Epilogue
Boon opened his eyes with the sunrise, and as usual was wide awake the moment he did so.
But he lay perfectly still, holding Angelle close, his nose buried in her hair, her scent wrapped around him.
He pressed a kiss to her head when he realized he was smiling.
He never woke up smiling, though he always got up early and got the day started.
But not today. Today he woke up happy, looking forward to whatever was coming his way.
Because he wasn’t alone. He was a part of something much bigger than he could ever be alone.
And the woman that made it all possible, loved him.
Boon grinned even bigger and kissed her shoulder before he very carefully unwound himself from around her, slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen.
Today would be a lazy day. They had no obligations to anyone except each other today.
Angelle’s parents, and Tempest, Brandt and Elijah had gone home the day before, and the newness of him and Angelle being in Whispers was wearing off so visits had died down.
And that was a good thing, they could finally settle into their routine without having to entertain everyone else.
Enjoying the quiet of the morning and knowing he didn’t have to prepare for anyone coming by uninvited he actually enjoyed preparing breakfast. He got coffee brewing and scrambled a few eggs, then started some bacon in a skillet.
Once that was done, he made a quick dough just like his mother had taught him when he was a child, then filled it with eggs, bacon, and cheese, before cutting it into individual pies and dropping them into hot oil to fry them up.
While Boon waited for them to cool, he walked through the house, straightening here and there when he found something out of place, so Angelle wouldn’t have to do it when she woke.
Then he sat on the porch for a little while as he ate and had his coffee.
As the sun crept higher into the sky, he decided it was a perfect day to do a little fishing, but first he had to see to his mate.
He went back inside and put a couple of hand pies on a plate, then took the plate into the bedroom and left it on the nightstand on Angelle’s side of the bed.
He tucked her covers around her a little better, then quietly closed the door behind himself when he left the bedroom.
Whistling to himself a little as he went down the hall to his man cave, he assembled what he’d need for a morning of fishing.
A tackle box and fishing poles — one for him, and one for Angelle.
Then he headed downstairs to the bayou. As he walked, he took the time to look around himself for the first time in a long time, appreciating the beauty of the place he lived.
Birds chirped, squirrels chittered, the water gurgled as it went by, and there was in his mind, simply no place better to be.
He sat down beside the water, baited the hooks of both poles, used his knife to dig a couple of little holes to stand the poles up in, then leaned back with his face raised to the sky, reveling in the warmth of the sun as he took advantage of a perfect day in what he’d determined was a perfect life.
~~~
The sun shone brightly through the windows, spilling across the bed.
Angelle stretched her body before she even opened her eyes.
And just that little movement let her know she was alone in bed.
She should not have had enough room to stretch all the way across the bed without bumping into Boon.
Opening her eyes, blinking against the bright morning light, she saw that she was indeed alone.
Throwing back her covers, she reluctantly sat up and looked around the room.
That’s when she saw it — a plate with two fried pies sitting in the middle of it.
“Ooh, that looks yummy,” she said, picking up one of the pies and examining it.
“Are you sweet, or not?” she asked, sniffing at it.
Deciding that either way she was starving, she took a bite, then looked at the interior of the pie as she chewed.
She nodded her head in approval as she got out of bed, taking the plate with her as she wandered through the family room in search of her mate.
A quick cursory glance told her he wasn’t in the kitchen either.
But the moment she looked out over the bayou she found him.
He was sitting beside the bayou, two fishing poles already cast as he leaned back on the grassy bank.
His face was turned up to the sun and he seemed completely at peace with the world.
Angelle smiled to herself as she slipped her feet in a pair of Boon’s spare boots and headed downstairs to share what was left of the morning with him.
The clomping of his too large boots on her small feet as she navigated the stairs let him know she was awake and on her way to him.
He turned and looked at her; messy hair, eyes still heavy with sleep, clutching a fried pie in each hand, and wearing his extra pair of boots.
Boon laughed as she dragged her feet across the grass to where he sat.
“Good morning,” Angelle said as she approached him.
“Good morning. You sleep well?” he asked.
“I did. But I do have a formal complaint to lodge.”
“And that would be?” he asked.
“You didn’t warn me that you’re a morning person. How long have you been out here?”
“About an hour, and you should have known when I showed up to take you to breakfast at Maverik’s that I am a morning person. I’ve always been an earlier riser.”
“We’ll have to work on that,” Angelle said, taking another bite of the bacon, egg, and cheese hand pie she’d already started. “Want the other?” she asked, holding out the other pie.
“You don’t?” he asked.
“One is plenty.”
Boon accepted the pie from her and finished it off in two or three bites.
“You make these?” she asked.
“Yep. My mother made sure I could feed myself, and my mate if I was ever lucky enough to find one.”
“I’d say you lucked out,” she teased.
“I’d say you’re right,” Boon said with a chuckle.
Angelle sat down beside him and stretched her legs out in front of her, his boots still adorning her feet and just almost reaching her knees.
“I’m going to have to get you some boots that fit you.”
“I have some. I just decided that yours were right there and easier to slip on at the moment. Do you mind?”
“Not at all. You can wear anything you want.”
“Good. You can wear my stuff, too,” she said.
Boon laughed, knowing full well that he couldn’t fit into anything she owned. Then he pointed at the fishing pole nearest her. “Get it! Get it! You’ve got a bite!”
Angelle looked at the pole, then at Boon.
“Hurry up! It’s going to get away!” he exclaimed.
“It’s not my pole!” she answered as she scurried up on her knees to grab the pole he’d stood up in a small hole on the bank near where he sat. She immediately started reeling in whatever had the hook on what was apparently ‘her’ fishing pole.
“That’s it! Don’t let him get away!” Boon encouraged.
A few minutes later, he used an old faded net to scoop up one of the biggest catfish Angelle had ever seen.
“Look at that fish! It’s got to be a record!” Boon said excitedly.
Angelle grinned as she held her fish up, still hooked, as Boon removed the net so they could get a better look at it. “He’s huge!” she said.
“Gonna be some good eating,” Boon said.
The look of excitement on Angelle’s face dimmed, and he knew what was going to happen before she did it.
She ‘accidentally’ hit the tension button on the fishing pole, causing the fish to flop to the grassy edge of the bank, then flip around a few times before it got loose from the hook and splashed back into the water.
Boon didn’t even make a move to try to grab the fish before it sank back into the murky water.
She looked at Boon sheepishly.
He looked at her with a smirk on his face. “You did that on purpose.”
“No, really, I just happened to hit the tension control and he did the rest.”
“You did it on purpose,” he repeated.
Angelle rolled her eyes and shrugged. “He was just trying to have breakfast, just like us. He didn’t know you wanted to eat him or he’d have never swallowed your bait.”
“You’re too soft hearted,” he said, taking the fishing pole from her.
“You must not have minded. You made no move to try to keep him out of the water.”
Boon shook his head and chuckled as he went about baiting the pole again. “See if I get up early to start fishing for us again. Next time you can start your own pole.”
“He wasn’t ready to be food.”
“He might have been.”
“No, I’m pretty sure he really wanted to go swim with his friends some more.”
“Oh, really?” Boon asked.
“Yep. Heard it loud and clear.”
“And what happens when I hunt a deer, or a boar. Are they going to want to keep playing with their friends,” he asked.
“If I see them running around, grazing, living their best lives… maybe. But if they’re already processed, definitely not.”
“You do know this is how I will feed us. Fishing, hunting…”
“Gardening, foraging,” she said, grinning at him.
“But yes, I do. And I am perfectly capable of hunting an animal and bringing it home for dinner. It’s just not my favorite thing to do because I tend to humanize them and then I feel bad for them.
I will happily cook up whatever you bring home, though. ”
“You’re too kind for your own good, you know?” Boon said as he cast her line out again, then kissed her.
“I don’t think Saige would agree with that.”
Boon burst out laughing. “That’s just wrong. Funny, but wrong.”
Angelle laughed, then raised her brows at Boon when he offered her the fishing pole again.
“Want to fish with me some more?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve been fishing all morning already,” she teased.
“But it’s an opportunity to spend a lovely morning in such great company,” Boon said, sitting up a little straighter as he raised his chin a little and struck a near perfect pose.
Angelle took the pole from him and scooted closer, leaning her head against his shoulder as they sat together, the first of a lifetime of mornings they’d spend grounded in the security and happiness of the peaceful, easy feeling that only grows as a result of being in the right place with the right person at your side.
“So,” he asked a few minutes later, “how’s your day so far?”
“It’s good. Perfect day, I’d say. You?”
“Definitely a perfect day.”
“Nothing better than loving where you’re at and who you’re with.”
“Nothing truer ever said.”
“I might have been a little more patient if I’d known this was where I was headed all along,” she said.
Boon looked down at her head resting against him. “Same. You’re my home.”
Angelle raised her gaze to his. “And you’re mine. We’re both finally home.”
Almost ‘the end’.