Epilogue
CHRISTMAS, TWO YEARS LATER
Whit, answer the door please!” I called out to her from the kitchen.
I was hanging the various Christmas cards we’d gotten from Clay and Abby, Grant and Nolan, and Bec and Noah on the fridge.
Bec had sent me a Christmas present as well—a new set of wine glasses that she said we could use the next time they were in town.
They’d moved to a slightly larger town in the central part of the state called Bair last year, but we’d kept in touch.
“’Kay, Mom!” she answered. Not too long after, the front door creaked and a chorus of voices filled the living room.
I hung the last card then joined the crew. “Merry Christmas!” I greeted my friends, who were all carrying armfuls of gifts. “Thank you all for coming.”
“We wouldn’t miss it!” Ellison pulled me into a hug, balancing a tower of presents. “We obviously had to come back to see the ranch’s new look.”
Colter and Ellison had moved to Goldfinch earlier this year, taking most of their cattle but leaving a few head back in Silver Creek. Now that Jake was officially part of the family, the Carson siblings had all met to decide who’d take up the land we grew up on.
Jake and I were the obvious answer. With approval and input from Clay, we decided that Colter and Ellison would keep the Carson Ranch name, leaving the door open for Jake and I to begin our own family legacy on Wild Rose Ranch.
Isabelle and Reid still lived in Silver Creek for the time being, but I was confident they’d follow Colter and Ellison to Goldfinch at some point. They got married in October, shortly after our wedding in June.
Mikey moved off the plot of land Colter gave him to live with Juniper while she finished her master’s and PhD program, and even though rumors of him retiring had circled around, he was still riding bulls. In fact, all of the Silver Creek cowboys were still competing.
Hayden and Sierra’s wedding was set to take place the next summer. They still lived in Silver Creek with us, but I wasn’t sure where they’d end up. Since they grew up in Goldfinch, I could have imagined them moving back, but I could’ve also pictured them traveling the world with their dog Pancho.
“Do you like the new headgate?” I asked, unable to stop myself from chewing on my bottom lip. Over the last few years, I’d taken up wood burning art, and our new headgate sign had delicate roses designed by me.
“It’s beautiful.” She nodded. “What did you guys think of it?”
“I loved it! It fits the ranch perfectly,” Isa said.
“You did a really great job, Cait,” Sierra added.
A squeal from Levi broke us out of our conversation. Whitley had attempted to hoist him up to the tray of Christmas cookies on the kitchen counter.
At the sight of their antics, a laugh bubbled out of me, and soon, the entire living room was erupting into chuckles.
“Damn, looks like our girl is still sneaking food, just to a toddler this time instead of a cat,” Jake joked, calling back to the day I caught Whitley feeding Cheeto chicken nuggets in her bedroom.
Our beloved cat was still around, but he didn’t love crowds so he was probably hiding in the safety of Whitley’s room underneath the new plastic glow-in-the-dark stars we’d placed on her ceiling.
Remembering that everyone was still holding boxes, I sprang into action. “Sorry, I’m being such a bad host. Here, you can set all the presents down by the tree. Food will be ready in maybe twenty minutes.”
“Does anyone have the pizza place on speed dial in case the mashed potatoes get dropped again?” Mikey piped up.
“That was one time!” Sierra protested.
I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. “Don’t worry. Mashed potatoes are already done, and I made ham instead of turkey this time.”
“Perfect!” Reid nodded his approval, amusement shining in his expression.
“While we wait for the food, should we all open one present?” Colter suggested, glancing over at Whitley and Levi who were still attempting their Christmas cookie heist.
The minute she heard presents, though, Whitley put Levi back on the ground and raced over to me, bouncing excitedly on her heels.
“Presents?” Her eyes widened. “Can I open one, please?”
“Well…” I hesitated.
“Dad?” Without skipping a beat, she turned to Jake.
Almost immediately after we’d moved into the main house, she started calling Jake dad.
And just as we’d predicted, Adam never attempted to file for a change in custody.
Everything he’d done was a sad attempt to maintain control over our lives, to manipulate and scheme the same way he had the decade we were together.
After I’d stood up to him, I think he realized that he didn’t have that much weight over my decisions anymore. I hadn’t heard from him since.
Whitley was ours, and she always would be. Maybe one day when she was older, she’d want a relationship with her biological father, but that would be up to her to decide. She had the best man to help her with that decision, too.
Jake had visited his biological father, stepmom, and half-brother several times since they met in person and had built a beautiful relationship with them. They even came to our wedding.
Jake broke me out of my thoughts when he shook his head, ever the teammate. “Your mom’s in charge today, bug. Don’t ask me.”
“Look at you, being all fatherly. Ask your mother,” Colter mimicked. “Soon she’s going to turn that around on you.”
“I think we’ve still got a couple years before that happens,” I admitted. “Anything to do with cars, rodeos, and boys can be a dad question, but we’re not quite there yet. All right, let’s open one gift.”
“Yay!” She beamed up at me.
“Whose gift do you want to open first?” I asked.
She surveyed the room, tapping her lips like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to open a gift from me and Jake or one of her aunts and uncles.
“Can I open the present from you and Dad?”
I blinked back the tears burning my eyes. “Sure, bug.”
We all circled up in the living room around the tree. Whitley wanted everyone to open their presents first.
Mikey scratched the back of his head. “Might want to wait to open gifts from me until later.”
A collective groan rose from everyone.
“What did you get this year?” Isa whined. “Last year was a jump scare when you bought us all—”
Before she could finish her sentence and describe the sexy card game he bought everyone, Reid clamped his hand over her mouth.
“Not in front of the children, Honeybee.”
“It’s okay. Everyone pick a gift, and we’ll open them all at the same time. How about that? That way, there’s no pressure.” Jake’s suggestion was perfect, and I nodded in agreement. “Open mine,” he whispered in my ear.
Narrowing my eyes, I lowered my voice. “I don’t know if I want to now. Don’t tell me you got me a new replacement vibrator or something.”
“It’s something better than that.”
Whitley started passing out gifts, tossing a big box in my lap with the label from Jake and handing him an envelope that was from me and her.
“Don’t tell me this is an invoice for something expensive.” He laughed.
I shook my head. “It’s something better.”
“Okay, does everyone have a gift?” I asked, and everyone nodded in response.
“All right. Go ahead, Whit.”
It had taken way too long, but Jake and I had managed to find a bigger pair of the orange cowboy boots she loved so much. She had outgrown them really quickly, and that was the biggest heartbreak of last year.
Whitley ripped open the wrapping paper and held up the box. “Shoes?” She tilted her head to the side.
“Open the box,” Jake urged.
The moment she lifted the lid, her jaw dropped and tears beaded in her eyes. “My boots!”
“Merry Christmas, bug.”
Before either of us could say anything else, she launched herself at us, wrapping us in a giant hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m going to go put them on!”
She ran off, leaving everyone else to open gifts without her.
“Open yours now, Cait baby,” Jake murmured.
I nudged him with my elbow. “You first.”
He flashed me a confused look, brows raised and smile slightly upturned, but obliged, ripping open the envelope. “Caitlin,” he drew out my name in a whine. “Baby. Wranglers tickets?”
I grinned. “For next summer. I know it’s also rodeo season, but I figured we could make it a little vacation.”
“Thank you, baby.” He kissed my forehead, but then whispered in my ear, “I’ll thank you properly once everyone is gone.”
With a giggle, I gently pushed him away and reached for my box from him.
“There’s not a puppy or a kitten in here, right?” I teased.
Jake had been trying to convince me all year that we needed a dog, but we hadn’t taken the leap yet.
His eyes rolled, but the smile on his face stayed. “No, don’t worry.”
I took a deep breath then carefully unwrapped the box. Another box was inside, and my brows pinched.
“Go on,” he urged.
A gasp fell from my mouth when I opened the second box. Inside was a matching pair of white cowboy boots with orange florals.
“Thought my girls needed to match.”
Before I could express my thanks, an uproar of laughter echoed through the house as everyone else opened their gifts. Someone had given Mikey a sweater with the words Ho, ho, holy shit I need a beer on it, Colter got another apron, and Sierra got socks with Hayden’s face plastered all over them.
The laughter didn’t stop there, continuing through dinner and the rest of the night, warming me from the inside out and reassuring me that I was exactly where I needed to be.
Silver Creek was truly home, and as I looked around my circle of friends—my family—I could confidently say I was happier than I had ever been.
We all had scars. Some were more visible than others, and some had been covered up over the years, hidden away for only the bravest to find, but I thought this place—this town and these people—healed a part of all of us.