Epilogue
A year after their first date
“ I didn’t realize we were flying low enough for me to get a signal,” she tells me over the hum of the engine.
“Someone called you?”
“Yup. It dropped though.”
“Callan?”
“I don’t recognize the number. You need to stop worrying about him. He’s fine.”
I glower at her. “Are you fine about the corpse in the yard?”
“Yard? It’s a click away from the house.” She pats my knee. “I get what you mean though. It’s probably a good thing that he’s going to college, and, hey, he has Rocket with him! They’re inseparable now. He’ll be fine, Cody. I promise.”
“If you say so,” I grouse, though I know she’s right.
Callan needed to experience life.
I just hate that death is the reason he flew the nest.
Unsurprisingly, Colt’s the one with empty-nest syndrome. Callan moved to Poughkeepsie, NY, three weeks ago for the upcoming semester and we’re all adjusting to his loss.
As my eyes scan the distance, I shove aside thoughts of my baby brother’s decision to focus on the trip ahead of us.
For our almost twelve-month anniversary, Tee was determined to see Inuvik in the fall, and who was I to argue?
I don’t fly our plane often, but I requisitioned its use after Mike dared me to when I was originally intending on driving us on my bike.
If I wasn’t already dare-prone, I’ve upped my game since getting with the self-proclaimed queen of dares.
Once I’ve taxied us into the hangar and we’re back on terra firma, both of us check our notifications while we wait for our taxi to arrive.
“Milord is missing me, according to Zee. I know I shouldn’t be happy about that, but I really am,” she crows. Then, her face falls. “I miss him too, Cody. Are you sure we couldn’t bring him?”
“How were we supposed to bring Brogan and Milord, Tee?”
“You’re right. Colt needs to get a bigger plane,” she agrees.
Wait. Agrees?
I didn’t?—
“Definitely one that’ll fit Brogan and Milord. Mention that to him, would you?”
“You want us to spend another couple hundred thousand so we can take our dogs away with us on vacation?”
She frowns at me. “Duh.”
I hide a smile. “Fine.”
Tee has definitely taken to being a millionaire’s fiancée and a billionaire’s future sister-in-law like a duck to water.
As she pats my knee, I can tell her focus has shifted when she starts a call.
For myself, I see that I have some missed phone calls from work and Amy’s whining in our DMs about a prank the triplets rained upon her—Zee offered her a job as a live-in companion for her grand-mère on the Bar 9 after she graduated.
Callan’s sent me a few messages.
I feel zero guilt in ignoring the calls from work and tell Amy I’ll ring her later.
Seeing that Tee’s on the phone too, I message Callan.
Me: What’s up? Something wrong at Oakwood?
Callan: No. It’s fine here.
Me: You sure?
Callan: You’re as bad as Colt.
Callan: Has he called you?
Me: No. Why?
Callan: Reilly told him that DNA came back from the body—it’s Marcy.
Now I know why I had a ton of missed calls from work and none from our older brother.
Me: I guess I know why Colt hasn’t called me. He feels this shit harder than us.
Callan: He takes the blame for it, you mean.
Me: Yeah.
Me: Fuck. This is insane.
Callan: We’re nothing like him.
Because I know he’s seeking reassurance, I type out:
Me: Damn straight we’re not.
Callan: Does this mean he’ll rot in jail?
Me: Let’s hope he left trace evidence behind, eh?
Callan: Colt said someone’s coming in from Saskatoon to handle the investigation.
Me: Bet Reilly loved that.
Callan: Who cares? I just want Clyde to be out of our lives.
Me: Same.
Callan: Do you think he killed Uncle Clay too?
Me: I don’t know, bro.
Callan: Have you given up looking?
Me: Between me and you, no.
Callan:
Me: I might never uncover the truth
Callan: You’ll have tried. That’s more than anyone else did for him.
Me: Appreciate that, Cal
Me: Rocket settling in?
Callan: Rocket’s fine. Everybody loves the little shit. I’m glad but also pissed about how many times I was bitten, and Rocket hasn’t bitten a single damn person since we got here!
Me: Be glad about that. There are kill orders for dogs who bite.
Callan: Forgot about that part. Oops.
Callan: Anyway, I gtg. But call Colt soon? I just know he’s freaking out.
Before I can answer him, Tee shrieks, “Oh, my god,” behind me.
Concerned, I twist to face her and the sight I come across isn’t reassuring.
Her eyes are big and pink and wet—so wet. Tears drench her cheeks as she stares at me, mouth quivering, the phone clutched to her chest.
Did she hear about Marcy?
“What the fuck’s wrong?”
“I need you to pinch me.”
I frown but gently rub my thumb along her cheek. “What is it? Is Nonna okay?”
She sniffles. “That was Jerry Majors.”
When she starts sobbing, I know why.
Sundance made no promises when I sent him the samples, and I’d given up on hoping we’d hear from his father back in the summer.
“My ditty,” she weeps. “He wants to use it in this period film he’s making about some Viking dude.” Her sobs turn into wails. “Cody, my music is going to be featured in a movie! And he wants to listen to more of my work!”
Her arms are flung wide before they trap me in a hug. She clings to me so fiercely that I know she’ll never let go.
And that’s the only thing I’ll ever ask of her—that she doesn’t give up on me.
That when I fuck up or when my family situation gets even messier, she never stops turning to me because that’s the one thing I couldn’t live without.
Her.
As I hug her back, the phantom of my father’s shady history tomorrow’s problem, in her ear, I whisper, “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“Y-You believed in me, you sent it to Sundance, and now it’s happening! I’m going to write a movie score and I’m marrying someone who belongs in the cast of Top Gun !”
Smirking, I cup the back of her head. “Wanna be my Iceman?”
“You’re right. The chemistry between those two was effervescent.” Despite her teasing, the wet cheeks smushing against my throat tell their own tale.
“I’ll always believe in you, baby,” I whisper in her ear, tossing the jokes aside. “You’re magic, Tee. Don’t you know that?”
She sniffles. “I know what I have found, Butch.”
“What?”
“My favorite place.” She tucks herself deeper into my embrace. “Your arms.”
This woman.
She gets me.
Every fucking time.
Voice thick with emotion, I rasp, “I love you, Calamity Jane.”
“And I love you, Butch.”
Tucked up in one another’s arms, we kiss.
And it’s simple and beautiful and us—our union. Our link. The bubble that once overwhelmed her, cocoons us so that the outside world can’t reach us unless we let it in.
When she pulls away, her eyes are bright with happiness and her lips are red from our kiss.
I half expect her to say something sweet, or loving, or tender, but nah. That wouldn’t be Tee.
“We need to go to church, Cody.”
“Since when did you turn religious?”
“I made a deal with God about you not being dead when I abandoned you by our lake.” Her lashes flutter. “So we have to go to church.”
“Babe, that was over a year ago.”
She wafts a hand. “Better late than never.”
Something in her tone has me asking, “What else did you promise him?”
“Nothing. Much,” she says on a rush. “Is this the right time to tell you that I hate flying in small planes?”
I rub my nose over hers. “Nah. As always, perfect timing, my clever girl.”
“I love you, Cody.”
“And I love you. Thank you for coming back to me, Tee.”
Her expression turns solemn. “I’ll never say goodbye to you.” Her grin whips out, lightning fast. “Remember that?”
I pretend to clutch at my heart. “How could I forget?”