Epilogue #2
“I just wanted you to know, I’m real proud of you.
I know you were worried about inheriting the farm, but I never once had any doubts.
You’ve loved this land and these horses far too much to ever put it at risk.
Now, that said, I can’t say I always understood where your head was at, but life has thrown a lot at you. ”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, trying not to let the sentiment in my father’s voice get to me.
“You have lived through more hardship than most other people will ever know, and I just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and Jackson. He’s a good man, and your mother and I are proud to call him a son. And we’re real excited to meet your little girl.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, my words thick. “That means a lot.”
We exchanged a quick hug before he cuffed me on the arm with a quick nod and left me to return to my man.
Making my way outside, the summer air was already starting to heat up, but I found Jackson leaning against my truck, his pretty lips curling back into a warm smile as I bounded down the porch steps.
“All good?” he asked as I approached.
“Yeah. He just wanted to be sentimental away from prying eyes. You know old Southern men.” I sighed, suddenly feeling so much lighter than I had.
Jackson chuckled, motioning toward the pickup. “Be careful, baby. Before too long, you’re going to be one of those old Southern men.”
Rolling my eyes, I rounded the truck, a smile tugging at my lips despite his teasing. We both got ourselves situated inside and I drove us to the main barn. A quick walkthrough proved that both of our horses had already been turned out for the morning, so we made our way out to the pasture.
A cool breeze floated on the air, providing just a small relief to the steadily increasing temperatures as it shifted through the leaves of the trees around us.
Small nickers and high-pitched whinnies could be heard on the wind, carried over from pastures further over.
The newest set of foals on the farm were just a couple months old and were finally being introduced to one another, the little colts and fillies having to learn their dynamics early.
Another barely there smile graced my face when I spotted Poe in the pasture, his sleek dark body looking glossy in the sunlight. And who was happily munching away at the grass by him?
“Goldie!” Jackson bellowed, his horse’s head popping up from the ground at the sound of his voice.
Her once golden-brown coloring with pale markings had long since shed, revealing a deeper tan base coat as she’d grown.
Her mane and tail had grown in dark, and they fluttered on the air as she galloped her way toward her favorite person.
“You know, maybe I shouldn’t be in charge of naming our baby girl.
I didn’t quite get it right with this one,” he mused, the last bit being cooed to the horse when she snorted her hello at the fence line.
Jackson rubbed over her face and ruffled between her forelock before reaching into his pocket to produce some treats.
“I don’t know. I think Juniper’s Golden Rebirth has quite the ring to it.”
Normally, the horses born on the farm had the initials “JG” before their registered names to indicate they’d been born here at Juniper Grove, but it hadn’t felt right for Goldie. Instead, we’d decided to give her a unique place in our lineage maps.
Poe finally moseyed his way over to us, and I offered up a few oat treats I had stashed away.
He happily munched them down as I ran a hand over his wide neck.
His age was starting to show, the white hairs around his muzzle becoming a little more prominent than they were before, but his spirit was still sharp as ever.
“I don’t know. What if I look at her and decide to name her something silly, like Corriander? All the kids will make fun of her for having a weird name.” Jackson muttered, real concern etching his features as he looked over at me.
“First of all, I doubt you’re going to take one look at our daughter and go ‘Yep, that’s a Coriander if I’ve ever seen one’.
” My words had the desired effect of making my husband smile.
“And secondly, if it’s something truly stupid, I’ll veto it.
I won’t let you name our child something ridiculous. ”
He was quiet for a moment, both of us petting over our horses who were quickly becoming less interested without the prospects of extra treats, before he spoke again. “When we started this process, I thought if we had a boy, maybe we should have his middle name be Raleigh.”
My eyes jumped to Jackson, his green-brown ones soft as he looked back at me. It took me a second to respond as I tried to get my thoughts in order. “I’m glad we’re having a girl then.” I finally settled on.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I understand the sentiment, and it means a lot to me that you’d be willing to even consider having his name attached to our child, but I don’t want Raleigh to be something you constantly feel like you need to make space for.
I’ve made peace with his death, and I want our future to be for us.
He doesn’t have a place there, as sad as it is. ”
Jackson's blond hair ruffled around his head as another breeze rolled by, and he looked so beautiful I couldn’t help but leaning in to press a kiss against his lips. He hummed into it, his hand coming up to run over the stubble along my cheeks from when I hadn’t had time to shave this morning.
“I want her to have your dark hair.” He whispered against my lips. “And your eyes.”
“Funny, I was just hoping she’d have your dimple and sunny attitude.”
Our hands laced together between us as we turned back to head into the barn, all the while continuing to talk about the possibilities of what our daughter could look like.
We’d chosen not to know who the father was when we’d received the news, but we’d agreed we’d probably be able to tell the older our daughter got.
Three years ago, none of this would have even been possible for me to picture.
A husband who loved me despite the scars and trauma I held from losing the first big love of my life.
A little girl on the way who I’d be raising to care and love for the horses and land we lived on just as I’d been.
A future that held so many uncertainties, but one that didn’t scare me anymore because I knew the man beside me would be there with me every step of the way.
Not for the first time, I sent a small thank you out into the void—to whomever put Jackson Arness in my path.
He’d been everything I needed to help me finally realize my grief was consuming me, and been there to help walk me through how to tie my own safety line.
It’d been a hard journey, that was for damn sure, but every day since I was so thankful I’d done it.
And now, I couldn’t wait to see where life took me.
THE END