Epilogue
One year later . . .
It wasthe night before Christmas and Cal was dreaming contently. Not about dancing sugarplums, but about dancing Oompa Loompas. He was nudged awake to find Jolene lying next to him with soft smile on her face and a loving look in her eyes. The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was her reading to him from the book he’d given her for Christmas the previous year. Or maybe it was the one she had given him. Their identical gift-giving had become a private joke and they decided to read fromCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryevery Christmas Eve.
He blinked the sleep from his eyes. “Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to fall asleep while you were reading.”
“It’s time.”
He glanced at the window, surprised to see the sun peeking its head into the new day. Christmas Day. He looked back at Jolene and lifted his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me that you want to go downstairs and see what Santa left you.” Hesmiled suggestively. “Or did you wake me up to give me my gift early?”
She laughed. “You have sex on the brain, Mr. Daily.”
He drew her into his arms and kissed her. He never grew tired of kissing Jolene. “It’s hard not to when I’m married to the sexiest woman in the entire state of Texas.”
Her cheeks turned as pink as the sunrise. He loved that compliments always made her blush—of course, he loved everything about his woman. He went to kiss her again, but she drew back.
“I didn’t wake you to make love, Cal. Or to see what Santa brought. His gift isn’t going to be under the tree this year. It’s going to be delivered at the hospital in Abilene—at least, it’s going to if we don’t waste anymore time.”
It took his sleep-drugged mind a second to understand what she was saying. When her words finally clicked, he stared at her in disbelief. “But you’re not due for another two weeks. And most first babies are late. Cheyenne was ten days late. Dixie and Lincoln’s daughter, Clementine, was an entire two weeks late. And Emma and Boone’s son, Michael Dean, was four days late. It’s probably just something you ate at the party last night. You did eat quite a few of Hanna’s molasses cookies, honey.”
She laughed. “It was a wonderful Christmas Eve, wasn’t it? Once again, Nathan and Cheyenne did a great job of being Joseph and Mary.”
Cal had to admit that they’d done an excellent job. Although he could’ve done without thead-libbed kiss at the end. He’d come to accept Nathan as Cheyenne’s boyfriend. He was a good kid who treated Cheyenne like she deserved to be treated. But Cal still didn’t want them getting too attached before they went off to college.
“And everyone in town seemed to have fun at the after party at my father’s house,” Jolene continued. “I can’t believe Dad agreed to the party. Or that he bought such a big tree for the library. It was bigger than the one he bought for the bank lobby. I think the Grinch’s heart has finally grown.”
Otis Applegate had changed. He wasn’t nearly as gruff as he’d once been. In the last year, he’d started to spend more time away from the bank. He came to the pink house for dinner every Tuesday and Thursday night and drove out to the Double Diamond Ranch on Saturday nights to play checkers with Lucas and Chester Diamond. On Sunday, he attended church with Cal, Jolene, and Cheyenne. While he and Cal were still working on their relationship, Cheyenne had charmed her way into Otis’s heart. The two were almost as close as Cheyenne and Miss Gertie.
A soft gasp pulled Cal from his thoughts. Jolene’s face was tightened in pain and her stomach felt hard against his. He came fully awake and sat up.
“Holy shit! It’s time!”
She spoke through gritted teeth. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, dear.”
He took her hand and held it. “Are you okay? What can I do?” He tried to remember what he’d learned in the birthing classes they’d taken, buthis mind drew a blank. It was a relief when her face relaxed and she released her breath.
“I’m fine, but I think we need to go.”
He jumped out of bed and raced to the closet to get the suitcase Jolene had insisted on packing—even though he’d told her that they had plenty of time.
But they didn’t have plenty of time. It was happening. It was happening now.
He grabbed the suitcase and headed for the door. “You just sit tight, Jolie, and I’ll pull the truck out of the garage and come back for you.”
“In your underwear?”
He stopped short and glanced down at his boxers. “Right.” He headed for the dresser. Getting dressed seemed to take forever. And it didn’t help that Jolene got her clothes on in record time and then sat on the bed rubbing her stomach and breathing while he struggled to zip his jeans and pull on his socks. When he couldn’t find his boots, he completely lost it.
“Dammit!”
“So I guess Daddy is freaking out.” Cheyenne walked into the room. She was dressed in sweats and looked much calmer than he felt. His daughter had matured so much in the last year. He knew Jolene had helped her with that. And so had Clarissa. Cheyenne had forgiven her mother and spent a weekend a month with her mom and new family in Abilene.
“I’m not freaking out,” he said as he searched the closet. “I just can’t find my boots.”
“You mean these boots?”
He pulled his head out of the closet to see Cheyenne holding up his cowboy boots. He rolled his eyes as he took them, then sat down on the bed next to Jolene and quickly tugged them on. He was about to get up and go get the car when Jolene rested a hand on his arm.
