Epilogue
WEST
Seven years later . . .
“Kade! Kohen!” My voice echoed through the halls. I held my breath, waiting to hear their giggles or whispers, but the house was silent.
Where’d they run off to this time?
“Boys! If you’re hiding, you’ve got three seconds to get down here.
It’s time to go to the campfire.”
Nothing.
They had to be outside. My boots pounded on the herringbone hardwood floors as I walked through the entryway and out the front door. I checked both sides of the wraparound porch, scanning for my sons. But wherever they’d run off to, they weren’t by the house.
I zipped up my Carhartt coat and jogged down the porch stairs, scanning the snow for footprints.
Two pairs of tracks trailed off the side of the house, leading to the
grove of trees behind our home.
The fort.
I was an idiot for not checking there first.
With my fingers to my lips, I let out a piercing whistle that ricocheted in every direction. This time, my call was answered with laughter.
Kade emerged from the trees first, followed closely by Kohen.
Their cheeks were rosy. Their smiles bright. As my five-year-old sons raced across the field of snow between us, their blond, curly hair bounced and flopped.
“Daddy!” Kohen pumped his legs faster, passing his twin brother as their boots crunched in the snow.
I bent as they ran straight for me, then swept them both into my
arms.
“Guess what we found?” Kohen asked.
“A bird!” Kade answered for him. “It hurt its wing, and we rescued it.”
“You rescued a bird.” Well, at least it wasn’t a baby skunk, like the one they’d “rescued” this summer.
As they told me all about the bird and their makeshift cage, I carted them to the truck, then deposited them both in the back seat while they kept talking.
Then I climbed behind the wheel, making a mental note to go and set the bird free later—if it hadn’t escaped already.
“Daddy, do you think we can watch any airplanes tonight?” Kohen asked as we headed down the road for the lodge.
“I don’t think there are any planes flying in tonight, bud.”
“What about tomorrow?” Kade asked.
“Maybe. You’ll have to ask Mommy.”
“If there are, can we watch them?”
“I thought you wanted to go riding tomorrow.”
“Oh.” He tapped his finger on his chin, then leaned toward Kohen’s seat to consult with his brother.
I chuckled as they whispered, finally coming to a consensus.
“Riding. And watching the airplanes.” Kohen had a smug grin as he made their announcement.
“Okay. You can ask Mommy if any planes are coming in tomorrow.
We’ll watch them and go riding.” We’d put in a runway on the ranch last year for private planes and jets. The boys loved to watch them fly in.
“I hope so.” Kohen crossed his fingers on both hands. “I love the
planes.”
“Me too,” Kade and I said in unison.
It was impossible not to smile around these kids. And in just a few weeks, we’d have another.
Indya was eight months pregnant with our baby girl, Grace. We were naming her after my grandmother.
My grandparents had both fallen in love with Indya since she’d moved here seven years ago, but Grandma absolutely adored her. They got weekly pedicures together at the resort spa. Mom would occasionally drive out to join them.
And just last week, Grandma had hosted Indya’s baby shower.
Our whole family was excited about the baby, but especially the boys. This morning, we’d found them sleeping on the nursery floor in their sleeping bags. They’d sneaked in there last night for a campout.
It would be nice to have a nursery this time around. When the boys were newborns, their bassinets had been crammed into our bedroom.
We’d still been living in my old place, waiting for Mike to finish construction on our house.
We’d moved in four years ago, and as far as I was concerned, it would be my home for the rest of my days. It was the home where we’d make our family. The home where we’d make memories. The home where Indya and I would turn old and gray together.
The house wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t massive. But it was our sanctuary. It was our dream house, built in a beautiful meadow, a place Indy and I had picked out together.
We were far enough away from the resort to have our privacy, but the trip from our front door to the lodge was five minutes.
“Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I have a snack?” Kade asked.
“Me too.” Kohen gripped his stomach, like if he didn’t eat something immediately, he’d starve.
“Yes, you can have a snack,” I told them as I pulled up to the lodge, parking beside Indya’s SUV in the lot we’d made for employees.
The resort had been in a constant state of change for the past seven years. There were times when I couldn’t remember what it had been like before Indya.
The lodge itself had been remodeled and expanded. Indya had wanted to offer suites to guests, not just single, hotel-style rooms. She’d nearly tripled the building’s footprint, stretching it all the way to where the old barn used to be.
Though, technically, it was still there. The architect had incorporated it into the design, and the space was now a ballroom, where we hosted weddings and events.
There were new stables set away from the lodge and cabins. Beside that building was a shop for the ranch equipment. Every structure, including the cabins, had the same wooden siding and a red tin roof.
We had five additional cabins, plus the spa. The airstrip and hangar were the most recent additions. Indya was currently planning a small stretch of employee apartments for the seasonal staff who came to work at the resort each summer.
It was amazing what millions could accomplish.
But even more, it was amazing what my wife could accomplish.
She had a vision. She had her goals.
For seven years, I’d been the lucky man who got to hear her ideas first.
The lucky man who could call her his wife.
We’d gotten married the fall after Indy had moved to Montana. She hadn’t wanted a lavish ceremony or reception, not without Grant here to celebrate and walk her down the aisle. So we’d gotten married in the meadow where they’d scattered his ashes, surrounded by our closest friends and family.
Indya had tripped on a lump in the grass as she’d walked down the
short aisle.
I’d caught her.
The boys took off running for the porch, their boots pounding on the steps as I jogged to keep pace.
Dad was in the lobby, talking to a guest. The minute the boys spotted him, they took off running.
“Papa!” The twins giggled as they crashed into his legs.
“There are my boys.” He bent to hug them both, waving as the guest said goodbye. “What are you guys doing?”
Kade launched into the bird-rescue saga as Kohen told him everything they wanted to eat for a snack. Crackers. String cheese.
Cookies.
“Well, okay.” Dad nodded. “You’ve had a busy day. No wonder you’re hungry for . . .”
“Crackers. String cheese. And cookies,” Kohen repeated.
“That’s quite a list. Should we go see if Reid has anything special in the kitchen?”
“Yes!” They each grabbed one of his hands and dragged him toward the dining room.
“I’ll bring them to the office when we’re done,” he told me.
“Thanks.”
Dad gave me a small smile as they walked away.
I gave him a small smile back.
Things with my father were . . . okay. Not good. Not bad. Just okay.
He was a wonderful grandfather to my children. He was kind and gracious to my wife. But I harbored a lot of hard feelings for Dad. Seven years, and it was still hard to move past his betrayal.
That wound just hadn’t healed.
So we were okay. We talked. We had him over for dinner once or twice a month. But there was always a strain.
It was the same between Jax and Dad. I hoped, someday, it would get easier. For all of us.
I nodded to the front-desk clerk as I made my way toward Indya’s office. Like the rest of the building, it had undergone its fair share of changes too.
She sat behind her desk, her phone pressed to her ear. The room itself was three times the size it had once been.
In front of a row of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, there was a sitting area, where she could visit with employees or guests. Along the wall was a cabinet that hid a TV for the boys to watch whenever they were here.
Behind her chair, through the wall of windows, was the large patio.
The original firepit she’d left in place, but now there was a plethora of benches and tables and chairs. This time of year, the staff would turn on propane heaters every afternoon for the guests who wanted to sit outside with a cocktail before dinner.
“I promise, Mom,” Indya said, her eyes sparkling as I walked into the office. “I’ve had zero signs of contractions or labor. You won’t miss it.”
Ellen had planned to be here when the twins were born, but Indy had gone into labor two weeks early. This time around, Ellen was coming a month before the due date, just to be safe.
She’d spend that month in the Beartooth.
“We’ll see you Monday. Love you.” She let out a sigh as she set her phone down. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I sat on the edge of her desk, bending low for a kiss. “You
okay?”
“It’s been an afternoon.”
“What happened to spending a few quiet hours in the office to catch up before the barbecue?”
The Saturday campfire tradition was one of the few things unchanged. Tonight, the boys would roast hot dogs over the fire. Reid would set up a burger bar inside. After dark, we’d bring out the fixings for s’mores.
And my family would spend an evening with the guests who’d come to stay on our property.
Indya had insisted it be our place. Together, as equals. She’d changed the entire structure so we each had equal shares. And she’d carved off a significant portion for Jax too.
“My plan to tackle my inbox got derailed.” She sagged in her chair.
“What happened?”
Indya glanced to the painting of Chief hanging on the wall across from her desk. “I’m pretty sure Sasha is going to quit.”
“What? Why?”
Sasha had been a godsend this fall. She was our new resort manager and treated this place like it was her own. She was young but smart and hardworking. Guests adored her. The staff respected her. Because of Sasha, Indya had been able to spend more time at home over the past three months, while I kept my focus on the ranch.
Sasha absolutely could not quit.
“She hates Montana,” Indya said. “She hates the winter. She hates
the outdoors. And she hates Jax.”
“Jax? Why does she hate Jax?”
“I don’t know. But I asked her to coordinate with him on the guest excursions, and you should have seen the look on her face. It was like I’d asked her to have a meeting with Satan. I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping her here is the paycheck.”
“Okay. Not ideal. But it’s a nice paycheck. Maybe she’ll hate it here a little less once the snow melts.”
Indya rubbed at her temples. “I don’t want her to quit.”
“Neither do I.” We at least needed her to stick it out through the spring and summer.
“What if she leaves? How am I going to run this place with a baby?
We tried that once, remember?”
I remembered. Indy had practically run herself into the ground.
“Hey.” I splayed my hand on her belly. “We’ll figure it out. If Sasha quits, then we’ll take Mom up on her offer.”
Mom was contemplating retirement from the hospital in Big Timber, but she wasn’t ready to quit working quite yet. Whenever Tara needed an extra hand or was short staffed, Mom would pitch in.
Spending more time out here—being closer to Indya, me, and the boys— must have made her nostalgic.
She’d offered to help out during Indya’s maternity leave.
The only reason we hadn’t jumped on that offer was Dad. Well, and Jax. There were still hard feelings there, even if Jax swore it was fine.
Plus Mom still hadn’t spoken to Dad. Not a word, to my knowledge, in over a decade. If she came to work here full time, she couldn’t ignore him any longer.
Dad came to the lodge every day, mostly to drink the coffee and bullshit with guests. But also because he was trying to make amends.
To Indya.
To Jax.
To me.
If Mom worked here, either he’d avoid the lodge altogether—which would be uncomfortable as fuck if she gave him the silent treatment—or their standoff would end and the rest of us would get caught in the cross fire.
“I’m going to figure this out.” Indya raised her chin. “She can’t
quit.”
“Okay.”
Sasha probably didn’t realize she was working for the most determined woman on earth.
Laughter in the hallway made me twist toward the door as Jax strode inside, Kade carried under one arm, and Kohen under the other.
“Thieves in the kitchen.” He took the boys to the couch in the sitting area and dropped them with a plop. “How should we punish them?”
“We’re not thieves, Uncle Jax.” Kade jumped up on the couch, poking at Jax’s chest.
“Yeah.” Kohen popped up beside his brother. “Papa was getting us a snack.”
Jax narrowed his eyes, bending to their level. “What kind of
snack?”
“Cookies.”
“Did you steal one for me?”
Kohen glanced over his shoulder, sneakily trying to hide it as he slid what looked to be a chocolate chip cookie out of his pocket and into Jax’s hand.
“Where’s mine?” Indya held out her hand. “Mommy’s hungry.”
Kade leaped over the back of the couch, then produced two cookies from his pocket for his mother.
“Thanks, baby.” She smiled and kissed his cheek before taking a bite. “Jax, I need to talk to you.”
“About what?” he asked as he chewed and joined me beside her desk.
Indya pointed at his face as her nostrils flared. “You have to be nice
to Sasha.”
“What? I am nice to Sasha.”
“Then why does she hate you?”
“Did she actually use the word hate?”
“No. But she’s not your biggest fan.” Indya clasped her hands together. “I’m begging you. Be nice. I need her to stay until after my
maternity leave.”
“I am nice.”
“Then be nicer,” I said.
He pursed his lips but nodded. “Fine. Did you have to hire someone
so . . . uptight?”
A soft growl came from the doorway.
I whirled, just in time to see Sasha’s straight brown hair stream behind her as she stormed toward her office across the hall.
Indya’s hand shot out like a viper as she smacked Jax in the gut.
“You. Are. Killing. Me.”
“Well, she is uptight,” he whisper yelled.
“Jax.” I rubbed my mouth, hiding a laugh.
Sasha was uptight.
And Jax took next to nothing seriously.
“Mommy, can we watch the planes?” The boys both hopped up on the desk beside me.
“I don’t think we have any planes coming in this weekend.”
Kade and Kohen groaned in tandem.
“But Nana is flying in on Monday. On a jet.”
“Yes.” Kohen fist pumped. “I love jets.”
“Me too.” Kade nodded. “Can I have my hot dog now?”
“You just ate a cookie,” I said.
“But I’m soooo hungry.”
Indya laughed, holding out a hand so I could help her to her feet.
Then she put her hands on her belly, rubbing at the sides that had been aching this week. “I’m soooo hungry too.”
“Then let’s get you something to eat.” Not a hot dog. She wouldn’t eat one while she was pregnant. But since Reid had fully embraced Indya as his boss, he always made sure to have something special for her on Saturday nights.
We bundled up in coats and hats and gloves and spent our evening on the patio. The boys chased each other around until well past their bedtime, and when both started yawning every minute, I loaded my family into the truck, leaving Indya’s car behind for tomorrow.
“I love you,” Indya said as we drove toward home.
I brought her hand to my knuckles for a kiss. “I love you.”
“Do you think Dad would like this?” Indya asked, eyes trained on the lodge. It glowed golden against the night, the snow a perfect blanket at its feet. “Maybe I changed too much.”
“No, baby. He would have loved it. He’d be proud.”
Grant would have wanted her to live a life of her own making.
She stared at the Beartooth. Like the lodge, its lights shone bright.
Inside, a new family was making memories in that little chalet. Then she
glanced to the boys in the back seat.
“My wishes came true,” she whispered.
“So did mine.”
We were living a dream together.
On the Haven River Ranch.
