Epilogue
Clay shut the livery stable doors, securing them so they’d not blow open, and glanced down the street. The snow was nearly gone now, leaving the road that ran through town a muddy mess.
He threw his hand up when Jasper Wilkes, the barber in town, waved at him from the doorway to his shop across the street.
After six months of living in Butte, he knew the names of more people than he ever thought he would.
He had friends he could count on and never had to worry where his next meal would come from or if he’d have a warm place to sleep.
Four men were in front of the stagecoach station when he turned toward it.
They were staring up at the two men on ladders, hanging the new sign.
He stopped behind them, looking up at it, and couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips.
Daisy’s Diner was spelled out in bold red paint.
He wondered if she’d seen it yet and hurried inside the building to find out.
The main room held eight tables with chairs to seat over twenty.
Three men were already eating, and the scent of cooking meat filled the air.
He hurried toward the kitchen to the right of the front door.
Daisy was stirring something in a pot, long tendrils of hair falling loose from the bun at the back of her head, and he crossed the room to her, wrapping his arms around her waist before kissing the side of her neck.
She turned and smiled at him, craning her head up for a proper kiss. “All finished for the day?”
“I am.”
“Good. I’ve missed you.”
He kissed her again, lingering to take in the scent of her skin before pulling back.
“I missed you, too.” They couldn’t seem to get enough of each other, not that he was complaining.
Since the night he’d come home and found her in the cabin, they’d been inseparable.
He’d loved her for long hours that first night and drawn her a bath the next morning, taking his time washing every inch of her skin before taking her to town.
They’d met Graham, who had walked with them to the church where he’d witnessed them get married.
If he knew they hadn’t waited to be intimate, he never mentioned it.
Someone laughed loudly from the dining room. He turned his head to look that way and saw two more people sitting down at one of the tables.
When Liam talked to Everette about Daisy opening up her diner in the stagecoach station, he’d been more than happy to let her.
The man said he couldn’t remember how many times he’d pointed travelers in the hotel's direction for a hot meal, and, most of the time, they’d get their room there as well.
Now that Daisy was cooking, the rooms he rented out were full again.
It was a win-win situation for everyone, and he got to keep her close by and not have to worry about her at the cabin alone all day while he was working, which eased his mind.
He lowered his hand to rest on her swelling stomach. “How are you feeling today?”
“Better.”
“No more sickness?”
“No.” She smiled. “I think the worst of it is over.”
“Good. Have you rested?”
She laughed and went back to stirring whatever she had cooking in the pot. “Yes, Mother, I’ve rested.”
He pinched her lightly on the bottom before kissing the side of her head. When she looked back up at him, she said, “Grab me those bowls off that shelf.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He helped her serve those in the dining room, the heaping bowls of chicken and dumplings making his own stomach grumble with hunger.
She smiled at those eating her food and knew she was happy here.
He’d worried she’d miss her family and want to go back to Silver Falls, but so far, she hadn't mentioned more than visiting.
His gaze caught on the curve of her belly, the gentle swelling more noticeable now. They’d not told many people they were expecting a baby, but Callie knew, which meant everyone in town would know by week's end.
She turned and saw him watching her, and the smile she gave him made something in his chest clench tight.
He’d loved her since the moment he saw her and never thought he’d be living this dream.
When she crossed the room to where he stood, leaning up on her toes and lifting her face to him, his thoughts drifted back to the day bandits had overtaken their stagecoach.
That one terrifying act had changed his life, and hers as well, and come the end of summer, when their baby was born, he’d have everything he’d ever wanted—the girl of his dreams in his arms, and the family he’d so desperately craved.
And all it had taken was a soft kiss in autumn.