EPILOGUE
From below, the shiny black helicopter flying high above the earth resembled an oversize dragonfly charging through the air. From up above, the earth resembled a vast crazy quilt in varying shades of greens and browns that covered the landscape over which they were flying.
As if at some unseen signpost up in the sky, the pilot suddenly shifted course and soon, a long black rooftop became visible in the distance, along with the roofs of several outbuildings, connected together with a chain stitch of holding pens and corrals.
Casey leaned forward, grabbing at Ryder’s leg as her eyes lit with excitement. “Is that it? Is that the Justice ranch?”
Ryder grinned at her. “That’s it, darlin’. All seven thousand acres.”
Her smile was nervous as she glanced at him. “I’m a little anxious about meeting your family.”
“Easy now, you know they’re going to love you.”
She sighed. “I wish I could have promised you the same thing when I took you home to mine.”
Ryder laughed. “At least they like me now.”
“Like! Oh, Ryder, in their eyes, you are the next best thing to sliced bread and you know it.”
His grin widened. “Only because Miles’s new girlfriend keeps him too busy to meddle in our affairs.”
Casey nodded in agreement. “And who would have thought that Erica would go on vacation and come home with a husband?”
“Yeah, and he has a job, which was more than you could say for me when you dumped me in their laps. Dora is walking in tall cotton over the fact that they are moving to Atlanta and taking her with them.”
Casey laughed aloud. “Gran will miss you. You were the best chauffeur we ever had.”
“Dora and I understand each other,” he said. “But let’s be honest, I was the worst chauffeur, and you know it. However, now that I have moved my planes and the charter service to Ruban Crossing, I have become a bona fide, acceptable businessman.”
She patted his leg in a tender gesture. “Tilly was right all along. Somehow she knew you belonged. You are the best thing that ever happened to my family.” Her voice broke. “And to me.”
Ryder gave her a quick, nervous glance. A few months ago he’d cradled her body on the floor of Fostoria Biggers’s bedroom, certain that his world had just come to an end. Sometimes at night he still lay awake just to watch her sleep. What she had endured was beyond his understanding; that she had endured it at all was a miracle in itself.
Now, most of the time she was fine. But once in a while, when things got too quiet, he saw her soul slip into a shadow and he knew she was fighting a dark demon of her own. He knew from experience that it would take time, and a whole lot of love, for the memories of what she’d endured to recede.
“I love you,” he said softly.
Casey shivered, as if struck by an unexplained chill, and then she lifted her head and smiled and Ryder relaxed. For now, Casey was back in the light.
“I love you, too, wild man. Now take me home. I have a need to feel Texas under my feet.”
Relieved that the moment had passed, he grinned. “Royal is going to love hearing you say that. He’s a real homebody. He lives for his daughter and the ranch, and I can tell you right now that, except for a remarkable resemblance which we all share, Royal is nothing like Roman.”
A small shudder rippled through Casey’s body, but she refused to deny it access. Remembering Roman also meant remembering when they’d first met. Of waking up and seeing Ryder—of being lifted into the helicopter and looking up at an echo of her husband’s face as Ryder laid her in Roman’s arms—of helicopters and hospitals—of police and FBI. Of fearing the dark and doctors and needles. Of Tilly’s hand on her cheek and Joshie’s kiss on her brow. And always, overshadowing everything and everyone, was Ryder. Ever present, ever faithful, everlasting.
She turned to look out the other side of the helicopter, marveling at the size of the cattle herds in the far distance. From up here, the cattle looked like so many ants. Finally, she was able to say what she thought.
“Roman will always have a special place in my heart. I like him a lot.”
Ryder’s grin slid a little off center as his emotions betrayed him. “Oh, hell, honey, I like him, too. He’s my brother. And I owe him more than I will ever be able to repay.”
The look they shared was brief, but it was enough to remember they had a lot for which to be thankful.
Moments later, Ryder shoved the controls of the helicopter forward and it started to descend, aiming for a wide, flat area behind some barns like a horsefly heading for the rump of a steer.
* * *
That night, and long after Royal and Maddie had gone to bed, Ryder walked the halls of the house in which he’d been raised, visiting the ghosts that had driven him away. Unable to sleep, he’d checked on Casey one last time and then gone outside to the wide front porch to listen to the night.
It was spring, and the air was sweet and cool. The scent of flowers in the nearby flower bed reminded him of Casey. To him, she would always be a fresh breath of spring. She’d been his savior in so many ways that he couldn’t begin to take count, and they’d come too close to losing that which made life worth living. That day in Fostoria Biggers’s house, when he’d touched her skin and felt the pulse of her life beating beneath his fingertips, he’d known then that they’d been given a second chance.
A night owl hooted from a nearby tree and Ryder paused, listening to the familiar sound. A cow lowed in a nearby pasture, calling for her baby. Moments later, a plaintive bawl announced the baby’s location, and all was well. Ryder took a deep breath, absorbing the peace of home and the assurance that he’d done the right thing by bringing Casey here to visit.
A quick breeze came up, lifting the hair away from his forehead and brushing against his chest like a lover’s fingers. He glanced up at the sky and then to the faint wisps of clouds overhead, judging the possibility of a rain before morning.
And while he was looking at stars, the breeze seemed to shift, and the skin on his flesh tightened in warning. A sound came out of the night, like a whisper, or a memory, but it was there in his mind. And he knew who it was that his heart finally heard.
Welcome home, son.
He turned toward the house. But it wasn’t Micah who came out of the door.
Casey came off of the porch and out into the dew-damp grass to stand beside him. She lifted her hand to his cheek, feeling, rather than seeing the tears that had started to fall.
“Sweetheart, are you all right?”
Ryder wrapped his arms around her, holding her close until he could feel the even beat of her heart. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and took a deep breath. Flowers. She always smelled like flowers.
“Now that you’re here, I’m more than all right.”
Casey sighed, and held him even closer. “Come to bed, Ryder. I can’t sleep without you.”
He lifted her into his arms. “Then buckle up, darlin’, and I’ll take you to dreamland.”
* * * * *