Epilogue
Epilogue
The first time Calhoun Ridge got married, it was in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. He and Isabel each had eight attendants and a total of five hundred guests. The pictures of their wedding made People magazine, and Isabel was on a pre-wedding reality show for rich bridezillas.
The second time Calhoun was married, it was in the barn of his ranch with a few chairs and lights hastily assembled. His brother stood up for him, and Bailey’s sister Jane stood up for her. There were less than fifty people in attendance. His housekeeper made a spicy stew and cornbread. Sully’s mother, an amateur photographer, took a few photos for free, and any reporters who might have tried to show up would have been tossed out on their heads.
Bailey’s dad gave her away, wearing his full and impressive uniform, the entire front of which was weighted down by medals and pins. Bailey wore a simple white satin dress, a sharp contrast to the massive beaded monstrosity Isabel wore a decade a go, one with a train so long it rivaled Princess Diana’s. It was hard not to make comparisons between that day and this one, and it was hard not to feel grateful, ridiculously so, over the second chance he’d been given. Bailey was the kind of woman he should have looked for in the first place, a woman who valued hard work and personal integrity as much as he did. Those things might not be glamorous or sexy or end up on the cover of a magazine. But they were better indicators of happiness and fulfillment and he loved her, adored her, really. There was something extra special about knowing she reserved her soft side for him, his diabla loca .
After the wedding and the meal and the cake, they cleared the floor and danced. Cal enjoyed himself, enjoyed being with his family and friends, but he also longed to get away, to have Bailey all to himself, to begin their lives. His plan was to ease her out, to edge her toward an exit and steal away with her. But Bailey, it turned out, was not as into the plan as he was.
“My family is here. What are they going to think when I disappear?” she whispered. They were near the door, beneath the hayloft, as Cal attempted to urge her away.
“That you’re ready to start your honeymoon with your ridiculously eager husband,” he said.
“Give me one more hour,” she said, pressing her palm to his cheek.
“Okay, but that’s one less hour I have to get you good and pregnant,” Cal said.
“Are you really sure you want to have a baby this soon?” she asked. She didn’t have a ton of female friends, but the ones she did have always seemed to lament the fact their husbands didn’t want kids as soon as they did.
“I have never been more sure about anything, present company excluded. I want us to have kids, a lot of kids, and very soon.”
“Yes, I am so down with that plan,” Maggie said, poking her head over the side of the hayloft. There were pieces of hay stuck haphazardly all over her head. “You guys should have kids stat.”
“Girl, get down from there. Do you know what you look like you’ve been doing?” Cal exclaimed.
Cam’s head appeared beside hers. “What’s she look like she’s been doing?”
“Probably exactly what she’s been doing,” Cal said.
“We were playing with the kittens,” Maggie said, holding a kitten aloft. “Mostly.”
Cam dropped his head to his hand. “Maggie, why did you add that ‘mostly’? We were in the clear until then.”
“Not really,” Bailey said. “We’re going back to the party. You kids have fun.”
“We really were playing with the kittens,” Maggie called.
“Mostly,” Cam added. He sat back and set aside his kitten, reaching for her instead. “You know, if they’re having a baby, we should really consider.”
“Are you saying that because you want to have a baby or because you want to beat your brother?”
“Competition makes the world go round,” he said, his hand smoothing up and down her arm. He started picking pieces of hay from her hair and then gave up when he realized there were too many. She was ridiculously lovely, and he couldn’t get over the fact that she was his forever.
“I think we’re going to be okay here,” Maggie told him, easing her palms on his chest.
“How? If they get pregnant tonight, they’ll have a baby first.”
“Trust me, we’re going to be okay,” Maggie said.
“That only works if we…” he froze. “Maggie, are you trying to tell me you’re pregnant?”
“A little bit,” she said.
There was an exclamation from the hayloft and everyone turned to look.
“You know what I bet’s going on?” Cal asked.
“Thanks to that eighth grade biology class, I think I do,” Bailey answered.
“I bet because they heard us talking about having a baby, they’re planning to have a baby now, too. Cam’s competitive like that. I have no idea where gets it,” Cal said.
“What?” Bailey exclaimed. “She’s younger than I am, and he’s way, way younger than you.”
“One ‘way’ would have been plenty sufficient, thank you.”
“We’ll see about that,” she said and, taking his hand, led him over to her family. “Mom, Dad, I think we’re going to take off. It’s been a long day and we’re exhausted. Thank you for being here. I love you so much.” She hugged them and turned to her sisters and her sister’s boyfriend. “Poppy, Jane, Blue. Much love, safe travels.” Cal said his goodbyes, shook hands all around, and then they were done.
“One of us seems like a cow being rushed to slaughter on a conveyer belt, and I’m not sure if it’s us or them,” Blue said as Bailey and Cal dashed away.
“Something’s got her dander up, but I can’t imagine what,” The Colonel said.
“Someone probably said Rambo Two was better than Rambo One and now Bailey has to beat them into submission,” Jane suggested.
“Jane, don’t joke about things like that,” The Colonel snapped, his eyes narrowed. “ Rambo One was a masterpiece, never to be outdone.”
“You’re a man of many layers, sir,” Blue noted.
Meanwhile, Cal and Bailey reached the hayloft. “Hey,” Bailey called, pausing until Maggie and Ridge popped their heads up. She pointed to her eyes, then their eyes, then her eyes again and she and Cal left the barn.
“What was that about?” Maggie wondered.
“They’re onto us,” Cam said.
“You think they know I’m pregnant?”
“No. If they knew that, they’d probably go steal a five month old to make good and certain they got the first baby. They’re trying to beat us, but they have no idea we’ve already won,” he said, rubbing his hands together in triumph.
“I’m not sure this family can handle another military personality,” Maggie said.
“Too late now,” Cam replied.
“One of the four of us is going to have to be the voice of reason,” Maggie said. “My money’s on Cal.”
“What are we going to do about work?” Cam asked.
“We’re going to let me keep working for as long as I can, and then we’ll figure it out.”
“But…”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Sweetheart, we can’t preplan every minute of our lives.”
“We can try.”
“Then we would miss out on the little surprises, like this pregnancy.”
“You’re good for me in all the ways,” he said, his hand smoothing the flyaway hairs from her face.
“You don’t get to pretend to be the lucky one in this scenario. I sat in my library eating a muffin when you plucked me out of obscurity and changed my world.”
“Best day ever,” he said. “Except all the ones that came after, up to and including this one.”
“When do you think we should tell Bailey and Cal their efforts to beat us to the punch are futile?” she asked.
“Let’s give them a couple of months of futility first. They’ll thank us later,” he said.
“Did I tell you I love you today?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Did I tell you twins run in my family?”
He froze. “No.”
“You’re thinking your brother would never be able to compete with twins, huh?” she asked.
“A little bit, yeah.”
“You have a sickness.”
“Lucky for me I also have the cure,” he said and pulled her close for a kiss.
T hank you for reading The Soldier and the Cowboy, the fourth book in the Spies Like Us series .