23. Epilogue

CHAPTER 23

EPILOGUE

BIG D

A Few Years Later

My phone rings just as I settle into the saddle on my quarter horse, Mister.

Kallie laughs. "Every time we try to escape for a ride, one of us gets a call."

"Exactly the reason we need to escape, darlin'." The name on the screen says Saint. "Guess who?"

"Oh no. Time for his weekly melt down." She keeps laughing. "Can you make it fast? On an evening like this, we have to catch the sunset."

I click to answer. "Saint. What's going on?"

"Tell me again why I'm doing this?"

"Well, most people get married because they're in love. And I know you two are." I scratch at my long beard. Kallie calls me her mountain man nowadays instead of her cowboy.

"Right." He sighs heavily into the phone, like he's been holding his breath all day. I told him the day he said they were planning a huge wedding, that he really should consider what Kallie and I did. We got married in Vegas at a little chapel on the strip, easy peasy. What a wild and fun night that was, too.

With a month to go before Saint's wedding, these calls are more frequent from him. I have to assure him every single time. "You're fine, buddy. She's fine. In fact, she's a saint to be taking your ass on, and you'd better show up at the altar or I'll kick your ass. Your playboy days are behind you. In fact, you told me once that she's the woman to make you forget all the rest."

"You're right. Yes. Okay. I can do this. Thanks, D. Can't wait to see you at off-season conditioning camp." We're all gathering again this summer, even if some of us don't play hockey anymore.

After everything that went down in Austin, when Kallie learned the truth, she begged her parents to do the right thing. Her father still put up a fight, but her mother picked up the phone and called the police after calling their lawyer. She said she had enough and wanted to turn her life around.

As for Kallie and me, we both got in with the new Las Vegas expansion team. She works in the office, as the head of marketing. I played for a few years on the team until an injury sidelined me. Unlike her ex, though, I spent a summer in Montana healing. Stark contrast to Jeremy and his reliance on drugs.

Speaking of, we never heard from Jeremy again after the night I chained him to a tree.

Vegas was good for us for a few years. But Montana is where my cowgirl and I were always meant to be.

Duke had heard of a ranch up for sale next door to his property, and we had to move quickly as there'd been a rich man from back east buying up all the smaller properties around him. Word was, the man planned a rescue operation for horses, run by military veterans, called the Off-Duty Rescue Ranch, modeling it off his similar ranch already in existence out in Virginia.

Our offer was accepted, and right away we built a beautiful log home big enough for a couple of kids, someday. We're in no hurry. We also built a little cottage for her mother to stay in when she gets out of prison. Her dad still owns the Austin team, but has sold his ranch and lives in the city, keeping a low profile. We don't hear from him much except on holidays when she calls him with a quick hello.

Duke's camp has grown so huge and popular, it's open all summer now for various hockey groups. Duke and Phoebe finally realized it was too big for the two of them to run, so they hired me to help manage it along with new seasonal staff.

I hang up from Saint and lean over in my saddle, giving my wife a kiss. "Ready to ride?"

"Yep. Try to keep up with me, cowboy." She kicks Rosie and away they go. Oh, and we finally got a dog. A black and white collie mix.

"Come on, Brewster." The dog follows along the trail with us. We head straight toward the indigo mountains surrounding our valley, eventually coming to the top of our favorite ridge.

Our valley has sure grown. From here, if we look to the left, there's Duke's place, and to the right there's the Off-Duty Rescue Ranch. Straight ahead is all ours.

This is where we'll live happily ever after for the rest of our lives together. Dad once told me to know when to hold on tight, and when to let go. I'm so glad I held onto my cowgirl. I kiss the back of her hand, knowing everything is finally as it is meant to be.

Ready for Saint and Anastasia's story?

You can first read a fun, short story featuring the two of them hooking up one Halloween night in the "Stroke of Midnight" currently featured in the f-r-e-e Masked and Ready to Score Anthology .

Saint and Anastasia's full romance story is the fifth book in The Puckers Series, My Puckin' Luck. Preorder now for release in January 2025.

Read the entire Puckers collection now in KU.

Coming in February 2025, ready for preorder : Special edition paperback of the five Puckers stories in one collectible paperback, featuring special illustrated character art, sticker sheet, character cards, and more.

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Xoxo Zee