Epilogue
West
One year later
“Look, there’s Mama,” I say to Waylon who squirms in my arms as Daisy stands beside the mayor, Maya Ortiz, holding a giant pair of scissors, in front of The Wildflour Bakery. All of Red River Canyon has shown up for the opening, and I couldn’t be prouder.
Daisy’s a knockout with those pretty brown eyes sparkling with happy tears and her blonde curls spilling down her shoulders.
Her soft pink dress perfectly matches the pink building behind her.
The dainty, striped awnings look like something you’d see in Paris.
A waterfall of silk flowers cascades over the entrance, and pink chairs and tables dot the sidewalk.
Inside, it’s a riot of wildflowers and sugary pink fixtures and furniture.
There’s even a pink bathroom, and Lemon contributed all of the custom artwork and wallpaper.
The whole town came together to help make this bakery a success, and they’ve turned out for her today too.
She really did it. Despite the odds, despite a deadbeat husband who left her barefoot and pregnant, a cowboy who needed to get his head on straight, and a baby who needed her around the clock, she made this dream come to fruition. And I couldn’t be more fucking proud.
The Mayor cuts the ribbon and officially declares the Wildflour open.
“Yay, Mama.” I say, kissing Waylon’s blond curls.
He claps his chubby little hands, “Mama, yay.”
At one year and three months, he’s a handful, and I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like with the four of them running around.
Daisy cradles her round belly as the photographer snaps a few more pics, and I grin like a goddamn fool.
I can’t believe I get to love this woman, and to have her love me back.
I also can’t believe we’re having triplets.
She gives us an exuberant wave and beams as she poses for photos with everyone, and then we’re called over to take photos of the family for the Red River Canyon Gazette.
“Alright then, come on in, y’all,” Daisy says opening the door to the café. Everyone bustles in, grabbing tables while others in their party line up at the register. In no time, the line goes out the door and around the block.
Daisy heads behind the counter where her best friend, Hadley, stands in a Wildflour T-shirt, ready to help out for the day. Beside her, Daisy’s new employee, Greyson, begins looking a little green around the gills at all of the people crowding the bakery.
I’m surprised to see the first people in line are the Thorntons. Instinctively, I edge closer, until Roman and Beau glance up at me with matching scowls. Buck is standing a little behind them sheepishly glancing between me and Daisy.
“Roman, Beau. You got some nerve coming in here—”
“Without your free samples of cinnamon rolls,” Daisy chimes in, shoving a cake stand toward them. She turns and gives me a stern look and then smiles at the Thornton’s. “What can we get you boys today?”
Buck reaches around his brothers and grabs a handful of the samples, shoving them in his mouth. “Everything.”
“They aren’t all for you. Be fucking respectful,” Roman growls at his youngest brother.
Buck frowns mid bite and says, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Buck,” she smiles sweetly, and I don’t know how she does it. A year ago, this asshole was scaring the shit out of her, and now she’s entertaining this fool in her shop.
“We’ll take one of everything, Daisy,” Roman says.
And Daisy laughs, “You know y’all don’t have to ration your baked goods anymore. We’re open six days.”
“One of everything in the pastry display.” Roman nods. “And six loaves of that sourdough bread.”
“Okay then.” Daisy smiles and turns to her staff. “Hadley, Greyson, let’s bag up one of everything.” Hadley stares at the brothers for a minute before jumping into action and ordering poor Greyson to grab the bread from the shelves.
“We sure are glad to see you up and running,” Beau tells Daisy. “Been a long time since we had your treats.”
I don’t think he meant anything by that, but I scowl anyway, because he’s a fucking Thornton and he’s talking to my woman.
“Well, I appreciate your business.” Daisy begins ringing up their sale as she chats.
“You know, I don’t think I ever told you this, but you Thornton boys are one of the reasons all this was possible.
Y’all were the first to support my porch pickup.
I framed that first dollar, it’s sitting right there.
” Daisy points to the wall behind the register where a wrinkled dollar bill sits in an ornate pink frame.
Roman’s eyes dart to the frame, and back to Daisy, and his shock is as evident as mine.
I knew about her holding onto her first dollar bill—I hung the damn picture frame—but I didn’t know it had come from them.
And I don’t know how I feel about it, either.
“Glad you got yourself a store. It’s ...
” his eyes dart around the bakery. “Pink.”
I laugh, because he has no idea. Since moving back to the ranch, my whole kitchen’s been renovated and pinkified, not to mention, I built her a damn commercial kitchen on the property just so me and Waylon wouldn’t have to miss her so much while she bakes for the store.
All eyes turn to me, because I’m laughing in the corner like a lunatic.
So, I clear my throat. “You have no idea.”
Roman, Beau, and Buck all look askance. This is the first time I’ve spoken to them in years—other than to threaten Buck with his life for scaring Daisy.
Roman cautiously looks between me and Daisy and says, “Been a long time since you stopped doing your porch pickup.”
“Yes, it has, but I hope to see ya’ll in here every week now. Okay, your total is three hundred and twenty-one. Are you sure you need all this?”
“We need it,” Buck says exuberantly.
“Y’all having a party you didn’t invite us to?”
“No, ma’am.” Roman hands her several bills.
Daisy takes the money and her and Hadley carefully pack the treats in pink boxes and bags with her logo printed on the sides.
People in the line behind the Thorntons grumble and groan, and I frown, because you can’t be here to support Daisy and turn your nose up at her taking a dollar from another Red River Canyon family—no matter how long our ancestors have been feuding.
“Quit your bitchin’,” I say, covering Waylon’s ears. “There’s enough for everyone.”
“You sure there’s anything left?” Someone calls from the back of the room, but the grumbling settles down. I turn back to Roman who tilts his chin in appreciation.
“We were real sorry to hear about your cattle, Winchester. That ain’t right. No animal deserves that.”
I nod, even though the Thornton’s had the most to gain from our loss, Rhett never could find any proof.
Right now, this moment is a lesson in humility because it isn’t right to condemn them with one breath and watch them support my family with the other.
If Daisy can see the good in these boys after everything, then I guess I have to try too.
“Appreciate it,” I say and look all three of them in the eye. Without their continued support of Daisy, we wouldn’t be here today. The Thornton’s take their bags and leave. Several of the patrons gripe quietly and I press a kiss to Daisy’s cheek and let her get on with greeting each customer.
Lemon and Colt are sitting at a table in the back.
Their baby girl, Lettie, jumps around in her highchair like all that wild can’t be contained.
I guess it’s starting early, just like with her mother and uncles.
I pop Waylon in the highchair beside her, and the cousins start babbling in the most adorable baby language.
Mama, Wyatt, Waylon, Cash, and Rhett are all seated one table over, waiting on coffees.
“How you feeling, buddy?” Colt asks, and I wonder if I look as pale as I feel.
“Next question.”
“Just so we’re clear,” my sister says, handing Lettie and Waylon both an organic teething biscuit. “If she goes into labor early because of this little stunt, I’m totally saying, ‘I told you so’.”
“Noted.”
Colt stands, grasping my shoulders as if I’m a prized fighter readying for the ring. I guess one part of that is right. “You got everything you need?”
“Yep.”
He pats my back and shoves me toward the crowd. “Go get her, brother.”
I take a deep breath and clear my throat.
I’m about to open my mouth when Colt whistles behind me, the kind of whistle we use to get one another’s attention over football fields of cattle, the kind that has every pair of eyes turning in our direction.
“Pardon the interruption, folks, but I er ... I got something to ask Daisy-Mae.”
I meet her gaze across the bakery, and as if I choreographed it, the sea of patrons make way for me. Daisy drops the Lemon Meringue tart she’s loading into a paper bag, it splatters on the pink Formica counter, and I sure hope it isn’t a sign of what she’s about to do to my heart.
“Dais, we’ve been through hell and back, and I’m so damn proud of you.
” I eat up the distance between us, until I’m standing right in front of her, with nothing but a counter between us.
Her eyes are wide and disbelieving as she walks around the counter and stops in front of me.
I take off my hat, hold it to my chest as I drop to one knee with an open ring box in another.
“I ain’t tryin’ to steal your thunder, darlin’, but I can’t go another second without knowing you’ll be mine for the rest of our lives.
Say you’ll make me the happiest man on earth and marry me. ”
She gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. Tears shine in her eyes as she nods. “Yes. Yes, West, I’ll marry you.”
I toss the box away and slip the ring on her finger. It’s a sparkly diamond solitaire with two pink diamonds on either side.
“It’s perfect,” she says eyeing the pretty rock on her finger. I’ve never moved so damn fast in my life, but I stand and claim her mouth in a kiss that’s honestly a little much for the whole town to witness.
“Alright, y’all.” I say when we come up for air. “We got triplets on the way, and we’re gonna need to pay for a wedding before they get here, so dig deep and enjoy the delicious pastries that my beautiful wife-to-be created.”
Several cheers go up, the loudest from my family in the back and I pull her close and kiss her like my life depends on it, because I don’t want to see another day without her in it.
My family crowds around, and Daisy takes Waylon as everyone comes to congratulate us.
“Well, hells bells, Another Winchester off the market, huh?” Wade says, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Better look out, I hear it’s catching.”
“Not on your life,” Wade says, his eyes tracking Lainey as she crosses the room to hug Daisy.
“Uh-huh.”
His phone rings, and he steps away as he answers it. “Hello? Sorry, I can barely hear you. Hold on.”
He pushes through the throng surrounding us and heads outside.
If we’re not careful, the Fire Marshal’s going to shut us down before we even get through the first hour of the opening.
Mama pulls me into a hug, peppering my face with kisses first, and then Daisy’s as she welcomes her to the family.
I glance at my brother outside as he stands on the sidewalk.
The early morning sun glints off his light brown hair, that he’s currently raking his fingers through.
I press a hand to Daisy’s lower back and lean in. “I’m just gonna check on Wade.”
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“I don’t know. I’ll be right back.” I head out through the crowd, which has mostly thinned back into a steady line. The bell above the door jingles as I push outside.
“Wade?” I ask. He stares at his phone and then meets my gaze, but he’s looking for all the world like he just received news that he’s got three days to live. “What’s wrong?”
“I have a kid.”
I frown. “What?”
Wade scrubs a hand over his face and stares at the cars going by on Main Street. When his eyes meet mine again, they’re wide and haunted. “That was social services. I have a kid, West. I have a goddamn baby girl I knew nothing about.”