, though, I’d admit there’s not too much actual evidence in evidence.”
Robyn giggled, but then rose to her knees on the mattress. “Before sentencing, I’d like to present my case.”
“By all means, feel free to do so. Then you may present your butt for your spanking.”
Robyn got to her feet. Walking across the mattress, she stepped onto the nightstand on Rooster’s side of the bed. From there, she took a small leap and landed on the window seat beneath the bay-window that spanned the entire wall and looked out over the back of his property. She made sure to sway her hips as she strutted the length of the seat.
“Pretty clever, but just so you know, that bear rug you’re about to step on is considered part of the floor.”
“Who needs a rug?”
“Says the little bird who was spreading not only her wings but her legs on that very rug not all that long ago?”
Robyn felt her nipples tighten as she looked from the large rug between the two chairs positioned before the fireplace and then back at Rooster. “I stand corrected. We definitely need a rug for me to lie on while my Rooster makes me crow, but I don’t need to stand on it.”
Robyn bent forward to touch her toes and then stretched her arms over her head as if loosening her stiff muscles.
When she lifted her foot, Rooster’s tone showed his disbelief as he said, “No way.”
“Yes way,” she countered and then stepped, not on the rug or even on the arm of the chair , but onto its back for the one step it took her before she took the big step up required to reach the wide, live-edge, black-walnut mantle. At the sound of Rooster’s gasp, she lifted her arms slowly like a ballerina finding her balance, or like a bird gliding across the sky with ease. She avoided the framed photos decorating it, only nudging one. Squatting slowly, she moved it back into position. “Sorry Granny.”
“Forget Granny. I think you’ve already given Gramps’ ghost a coronary.”
“If he’s anything like you, and from the smile on Granny’s face, I would bet he very much is, I’d wager he doesn’t mind no matter what view he’s getting at the moment.”
Robyn stepped down to the second chair and then all it took to reach her destination was the trunk she’d bought at the rummage sale. It had not only held a treasure trove of old books and vintage linens which she’d used at The Nest, as it was often called these days, it did indeed make a perfect table. Standing on the trunk, she made the transfer to the top of the dresser where she performed a perfect curtsy before dropping to her knees and opening the drawer that held lingerie like the set she was currently wearing.
Looking up, she smiled. “I rest my case.”
“Well, Moira did tell me never to make assumptions… about anything. It seems you outsmarted me this time, little bird.”
Robyn knew she had but suddenly regretted donning lingerie, no matter how much her Daddy liked taking it off her. He also really loved selecting which set she’d wear beneath her clothes, having told her that each time he looked at her, no matter if she were baking, playing with her friends, or even talking with the guests at her B&B, he knew that once he had her alone, he’d get to unwrap the most beautiful gift in the world over and over and over again, every day for the rest of his life.
Standing in one smooth motion, she unfastened the clasp hidden beneath the daisy in the center of the bra cups and slipped it off. Then she pulled the ribbons on the sides of the g-string, and let it fall to her feet. Rooster’s smile and flare of his nostrils and the bulge beneath his zipper told her she’d made the right choice.
“Watch, Daddy,” she said a second before she jumped and then squealed in victory when she landed in the middle of the bed.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Rooster growled.
“Sorry, I just thought it would be fun to show you I can fly.”
“I believe there are far safer ways to fly, little bird . Ones that won’t take ten years off my life.”
“You’re right and I’m sorry. And I know you wanted to surprise me and I messed the whole thing up.”
“You didn’t mess it up, little bird. You just adjusted the timeline a bit.” With that cryptic statement, he stepped backward.
“Wait, aren’t we going riding?” she called out as she stared at the door he’d pulled closed. When no answer came, she remembered the note. By the time she twisted the knob and released it, smiling as the door began to open again, she was posed just as he’d wanted, naked and under the covers.
“Happy Anniversary, little bird,” he said, walking all the way into the room this time.
“Happy Anniversary, Daddy.” It had been six months ago to the day when she’d looked up to see the man of her dreams in the flesh.
Rooster bent down to kiss the top of her curls as he always did before he slowly, ever so slowly, began to pull the covers down. He never rushed, didn’t pull them away in one move. First, he’d removed the quilt, taking the time to fold it neatly over on itself at the foot of the bed. Then came the duvet that would follow the same path. By the time his fingers were taking hold of the top sheet, her nipples were tight little peaks resembling those they’d see outside the window once the sun rose over the mountain. Only when she was completely uncovered would he smile and say, “Prettiest present a man could ever want and the most perfect gift for a Daddy who loves his little bird.”
Robyn lifted her arms and slid them around his neck. “No matter how many times you say that, it always makes my heart happy.”
“I’m glad, little bird.”
He kissed her and she felt every cell in her body expand as if waiting in expectation in unwrapping his body so they could rub and grind against his cells. However, when she slid her hand down to his belt buckle, he chuckled.
“Sorry, I’m afraid that’s not on this morning’s agenda.”
“Please?”
“Unless you have a magical way of turning back time and keeping the sun from rising, we’re going to miss it if we don’t get going.”
Knowing she was the cause of the delay, she dropped her hand but only after palming the bulge so very evident beneath the denim. “I’ll make it up to you.”
Rooster laughed and kissed her, this time on her lips.
She loved the fact that he didn’t save time by simply choosing the bra and panties she’d left on the dresser’s top, but dipped into the drawer she’d left open and made his choice. She smiled when seeing it was the same set he’d chosen the day he helped her dress when she sprained her ankle.
What she loved even more was that despite their adjusted timeline, he took a moment to kiss the mounds of her breasts, giving each nipple a little bite before hooking her bra at her back. And when she obediently lifted her feet to slip it into the panties, he drew them up her body as slowly as he’d drawn the covers down and then paused their rise and bent to kiss the mons of her sex.
At his soft growl as he pulled them into place, palming her ass cheeks in his hands and squeezing, she knew the first rush of arousal was already making her panties damp.
After she downed a very quick cup of coffee, she was lifted into the saddle of a horse she’d not seen before.
“Where did she come from?” Robyn asked, leaning forward to stroke down the mare’s neck.
“From Jagger’s. He and Moira helped me pick her out for you.”
“For me? Like for always?” she asked.
“Yes, for always and forever. Moses named her but you can pick any name you want,” Rooster said as he mounted his horse, Windrunner.
Robyn blinked back tears as her Daddy’s love and the love of her friends wrapped around her.
“Phoenix.” Robyn gasped as the mare turned her head to look back at her. “Did you see that?” she asked in awe. “I think that means she approves?”
Rooster chuckled. “I’d say so since that’s the name Moses gave her.”
Robyn’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? How could he have known?”
Rooster shrugged. “Ranch magic, baby bird, Ranch magic. Are you ready?”
“Oh yes,” she said and when he kicked Windrunner’s sides, she laughed in full abandon as Phoenix instantly followed.
It wasn’t quite day, but there was enough light to see their way up the mountain. And when they crested a rise where a huge plateau spread out in all directions, Robyn was speechless with the beauty of it all.
Rooster slowed his pace and then stopped, waiting for her to come alongside. Even if she hadn’t known the sun rose in the east, she’d have known by the rays of light shining like spears up into the heavens. She’d seen many a sunrise, but witnessing this one here beside the man who had brought her from the shadows to be reborn in the warmth of his arms and the comfort of his all-encompassing love, she’d never been more moved.
Tears trickled down her cheeks but she made no move to wipe them away as those rays began to shimmer. It wasn’t until the sun itself appeared that she turned to her left to look at Rooster, only to discover he wasn’t on his horse.
“Daddy?”
“Right here, little bird.”
His voice had her turning to the right to see him standing beside her, his arms open to pluck her from the saddle. She wrapped her arms around his neck in expectation of being carried, but instead, he slid her down his body until she was on her feet. Then he slowly knelt on one knee before her.
“Oh… oh, Daddy,” she whispered, her heart threatening to burst as she saw the small purple-velvet box he pulled from his pocket.
“I love you with all my heart, little bird. My soul is whole only with you in my arms. My heart only wants to beat when yours is beating in perfect cadence with it. Every day I wake, my first thought is of how blessed I am that you are waking next to me. Every night when I sleep, I know I’m not alone because I will find you in my dreams. Will you make me a very happy Daddy and strut through this life with me? Will you marry me, my Robyn?” On the last word, he opened the box to display a vintage engagement ring. A square-cut sapphire was surrounded by diamonds that spread down the band to become the wings of tiny birds on each side.
Robyn’s mouth was in a small ‘O’, the trickle of tears had become a flood to stream down her face as she stared at him, not needing to see to be able to know he’d catch her when she flung herself at him. “Yes, Yes, Yes!”
Rooster stood and removed the ring from its bed and took Robyn’s left hand which was trembling slightly. Slipping it on her ring finger, he lifted it to his lips and then kissed the stone before using the pads of his fingers to dry her tears.
He smiled and then threw his head back and crowed.
Robyn burst out in laughter. She knew why he’d chosen this day, this morning to propose because when else would her Rooster crow but at sunrise? She might not have taken out an ad in the New York Times, the only rooftops might be far below them on the valley floor, but she was standing on a mountain and was more than ready to show the world just how happy this man made her. Throwing her head back, she added her crow to his as the magic of the sunrise bathed them in its golden light.
The End