Epilogue
COVE
“We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright.”
Ernest Hemingway.
“Coffee?”
I look up and grin, finding Stetson standing in front of me with a smile full of so much adoration across his face.
The glare from the afternoon Texas sun casts over the pole barn ahead, only making his handsome features that much more perfect.
“You’d think after nearly six months of living together, I’d be used to this by now. ”
“Used to what?” Stetson hands me his coffee cup—now our cup—and sits beside me on the porch swing. Fresh-picked wildflowers litter the steps in ceramic planters, a never-ending burst of my happiness here at Coleson. Stetson refreshes them weekly for me, and I’ve never felt more treasured.
Mustard lies passed out between us with his head on my lap. The energetic pup has hardly left my side, quickly choosing my company over his father’s.
I think it’s safe to say he’s taken a strong liking to me. The feeling is mutual. In fact, I’ve taken a strong liking to everything about Waterstone, Texas. I won’t lie, I had my hesitations about leaving Miami and moving here permanently. Not about Stetson, but about how I’d handle the change.
Would it be too slow-paced for me?
Will I still feel challenged in the world?
Will there be decent shopping? Not a nonnegotiable, but no less important.
Would I be okay not being close to my mom?
How would this change affect my career?
It took just doing it to feel how right it was.
And because I love my job, I still fly a few times a month, the ranch keeping me surprisingly busy during my days off.
Last I heard, the deal between Nathaniel and Harrison fell through the moment he left Waterstone, and I can’t help but be really proud of my involvement in that.
I feel an unexplainable peace knowing all potential reconciliation with my father is squashed. I never imagined myself saying that, but I’m better for it.
This change has been good—not only for me, but for my mom, too.
She’s finally dating now that all the restorations are past her.
I can’t begin to explain the relief knowing her home is stable and of good health.
I think she feels it, too, finally ready to step outside her comfort zone and prioritize her own happiness.
I look to the love of my life, reminding him what I’ll never get used to. “Someone who knows all my needs and wants without having to ask. You know me well, Stet.”
He grins wide and full. God, he makes me so happy. “I love when you call me that.”
“And I love you,” I tell him, resting my head against his shoulder as he swings us slowly.
“You better,” he exclaims. “I might as well have splinters coming out of my ass from carving our names into that barn wood. Hurts like a bitch.” The same wood where parents initials rest on. He holds his calloused and now severely battered hands out in front of me, and I grip one in my hand.
My thumb coats the crevices filled with dirt, sweat, and now splinters. He works so hard and never once requests recognition for it. He’s humble and treats me like the world is, in fact, my oyster when I know it is not.
I don’t need it to be.
But my disagreement on that doesn’t faze him.
If anything, it makes him more tenacious to give me everything.
All I can do is love him, and lucky for me, that’s the easiest thing in my world.
Supporting him. Cheering for him. We’re a team in every way that matters.
Even on my mornings off, when he demands I stay in bed and sleep, but all I want to do is get my hands dirty with him.
Feed the cattle, take Dutton for a ride through the back woods, and even something as unappealing as hauling feed and managing manure.
With Stetson, I’m up for anything. Reminds me a bit of the simple life he shared that his parents enjoyed together throughout their marriage.
I even managed to get Aunt Marge to help me find Stetson’s mom’s old recipe book. On the weekends I’m not flying, I destroy the kitchen and bake her blueberry muffins for Stetson and the crew while they work, along with her famous peach tea.
I love being a part of the home Stetson once shared with two people he loves. And as sad as I am to never have met them, I feel like they’re here, in a way. I get to hear stories and traditions, seeing their character shine through my fiancé.
I surprised myself more than I thought, taking a liking to the ranch tasks.
My favorite mama cow, Nellie girl, and I have become quite the pair.
Since she and little Millie were separated to create new bonds—although still at Coleson—Nellie shows up at the east pasture fence every morning around sunrise for a special treat.
We did need to revamp parts of my wardrobe with ranch-appropriate clothing and muck boots, but my Louboutins will see the light of day as often as possible. I know it, and Stetson sure as hell knows it, too.
“It’s officially official now, huh?”
“Yeah, baby. It is. I can’t help but hope my mom and pops are looking down on me now. I think they’d be proud of the man I’ve become. It only took turning fifty for me to figure my shit out.”
“I don’t think they would have trusted you with their legacy if they believed you couldn’t do it,” I tell him honestly.
I glance down at the diamond ring on my finger, my heart still not catching up to my beautiful reality.
Stetson gave me no longer than two whole weeks to settle before proposing to me in the middle of the wildflower field.
A field blooming in a way that represents so much of our love story.
It’s healthy, strong, and founded on bones that were built to last.
To say I was shocked is an understatement. I’m not sure how I missed the wildflowers when I was here for his birthday, but evidently, he and Clay have been working endlessly to make Coleson Ranch homey and inviting for me to join him.
Much before Clay even knew about us, I’m sure. But little do they know, it felt like my home well before the flowers.
The Cartier engagement ring might be Stetson’s most expensive investment, but it represents a meaning much deeper to me than diamonds and appraisal value.
Originally, Stetson’s plan was to preserve his mother’s wedding ring entirely, but due to the age of the gold, it made more sense to remove Ms. Cole’s diamonds and add them directly to my set.
The art deco marquise diamond is surrounded by the smaller diamonds that made up the band of Stetson’s mother’s in a halo style.
Two large diamonds are set on each side of the halo, completing it perfectly.
It represents family and the continuation of the Cole last name.
A timeless gift from the woman who raised the man I love
It’s exquisite. And the physical reminder that I’m getting married.
I’m. Getting. Married.
“Stetson!” Mom’s voice calls from inside the house, lifting the kitchen window so we can see her. “When were you gonna tell me?”
He looks at me with a mischievous grin. “What is she talking about?” I mumble, noting my mom’s surprise.
“The butler’s pantry,” he says slyly, and I’m still not following.
“What about it?”
Stetson directs his attention to my mom, but not before kissing the side of my head almost as a silent ‘just wait and see.’
“Whatever do you mean, Camille?” he implores.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Stetson Cole. The tears hit me so fast, David thought I discovered a dead body.”
“Someone wanna stop using vague words and tell me what’s going on?” I ask, growing impatient.
“Your mother found Stetson’s hidden cabinet,” David, Mom’s boyfriend says, exiting the house and joining us on the porch. He’s got a platter of well-decorated cannoli in one hand and a kettle of coffee in the other, Stetson’s focus homing in on them right away.
“Ah!” I quip, waving my hand in front of David as he approaches. “No treats until he spills the beans.”
David smirks. “I’m not sure he ever had any intention to spill them, darling. Who knew you could have a cabinet within a cabinet?”
My head jerks toward my fiancé. “I’ve never seen a cabinet in a cabinet. In the butler’s pantry?”
Stetson just smiles, not at all fazed by the fact that he was caught. “Never looked hard enough.”
Mom takes this moment to exit the house, flour smeared across her face from early morning baking.
Speaking of baking, she’s making cacio e pepe for dinner, and I’m starving just thinking about it.
When I think she’ll come outside carrying on the roll of hounding she started inside, she surprises me by walking in front of Stetson and stopping.
“Mom? Are you ok—” Her hand stops me.
It’s as if everyone else outside of her and Stetson fails to exist. Mom’s hand cups her mouth as the tears fall.
“The wine coolers. There had to be nearly fifty of them. All wrapped in a bow at the center with tags addressed to not only Cove, but me on them. The designs. The sentiment. The planning. My word, Stetson, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to my daughter—to us. ”
My heart drops, and not in a scary way, but in a way that bursts with love and gratitude. “Is…is that true?” I whisper, Stetson’s eyes still locked with Mom’s.
He nods. “I want to be a part of every tradition. I want to see not only the woman I love, but the woman who loved her enough for the father who didn’t, feel cherished.
And one of the happiest times I ever saw Cove was when she spoke about your Thanksgiving tradition.
The least I can do is help that magic continue. ”
“Stet,” I cry, my words murmuring between a broken sob.
“I mean it when I say I love you, Cove. That love extends to every branch of your heart. Most importantly, your mother.” He reaches for my hand and brings it to his lips before standing in front of Mom.
“I hope that’s alright, Camille. I don’t expect one for myself, but I’d really love to watch you girls enjoy it together. ”
Her arms find Stetson’s neck as she pulls her future son-in-law in for a hug. “Always, Stetson. Our family is your family now. I’m just sad it took so long for Cove to find you.”
“I think our timing is pretty perfect.” I stand to wrap my arms around them. “We persevered,” I whisper, eyes meeting every person I love all at once.
“Yeah, my love. You did,” Stetson whispers back. “You’ve got to be a strong woman to be a Davenport.”
“And someday soon as a Cole,” Mom tells Stetson with kindness in her eyes.
David sets the cannoli and coffee on the table beside him and speaks up, “Let me get in on this hug. Oh, and Stetson? I’ll cover the wine for years to come.”
Stetson chuckles, and for the first time in forever, everything feels right. The way it was meant to be all along. “You got it, David. Thanks, man.”
And whoever said wanting someone so badly could never equate to loving them? I’m a living example that letting myself want Stetson turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
THE END