Epilogue
T he Christmas celebration was in full swing at the Hard Eight when Gus, Luke, and Ella arrived, arms full of wine and a bag of presents. He could see Cami helping her mother in the kitchen and the rest of the family was gathered in the living room.
Shay kissed Gus on the cheek. “Welcome in,” she said, giving Ella and Luke a hug. “We’re so happy you’re here.”
“Me, too,” Gus said, handing her a wine bottle. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas! And who’s this little munchkin?” she asked of the sweet, curly-haired puppy Ella was holding in her arms.
“This is Taffy,” Ella said, her face half buried in Taffy’s fur. “Our new puppy. I got her for Christmas.”
Gus said, “We couldn’t leave her home alone. Cami said you wouldn’t mind.”
“Mind? Oh! She’s adorable. Wait until Pippa and Poppy meet her. I bet she was tops on your Christmas list, Eloise.”
She nodded shyly. “I love her,” she said, hugging the pup. The Hardesty dogs, Poppy and Pippa had spotted her and were heading her way.
Gus took Taffy and lifted her up out of the path of the enthusiastic duo. “We’ll have to introduce them gently.”
Liam came into the front hall and clapped him on the shoulder. “’Bout time you made it over. Cami was worrying about you. She’s in the kitchen. Luke? How about a glass of something? Soda, beer, or something stronger?” The two of them headed over to the small bar set up near the front window where Shay’s fiancé, Cooper Lane, was manning the drinks.
Gus said hello to Izzy and Will who had postponed their honeymoon until after Christmas and he nearly bumped into Sarah with an armload of plates heading to the dining room. She stopped and kissed him on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Gus. We’re so glad you’re here. And this little darling, too. What’s her name?”
“This is Taffy. And she’s happy to be here.”
Gus passed Sarah’s boyfriend, Ray, holding Lolly in the living room, as Tara unwrapped a half-dozen gifts that were under the tree for the two of them. Gus couldn’t help but smile at the look on Tara’s face, as if she’d just stepped into some kind of alternate universe.
He stopped to shake Ray’s hand and tickle Lolly’s little feet. “Merry first Christmas, little one. And to you, too, Tara.”
Tara smiled up at him. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.”
“I’m real glad it all worked out for you.”
“Everyone’s been so kind. I-I just…”
He couldn’t agree more. “I know exactly what you mean.” He kept moving, holding Taffy and headed into the kitchen.
Cami’s back was to him, and he snuck up behind her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She jumped but turned around happily. “Hi there.”
“Hi, yourself. Merry Christmas.”
“Back at you.” She gave Taffy a smooch. “How did the surprise go?”
“I pulled it off. Taffy woke her up this morning with a big wet kiss.”
“Aww.” She ruffled the dog’s little head.
“Yeah, she loves her. Somehow, I don’t think that was what she asked Santa for that day at the Graff.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Oh. Just a feeling.”
Cami leaned close. “Have you… uh, told her yet? About us?”
“Not yet.” A loose strand of hair dangled in Cami’s face and Gus brushed it back. “I thought I’d wait until today. Does everybody else—”
“You have a better chance of space shuttling it to the moon than you do keeping secrets at the Hard Eight.”
“Ah. Well, then.” He laughed and kissed her cheek. “I see Lolly and Tara are fitting right in.”
Cami’s face went soft with happiness. “It’s working out great. I think they’ll be happy here, and Tara is already working hard at learning our systems. She’s already designed a new logo for the guest ranch.”
Poppy and Pippa were suddenly at his feet urgently requesting a sniff of Taffy. He lowered her down to them and Pippa swiped at her with her tongue. Both were wagging their tails.
“Looks like they recognize family when they see it,” he said, glancing up at Cami who smiled in return. Taffy squirmed in his arms, and he set her down. After a minute or two, all seemed well, and he relaxed a little. “You think they’re good?”
“Neither one has a mean bone in their body. I think they’ll be fast friends.”
The big dogs trotted out of the kitchen and little Taffy followed.
“Hungry?” she asked. “Dinner’s in an hour or so. And there might be something under the tree for all of you.”
“Don’t freak out,” Gus said, pulling a small box from his back pocket with a red ribbon on it. “It’s not a ring. It’s just a little something I thought you’d like.”
“ Shhhh ,” she said, opening the box to find a small, solitaire diamond necklace that took her breath away. “Okay, that’s… beautiful. But you shouldn’t have—”
“Only if you don’t like it.”
“I love it. Thank you.” She kissed him deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Ella came running into the room. “Daddy! Look what I—” Stopping short at the sight of them kissing, she blinked up at them.
They quickly broke apart.
Awkwardly, Gus knelt down beside her. “Remember that night when we were talking about your mom, and you said you didn’t think she’d mind if I loved someone else?”
Solemnly, Ella nodded.
“Well, I don’t think she’d mind either,” he said. “And I think she’d like Cami. Don’t you?”
Ella’s look slid back and forth between the two of them.
Then she flung her arms around his neck with a little jingle of something metallic. “I think so, too.”
Cami knelt beside them and joined the hug. “Thanks, Ella. That means the world to me.”
She gave a little squeal of happiness. “And, Daddy, look what I found! It was on the tree. Just hanging on a branch.”
She was holding a dog collar, pink and green with a tiny dog tag in the shape of a bone.
“Wow. Where did that come from?” He looked at Cami who looked back at him confused. “Look, it’s got Taffy’s name on it. Who in the world could have—Cami, did you—”
“No. I swear. It wasn’t me.” She lifted the little dog tag, examining it. “Oh, look at this,” Cami said, turning over the tag. On the back, engraved in the silver tag, was an address.
“It says 2054 South Elm Street. Marietta, Montana,” she said. “Isn’t that the little neighborhood south of town? But why would that address be on her collar and who left it on the tree for her? You and I were the only ones who knew you were getting her for Ella for Christmas.”
He rubbed his chin. “Although, come to think of it, I did mention the dog to Santa at the Graff.”
Wide-eyed with the mystery, Ella said, “But Daddy, you said—”
“I know what I said. Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Gus took Ella’s hand, heading out to the living room where everyone was gathered around the fireplace. “Um, excuse me, guys, Ella wanted to thank you for the dog collar, but we were wondering who gave it to her?”
No one fessed up and, in fact, no one had even noticed the collar hanging on the branches until Ella herself found it.
He turned the tag over again. “Well, I guess it’s a mystery.” He sent Cami a secret wink.
“Hmm,” she said, pulling out her phone. “That address might show up on Google. Let me look.”
“Maybe you should just… take a quick drive over there,” Sarah said. “To satisfy your curiosity.”
“There’s a thought.” With a wink at Sarah, he turned to Cami. “What’dya say?”
Ella tightened her hand around his. “But what if Taffy’s old owner lives there? And we have to give her back?”
He frowned. “Definitely not happening. I made sure she’s our puppy and ours alone.”
“Then let’s go. We’ll be back before dinner,” Cami said, grabbing her keys, and the three of them headed out to her truck.
A few minutes later, as they prowled the neighborhood of South Elm, looking at street numbers, they found it. Twenty-fifty-four South Elm was a cute, forest-green Craftsman house with a white painted front porch and a driveway that led to a covered portico. A F OR S ALE sign was planted in the yard with an U NDER C ONTRACT tag slanted across the top.
“Looks like no one lives there.” Cami eyed Gus curiously.
“Huh.” Gus climbed out the passenger side and lifted Ella out of the truck. “Will you look at that. Let’s get a closer look.”
Ella ran up the steps and was the first at the door, where a small note was taped. “See below,” she read, with an arrow pointing down. She searched the porch, then looked under the doormat. There was an envelope there with her name on it.
“It says Ella!” she said a little giddily.
“Well, open it.”
A key fell out and she picked it up as she opened the note. “It says, ‘Dear Ella. Never ever stop believing. Love, Santa.’” Her mouth fell open. “Does that mean—”
“It means it’s our house.” Sending Cami a smile, he reached for her hand. “It’s our home.”
Ella slammed into his waist with a hug. “I knew it! I knew he was real! It’s what I wanted. It’s all that I asked for. You and Ms. Cami and… a real home. I never thought he’d do it, but he did!” She hugged the two of them fiercely.
“Yeah, he did. Well, go on,” Gus said, his voice choked. “Open the door.”
Inserting the key, she swung the door open wide and raced inside her new home. A real home they would share with everyone they loved, and most especially, with Cami.
“You bought a house?” Cami’s eyes were filling too as she watched Ella disappear into the house, exploring.
“Didn’t you hear the note? It was Santa.”
She laughed. “I thought you were against all that… nonsense.”
“ Nonsense? Did I say that?” He took her in his arms and pulled her close. “Well, maybe I did, but that was before you came along. And changed my—”
She pressed her mouth against his and kissed him deeply. He pulled her close, his hands around her hips, hoping the neighbors weren’t watching. She tasted of the chilly, December air and the promise of all their days to come.
He swallowed hard, holding her close. “Escrow doesn’t close for another three weeks. But I don’t think this place will feel like home without you.”
“Are you… asking me to move in with you?”
“If I did, would you?”
She smiled against his cheek. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Good,” he said against her neck. “Because, you know, Santa had a hand in this. In us. And I think this was part of his plan. And its… it’s definitely part of mine.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, then… if you put it that way…”
He pressed a kiss on her neck and scooped her into his arms. She gave a squeal of surprise. He laughed, loving the feel of her against him. “And we wouldn’t want to disappoint the old guy, would we?”
“ Huhh-uh ,” she denied. “That wouldn’t do at all.”
“Then, welcome home, love,” he said, carrying her through the blue-painted front door with its charming white trim. “Welcome home.”
The End