Epilogue
One year later …
With the sun hanging low in the sky, illuminating his wife from behind as she raced toward him on the quad, Decker’s pulse picked up tempo. She looked like a golden-haired redneck angel—kind of.
She wasn’t a redneck—per se—but with her hair in a ponytail, his flannel shirt way too big for her keeping her warm, and a pair of jeans and boots, she looked like she belonged on this ranch almost more than he did.
You’d never know that twenty minutes ago Joanna wore leotards, ballet shoes and had her hair up in a tight and perfect bun, teaching pirouettes to children all day.
Her smile made his heart soar, and he climbed down off the ladder from where he’d been cleaning the gutters, to meet her as she pulled up and turned off the engine.
“Howdy,” she said, trying for a southern drawl. It came out funny with her English accent .
“Howdy,” he echoed. He ate up the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. “How was your day?”
“Wonderful. Megan finally perfected her fouetté. I cried. She cried. We all cried.”
He rubbed her back. Joanna was such a wonderful teacher. The students responded incredibly to her. She put her heart and soul into helping them achieve their dreams. Megan was an older student, in her final year of high school and was actually awarded a dance scholarship. She was Joanna and Mieka’s star pupil. So he knew Megan’s achievement would make Joanna emotional. She loved her students with her whole heart.
She loved life—and Decker—with her whole heart.
“How about you? How was your day?” she asked.
“Cleaned the gutters—just finishing up—made dinner. You know.” They both snorted.
That wasn’t just it. He’d been up before Joanna and down at the ranch to help Asher and Nate with the animals. Then he spent part of the afternoon helping Asher mend sections of the fence, and finally, he came home, worked on dinner and while that cooked, he cleaned out the gutters.
There was always something to do on the ranch. Whether it was on their prefab home on one edge of the field, or the farmhouse, or Triss and Asher’s place. Something always needed cleaning, mending, or goat-proofing.
Her belly rumbled, and she stepped out of his embrace. “Well, I’m starving.”
“Roast chicken and veg sound good?”
“If I don’t have to cook it.”
“I’m not sure either of us would eat it if you did.” He held the door open for her, but she stopped on the threshold and swatted his chest while also giving him a dirty look.
“I’ve gotten better, haven’t I?”
“You’re good at so many other things,” he teased, going to the sink to wash his hands. Joanna headed to the bathroom to do the same, then she returned to their open-concept kitchen and living room. He caught her eye as he brought over the steaming roasted veggies to the table. “Like blowjobs. You’re great at blowjobs. Just play to your strengths.”
She stuck her tongue out at him as she yanked the cork out of the half-full wine bottle on the table. She poured them each a glass. “So, Triss told me some big news today.”
“Yeah? Asher told me some big news today, too.”
Her eyes twinkled as they met his.
“I like being an auntie.”
“You’re very good at it.”
“I know.” She took a sip of her wine and shrugged. “I play to my strengths.”
He brought over the rest of the dinner, and they pulled their chairs out to sit down.
“You’re okay not having kids?” she asked, eying him over the rim of her glass.
He started to dish up the chicken onto his plate. “One hundred percent. I like being an uncle to Axel and I’ll enjoy being an uncle to this next baby. Plus, all the other guys have kids, too, that we’re aunt and uncle to. We’ve got a lot of nieces and nephews.”
“We sure do. Not in short supply of those, that’s for sure.”
“Those kids are going to need their cool childless aunt and uncle to run to when their parents get all annoying and weird with rules. I mean, Aaron is going to be such a helicopter parent.”
“Is going to be? He already is. The man is a bloody Black Hawk.”
He snorted another laugh. She spoke the truth.
“I’m so fulfilled with our life as it is,” he said, hoping to reassure her that he didn’t need children to make his life complete. It was already so complete and completely wonderful with just her.
Her lips twisted. Was she getting baby fever now that Triss was expecting again? Did she want kids? He was forty-seven years old. He wasn’t against the idea of having kids, but he’d be an old dad. He certainly wouldn’t get to meet his grandchildren.
“Mitch Hadley’s dog Jinx had puppies,” she said, biting her lip in that way that made his dick twitch. “What about maybe getting a dog?”
A dog!
Oh, he was so on board with a dog. He would have been on board with kids, too, if that was what made Joanna happy, but he was totally on board with a dog.
His nod nearly made his head disconnect from his neck. “Absolutely. I’ll text Mitch after dinner and ask when we can come by and see them. Jinx is such a good-tempered dog.”
Joanna beamed. “Good, because I already put down a deposit. We’re going to see them after dinner tonight.”
He tossed his head back and chuckled. “Better a deposit on a dog than on a baby.” Then his brows knitted. “Not even sure how you’d do that.”
“ You would make the deposit,” she clarified, spearing a broccoli floret with her fork. “Inside me . But I think our life is pretty good as it is. We just need a furry four-legged baby.”
“Absolutely.”
Her blue-hazel eyes went wide, and she leaned over to the side to pull something out of the back pocket of her jeans. “Oh! I almost forgot. Look what came in the mail today.” The envelope was already opened, so it was easy to pull out the letter. She turned it around to show him the side with writing. “It’s official. I am a permanent resident of the United States of America.”
He let his utensils clatter to his plate, dropped his gaze, and shook his head. “Well, I guess that’s that, isn’t it? I’ll file for divorce in the morning.”
She pretended to swat him with the paper. “Like hell you will, you lunatic. You’re not getting rid of me for anything. I’m madly in love with you and you are stuck with me. I’m your wife for life.” Then she stuck out her tongue. “How do you like those apples? ”
He stood up abruptly enough that his chair fell down behind him. It only took him two strides to be around their small table, where he hoisted her up out of her chair and slung her over his shoulder caveman style. “I’ll show you how I like those apples. And how I like to eat those apples.”
Then he took his wife upstairs to their bedroom, where he peeled her out of her clothes and reminded her just how lucky he was to call her his.
Because she was.
Forever.