EPILOGUE
Luna was in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher, when she heard a vehicle rumbling down their driveway. She leaned over the sink and held back the curtain to look out the window.
A shiny, black truck with an extended cab and pulling an animal hauler slowly navigated the dips and ruts in their gravel drive and headed toward the barn. She recognized the Wind River Ranch logo on the truck doors and side of the matching trailer.
“Oh, my gosh! They’re here!” She clapped her hands, loaded soap into the little tray, and started the dishwasher.
She yanked her hair back into a low ponytail, tucked her feet into her Ariat boots where they sat by the door, and grabbed the cowboy hat Boone gave her for her birthday.
So much had happened in the eight months since everything went down with Udall.
They discovered that Hashir Al-Shamrami, the scumbag they found hiding behind that dilapidated building, had been working with Udall to facilitate distributing the girls across the country.
He was now serving a life sentence in a federal prison.
Mackie, the pilot who helped Udall, did more than just tell him how to find Boone.
After smuggling him back into the country, he gave him some cash and let him crash at his apartment and use his car.
He also disclosed that Udall laughed when he told him the note he sent to Luna was just a way to mess with Boone’s head.
Mackie was court-martialed, stripped of his rank and benefits, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison at the same facility Udall escaped from.
Khalim and his family were doing well, and Luna made a point to touch base with them often. It was the absolute least she could do after he’d taken such a huge risk by helping them.
He told her that they’d stopped exploring the tunnels and caves beneath the ruins and had sealed off all of the entrances they could find to keep curious people out, especially kids who didn’t understand how dangerous they were.
Boone was back to full strength and had already completed two ops with the team. Watching him leave was never easy, but being able to support them in her own way helped a great deal.
Luna had to get a bunch of stitches in her leg and ended up with a pretty gnarly scar. It didn’t bother Boone, so it didn’t bother her.
The vet had rushed out to the ranch to check on Patience. Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious injury, and, like Luna, she’d ended up with stitches and a scar, only hers was on her butt.
Luna sold her little house and moved in with Boone about six months ago. They talked about marriage often and were just waiting for the right time. It wouldn’t be anything fancy. Just family and a few friends at the ranch was all they wanted.
“Luna?” Boone jogged up the back steps two at a time and opened the repaired screen door. “The newest additions to the menagerie are here.” He took her hand and led her toward the trailer.
Menagerie was the perfect word to describe what their ranch had become.
In addition to Sassy and Patience, they now had twelve chickens, one with a weird, useless third leg they called Tripod Tracey. They also had two goats, a pregnant barn cat named Tillie, and were in the process of trying to find just the right rescue dog to add to the family.
“I can’t believe they’re finally here.” Her excitement built when she heard the sound of hooves scraping against the bottom of the trailer.
“Morning, Luna.” A man she recognized as Clem Jacobs came around the other side of the truck, touched the brim of his hat and gave her a slight dip of his head. His family had been working for Boone’s family for years.
“Morning, Clem.” She shook his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person. Thank you so much for making the trip from Wyoming.”
Until now, she’d only ever seen him via video calls. She was surprised by how lean he was, and being this close, she could also see the years spent working outdoors in every unique line of his face.
“It was my pleasure.” He undid the latch closest to him. “Boone, can you get that side for me?”
“You bet.” He pulled the pin from the latch and dropped the chain.
Luna clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to contain her excitement as they slowly lowered the back door down to form a ramp.
Clem walked up the ramp and untied the rope from where it was secured to the side of the trailer. He led the first pretty black and white cow down the ramp.
She lifted her head and let out a long, drawn-out mmmooo, and her lower jaw ground back and forth.
Boone entered the trailer and was followed out by their other new cow.
They were both black and white heifers, about four feet tall, and they still had about six to ten inches more to grow. Luna named them Lucy and Ethel, after the old, black-and-white TV show. She could tell them apart because Lucy had a white diamond in the middle of her forehead.
“Come meet your new cows, babe.” He rested his hand on Lucy’s back.
“Welcome home, Lucy.” Luna slowly approached her and stroked her hand down the side of her neck. “Welcome, home, Ethel.” She moved over and did the same thing to the other one.
Boone had taken her home to his folks’ place for his mom’s birthday. She’d been a little nervous, but they were so incredibly warm and welcoming to her. Luna absolutely adored them and couldn’t wait to see them again.
Knowing she’d never seen baby cows before, he thought it would be fun to take her to see some while they were there.
He’d surprised the heck out of her and told her to pick two.
At first, she thought he was teasing her.
Once she realized he was serious, she walked around to meet all of the available heifers, and the minute she saw Lucy and Ethel, she knew in her heart they belonged with her and Boone.
So they left there the proud owners of two two-year-old Holstein milk cows.
They’d had to wait a couple of months until Clem was available to transport them to Virginia. But seeing them now, it was worth every minute of the wait.
Sassy and Patience had become curious about all of the activity and trotted over to the pasture fence. They bobbed their heads up and down, snuffled their noses, and whinnied.
“Well, if you’re good here, I best be heading back.” Clem scratched between Ethel’s ears.
“You sure you have to leave so soon?” Boone put his arm around Luna’s shoulders. “At least stay the night.”
“We’d love to have you.” She’d already made the guest room up for him.
“Thank you for the kind offer, but I’m gonna swing through Missouri and pick up my wife.” He tugged on the fingertips of his leather gloves, slid them off, and slapped them against his jeans. “She’s visitin’ with her sister there and will make the rest of the trip home with me.”
“Are you sure?” Boone asked.
“Yeah, it’ll be like a little vacation for us.” He smiled and tucked his gloves in his back pocket. “It was nice to meet you, Luna.”
“It was so nice to meet you, too, Clem.” She extended her hand.
He wrapped his rough, ropey fingers around her hand and gave it a good solid shake.
“Drive safe.” Boone shook his hand, and they watched him climb up into his big truck, turn it around, and drive away.
“Oh, my gosh, Boone, Lucy and Ethel are so cute.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you’re happy, babe.” He tipped his hat back and leaned down.
She lifted to her tippy-toes to meet him halfway, and they kissed.
He’d done so much more than make her happy—he’d made her whole.
Not being able to trust other people had made for a difficult and lonely life. Being unable to trust herself had always felt like an insurmountable hurdle, or in her case, a wound she wouldn’t allow to heal because it was a reminder not to be fooled and taken advantage of again.
Boone helped her believe in herself and to trust her intuition.
In a way, he gave her life back to her, and in doing so, opened her heart to a kind of unconditional love she never thought possible.
The kind of love she saw between her sister and Caleb and all of the other couples in her life.
Never in a million years had she ever dreamt she would share that kind of deep, meaningful connection with anyone special.
Until Boone gently forced himself into her life and convinced her she deserved to love and be loved. And for that, she would love him forever.
Thank you for reading Dangerous Target! Keep reading for a sneak peek of Dangerous Obsession, book 1 in the thrilling OSI Dark Ops spin-off series.