Epilogue – Three Months Later

Evelyn

 

 “What are you doing?” James squawked, causing me to jump, almost flipping in my hammock.

He was laughing as I braced myself with one foot on the ground. I let the book I was reading fall to my belly, open where I left off.

“Studying,” I sighed, rolling my eyes at his amusement.

“So, what’s the first thing you plan to do when you go back?” James asked, kneeling in the grass beside.

“I think I have enough to take out that fatass judge,” I beamed, feeling invincible with James by my side.

He laughed, not mockingly, but with approval and pride.

“I know you can do it,” he affirmed.

It had been three months since I bought the ranch, and even though James tried to protest, I had signed the deed over to him. He was the owner of JJ Ranch, no strings attached, and he was paying off his debt fairly quickly as the ranch began to thrive again. The buyers were back on his side, filled with confidence that James wasn’t going anywhere, and the ranch would be run the way it always had been.

“I can’t wait to get back to work,” I sighed, feeling the itch to take down the corruption in the system.

My cases had been loaded onto my new partner, a straight-laced young man, straight out of college. I helped when he needed it, but most of my time in the last three months was spent studying corruption law, something my parents shoved their noses high in the air when I informed them of the new direction in my practice. Their noses didn’t come out of the clouds when I told them I’d been seeing James, or that I’d bought the ranch from the Jasper kids.

“He’s a rancher; how will he even pay you back?” my mother scoffed when I told her.

I defended him, as I had from day one, except now it wasn’t on a professional level, but instead, a personal one. I wasn’t worried about the money. That was never a fear. I knew he’d pay me back, even if it took fifty years, and I would be right here by his side many years after the debt was cleared.

“I’ll miss you being here,” James cooed.

“I’ll still be here,” I assured him.

“You promise?” he pouted.

His blue eyes matched the color of the sky, soft and meaningful. I giggled at his playful pouting, his bottom lip pushed outward, his eyes batting at me, and a crooked smile creeping up on his face.

“I told you before, just try and get rid of me,” I teased.

James’s eyebrows lifted high on his forehead as his smirk widened. His eyes went wild, a deep chuckle roared from his lips, and I knew I was in for it. He reached for the book on my lap, carefully keeping my place as he set it on the ground. Before I could make a move, to run, to brace myself, he scooped me from the hammock into his arms, cradling me like a baby as I squealed.

“James, no,” I called out, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck and shoulders as he walked towards the lake.

He laughed, he smiled, but he didn’t stop. He continued to walk towards the lake, ignoring my pleas for mercy, for him to put me down.

At the edge of the lake, I giggled nervously as he threatened to dip me into the water.

“You look like you need to be cooled off,” he threatened.

The muscles in his back flexed, the ones in his arms stretched and twitched as he swung me out towards the calm blue water, and then back towards him. He laughed each time I squealed, causing me to finally join in on the laughter.

It was hot, really hot, and a dip in the lake wasn’t a bad idea, but not fully clothed, and not tossed in like a skipping rock.

“You look hotter than me,” I smirked, taking notice of the sweat beading around his forehead, and glistening against the stubble on his face.

I reached for his hat, clasping it in my hand and tossing it to the grass behind him.

“If you’re throwing me in, you’re coming too,” I warned.

“Really?” James scoffed, chuckling as if he wasn’t concerned.

I nodded, my lips pressed tightly together, and tightened my grip around his strong frame.

 “Okay then,” he laughed, walking quickly into the water with me in his arms.

I squealed, smacked at his back, and laughed hysterically. I didn’t believe he would go in, boots and all, but he did, taking me with him.

The water was cold but refreshing, and once he was waist deep, he pulled me under and released me. I popped up to my feet, splashing him playfully as I wiped the water from my eyes.

“That was mean,” I scolded.

James gripped my waist, turning me to face the shore as he stood at my back. He pressed against me, his wet clothes clinging to him as he pointed towards the shore.

“I wanted you to see something,” he whispered in my ear.

My eyes followed his finger, looking out towards the frame of the house he was building, our house.

“You can see where our bedroom is now,” he said, pointing at the upper level.

I’d been so enthralled in my studies, I hadn’t noticed how far along he’d gotten on the house. He’d only started it six weeks ago, when the rain finally started to slow down, and it already looked like a house.

“I added something for you,” he whispered.

 I searched the wood frame, looking at each board, each opening, each room, until I saw it. I gasped, my hands pushing over my mouth as I muffled my scream of excitement.

“I can’t believe it,” I sighed, turning in his arms.

“You said you wanted Gulliver and Queen closer to the house,” James smiled.

I hadn’t noticed it until I looked past the house, what I thought he was pointing at. Behind it, there was another structure, one quite large, and I instantly knew it was stables for our horses. I’d only made the comment last week about how nice it would be to have them nearby, for evening rides, or just to share with them the carrots in my garden that I planned to grow for them.

“You’re amazing,” I gasped, tiptoeing to reach his mouth.

I jumped up into James’s arms, my legs straddled around his waist tightly as our mouths locked together. He walked from the water, drenched, our clothes clinging to us, and made it to a sunny spot in the grass, under our large tree. There, we made love, something I hoped to do time and time again. I wanted to be in his arms forever.