Epilogue
The year had flown by in a blur, and it was Christmas again before Pike knew it.
This year for the holiday, he and Laney had put together a gingerbread Main Street of Mustang River. It had been elaborate, and a lot of work, so much so that Laney had been kind of fatigued over the past week or so, but he couldn’t blame her.
The day had been a great one. Marlowe and Cody had finally gotten married.
Addison and Walker had already gotten married a few months earlier—and nobody had run away from the altar.
Zane and Kara had married nearly a year earlier, and Nolan and Lila had eloped and then had a reception at the ranch later.
But Marlowe and Cody had waited a while, and Pike could understand it.
Because Marlowe had been married before.
And sometimes when you’d had something that wasn’t quite right, you wanted to sit and luxuriate in the thing that you had gotten just so.
At least, that’s what he’d been doing for the last year.
And now he had a ring that was burning a hole in his pocket.
It was Christmas Eve, and he fully intended to propose right in front of the giant tree in the lobby.
A very tired-looking Laney walked out of the kitchen, and he walked toward her.
“I have something to ask you,” he said.
But at the same time, she said, “I have something to tell you.”
“Well, you go first.”
“You’re not going to believe it,” she said.
“I don’t know. I have a pretty high threshold for the remarkable.”
“Okay. I... Pike, I just took a test. I’m pregnant.”
That completely stunned him.
“Oh. I—” A rush of joy flooded him. A little bit of fear, of course, because a new baby was a lot, especially at his age, but it was also a chance to expand all the love in his life. And that was only ever a good thing.
“Well, it’s a damn good thing that I was ready to ask you this question.” He took the ring out of his pocket and held the box open toward her. “Will you marry me?”
She put her hands over her face. “You were really going to ask me to marry you?”
“Of course I was. It’s Christmas. And Christmas is the most important time of year for us.”
“I guess it is,” she said.
“Are you actually going to answer my question?”
“Of course I’m going to marry you,” she said. “Now I’m all knocked up.”
“That’s not the only reason you’re marrying me, is it?”
“No,” she said. “It’s because I’m madly and wildly in love with you.”
Pike pulled her into his arms and kissed her, right there in front of their gingerbread house.
He had been to a rock bottom lower than most people could ever imagine.
But right now he felt like he was standing on the tallest point of the Painted Ridge, looking down at the view below. Life had never been sweeter.
This was going to be the best Christmas ever.
Until the next one.
And the next.
And the next.
On to forever.
* * *
If you’re looking for a full length Christmas read - check out Christmas Valley. And if you want to start a new series, step into the world of the Bull Riders with Dallas.