Epilogue
HOLLY
Spring came to the farm in a flush of warmth and fresh green, sunlight dappling the fields between patchwork clouds and flurries of rain, flowers bursting into bloom and new clusters of needles on the tips of every branch on the Christmas pines.
There were fluffy little chicks in the chicken coop, and the dogs raced each other in the old pasture, where the crop of hay that would be sold in the fall was starting to come in as thick, lush grass.
Holly found herself wondering if getting sheep might be completely out of the question, and then squashed that train of thought before it could pull out of the station. They surely couldn’t afford it. But new lambs ... and home-spun fiber ...
Right now she had more on her mind anyway.
It was her first day of her new job in Pine Junction, working in HR and marketing for a local car dealership.
Not exactly the career she’d dreamed of, but as she dressed that morning, she discovered that she was really enjoying the look of herself in her business clothes and makeup, hair swept back in a simple updo.
It was going to be good to get off the farm a few days a week and enjoy an office job again.
She regretted nothing about having to move back home, to her everlasting surprise, but she was also looking forward to having a nine-to-five pace, lunches out, and the other perks that went along with it.
Not to mention how much the farm’s books would benefit from her full-time income.
A pair of strong arms slipped around her from behind, and Jace nuzzled her neck and murmured, “You clean up nice, ma’am.”
“Why, thank you. The nicest compliment I’ve ever received.” He went on nuzzling while she tried to finish her eyebrow penciling. “Don’t mess up my hair. I just got it to stay there. And no love bites, I need to look professional today.”
“You smell nice.”
“That’s the Sweet Addiction budget perfume.”
“Mmm. You’re my sweet addiction.”
She allowed herself to lean back into his firm body for an instant before finishing touching up her makeup. “And if you make me late, that’s not going to look great for my first day on the job. Are you still planning on driving me in and picking me up?”
“I think that’s a given, with only one vehicle on the ranch. Not that being stuck out here while you’re at work is the worst fate.”
“Hopefully the one-vehicle situation will change soon. I’m hoping to have a commuter car before too long.” Perks of working at a car dealership: discounts on everything on the lot.
“Let me know if they have any project cars. I’d love to have something to work on.”
She was getting ready in the bathroom at the main house, since Mistletoe Manor’s small bathroom could just accommodate a shower, toilet, and sink, but not much else.
She and Jace had been officially living in the cottage since early January, but in practice they were up and down the hill a half dozen times a day.
The Manor was an adorable little love nest, and they fit into it like two peas in a pod.
But for actually living in ... it was going to need an addition.
Plans were already underway, and she could easily see it becoming a comfortable home over the next few years.
She had toned down the Christmas decor a bit, for purposes of living in the place without losing her mind.
Jace occasionally complained that it felt like he was living in a dollhouse, but as far as Holly could tell, he didn’t really mind.
The repaired Betsy doll perched in pride of place on the mantelpiece, with the stuffed hairless dog toy beside it.
They left the bathroom, and Holly gave the dogs a careful goodbye pet, trying not to get dog hair on her business skirt, or smear any slobber off the squeaky pancake that had replaced the chewed-to-death squeaky bacon.
“Bye, Dad,” she called, hearing him moving around in the kitchen.
“I’m off to work. Jace is driving me; he’ll be back later. ”
Her dad appeared in the doorway between the dining room and living room, hands wet and sudsy from the dishes. “Have a good day, sweetheart. You get her there safe and sound, son.”
But there was only warmth in it. “Yes, sir,” Jace said with a respectful nod and put an arm around Holly’s waist. She allowed herself to be ushered out into the spring sunshine.
Rain had been frequent this spring, but she couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for the drive, and a rainbow glimmered in the clearing blue sky above the pasture. She picked her way through puddles to the driver’s side of the truck, trying not to get her work shoes muddy.
“I thought I was driving you,” Jace remarked, but he climbed up to the passenger side without complaint.
As she pulled out onto the highway, Holly was treated to a lovely, sweeping view of the ranch, the marching rows of Christmas trees with their fresh pale-green spring needles, and the rolling hills of their neighbor’s apple orchard.
“How is it going with the farm work?” she asked Jace. There was always an endless need for short-term hired labor in the spring, and he had been doing odd jobs for neighboring farms, helping repair machinery and anything else that needed doing.
“Ask me once my blisters heal.” He flashed her a grin.
She couldn’t get over how relaxed he looked.
“It looks like I’ll have steady work for a couple of months with Red Oleson’s barn roof.
If that works out, they said that construction work is pretty steady in the summer around here. I’m going to look into it.”
“That’s great. I hope—” Her phone vibrated in her purse. Holly sighed. “Get that out for me, please?”
Jace did and held it where she could see. It was Noelle.
“Not again! She called me twice this morning and didn’t leave a voicemail either time.”
“Speaker?” Jace asked.
“Yeah, go for it. We need to get a hands-free stereo in this truck. Hi, Noelle.”
“Finally! Why weren’t you answering?”
Noelle sounded harassed, but not too panicked. Holly had learned through long experience that for Noelle, anything could be a crisis.
“I was getting ready for work earlier. I’m in the truck with Jace now. You’re on speaker.”
“Hi,” Jace said.
“Oh, well, I guess that’s okay.” Noelle sounded flustered now.
“Did something bad happen?”
“Not bad—exactly—just unexpected. Kaden, uh—oh no! Baby, not there!”
“It sounds like you’re busy. Do you want me to call back?”
“No!” Noelle yelped. “I need help!”
“Well, I can’t exactly do it from here, when I don’t know what the problem is!”
“Kaden’s a shifter!” Noelle blurted out.
Holly squealed with delighted laughter. “Oh, that’s wonderful! Dad’ll be over the moon!”
“It is not wonderful!” Noelle protested. “He’s a bear cub, and I don’t know how to get him to shift back. He’s been a bear for the last two hours! Jace, you’re a shifter! Help!”
“I don’t really know anything that you both don’t know from growing up with your dad,” Jace protested.
“You’re a lot of help,” Noelle grumbled. There was a thump in the background. “Kaden, no, do not eat that.” Holly heard growling.
Once she managed to squash the urge to laugh, she said, “Noelle, call Dad. He can help you better than we can.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to cope with this!” Noelle wailed. “How do shifter parents do it? Dad and Mom are lucky that most of us didn’t shift! I can’t take him to day care. I’m going to have to get a live-in nanny or something. I don’t know how I’m going to do it!”
“We’ll help in any way we can,” Holly told her. “If you need to move back until Kaden gets his shifting under control, there’s plenty of room.” She hesitated. “So he’s a bear, then?”
“Yeah, the cutest little grizzly cub you ever saw.” A sudden surge of joy filled her voice.
“A grizzly? Not a polar bear?”
“Yeah? I don’t think it’s always the same kind of bear, is it?”
“I know you’ve said you don’t know anything about Kaden’s dad,” Holly began.
“Do not go there. It was a one-night stand and I’m never going to see him again.
” As always when the topic of Kaden’s dad came up, Noelle sounded uncomfortable, and Holly once again got the impression there was something her sister wasn’t telling her about this one-night stand.
Before she could ask, though, there was an abrupt clatter in the background.
“No, honey, don’t chew on that, it’s bad for you!”
More clattering. The line went dead.
Jace and Holly shared a look.
“She sounds like she’s ... dealing,” Jace said.
“Yeah, well,” Holly said, “I guess we’ll be cleaning out Noelle’s old room when we get home.”
“I’ll have to see if the store has any more chew toys,” Jace said, and Holly laughed all the way to Pine Junction.