Epilogue
One month later
“Can I open them yet?”
“I’ll tell you when.”
I’m walking backward, leading Grayson with both hands, checking behind me every couple of steps to make sure I don’t trip on the soft ground.
“I can tell we’re at a pig farm, Olive. I know what a pig farm sounds like.”
“Hush. You’re going to ruin the surprise.” I lead him a few more steps, then stop. “Okay. Now you can open your eyes.”
He does, looking past me at the pig pen. He shakes his head, clearly confused. “Just as I thought.”
“Yes, but does anyone look familiar?”
He takes another step forward and leans over the fence, looking into the pen. A pink boar squeals with delight and comes trotting over, flopping onto his side and offering up his stomach for belly rubs.
“Milton?” Grayson asks. “But…he was sold at auction.” He looks around. “Wait—these are all the pigs from the show. They were all sold.”
“To me,” I said, leaning against the fence beside him.
My shoulder bumps his. “I used the reward money I got from catching The Witch to buy all the pigs.” I slip one hand under his T-shirt and rub his back.
“They’re not going to end up as bacon. They’re all retired now, and they’ll live out their days here on Wayne’s father’s farm.
I’m paying Wayne to take care of them for the rest of their lives. ”
“Olive, I…” Grayson’s voice thickens, and he looks away for a moment. When he looks back, his eyes shine with unshed tears. “Thank you. This may be the nicest gift anyone’s ever given me.”
“Keep that in mind next Christmas when I give you a blender or some other terrible gift.”
He turns and wraps his arms around me, resting his forehead against mine. “I’m pretty sure you could never give me a terrible gift.”
He’s wrong—I’m a notoriously bad gift giver—but in that moment, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that we’re alive, our pig friends are safe, and we have the rest of our lives ahead of us.
Together.