Epilogue Part 1
LEVI
Six Months Later
Logan's cabin smells like coffee, Darla's cinnamon rolls, and the kind of morning that should feel easy. It doesn't feel easy. Sutton has told me my bolo tie is wrong three times.
"It's still wrong," Sutton says.
"It's not wrong."
"It is." He reaches up with both hands and adjusts it with great authority.
Sutton steps back to assess his work.
"Better," he decides.
"It looks the same," Kade says from the corner.
"It's better."
"If you say so."
Sutton looks at Kade with the expression of someone who has been questioned unfairly. "It's better, Kade."
"Yep." Kade takes a sip of his coffee. "Much better."
Logan’s fighting a smile into his cup and losing.
"It's fine," I say.
"It's great," Sutton corrects me, flat and certain, like the matter's already closed.
Logan crosses the room and hands me a coffee.
I take it, and my hand isn't quite doing what I tell it to.
He doesn't say anything about that. He just nods and goes back to his own cup, and that's the whole of Logan in one moment.
He sees everything and makes nothing of it.
That's the most reassuring thing in the room.
Bingo is underfoot because Bingo goes where Sutton goes, and neither of them was invited. Bingo puts his nose against my boot. I reach down and scratch his ear.
"You're nervous," Sutton says. He's moved on from the bolo and is now examining my hat like he's deciding whether it meets his standards.
"I'm not nervous."
"Your hand was shaky."
"My hand wasn't shaky."
"I saw it."
"Sutton." Logan's voice is even and warm from across the room. "What did we talk about?"
Sutton considers this. "That we don't say everything we notice."
Logan points at him, "That's the one."
Sutton looks at my hat one more time, then at me, then back at the hat. "It looks good," he says finally, like he's doing me a favor.
Logan crouches down to Sutton's level. "Hey. Darla needs somebody strong to help carry stuff for the reception. You think you can handle that?"
Sutton's eyes go wide. "Does she need me right now?"
"Right now."
Sutton looks at me one last time, then at the bolo tie, satisfied with his work. "Okay." He points at Bingo. "Come on." Then he's out the door at a run with Bingo right behind him.
The door closes behind them.
The cabin goes quiet.
Kade pushes off the wall, crosses the room, and puts his hand out. I shake it. He holds on for a second longer than a handshake needs, his grip solid, and he looks at me straight on.
"I've been working next to you for ten years," he says. "Wouldn't have missed this for anything."
"Ten years," I say. "And you pick today to get sentimental." I shake my head. "Thanks, Kade."
He steps back and picks up his coffee. I do the same. Ten years in one handshake.
Logan sets his hat on his head and looks at me. "She picked a good one," he says. "In case nobody's told you that yet today."
"It's early," I say. "Give it time."
"Ready?" he asks, laughing.
I think about the gate I drove through ten years ago with nothing behind me and nothing in front of me. I think about the gate I drove back through six months ago, knowing exactly what was on the other side.
"Yeah," I say. "Let's do this."
The three of us walk out into the morning together.