Epilogue
Fifteen months later…
If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up.
Avery stood in the living room of the log home that he now shared with Jillian. He turned to the wall of windows that overlooked the Crooked S Ranch. For the first time in his life, he felt truly at home. He stared off into the distance at his ranch—their beautiful ranch.
It was hard to believe that after such a rough patch in his life everything had come together so well. It might not have been an easy transition, but it was so worth it.
And he couldn’t have done any of it without Jillian. She had always been there when he needed her. She was his source of strength when he felt weak. She was his best friend. And he tried his best to be those things for her.
“Hey, husband, what are you doing in here? Shouldn’t you be out tending to the livestock?”
He turned to find Jillian standing there with a kitten in each arm, one black and white, just like Romeo, while the other kitten was all white. His wife smiled broadly. “Aren’t we lucky that your sister decided not to stand in the way of true love?”
“What?”
“You know, letting my mother take Marshmallow so the cats could be together. Now they’ll live happily ever after.” Jillian held out the squirmy black and white kitten named Oreo. “And they make such cute kittens.”
Avery cradled Oreo in his arms, having a hard time keeping ahold of it as the kitten was in a constant state of motion. “Too bad your mother got Marshmallow and Romeo fixed. I could get used to having more kittens around the house. They are really smart.”
His wife sent him a puzzled look. “How do you get that?”
“They got us together, didn’t they?”
Jillian laughed. “Is that what happened?”
Avery nodded. “Romeo is a natural-born matchmaker.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. These two furbabies are ours.”
“Are you sure they’re old enough to leave their mother?”
Jillian nodded. “Positive. But I had to promise my mother that we’d bring them back to visit.”
Avery laughed. “I think we can do that. What about the other kittens?”
“Well, Suzanna is taking one. My mother is keeping one so it’s not so hard for Marshmallow. And your sister wants one. Speaking of Beth, she phoned and wants to know if she can bring home her new boyfriend next weekend.”
“She’s never brought home a guy.” Avery wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Should I be worried?”
Jillian shrugged. “I don’t know, but she sounded really happy on the phone. We could make it a dinner party and invite Blake and Suzanna over too.”
“They’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”
“Yes, they have.”
Just the way his wife said that clued him in that he was missing something. “What don’t I know?”
“Well, it’s not for sure, but I think there might be wedding bells in their future.”
“And how do you feel about that?” He’d learned that his wife had a good sense of people.
“I think they make each other very happy. They belong together.” Jillian moved to the couch with the kitten. “One more thing. There’s an email from Jordan. He’s been reassigned to Germany.”
Avery wasn’t happy to have his brother so far from home, but he was happy that Jordan was following his dreams. “I’ll email him back this evening.”
Jillian placed the little white kitten, named Snowball, on the floor. “Can you watch them both for a second?”
He nodded. “Where are you going?”
“You’ll find out.”
In the end, he may have lost that long-ago Bake-Off, but he’d won the most important thing in the world—the woman he loved. He had no idea that entering the competition would open his eyes to the important things around him.
The funny thing was he thought by being a rodeo cowboy that he took risks and lived on the edge. It wasn’t until taking part in the Bachelor Bake-Off that he realized just how guarded he’d really been.
The greatest challenge in his life had been putting his heart out there on the line. And now that he had Jillian in his life, he knew just how amazing life could be. He regretted wasting so much time figuring it all out.
Jillian returned with two slices of pie and handed one over. “I found some apples in the fridge and thought I’d use them up. But if you don’t want any, I can give your slice to someone else—”
“Oh no, this belongs to me.” He accepted the plate. He glanced over it. “How come this pie looks so familiar?”
“Because I used the same recipe you used for the Bake-Off.”
“I see. And is there any special reason for this treat in the middle of the afternoon?” He sensed that something was up, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it might be.
His wife glanced away and shrugged, but there was clearly a smile on her face.
“Okay. Out with it.”
“How would you feel about some more family living here at the ranch with us?”
“Besides your mother?”
Jillian smiled and nodded.
Construction had already started on her mother’s house on the property. Her mother wanted to be close to her daughter, but not crowd them by living under the same roof, so they’d compromised on a small house not far from the main house.
So if Jillian wasn’t talking about her mother, was she referring to Jordan or Beth? He’d welcome them anytime. It was a given that the Crooked S was their home for whenever or however long they needed it.
“I don’t mind. You know that I love our family.”
“Good to know.”
“When are they arriving?”
“Oh, I’d say in seven or so months.”
His gaze narrowed. “We aren’t talking about Jordan or Beth, are we?”
Jillian’s smile broadened as she shook her head.
His heart started to pound in his chest. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Avery, you’re going to be a daddy.”
“Woohoo!” And then he wrapped his free arm around his wife’s waist and pulled her close. He planted a kiss on her lips. Then a thought occurred to him and he pulled back. “You’re positive?”
She nodded. “The doctor’s office confirmed it this morning.”
“You mean when you had some errands to run in town and didn’t want me to go with you?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I knew for sure.”
“I thought we agreed that there would be no secrets in our marriage.”
“It wasn’t a secret. I was just waiting until the right moment to tell you.”
“Uh-huh.” And then he started to wonder if the house was big enough.
“What are you thinking?”
“That five bedrooms might not be enough for this expanding family of ours.”
“Avery, just how many babies are you planning on?”
“Oh, I don’t know. But with Beth and Jordan each having a room that leaves just two spare rooms. And you never know. I’ve grown to like the idea of a large family.”
Jillian’s eyes twinkled with merriment. “I think we’ll have to discuss this a lot more.”
“Most definitely.” He pulled her closer and gave her a proper kiss.
The End