Epilogue
Luke
The next morning, a pounding sound jerks me awake with a start.
For a moment, I can’t remember where I am. Then I feel Holly’s warm body pressed against mine, and it all comes rushing back.
God, what a night.
The best night of my life…
The pounding comes again, more insistent this time, accompanied by muffled voices.
“Holly! Holly, are you in there?” a man asks.
“Honey, are you okay?” a worried female voice chimes in. “The Victors said they saw lights in the tower room last night before the power went out.”
“Luke?” It’s my brother, Bran, I realize, my pulse picking up. “Are you in there? We’ve been up all night, scared to death.”
“Yes! I’m here! Just a second!” I call, making Holly flinch awake with a snort.
“I’m up! I’m up, Mom! I promise I won’t be late for the bus,” she mutters in a rush of breath, clearly still half asleep.
“People are here,” I whisper urgently. “We have to get up. Get dressed and—”
Before I can finish, or either of us can make a move to get any less naked, I hear the distinct sound of a key turning in the lock, and the door flies open.
Icy air sweeps in. Boots stomp across the floor. A flurry of concerned voices rises and swells, and then, suddenly, we’re not alone.
Willow hurries in first, her purple coat flapping.
Holly’s dad, an older woman I’m guessing is her mother, my siblings, the mayor, and several members of the town’s volunteer search party follow close behind her.
They rush into the lobby, coming to an abrupt halt as they take in the scene before them.
Me and Holly. Tangled together on a bed of quilts and play mats. Very obviously naked under the covers, and frozen like two horny deer caught in the headlights.
For a moment, no one moves. Or speaks. Or blinks.
Then Cheeks pokes his head out of his trophy bed and chitters indignantly, breaking the spell.
Willow laughs, nodding along. “You’re right, darling.
Of course, you are. And that’s so wonderful to hear!
Come here, my love, I was so worried.” Cheeks bounds out of his bed, across the floor, and into her cupped hands.
She scoops him up, nuzzling him to her face as she whispers something unintelligible into his ear.
“Well, well,” Bran says, casting a pointed glance at my bare chest, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “Look who else was up all night? I suspect you were having a lot more fun than we were, though.”
“Bran!” Ashton elbows him in the ribs. Turning back to us, she gushes, “It’s so good to meet you, Holly! You’ve been a great influence on my grouchy big brother. The change is incredible. Seriously, I can’t begin to tell you.”
“Really top notch,” Elliot agrees. “He’s a changed man.”
“And so brave! Thank you so much, Luke.” The middle-aged woman with eyes the same cornflower blue as Holly’s beams at me. “We heard how you charged out into the storm to look for our girl the second you knew she was missing. We can’t thank you enough.”
“We really can’t,” Holly’s father, George, agrees. “We sure are grateful to you for keeping our daughter safe.”
“Thank you, but she’s the one who saved me, actually,” I say, wanting to set the record straight. I’d rather do it while fully dressed, but… “I was half frozen by the time I found her.”
“Hypothermia kills,” Willow agrees, nodding sagely. “Good thing you got skin to skin and under the covers. Best way to get warm.”
“Not to mention get yourself in the family way,” an old man in the back mutters.
The even older man beside him snorts in amusement.
“No, Cheeks says they used protection,” Willow says, summoning a huff of outrage from beside me.
“Can everyone please stop talking about us like we’re not here?” Holly squeaks, her face so red I’m worried she might spontaneously burst into flames. “And maybe stop talking completely until we get dressed?”
“Yes, please turn around, everyone,” Hattie says, slipping into mayor mode with a clap of her hands. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
“Or everyone could step back outside for a few minutes,” Holly mutters beneath her breath.
But clearly, no one is interested in leaving the scene of the hottest gossip to hit Silver Bell Falls since that convict was caught holed up in the root cellar beneath our feet.
Thankfully, however, one by one, our rescuers spin to face the walls, the door, the painting of Captain Herbert by the entrance—anywhere but the two of us.
Except Bran, who Ashton has to nudge in the ribs again to startle him out of nodding and chuckling.
“Sorry,” he hisses as he spins around. “I’ve been up all night. You know I need coffee and ADHD meds to follow directions.”
“I’ll hold up a quilt while you dress,” I whisper to Holly. “Just in case.”
With a grateful sigh, she nods. “Thank you. You’re a prince. I’ll be fast.”
Pressing a kiss to my cheek, she slips from beneath the covers.
I stand, holding one of the larger quilts up as a shield until she’s back in her underwear, jeans, and sweater. I then quickly pull on my boxers and tee shirt, while she fetches the rest of my things from the racks in the other room.
Soon, we’re both as close to decent as we’re going to get without a shower.
Holly pulls in a breath, catching my gaze as she extends a hand my way.
I take it with a nod, silently assuring her that we can do this.
After all, there are worse things than being caught naked by your entire family, the mayor, and several old men concerned about your odds of conception.
Probably. I would imagine.
She turns back to our audience with a tight smile. “Okay, we’re good. Except that we want to apologize, of course. We would have called to let you all know that we were okay, but the power went off and our cell phones didn’t have service.”
“Oh, it’s okay, honey, we know!” Holly’s mother spins around, rushing toward her daughter with outstretched arms. “We’re just so glad everyone is all right!”
Holly’s parents sweep her into a fierce hug, both of them trembling with relief. Behind them, my siblings rush in, pulling me into an equally tight embrace. I grunt as three pairs of arms wrap around me, my chest beginning to ache with wonder as I pat what parts of them I can reach.
They really were worried.
And they really love me as much as I’ve always loved them.
“Sorry to scare you,” I mutter gruffly. “I love you. Very much.”
Ashton nuzzles closer to my chest. “You’d better. You’re pretty much the best, you know. Not to mention the closest thing we have to a parent around here. We’d be lost and sad without you.”
“Very sad,” Elliot seconds, his voice nearly as rough as mine. “Call us next time, okay? Before you run out into the woods to slay dragons? We’ll help you. We want to help.”
“We do,” Bran adds. “And we want coffee. We all really want coffee. Right? It’s not just me?”
“Dying for coffee,” I agree.
“We’re taking everyone to breakfast,” George announces as we emerge from our hug circles, beaming as he claps me on the back. “And don’t feel nervous or embarrassed, son. Holly’s thirty years old. I’ve suspected she was sexually active for a long time.”
“Dad!” Holly says with a burst of shocked laughter.
Her hands fly to her cheeks as she continues to giggle.
“Oh my God, what a morning. I love all of you so much, but let’s get out of here.
The sooner we get pancakes, the sooner we can pretend this part never happened.
I’ll come back and clean up later. Let’s just… go. Now. Please.”
Cheeks barks his agreement as he bounds from Willow’s shoulder to Elliot’s to Ashton’s to mine, where he proceeds to insist that we go to The White Out Diner instead of Kit’s.
Because they have carrot shavings in their Fall Fest pancakes at The White Out, and he could really go for some carrot shavings.
“Carrots in pancakes?” I mutter, shooting him some serious side eye. “Sounds repulsive if you ask me.”
Willow gasps loud enough to make us all flinch.
I glance over to see her jaw drop and her eyes round.
She flutters her hands my way, boots dancing on the hardwood for a beat, before she manages, “You heard him! You can hear him! Oh, Luke! This is fantastic.” I blink, having no clue what she’s talking about until she clarifies, “The carrots! You heard Cheeks say how much he likes the carrots in the pancakes at The White Out diner!”
I blink again, realizing she’s right.
But she can’t be right.
That would be crazy.
Nearly as crazy as everything else that’s happened since I returned to this very special, very odd little town.
The town where the love of my life is now slipping her hand into mine, and a chipmunk is assuring me that he’ll be staying with us from now on as he slides into my coat pocket.
“What happened?” Holly asks, giving my fingers a squeeze.
I shake my head as a dazed smile creeps across my face. “Cheeks’s decided he wants to live with us, I guess. If that’s all right with you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Well, of course. Duh. I mean, someone has to keep us in line.”
Cheeks clucks his agreement from my pocket, making those who speak chipmunk laugh, and the rest of the company look slightly confused.
But that’s all right.
They clearly still love us anyway, even when we’re being the very strangest, most authentic versions of ourselves.
What more could a person ask for?
We head out on foot for The White Out diner, sticking to the cleared roads. On the way, the old men regale us with stories of how this storm compares to the Blizzard of ‘64, while Hattie fields calls from the electric company, updating her on when power should be restored to the outskirts of town.
We order every kind of pancake, sausage, bacon, and three omelets to share, and I begin the process of getting to know the people who raised the best girl in the world.