“What is it? Has Duck Norris moved on to mail theft now?” she asks, coming up to join me.
“It has your mom’s name on it,” I say, holding it out to her.
She takes it from me, her brows pinching as she looks it over. “That’s not her handwritin’. I wonder what it is.”
“Turn it over, it has somethin’ on the back too.” Char flips the envelope over, tracing the writing with the tip of her finger. “From Anna,” she gasps, her eyes jerking up to meet mine. “Isn’t that–”
“Red’s wife, yeah. Damn, I wonder where Doofus found this?”
“I don’t know,” she says mindlessly as she looks back down at the letter in her hand. “But I think we should give it to Ma. Whatever it is, it’s meant for her.”
“Good idea.”
“Maybe not at the diner though. I’ll wait until she gets home,” she adds.
“OK,” I say, as she walks back over to place it on the bookcase.
"Now, I really need to wash off my day…" She slowly walks backward in the direction of the now-renovated bathroom. "I might need some assistance though…" she says as her handsmove to her shirt and lift it off over her head, leaving her in a sexy black lace bra and her work pants.
Without realizing it, I'm already moving toward her. "I think I can help you with that."
"That's what I was hopin'," she whispers, shooting me a wink as she removes her bottoms. By the time she's at the bathroom door, she's just wearing her underwear. My mouth waters at the sight, my hands itching for a good reason this time.
I reach her a moment later, wrapping her up in my arms and crushing my lips to hers, swallowing her delighted giggle and groaning when it morphs into a whimper.
“Love you, Austin.”
“Love you, Char. Now let me show you how much.”
And with the letter forgotten, I set about testing the limits of the water heater and just how flexible my One can be in our new home.
EPILOGUE 1 - CHARLIE
5 years later
If you’d told me twenty five-ish years ago that I’d be lying in a hammock on Bull Mountain Ranch at the end of summer, eight months pregnant with a cold iced tea in my hand, I would’ve thought you were crazy.
Although if you’d told me I would reunite with my first and only true love and live in a home he built for us, I’d have made a wish for it to come true right then and there.
Because I’mlivingmy dream and I would not change a single thing about it.
Ever since Austin and I became the Austin and Charlie we were always meant to be, I've been thankful for everything I have–the love of a good man, our three-year-old son Hart who's a mini-Austin in every single way, and our daughter Livvie who'll make her arrival soon enough.
A lot has happened in the five years it took to get to this moment. Austin and I lived in our little apartment above Ma's garagefor twelve months while our house was being built. Once it was habitable, we moved in and finished the rest of it in between working at the hospital and the goings on at the ranch.
The first night we spent in our new home, Austin dropped down onto one knee in front of the fire and with tears in those beautiful brown eyes and Mom’s old sapphire engagement ring in his hand, he promised to be the man who would always be by my side, at my back, and leading me forward for the rest of my life. That’s when I dropped to my knees in front of him and pulled out my own little surprise, a positive pregnancy test for Hart.
We got married in the same spot where I’m lazing about now, in the meadow beside the creek, under the shadow of Bull Mountain’s twin peaks. I wore a white sundress Star and her Gramma had made for me and Austin wore a matching shirt and his Wrangler jeans I love so much with his favorite black cowboy hat on top of his head.
Then he whisked me away to Anchorage where we boarded a flight and together, we spent two weeks in Spain. It was a joint honeymoonandbabymoon in one. It wasglorious.
A small part of me wondered if he was trying hard to give me what he thought I wanted again, but when I asked him under the setting Spanish sun, he didn’t shy away from telling me the truth.
“I wanted to see it with you, Char. I wanted to see what you see, feel how you feel, and justbewith you here, in your other favorite place in the world.”
That was the last time I ever second-guessed anything my loving husband has done for me. It’s just who he is–thoughtful,humble, and a man who’ll do anything for those he cares about. To be loved by him has always made me wonder if the mountain spirit was rewarding me with him instead of him with me. And that’s a belief I’ll hold on to until my last days.
All I know is that the best decision I ever made was to come back home.
