Epilogue
“So do you guys always make such a big deal out of St Patrick’s Day?” Kat asked Betzy as they prepared a pan of bright green Jell-O blocks.
“Oh, yes. It’s a very big deal for the Benton Family.
We always come up to the cabin for at least a night or two.
There’s a funny story behind the whole Irish thing actually.
” Betzy leaned far over to see into the cabin’s front entry room, where the grandparents were entertaining the little ones with a shamrock toss.
Looking satisfied that they were out of earshot, Betzy continued.
“My mom thought she had Irish on both sides. In fact, that’s where we figured my red hair came from.
And while that is still probably true, I did one of those tests…
you know, to discover your ancestry, and it turned out I was less than a quarter percent. ”
“And Claudia figured you’d be half?” Kat asked.
She nodded and leaned in. “I didn’t tell her about the test. She likes blaming her temper on being full-blooded Irish. We don’t want to take that away from her.”
Kat chuckled. “No doubt.”
“How are things coming over there, ladies?” Betzy asked the gals at the other end of the large kitchen. “We on schedule to eat by around four o’clock?”
Camila and Jeanie stood up to the sink, prepping a bowl of baby potatoes and cabbage wedges.
“Yep,” Camila assured. “The corned beef is well on its way to perfection, and we’re just about to throw the rest of this goodness into the pot.”
Jeanie shook her head. “Kat, you lucked out getting a personal chef in the family.”
Kat nodded. “I know.”
“Well,” Camila said, “Kat’s family is our family now, so that means you do too.”
A rush of warmth filled Kat’s heart at the words. She liked the sound of that. In the month since she and Zander had been back in LA the family had been welcoming indeed.
Of course, the fact that Kat was still more technically married to Duke than she was Zander—seeing that his name was on the marriage license—had become prime joking material among the Bentons.
Not that Kat minded. The setup had a comical note for sure. Still, she looked forward to the time when—once the contract was up—she and Zander could rectify that.
“It’s funny,” Kat said, “I never would’ve guessed that the Bentons were such a close-knit family.”
“Yeah,” Jeanie added. “You guys really stick together, don’t you?”
Betzy and Camila looked at each other across the kitchen. “We do,” Betzy said. “And I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that we ladies are finally evening things out. I grew up with nothing but brothers. Having sisters now…it’s the best thing ever.”
Camila let out a wistful sigh. “When I started dating James, I was surprised by how…normal the Bentons were. I didn’t come into this with a family of my own, so I’ve really loved all the get-togethers they have.
Fun ones. Activities that make you want to hurry up and have kids so they can join in on the fun too. ”
“Oh, yeah. Sawyer’s already talking about it.”
“James too,” Camila said. “How long did you and Craig wait to have kids, Jeanie?”
“Not long enough,” Jeanie said with a laugh. “But we wouldn’t take it back if we could. Kids are extra, that’s for sure, but when you add that to ordinary, you get extraordinary, and you can’t imagine life without them.”
“I love that,” Camila said with a grin.
Kat had finished pouring the gelatin into the pans. She rested the spatula in the mixing bowl and grabbed onto the first pan.
“Here goes nothing,” she said.
“I’ve got pan number two,” Betzy said from behind.
Jeanie hurried over to the industrial-sized fridge and tugged open the doors. “And I’ve got the fridge.”
Kat moved with slow steps, watching as the green Jell-O tipped and swayed in the shallow pan. Gently then, she slid it onto one of the open shelves, and sighed once it was safely in place.
Betzy repeated the action with the second pan.
“Well,” Camila said, removing her apron and looping it around a hook on the pantry door.
“We’re done with our part. Now, we can do one of three things.
Help out with the shamrock toss, check on the guys and see how the treasure hunt’s coming, or kick up our feet while sampling some of my mint chocolate fudge. ”
“I like option three,” Betzy said.
“Definitely,” Jeanie agreed with a laugh.
Kat stepped over to the sink, lowered a hand into the suds, and hollered over her shoulder. “I’m going to load these dishes real quick. I’ll meet you ladies on the couch in a sec.”
Secretly, she was hoping to catch sight of Zander through the back window. He was out there somewhere, walking among the trees with Duke, Craig, Sawyer and James at his heels.
She looked forward to seeing what they’d come up with for the kids’ treasure hunt. She’d been surprised that they’d offered to do it, in truth. Kat assumed that would be something the ladies would put their heads together for.
She spied traces of the hunt among the wooded area surrounding the cabin.
Shiny green shamrocks, only half hidden, had been taped to the tree trunks.
Splashes of gold caught her eye next—coins, she decided.
They were scattered along the riverside, balanced on rocks, and even tucked into tree branches.
Kat finished up the dishes and dried her hands on the dishcloth. She couldn’t help but note the absence of the wedding ring each time. Shortly after their last live production, she’d returned that ring to Duke, but she looked forward to the day she could replace it.
Just as Kat stepped away from the sink, the cabin’s doorbell chimed. The kids, who’d been filling the space with exuberant cheers while playing the tossing game, quieted at once.
Kat spun to look over her shoulder.
“Who would that be?” Betzy asked while coming to her feet.
“I’ve got it,” Grandma Lo hollered from the front room. It was then that the back door opened as well. The men piled in one by one. Kat tipped her head to see around the group, and grinned as Zander finally appeared at the back of the pack.
“It’s a treasure hunt!” a small voice cried from the front. “We get to go look for treasure!”
More little cheers came.
Zander dodged the dining room table, then the island bar as he made his way to Kat, eyes pasted directly on her.
Oh, how he managed to get her heart racing. She bit at her bottom lip as he wrapped a warm hand around her back. “Princess,” he said, voice husky and low.
“Zander,” she purred next to his ear in reply. It turned out, he preferred she call him that over anything else.
“This is addressed to Kat and her little helpers,” Michael called from the front room.
Kat glanced over to see that everyone had filtered into the front entry of the cabin. “What?”
Zander gave her hip a squeeze. “We better go see what he means.”
Link, Lilly, and Ben rushed in as they headed toward the group.
“We’re going on a treasure hunt with Kat,” Link exclaimed, rushing alongside Zander to take his hand.
“You don’t say?” Zander replied, mussing the kid’s hair a bit.
“What’s going on?” Kat asked. “Why is it for the kids and me?”
When Zander didn’t answer, Kat turned her gaze to the others in the room. Dad held Noah on his hip while Claudia spoke to him excitedly. Mom was already heading out front with Lorraine and the married couples.
“Guess we better go find out,” Zander said.
Duke filtered past them toward the kitchen, lifted his nose in the air, and sniffed. “Smells good,” he said. “I better not get stuck at the kids table for dinner tonight,” he mumbled.
“I did overhear Michael threatening the kids,” Zander razzed. “He said if they were really naughty he’d put Uncle Duke at their table. They’ve been pretty good today, though, so you’ve got a fighting chance.”
“Very funny,” Duke mumbled as he followed them outside.
Crisp scents of fresh redwood and pine filled the sunlit air as they stepped onto the porch.
“Look,” Ben hollered. “It’s the first clue!”
Lilly squealed before grabbing Ben’s hand and tugging him toward the nearby trees. Kat spotted it too—a bright green shamrock, much bigger than the ones she’d seen out back, hung from a green, beaded necklace. The words Clue #1 were written on the front.
“We can’t reach,” Lilly said as she jumped beneath the clue.
“That’s why you have Kat to help.” Zander gave her a small nudge with his elbow. Link followed behind as she joined the kids at the clue. She took the necklace, a strand of shiny toy pearls, and looped it over Lilly’s head. “Here you go.”
“Thank you! Read the clue. What does it say?”
Kat read the note attached to the first clue. “When it’s time to roast a tasty treat, puffy white things we like to eat. We chop up the logs and stack them high. This special place is very nearby.”
“Oh,” Link piped. “The fireplace.”
“You mean the fire pit,” Lilly corrected.
The little ones tore ahead of the group toward the back.
“There’s coins!” Ben hollered along the way. “Tons of them.”
“There sure are,” Claudia said with a laugh. “And Uncle Duke’s going to go get your little pots out of the garage so you can start collecting them.”
Duke groaned and headed toward the garage.
He came back with four small buckets that looked like black pots suited for the end of the rainbow.
“Who likes Uncle Duke now?” he called, holding them out for the kids.
The adults walked slowly, the group talking among themselves as the kids scurried throughout the wooded area, plopping both gold and chocolate coins into their pots along the way.
“Here’s clue number two,” one of the kids yelled out. Log stools surrounded the fire pit.
“You can have the necklace this time,” Lilly said, looping it over Ben’s head.
“Thanks.”
The kids took a seat as Kat read it aloud once more.
“When raindrops threaten to get us wet, grabbing one of these will be your best bet.”
“I saw umbrellas by the front door,” Ben shouted. “Let’s go!” This time Link led the way through the back of the house, and soon he was handing Kat the next shamrock.