Epilogue: Colt

One Year Later

“Sweetheart, will you please get moving, we’re going to be late,” I shout upstairs.

I love Austin more than anything, but sometimes, I could shake him. Especially when we have to be somewhere, and he’s taking his sweet time.

“I’m coming,” Austin replies, coming down the stairs, and walking into the living room.

“Holy shit,” I mumble.

“What? Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“No, you’re just fucking sexy as hell, and I do not want to be in a meeting with Mr. Smith with a hard on.”

This past year with Austin has been, frankly, amazing. At the beginning, I still had this fear in the back of my head that he was going to leave. Until the night in the barn after the festival. He had spoken from the heart, and I knew then that he was staying.

“I’m only wearing jeans and a shirt,” Austin starts. “Not sure how that’s sexy.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I start. “I bet when we get into town, all the women will be staring at you.” Austin didn’t see it, but he had morphed into a gorgeous cowboy, and today’s outfit was proof. Blue jeans, white shirt, and he has Pops’ cowboy hat on.

“Baby, everyone knows in town that we’re together. No one is going to be staring at me.”

“I bet you dishes for a week,” I say, smiling at him.

“Done,” Austin replies, returning my smile.

Last year, once all the snow had melted, Austin and I had tried to live separately, but it only lasted a month. If I wasn’t over at the ranch, then Austin was over at my little house, so it just made sense to move in together. We, of course, talked about it first. Both of us worried that we might have been rushing, but we decided to give it a try. And it turned out to be the best decision. And, I have to admit, waking up to Austin in my arms was a perk I wouldn’t give up in a hurry.

“Did Mr. Smith tell you what the appointment was about?” Austin asks, as we leave the house, and make our way over to the truck and start the journey into town.

“No, but I’m guessing that it has to do with the ranch. Today marks one year since you came back. Probably needs us to sign papers.”

I had eventually told Austin that I was the person that would’ve gotten the ranch if he hadn’t been able to make it a year. He had been surprised, and then had apologized, that he had taken the ranch from me. But he hadn’t. He had made it even more my home than Gran and Pops had.

“Is it really a year?” Austin asks, sounding surprised.

“To the day. A lot has changed in a year.”

“It has, and you know, there is not a single thing I would change,” Austin adds.

“Not even the Saturdays with the teenagers?” I chuckle.

“They have actually come up with some great suggestions that have gone down really well, I actually have a little surprise for them,” Austin adds, and I can hear the pride in his voice talking about those kids. He had been as good as his word, and met with them every week, and they talked about games and art. Austin might complain, but I know he loved it too.

“Oh, care to tell?”

“Well, I spoke to someone, telling them about the kids, and they’re going to be beta testers.”

“Holy shit. Please let me be there when you tell them. You know they’re going to love you more than they do already.”

“They’re good kids.”

Pulling up outside Mr. Smith’s office, I kill the engine and look over to Austin. “Ready to become a ranch owner?”

“No, but thankfully I have you.” And he leans over and gives me a kiss.

Austin opens the door to the office, and we see Mrs. Smith behind the desk, and I also catch the moment she looks Austin up and down, and the smile that touches her lips.

“Dishes are yours,” I whisper over to him.

“Fine.” But I can see the smirk on Austin's face.

“Hi Mrs. Smith. I have an appointment,” I say over to her.

“Oh, Colt. Right on time, and Austin is with you. Perfect,” Mr. Smith’s voice sounds from the doorway. “Can you both come with me?”

“Both?” Austin questions.

“Yes. I thought I just needed to talk to Colt, but it’s actually the pair of you,” Mr. Smith adds.

Looking over to Austin to see if he magically has some answers, he just shrugs his shoulders, and we follow Mr. Smith into his office.

When we are settled, Mr. Smith hands Austin an envelope, and I recognize Gran’s handwriting on the front. Taking a deep breath, he opens it and pulls out a piece of paper.

Austin slowly opens the letter, and begins to read, and suddenly there are tears streaming down his face.

“Sweetheart,” I say over to him, suddenly concerned. What the hell is in that letter from Gran to cause this reaction.

“They knew,” Austin sobs out.

“Knew what?”

“Knew about us, or at least how we felt about each other. It’s why they made me come back, and I had to stay the year,” Austin says.

“Sweetheart, you’re not making any sense.” Because he isn’t.

“Colt. This might help,” Mr. Smith says, and he hands over a letter to me. Pulling out the piece of paper and reading over the words, I feel my own tears start to form.

“This can’t be right,” Austin mumbles.

“I can promise you it is. Gran and Pops loved you both very much. They knew there was something special between you,” Mr. Smith adds.

“But how? We were…” I start but can’t finish. I wanted to say fifteen, and careful, but we obviously weren’t.

“So, what happens now?” Austin asks.

“I have the papers here. Once signed, the ranch is yours,” Mr. Smith adds.

“Ours,” Austin says, looking over to me, giving me a smile.

“They gave us the ranch,” I mutter, and Austin smiles.

“They gave me my cowboy, just in time for Christmas,” Austin adds. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

The End