Epilogue
Rachel
Six Months Later
Birds chirp, squirrels chitter, and the mountain comes alive in summer. Bright green grass that looks too bold to be real, pairs beautifully with wild mountain flowers and the bluest sky I’ve ever seen.
It’s the perfect day for our wedding.
Dominic is wearing his best jeans and a light flannel while I wear a white sundress with yellow sunflowers embroidered around the collar and hem. It’s a little short for a windy day but I picked it because it made me feel pretty and I knew Dominic wouldn’t be able to look away from my legs.
There are three dozen guests. Yesenia of course along with the rest of Dominic’s family that flew in for the wedding.
Including a bunch of cousins that all call him, Domingo, because he was born on a Sunday.
Nigel and his wife, plus the other chefs from Alpine Peak.
The rest are Dominic’s buddies from the fire station and mountain rescue.
If anything goes wrong, I don’t notice or care. I marry the love of my life in a meadow on the same mountain where we fell in love.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Dominic’s kiss is gentle and polite, mindful of our audience, and just a taste of what’s to come.
“I love you,” he whispers to me as our friends and family cheer.
“I love you too,” I whisper back.
Yesenia is first in line to congratulate us.
“Told you so,” she says patting Dominic on his cheek. “Abuela knows best, yes?”
He rolls his eyes at his grandmother, but it doesn’t dent the grin on his face.
To me she adds, “I’m ready to babysit anytime.”
It takes me a second to process her meaning.
“I’m not pregnant.”
“Not yet,” she says tapping my nose. “But soon. I feel it in my bones.”
I shake my head as she flounces away. We have a café to open, having a baby at the same time as we start up a business would be insane. I turn to Dominic, ready to share a laugh.
The look on his face wipes away my mirth. He’s staring after his grandmother in shock. If it wasn’t noon on a bright summer day, I might believe he’d seen a ghost.
“Dominic?” I ask nudging him with my elbow.
“We should buy a crib.”
“What?” I scoff. “We agreed to wait at least two years before we started trying to conceive.”
“She’s accurately predicted every pregnancy in her family since she was thirteen. If she says we’re going to be parents soon then we need to prepare.”
“Are you sure it’s not a self-fulfilling prophecy? Like maybe she told your cousins they would be pregnant and because of that conversation they tossed their birth control thinking it was inevitable?”
Dominic shakes his head.
“Take your pills. I’ll wear condoms. But I’m buying a crib and diapers.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Wait and see, Rachel,” he murmurs. “Wait and see.”
Ten months later we welcomed Diego Barlowe into our family. Apparently, the pill is ninety-three percent effective, and condoms are eighty-seven percent effective.
Yesenia was the smuggest woman alive when we told her we were expecting and even Dominic gave me a couple ‘I told you so’ nudges. Having a baby while planning the grand opening of my café was pure insanity but I wouldn’t change the timing for anything in the world.
I bake all day, doing exactly what I love, and every night I go home to a loving husband and a happy baby. Two years ago, I didn’t think I could have a family and accomplish my dream at the same time. Fate proved me wrong. Now it’s Muffin but Love every day.
The End
Thank you so much for reading Mountain Man's Curvy Christmas Temptation.