BONUS EPILOGUE
Five years later
– HELENA –
Astro jumps out of the truck as soon as I open the door. He runs toward the other dogs. Benny and Macy, Seamus and Jaxie’s hairless terriers and Hank, a Texas Heeler belonging to Murray and Elodie.
All four dogs start to play while I walk toward the fence. Jaxie waves when she sees me and I come to a stop next to her. A smile slides across my face when I see my son, Hudson. He’s sitting on the back of a gorgeous Clydesdale.
I almost shit myself the first time I saw my three-year-old sitting on a huge horse.
Hudson has no fear, and I completely trust Elodie.
It’s her horse and she trains them well.
It took her a long time before she allowed herself to buy a horse of the same breed as the one Nolan killed over five years ago.
We’ve all come a long way since.
“You guys f-fighting over a name yet? Your twenty-week u-ultrasound appointment was today, right?” Jaxie questions and looks at my stomach.
Her stutter is almost gone. After years of talking in the company of friends, she’s slowly able to feel comfortable enough to use speech instead of ASL. She hasn’t completely stopped using it, though. It’s now her job as a translator for our company.
The corner of my mouth twitches. “Ballard and I don’t fight. We have loud discussions when we have different opinions.”
Jaxie snorts. “Right.”
I glance down and stroke her son’s head. “How are you doing, Ramsey? Did you have your turn yet?”
He shoots me a grin. “I was first.”
“Of course, you’re the oldest.” I wink and Ramsey bobs his head.
“I’m next,” Sawyer states, his dark eyes are filled with excitement.
He has the same eyes and hair color as his father, Murray.
“Exciting.” I grin and turn my attention to Hudson.
Elodie lifts my son off the horse and he slowly walks toward me, using extreme caution. A smile tugs my lips. The rule of no running near the horses is drilled into all of them.
“Hey, kiddo,” I murmur and help him climb over the fence. “Did you have a good time?”
Hudson bobs his head and grins. My chest warms. Our little man looks so much like his father. Ballard is such a great father. We each balance our time between family and work. It’s hard to catch a moment for ourselves, and in a few months it will be even harder.
I’m pregnant with our second child, and this time it’s a girl. The look on Ballard’s face was priceless. It was a mixture of horror and pride. When I asked him about his expression, he told me he needed to process the fact that a girl needs to be protected.
Then he started rattling off a long list of all the things she wasn’t allowed to do until she was twenty-one. The only way I could shut him up was to kiss him. Yes, he’s able to talk. His voice sounds hoarse, rough, weak, and sometimes it cuts in and out.
Ballard once confided in me how he couldn’t care less. Even without a voice he gained so much in his life. Regaining some of his voice was the icing on the cake on what really mattered in life. Me, family, and the company we all work hard for.
Family is not just us and our son, and soon our little girl.
It’s also our close friends, Seamus, Jaxie, Murray, Elodie, and their children.
After Royce and my half-sister’s death, I inherited the shares of Stalwart Ridge Security.
Weeks went by until I finally made a decision after talking to both Ballard and Jaxie.
I knew I wanted to keep my job as deputy sheriff. Every now and then we work with Stalwart Ridge Security, and it’s a good investment. Though, the heart of the matter is the people who run it. Which is why I offered to split the shares with Murray.
A few months later, Ballard asked me to marry him. Now, the company is owned and run by three couples. Well, it’s run by Seamus, Jaxie, Murray, and Ballard. I recently became the sheriff, when Orson retired, and Elodie likes to spend her time training horses.
Jaxie loves helping out at the office, and sometimes she just tags along to sit in Seamus’s office and sculpt wood. She still creates and sells, with Elodie’s help, wooden sculptures. All of us clearly do what we love most. Our friendship is like that of a found family.
It’s a stark contrast to what the three men who founded the company had.
Hate, envy, vengeful. None of these things should be linked with friendship.
Royce should have stepped away. The reasons for what he did, what Burk and Camilla, Nolan, Jolene.
..ugh, the list is long. A butterfly effect caused by bad intentions.
Some choices in life might not be the right ones, and we’ve all made mistakes. Some has caused trauma, pain, scars...by others or due to our own stupidity. Never should anything bad land on the shoulders of others or actions be revenged by taking another person’s life.
The bad environment which once clung to Stalwart Ridge Security has cleared.
Once founded by three friends, now taken over by men who instead are a solid unit.
They are true friends who share the same goals and mindset instead of having backstabbing tendencies.
Along with their partners who stand strong by their side.
I smile at Elodie and Jaxie. My two best friends. Our kids are being raised together, and we are there for one each other no matter what. This isn’t about money, envy, about a relationship someone else has with a person, or wanting all the power, thinking it’s owed to you.
Seeing the smiles on our children’s faces, watching them grow up, doing the work you love, building something together. Those are the things that matter. To be proud of what you have instead of looking back on what you’ve missed out on in the past.
The sound of a truck pulls me out of the ramblings inside my head.
The guys are back from the office and are walking our way with a few grocery bags.
We’re having a barbecue today at Elodie and Murray’s place.
Something we do every now and then. We all have shares in the company, but it’s basically the men who work together most of the time.
Not daily since they each have their own tasks within the company.
These get-togethers are fun, casual, and show we’re all part of this found family. Even if Jaxie and I are truly related, her being my cousin. Yet, not knowing a person all your life doesn’t make them family.
I glance around and watch how the men pick up their kids, lean in to kiss their wife, including Ballard. His lips brush against mine and my heart skips a beat. Yes. This is how relationships should be.
The best plan I ever had was to make a deal with Ballard to become my fake boyfriend. Within the blink of an eye, it became as real as it gets. Sometimes the unexpected surprises life throws at you can turn out to be the best ones you’ll ever get.
“Love you, wifey,” Ballard’s hoarse voice is a broken whisper against my lips.
I don’t care how his voice sounds; it’s the feelings this man evokes inside me that truly matters.
“Love you more,” I whisper back.
Ballard places Hudson back on his feet, who instantly runs off to throw a stick for Astro.
He places a hand on my belly. “How’s our baby girl?”
I cover his hand with mine and smile up at him. “Craving ice cream.”
A soft rasp comes from him. It might not be loud, but I love his laugh. The way his eyes crinkle and brighten lightens my heart.
“Are we gonna fire up the barbecue or what?” Murray asks and slides his arm around Elodie.
“You wanna eat first? Or shall we get the sledgehammers?” Seamus asks.
“Sledgehammers?” I frown.
Ballard grins and leans in to place his lips near my ear. “We’re going to knock down the little shed behind the cabin so we can build a bigger one.”
I roll my eyes. “You guys and swinging axes, sledgehammers, building stuff...go. Go have fun smashing things and us girls will watch the kids and start prepping the food.”
“Best wife ever,” Ballard murmurs.
“Your only wife ever,” I fire back.
Which he replies with, “Forever.”
I get another kiss and watch the guys laugh, smack one another’s shoulders, and get their sledgehammers before walking off.
“Boys and their toys,” Elodie states. “Men never grow up if you ask me. Smash things and make fire. Funsies.”
Jaxie laughs and I chuckle. True story. Yet, it does give us some girl time in return.
We all go inside and watch the dogs plunk down on a blanket, exhausted from fetching sticks.
Elodie grabs a bunch of markers and some paper to set them on the table while Jaxie and I place the kids on their seats.
Elodie, Jaxie, and I share a moment as we stare at our kids. We have all the reasons to be thankful for the things life graced us with, and we damn well know it.