Epilogue
CADE
ONE YEAR LATER
The greenhouse smells like exploded lavender bombs.
I'm repotting calendula seedlings when I hear Natalie's car pull up the drive. The dogs beat me to the door, tails wagging, and I wipe the dirt from my hands as I follow them out to the porch.
She's wearing the sundress she bought in town last month, the yellow one that makes her skin glow. Her hair is longer now, falling past her shoulders in soft waves. She's gained weight in all the right places, her curves filled out from a year of good food and better sleep.
She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
"How'd the meeting go?" I ask as she climbs the porch steps.
"Kevin took the plea deal." Her smile is radiant. "Twelve years. No possibility of parole for eight."
The tension I didn't know I was carrying releases from my shoulders.
We knew it was coming. Vivian's prosecutor friends had built an airtight case, and Kevin's lawyers had been pushing him toward a deal for months.
But hearing it confirmed feels like the final page of a chapter we've been trying to close.
"It's over," I say.
"It's over." She walks into my arms and presses her face against my chest. "Really, truly over."
I hold her for a long moment, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, feeling her heartbeat against my ribs. A year ago, she stumbled onto my property bleeding and terrified. Now she's standing in my arms, healthy and whole and free.
Some miracles take time.
"I have something for you," she says, pulling back.
"Yeah?"
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a small, wrapped package. "Happy anniversary."
I blink. "Our anniversary isn't for another two weeks."
"I know. But I couldn't wait." She presses the package into my hands, bouncing slightly on her toes. "Open it."
I tear off the paper to find a plain white box. Inside, nestled in tissue paper, is a tiny pair of knitted booties.
Green. The color of my eyes.
My brain short circuits.
"Natalie."
"I found out this morning." Her eyes are bright with tears. "I wasn't sure, I've been feeling off for a few weeks, but I took the test and..." She laughs, a wet, happy sound. "We're having a baby, Cade."
The booties blur in my vision. My hands are shaking.
A baby. Our baby. A tiny person made from both of us, growing inside the woman I love.
"Say something," Natalie whispers. "You're scaring me."
I drop to one knee on the porch.
She gasps. "Cade, what are you..."
"I was going to wait." My voice comes out rough. "I had a whole plan. Dinner at the lodge. The ridge at sunset. But I can't wait anymore."
I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring I've been carrying for three months.
Natalie's hands fly to her mouth.
"I bought this the day Kevin's trial started," I tell her. "I wanted to wait until the case was resolved, until you were completely free. But then you walk in here and tell me we're having a baby, and I realize I'm done waiting. I've been done waiting since the moment you walked into my life."
"Cade." She's crying now, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You saved me, Natalie. You probably don't know that, but you did. I was barely surviving before you. Existing. Going through the motions. Then you showed up, bleeding and brave and so damn beautiful it hurt to look at you, and something inside me woke up."
I hold up the ring. Simple. Practical. A small diamond set low in a white gold band.
"I love you. I love our life. I love this cabin and these dogs and the way you hum while you're writing." I take a breath. "And I want to love our baby with you. As your husband. If you'll have me."
She drops to her knees in front of me, cupping my face in her hands.
"Yes." She kisses me. "Yes, yes, yes."
I slide the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly.
"I can't believe you had a ring this whole time," she says, laughing through her tears.
"I can't believe you're pregnant."
"Surprise." She grins at me, and I see our whole future in her eyes. Babies and sleepless nights and first steps and scraped knees. A life full of love and chaos and everything I never thought I'd have.
"Come on." I pull her to her feet. "We need to tell the team."
"Now?"
"Are you kidding? Vivian's going to lose her mind." I wrap my arm around her waist, my hand spreading possessively over her still flat stomach. "Besides, Deck owes me fifty bucks."
Natalie stops walking. "You bet on this?"
"He bet I wouldn't have the guts to propose before the trial ended. I bet I would." I grin at her. "Technically I proposed after, but I had the ring before. I'm counting it."
She shakes her head, but she's smiling. "I'm marrying an idiot."
"Yeah, you are." I kiss her temple. "But it’s an idiot who loves you."
We pile into the truck and head for the lodge. The whole drive, Natalie keeps looking at her ring, turning her hand to catch the light. Her other hand rests on her belly, protective and wondering.
She's going to be an amazing mother.
And me? I'm going to be a father.
The thought should terrify me. A year ago, it would have. The idea of being responsible for another life, of having someone so small and vulnerable depending on me, would have sent me spiraling into panic.
But that was before Natalie. Before I learned that love isn't about being perfect. It's about showing up. Trying. Doing your best even when your best feels inadequate.
I showed up for her. I'll show up for our baby.
That's all any of us can do.
The lodge is chaos when we arrive. Vivian is on the couch with baby Elena on her hip, the eight month old grabbing fistfuls of her mother's dark hair while Vivian tries to direct some kind of renovation project from her seat.
Deck hovers nearby, ready to rescue his wife's hair at a moment's notice.
Wolfe and Sadie are in the corner, Sadie talking a mile a minute while Wolfe listens with his usual quiet intensity, her hand resting on the small bump that's just starting to show.
Mace is in the kitchen, and I can smell something amazing coming from the oven.
"We have news," I announce.
Everyone stops. Turns. Stares.
Natalie holds up her left hand.
The room erupts.
Vivian screams. Actually screams, loud enough to make Deck wince. She rushes over to pull Natalie into a hug.
"I knew it! I knew it was coming! Deck, hold Elena, I need to see this ring!"
Deck takes the baby with practiced ease while Vivian examines Natalie's hand. Elena immediately grabs for her father's beard, and I watch the most dangerous man I know melt into a puddle for his infant daughter.
Sadie is right behind her, bouncing on her toes, demanding details. Mace emerges from the kitchen to shake my hand. Wolfe nods at me from across the room, which from him is basically a standing ovation.
And Deck crosses to me with a knowing smile.
"Told you that you'd find something worth living for."
"You did." I watch Natalie laughing with the women, her face bright with joy. "But I think she found me."
"Either way." He claps me on the shoulder. "Welcome to the club, brother."
I'm about to respond when Natalie catches my eye across the room. She touches her stomach, a small secret gesture, and raises an eyebrow.
Right. The other news.
I clear my throat. "Actually, there's something else."
The room goes quiet again.
Natalie crosses to my side and takes my hand. "We're pregnant."
The second eruption is even louder than the first.
Vivian bursts into tears. Sadie starts jumping up and down, which makes Wolfe look mildly alarmed. Mace immediately starts talking about baby proofing the cabin. And Deck just laughs, shaking his head.
"You don't do anything halfway, do you Marshall?"
"Not anymore." I pull Natalie against my side. "Not when it matters."
Later, after the celebration has wound down and we've eaten our weight in Mace's cooking, Natalie and I slip out to the back patio. The sun is setting over the mountains, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.
"Hell of a day," she says softly.
"Hell of a year."
She leans her head against my shoulder. "I never thanked you properly. For finding me in those woods. For taking me in. For everything."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I know. But I want to." She turns to face me, her hand finding my cheek. "You gave me my life back, Cade. You showed me what love is supposed to look like. And now we're going to have a baby, and I get to watch you be the kind of father I always wished I'd had."
My throat tightens. "I'm going to screw up. A lot."
"So will I." She smiles. "We'll figure it out together. That's kind of our thing."
I kiss her. Soft and slow and full of promise.
When I pull back, the last light of the sun is catching her ring, making the diamond sparkle like a star.
"I love you, Natalie Marshall."
She grins. "I'm not Natalie Marshall yet."
"You will be." I rest my forehead against hers. "Soon."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
We stand there until the stars come out, wrapped in each other, dreaming about the future.
A year ago, I was a broken man living alone in the mountains, convinced I didn't deserve happiness.
Then a brave, beautiful woman stumbled into my life and changed everything.
She didn't fix me. I'm still broken in places that might never fully heal. But she showed me that broken things can still be beautiful. That damaged people can still find love. That sometimes the best things in life are the ones you never saw coming.
Our baby is going to be one of those things.
And I can't wait to meet them.