Bonus Epilogue
Serena
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
“Are you excited to meet your little brother?” Mimi asks, holding my hand as we walk down the cold hallway of the hospital.
Nana and Meemaw flew up from Texas a few days ago when Mom started having contractions and stayed here while she was in labor.
Though I begged to stay, Dad had his mother pick me up and stay at her house until it was time to come.
“Yep! I wanna hold him first!” I smile wide. We’ve been preparing his nursery for months. I can’t wait to hold him in the rocking chair I picked out.
Mimi laughs at my eagerness and shoots me a wink.
She moved here after Christmas last year.
It was cool finding out I had another grandparent.
She dresses super fancy and lets me pick out expensive clothes and accessories when she takes me shopping.
Mom tells me I shouldn’t go overboard, but Mimi insists.
I’m her only grandchild, and she spent years not knowing me—her words, not mine—so who I am to deny a grandma spoiling their granddaughter?
She’s just as excited as I am for the new baby. My parents announced the news at Thanksgiving when everyone came to visit, and that’s when Mimi asked Daddy if it was okay for her to move closer to us. She wasn’t in his life and wanted a second chance. I was happy when he said she could.
Nana and Meemaw still live in Beaumont, but they come to visit a lot.
I was excited to show them my new horse, Frankie.
He’s a quarter horse, and Noah’s been teaching me how to ride him.
When I’m older, I want to learn how to do tricks like Noah does on Donut.
Mom said no way, but Dad said we’ll see.
“Hey, sweetie,” Dad greets when he opens the door to Mom’s room. He pulls me in for a hug, then kisses Mimi on the cheek. “He’s asleep, so we gotta stay quiet.”
I tiptoe into the room and narrow my eyes on the little bundle wrapped in a blanket on Mom’s lap. He’s wearing a cute little blue hat, but when I get closer, I realize just how small he is.
“Come here, baby,” Mom whispers, wrapping her arm around me.
It’d been Mom and me for so long, and now over a year later, I have a dad and a new brother.
It still feels crazy after all this time, but now I can’t imagine life any other way.
Moving here has been exciting and new. Mallory and Noah are the big sisters I never had.
Dena and Garrett are another set of grandparents to spoil me, especially with Gramma’s baking addiction.
I love it here.
“He looks so squishy,” I say, staring at his pudgy cheeks.
Mom and Dad chuckle as Mimi stands behind me.
“Looks just like your father when he was born,” she says.
“Are you ready to hold him?” Mom asks.
I beam. “Yes!”
Mom hands me a pillow, and then I settle into the chair. Dad carries him over and helps me hold his head. Looking down at him, I smile and brush my finger along his soft skin.
“Well, do we have a name?” Mimi asks.
During a gender reveal party a few months ago, we learned he was a boy, which was already exciting enough, but then they said I got to pick out his name. I took that job very seriously, but there was only one boy name I wanted.
I revealed it to my parents a while ago, but we haven’t shared it with anyone else yet.
“You wanna tell her?” Dad asks.
I smile down at him, hoping he likes it too. “Howie Adam.”
“It’s perfect,” Mimi says with tenderness in her voice. “Howie was a wonderful man.”
While I’m named after Mimi’s mom—Dad’s grandmother, Serena Mae—I wanted Howie to have a name that was special to all of us. And when he’s older, I’ll tell him all about Uncle Howie, who looked over Mom and me when the explosion happened.
After an hour of holding him, he gets fussy and needs to eat. Mimi suggests we come back tomorrow with the rest of the Hollises, so I give them hugs and kisses and say goodbye.
Just as Mimi and I are walking toward the exit, we see Fisher rushing into the emergency room entrance with someone in his arms. He’s the ranch’s new farrier. Mallory told me he’s also Noah’s ex-boyfriend’s dad. He’s been around all summer and is nice but mostly quiet.
“Who’s he carryin’?” I ask Mimi as we follow.
“I think Noah.”
My heart races as I watch Fisher speak to a nurse, and then they bring a stretcher around, and that’s when I see her face.
“Noah!” I shout, running toward them. Mimi yells for me to slow down, but I can’t.
Fisher’s eyes widen when he spots us, and Noah yelps in pain when he lays her down on it.
“What happened? Are you okay?” I ask as more nurses come out.
Noah winces with each breath she takes. I want to hold her hand and beg her to be okay. A man in dark scrubs starts listening to her heartbeat and asking her questions about pain.
“She fell off Donut,” Fisher tells me. “She was doin’ stunts, and I-I don’t know.
He got spooked right as she was doin’ a flip, and he kicked and.
..” He’s white as a ghost as he tries to recollect what happened.
“I was supposed to be spottin’ her, but it happened so fast. Next thing I knew, she was on the ground, not moving. ”
“Is she gonna be okay?”
He swallows hard. “God, I hope so. She has to be.”
Fisher follows her when they roll Noah to the back. Mimi and I stay, making phone calls to the Hollises, and soon Daddy comes down too. He gives me a tight hug and reassures me Noah’s going to be okay.
“Fisher looked like he was gonna have a heart attack,” I tell him, worried for both of them.
Mimi leans in as if not to disturb the others around us. “I think Fisher likes her.”
“Of course he does. We all like Noah,” I tell her.
Daddy chuckles. “She means likes likes her. But are you sure, Ma? He’s twice her age.”
Mimi shrugs with a knowing grin. “Let’s just say, I have a gut feelin’.”
I want to ask what that means, but I’m too distracted by worrying about her.
No one’s given us an update, and I’m getting antsy.
Daddy goes back upstairs to Mommy’s room when Dena and Garrett show up.
They give me hugs and tell me to go home and rest. They promise to give me an update as soon as they have one.
As Mimi drives, I bring up the conversation from before.
“What’s it mean when a man likes likes a woman?”
“Well...it means you like them more than a friend.”
“Like boyfriend girlfriend?” I furrow my brow.
“Yeah, like that.”
“Fisher’s too quiet. He’s always staring at her but never says much. He almost looks at her like he’s mad at her, so I don’t think they’re boyfriend girlfriend.”
Mimi smirks, reaches over, and then pats my leg. “In that case, I think he’s in love with her. Brooding men always look like that.”
“What?” That makes no sense.
“You’ll understand someday, sweetheart. When you’re older and find a man you’re not supposed to want or vice versa. Sometimes it’s easier to hate them than it is to admit you love them.”
I’m still confused by the time we get to Mimi’s house. She lives in town, so it doesn’t take long to get there. Since I’m ten now, I have my own phone and can text, so I send Noah a message, hoping she’ll have her cell with her.
Serena
Please be okay, Noah. I haven’t heard anything yet, and I’m getting scared.
I pace around the house until Mimi tells me it’s time to get ready for bed. When I ask if she’s gotten an update yet, she frowns. Mom sends me pictures of Howie, which cheers me up, but I hate that no one knows about Noah.
When I wake up the next day, the sun’s already up, and I rush to check my phone. I squeal when I see Noah’s name on the screen.
Noah
Hey kiddo. I’m home now. Call me when you wake up.
I nearly burst into tears as relief washes over me knowing my best friend is okay. After I use the bathroom, I FaceTime Noah.
“Hi, sweetie,” she answers, her voice low and scratchy.
“Noah, what happened?” I immediately ask, noticing how tired and weak she looks.
I listen as she tells the story about how she fractured her ankle and broke three ribs doing a new trick move on Donut when he got spooked by a snake.
Her foot got caught in the saddle strap and he dragged her.
When she finally got loose, he reared and one of his hooves landed on her side.
A potential client wants her to train a horse for trick shows, but Noah was trying it out on her own first before she agreed to it.
Since Dena has a rule that she needed a spotter when she practices, Fisher was there to watch her.
“Will you still be able to come to the wedding?”
She’s supposed to be in Mom and Dad’s wedding party with me at the end of next month. We’ve been planning it for weeks. Even though my parents eloped at the courthouse, they’re doing a vows ceremony and reception like Uncle Howie did.
“I hope so, but we’ll have to wait and see. The doctor said it could take six-to-eight weeks to fully recover.”
My jaw drops. “You’re gonna be off that long? What about the horses?”
“Tripp’s gonna have to take over, and your daddy will have to reschedule any that haven’t come yet.”
We continue talking a bit longer before I remember what else I wanted to ask her.
“Mimi says Fisher loves you. Is that true?”
She blinks. Licking her lips, she glances at something off-screen as if she’s not alone but then brings her gaze back to the phone.
“No, sweetie. Why would she think that?”
I shrug. “She said she could just tell. Something in the way he looks at you.”
Noah’s cheeks go red, and I wonder if she’s too hot. “I’m gonna get some rest now, but I’ll text you later, okay?”
Smiling wide, I nod. “Okay! I’m gonna visit baby Howie soon. Then I’ll have Mimi bring me over.”
Noah grins and tells me that’s fine, then we hang up.
After I eat breakfast and get dressed, Mimi and I drive to the hospital.
“So did you speak to Noah?”
“Yep!” I tell her all about our conversation, including her response about Fisher.
“Is that so?” Mimi’s amused voice echoes through the car. “Ah...to be young and in love and lyin’ about it.”
I giggle at the way she singsongs the words.
I don’t know if Noah’s not telling me the truth, but I’m going to find out.
Keep reading for Noah & Fisher’s story in Here With Me