Epilogue
Walker
One Year Later
There’s a specific kind of chaos that follows Mason and Kasen into every room, and I have never once minded it.
Currently, Mason is wearing my in-ear monitor case as a hat while Kasen methodically empties the contents of my guitar bag onto the concrete floor of the backstage corridor at Boots on the Lake.
My guitar tech, Danny, watches with the resigned expression of a man who has accepted his new reality. It’s good for him.
“Bud.” I crouch down to Kasen’s level. “Those stay in the bag.”
He looks at me with Mallory’s blue eyes and puts one more pick on the floor before helping me put everything back. That’s a win. I’ll take it.
“Walker.” My stage manager’s voice crackles through the corridor. “Twenty minutes.”
I stand, scooping Mason up with one arm.
He immediately grabs my face with both hands, a habit he’s had since our early days.
I recently shaved off my beard, so he likes to make sure I’m still the same person.
I press my forehead to his before wrangling Kasen up into the other and handing him over to my stepdad.
“You’re going to watch on the monitor with EmEm tonight, okay?”
“Watcher momider,” Mason confirms seriously as Kasen studies my stepdad’s gray mustache.
“That’s right.” I kiss the top of his dark hair and hand him to Emily, who takes him with the ease of a woman who has done this ten thousand times. She squeezes my arm as she does.
“Knock ‘em dead, Cam.”
A year ago, she wasn’t sure about me. Now she’s about to watch my show with my parents and her new boyfriend in the green room.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kasen holds out his arms, so I grab him. He wraps both arms around my neck, blowing on my chin.
“I love you, bud.”
“Wuv you.” He pushes down to the floor and toddles to my stepdad without looking back, which is exactly the kind of confidence I intend to spend my life building in him. I learned from the best.
Mallory appears from the dressing room doorway, Kate behind her, and every rehearsed thought I had about tonight’s set evaporates. She’s wearing jean shorts and a black tank top, her dark hair loose, a black bandana tied around her wrist just above the ring I put there twelve months ago.
It’s an Art Déco inspired emerald-cut diamond with smaller matching stones on either side to represent the boys.
She doesn’t know about the wedding band.
It’s a custom-made platinum band by a jeweler in Austin who was able to design the the exact bandana pattern from that first night.
It is as beautiful and unique as she is.
Cinnamon arrived on a Tuesday, the week after I had a proper barn built on the ranch, and the day that “Dark and Prickly” shot straight to number one.
The trailer pulled up while Mallory was helping the boys with their afternoon snack at my kitchen table, which is how we spend most Saturdays.
When she heard the trailer and looked out the window, she went completely still as two horses were unloaded, and when I nodded toward the door, she ran outside and put her forehead against that paint mare’s nose for a long time.
When I walked out to the barn, one boy on each hip, my girl wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You went back for her.”
“Yep. And I brought her best friend. He’s the perfect horse for the boys. Lucinda sends her love.”
She fisted my shirt and kissed me so thoroughly that Mason covered his eyes and Kasen applauded before meeting the horses.
“Hey.” Mallory steps into me now, straightening my collar in that way she has, her eyes moving over my face the same way they did at that pond when she thought I was just a ranch hand. Like I’m something worth studying. “You looked lost in thought.”
“Just remembering last year and glad that we’re back here together.”
“You ready?” The concert crowd is chanting ‘Walker-Walker.’
“Born ready, Prickly Pear.”
She rolls her eyes and kisses me once, soft yet certain. Kate makes a sound behind her that is either gagging or crying. With Kate, it’s hard to tell.
“Front row,” I tell them both. “Stage left. Bree and Izzy are already out there with Hannah. Just use your artist’s passes.”
Kate grabs Mallory, and the two run off to grab their seats next to their friends.
My stage manager appears at my elbow. “Five minutes, Walker.”
“Yep.”
Funny how a year ago, I had no idea that those five minutes would lead to the biggest change in my life. I pick up my guitar, tune the high E out of habit, and head toward my band.
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I hope you enjoyed Cam's and Mallory's story. Please consider leaving me a rating or review! It helps their story get to new readers.
xoxo,
Aubrey
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Want to read Declan's and Bree's story? Try Wild Hearted Lumberjack, or keep reading for a quick Chapter 1 sneak peak!