Epilogue
“H unt has been too quiet,” Daniel said as he stretched his legs out.
“Maybe he’s given up.” Audrey glanced at the clock as she spoke. Em was due to arrive, and Audrey was obviously excited to see her only daughter.
“My dad has been too quiet,” Trenna said.
“Can’t you go do some top-secret spy thing and figure out what his next move is?” Lex asked.
“I don’t think, given the circumstances, that my dad is going to leave me alone with his secret papers.” Trenna gave Lex a gentle smile.
Spence’s future sister-in-law was caught between her husband-to-be’s family and her dad, but she seemed to have a firm grasp on things. She still saw her dad, but Spence knew from talking to his brother that the relationship was tenuous. Hunt hadn’t expected his daughter to end up in the enemy camp, but she was his only child, so he kept the lines of communication open.
But no, he wasn’t going to leave her alone with his secret papers or diary or anything like that.
“We’ll take things one day at a time,” Spence said.
Hayley nudged his side, and he smiled without looking at her. They, too, were taking things one day at a time as per their couples counselor’s suggestion. It was early October and Spence had to say that things were going well—really well. He’d been pleasantly surprised at the first session to discover that he didn’t need to drop deep, dark secrets or anything. It turned out that the counselor was a resource to help them get their relationship started right, without being sidetracked by preconceived notions and baggage from past relationships.
So, bottom line, his relationship with the woman he loved was flourishing. Henry was happily splitting his time between the Keller Ranch and the Lone Tree Ranch, and Vince had scored a small farmhouse on the outskirts of Missoula and planned to adopt Remy the Pig as soon as he moved.
Hayley still planned on becoming pregnant as soon as possible, as per her doctor’s advice, but she was waiting until after their late-spring wedding... or should he say late-spring elopement? They’d agreed that a trip to the courthouse, followed by a small family party, was the perfect wedding, which worked well because Trenna and Reed were planning a huge summer blowout for their nuptials. Trenna’s stepmother, Dawn, was already involved, but Spence had the feeling that no one was looping Carter Hunt into the plans. Would the man even attend his daughter’s wedding?
Time would tell.
“She’s here!” Audrey jumped to her feet at the sound of an engine. Lex followed her out of the room, and a moment later, the door opened. There was a rush of motion and then two huge dogs bounded into the living room, startling Daniel, who nearly fell out of his chair when one planted one front paw on either side of him.
“Daisy,” Em chided from the doorway. “Feet on the floor.”
The ginormous mutt grinned at Daniel, who had his hands clutched protectively under his chin, and then slowly lowered first one paw, then the other to the floor. Em leaned down to kiss her dad on the cheek.
“I’m home,” she said with a grin, as she straightened up and the nearly identical white dogs—Spence guessed Great Pyrenees mixes—sat on either side of her. His sister looked like she’d slept in her clothes and her long blond hair was tied into a ponytail with a leather thong and decorated with a small feather.
Daniel lowered his hands and gave her a look. “Two-for-one sale at the pound?”
“Long story,” Em said with a wave of her hand. She had a lot of those. “Where’s Cade?”
“He wanted to voice his own thoughts for a while longer, so he’s not showing up until tomorrow,” Spence said.
Em gave her older brother a withering look. “I quit talking for Cade when he hit twenty-one. Remember?”
Actually, she’d quit when he started first grade, and Daniel and Audrey had insisted that the twins be in separate classes. The thing was that Cade was quiet, but he was no pushover. He simply let Em do her thing and quietly did his own... kind of like Spence had done. Huh.
Em’s tone went serious. “He’s really coming tomorrow?”
“He is,” Audrey assured her.
Cade had returned to the job that was doing him no good because he didn’t want to leave his crew high and dry, but he planned to seek employment elsewhere once the current drilling project was finished. Spence had a feeling that his brother wouldn’t mind living closer to family. He always had been something of a homebody.
“Good,” Em said. “I have a couple things I need to run by him.” She smiled at first Trenna and then Hayley. “You guys are still hanging in there, eh?” Reed and Spence scowled at her, but she ignored them.
“It’s tough, but I manage,” Trenna said with a glance up at Reed. Hayley simply smiled as Spence ran a hand over her shoulder.
“I’m glad,” she said, before turning to Reed. “Can you help me haul stuff in?”
The entire family got to their feet and headed out to Em’s rented SUV to haul in her belongings, which amounted to four duffels and a fifty-pound bag of dog food. Spence held back and, as he suspected, the remaining family members were able to get Em’s stuff in one trip, thus allowing him to take Hayley by the hand and ease her into the shadow of the big elm that he used to climb when sneaking into the house.
“I don’t know if I should be alone in the dark with you,” she said, once the door closed behind the last of the family as they traipsed into the house.
“That tends to lead to trouble,” he said in a low voice.
“Deep trouble,” she agreed, running her palms along his cheeks. He smiled down at her, barely able to see her face, but he definitely heard her as she said, “I love you, Spence.”
And more than that, she needed him. Not in a fall-apart-if-he-wasn’t-there way, but in a you-complete-me way. He knew because she’d told him. He’d told her the same.
He caught her hand and raised it to his lips. “Baby practice later?”
“Of course. We just have to keep at it until we get it right.”
They did do well with baby practice, sometimes more than once a night if the planets aligned. “I look forward to the real deal,” he said. However they chose to do it.
“Me too,” Hayley whispered. “But until that happens? You, Spence Keller, are all I need.”
The End