Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Khloe sat at a large table on Bristol and Rocky’s back deck and smiled at the absolute chaos all around her. There had been countless ups and downs in the last fifteen years, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

Rocky and Bristol had built onto their house, expanding the barn, the deck, putting in a pool, and adding three bedrooms to their already perfect house. This was the go-to place for everyone to hang out. In the summer, Khloe was here just about every day, in between shifts at her vet clinic. Because there were now three vets in the area, no one was overwhelmed with patients, and each of her colleagues had plenty of free time to enjoy life in Fallport.

There had been Pickleport festivals, Bigfoot expos, Bristol Wingham-Watson art shows, and a lot of laughter and smiles.

Elsie and Zeke’s second-eldest son was currently attempting to wrangle the younger children as they ran around the yard as if they’d just been injected with straight-up caffeine pills. Finley and Brock’s oldest daughter was inside watching Frozen IV with some of the other kids. She’d volunteered not because she enjoyed the animated movie, but because she could flirt with her boyfriend via text while the kids she was supposed to be watching over were distracted.

Khloe was amazed she could remember all the children’s names. There had been so many additions to their group over the years, it felt as if they were running a daycare most days.

Elsie and Zeke had four between them, plus Tony; Rocky and Bristol had one…Samantha had been a surprise to them both, and even though they hadn’t even been sure they wanted children, Sam was a blessing they couldn’t live without. Drew and Caryn hadn’t wanted kids of their own, but they were always babysitting the littles and volunteering to take the older kids on camping trips, as well as entertaining them at the firehouse, where Caryn spent a large portion of her time.

Brock and Finley had ended up with three, and Tal and Heather had two biological children, in addition to Marissa, who was currently off at college with goals to become an FBI officer specializing in finding kidnapped and missing children.

And then there was Lilly and Ethan. It had taken two long, frustrating, often heartbreaking years for them to conceive again…but after having Brandon, it seemed as if she’d been pregnant nonstop. Every year for the next five, she’d gotten pregnant. The girls had made merciless fun of Lilly, often saying they couldn’t remember what she’d looked like without a baby belly.

Khloe and Raid had talked about it a lot, and in the end decided maybe having kids wasn’t in the cards for them. They were both over forty when they married, and neither really wanted to be in their sixties with children still in school.

But life had a funny way of blowing well-laid plans to smithereens.

She’d been in Richmond for a veterinarian conference, relaxing in the hotel after a long day, when a segment on the news had caught her attention.

It was early December at the time, the holidays approaching, and a reporter was interviewing a boy who was around ten, asking what he wanted for Christmas. His answer nearly broke Khloe’s heart.

He said all he wanted was a safe place for his three sisters to sleep.

That had started a three-year-long odyssey to meet Joaquin and his sisters, to qualify to be foster parents, and to eventually adopt them. It was crazy, and Khloe was grateful every day that Raid hadn’t even blinked when she’d come home from that trip and informed him that she wanted to look into bringing four children into their home and possibly adopting them.

So now, she and Raid were parents to seventeen-year-old Joaquin, fourteen-year-old Lateesha, eleven-year-old Tasha, and nine-year-old Diamond. Life hadn’t been easy for the siblings, but Khloe wanted to think since coming to Fallport, it had gotten a little easier.

And Raiden, despite his worries, had turned out to be an excellent father. He was there for their children no matter what their needs were. He wasn’t afraid to talk to them about their feelings, opening up to them about his own upbringing and making them feel as if they could come to him with any problems or concerns they had.

And watching him play Dungeons and Dragons with Tasha made Khloe’s heart melt. The eleven-year-old was turning out to be a fierce player, and her and Raid’s bond was all the more special because of their shared love of the game.

Last year, out of the blue, Joaquin had come up to her in their kitchen and given her a long, hard hug—which was very usual for the taciturn teenager—and thanked her for giving his sisters a safe place to sleep.

But today’s get-together was special. Each year, they all got together and celebrated the child that wasn’t with them physically, but would forever be in their hearts.

When Elsie had first suggested having a celebration for Lilly and Ethan’s first child, the one who didn’t make it into the world, everyone had been a little uneasy about the idea. They didn’t know how Lilly would take it. But to their surprise, Lilly had cried—overjoyed that they wanted to do something for the baby she missed every single day.

So that first year, on what would’ve been the baby’s birthday, they had a small party. Basically the women got together and drank—those who weren’t pregnant or breastfeeding, that was—while the men watched over them. The parties had morphed since then into what it was today. A chance for the adults to get together and chat while the almost two dozen children ran around and enjoyed spending time with their “cousins.”

“It’s time,” Elsie said, coming out from the house with a single cupcake in her hand. Rocky used his fingers to whistle loudly, calling everyone in from the yard. Meanwhile, Zeke appeared with the kids who’d been inside watching the movie.

Nineteen children, minus Tony and Marissa who were off at college, gathered on the deck. Elsie, Bristol, Caryn, Finley, Heather, and Khloe sat around the table, with Lilly at the head in the place of honor. Their men all stood behind their wives, supporting them silently as they always had and always would.

Elsie placed the cupcake in front of Lilly, then lit the candle.

“We want to wish Lilly and Ethan’s firstborn a very happy birthday. You’ve never been forgotten and never will. You were wanted, and so very loved. Happy Birthday.”

The words changed a bit each year, and they took turns who said them, but the sentiment was the same. That baby who never got a chance to take a breath. Who hadn’t made it to his or her first day on Earth, had been wanted. Was missed. Was important.

Lilly took a deep breath and Ethan leaned down to whisper something in her ear. She nodded and blew out the candle. Then she tilted her head back and Ethan kissed her on the lips.

There was a short—very short, considering how many kids there were in their extended family now—moment of silence, then one of Finley’s kids yelled, “Cake time!”

Everyone chuckled. She wasn’t wrong. After blowing out the single candle on the cupcake, they traditionally all dug into a monster cake that Finley made every year. And each year she seemed to outdo the last. This one was no exception. Brock came out on the deck with a huge sheet cake in his hands. He held it up high, drawing out the moment everyone saw the cake for the first time, then he put it down with a flourish.

Khloe burst out laughing, along with everyone else. Over the years, the Bigfoot theme seemed to keep popping up…much to Lilly’s dismay. She’d come to town because of the legendary creature, but claimed it had gotten old to always be seeing and hearing about him.

Finley had used fondant to decorate the cake with a giant Bigfoot. Except he wasn’t hiding in the woods, as most thought he was wont to do. This one had a conical party hat on his head, a bow tie around his neck, and he was holding streamers in his hands. He had a huge smile on his face and was surrounded by squirrels, deer, skunks, and even a bear. Apparently there was a party going on in the forest that only animals were invited to.

Khloe was impressed with Finley’s artistic talent. She’d gotten better and better every year since she’d opened her bakery, and her cakes were always in high demand around Fallport.

After Khloe hugged Lilly, she stepped back to let the kids have access to the table, and the fabulous cake. She felt Raid’s arm go around her waist. They were both in their fifties now…closing in on sixty, and not one day in the last fifteen years had gone by without her husband telling her how much he loved her.

They both had some gray in their hair, and even though Raid complained about it, Khloe secretly thought the silver in his red beard and hair made him look even more handsome.

“You about ready to head home?” he whispered in her ear.

Khloe shivered as she turned in his arms and looked up at him. “Yes.”

“I’m gonna knock your socks off tonight, woman,” he said.

“Is that a threat?” she asked with a grin.

“A promise,” he told her. He tightened his hold on Khloe and lifted his head until he’d caught Drew’s eyes. “We’re headed out.”

“Go on. Have fun, you two. Caryn and I will be sure to keep your kids up until all hours of the night, fill them with sugar and crap, then bring them back tired and cranky and bouncing off the walls in the morning.”

Khloe giggled when Raid scowled as his friend. “You better not,” he warned.

Caryn came up and pushed Drew with her shoulder. “We won’t,” she promised. “Okay, they might stay up a bit later than usual, but I’ll make sure to make them all eat at least one vegetable, and maybe we’ll bring them to the new obstacle course behind the auto shop so they’ll be more than ready to crash at the end of the night.”

“Thanks, Caryn!” Khloe said. Then she blew a kiss to each of her kids, gave them the “be good” look she’d perfected, and pulled Raid toward the front of the house. “Let’s go. I want to see if you can put your money where your mouth is,” she teased.

“It’s on, woman.”

“It’s on,” Khloe agreed.

* * *

Two hours later, Khloe leaned forward and listened intently as the Dungeon Master spoke. Anise and Bjorn had just fought a small battle with a pack of wereraccoons. Anise had taken some hits, but Bjorn had used some spells and healed her. Now they were in pursuit of the surviving wereraccoon, who had disappeared down a series of tunnels.

“You’ve been walking in the tunnel for about the length of a football field, there’s water under your feet and it’s very cold. Every now and then, something brushes against your ankles and it smells as if something died down there. A mist has formed and it’s getting hard to see very far in front of you.”

“Crap, I don’t like this,” Khloe told Raid. She turned back to the screen on the laptop and asked the DM, “Is there anything around us? Like a doorway? Or does the tunnel perhaps branch off ahead of us?”

“Roll a perception check,” the DM responded.

Khloe picked up her twenty-sided die and dropped it in her dice tower. When it finally came to rest at the bottom of the box, she checked the number on the die and her perception score on her sheet. “Twelve,” she informed the DM.

The DM checked her notes. “Within the range of your torch, you can’t see any bends ahead. There aren’t any doorways in sight either.”

“So that means the wereraccoon had to come this way,” Raid said calmly.

“Unless we missed a door because of the mist,” Khloe scowled.

“Let’s keep going,” Raid said.

“Fine.” Khloe turned back to the screen. “We’re gonna keep walking,” she told the DM.

“Okay. About forty or so yards down the tunnel, you discover a stone block on the floor.”

“How well can we see it? I thought there was water under our feet,” Raid asked.

“It’s about fifteen inches wide and twenty inches tall. It’s made out of a different material than the tunnel around you,” the DM said calmly.

“Is it in the middle of the tunnel? Or against the wall?” Khloe asked.

“Against the wall.”

“Can I move it, or is it too heavy?” Khloe asked, moving to the edge of her seat. Over the years, she’d really come to love D&D. There was always something different to conquer and she had to use her brain as much as her magical abilities in order to stay alive.

“Roll a strength check,” the DM told her.

Khloe snatched her D20 quickly and rolled it without the tower this time. It bounced around the tray and stopped with the twenty up. “Natural twenty!” Khloe squealed. She ignored Raid’s smirk. He was always amused at how excited she got while playing.

“Yes, you can push it without too much trouble.”

“Okay, I want to examine the stone.”

“You don’t find anything out of the ordinary.”

“Hmmmmm. Okay, then maybe it’s a marker of some sort. Bjorn and I want to check the area for secret doors. We want to examine the walls.”

“Roll an investigation check,” the DM said.

“We’ll let the dwarf helm this one.” Raid smiled as he reached for the dice. “Fifteen.”

“You don’t find anything unusual along the walls.”

“Shoot,” Khloe said with a huff. “There has to be something here. Otherwise, the stone wouldn’t be so obvious. What about on the ceiling?”

“Neither you nor Bjorn can reach the ceiling, it’s about a foot beyond your reach, and several feet beyond Bjorn’s.”

“Ah ha!” Khloe crowed. “I bet that stone isn’t a marker, it’s a step! I climb up with Bjorn steadying me and start poking around on the ceiling.”

The DM looked up and smiled at the camera. “You look around for a bit and suddenly a part of the roof shifts. You’ve found a panel that can be lifted away.”

“Be careful,” Raid warned.

But Khloe had played the game enough that she knew she shouldn’t rush into anything. Some of the scenarios other DMs had thought up had been extremely precarious, and she’d almost died plenty of times. And it would’ve sucked to have the character Raid created die after they’d both spent so much time building her skills and strengths. “I open the panel very slowly and cautiously. Can I see anything?” she asked.

“Your head is still below the level of the opening, but you can see some sort of light to one side.”

“How about if I lift Bjorn up so he can get a better look?”

“All right, you change places and lift him up into the space above the tunnel⁠—”

“No, wait!” Raid exclaimed. “She boosts me up just high enough for my head to be in the opening. I’m not all the way up in the room.”

“Okay, Bjorn, you see another tunnel, a lot like the one you were just walking through, but it only goes in one direction. There’s a doorway about fifteen yards away, and you can see footprints leading from where your head is, to the doorway.”

“Yes!” Khloe exclaimed.

Raid turned toward her and smiled. “It never fails to amaze me that you really do enjoy this,” he said quietly.

Khloe put her hand on Raiden’s thigh and squeezed. She’d reassured him many times over the years that she didn’t play D&D just to appease him. She loved figuring out the clues and mysteries and seeing what their characters could accomplish together.

Having kids had limited the time they could join in, but when they could manage it, she enjoyed it just as much as the first time they’d played together.

Several hours later, with the mystery of the wereraccoon solved and relieved that, once more, both Bjorn and Anise had lived to face another challenge and play another game at some point in the future, Khloe couldn’t stop smiling as her husband towed her up the stairs toward their bedroom.

After getting ready for bed and crawling in next to Raid, Khloe straddled him, smiling as she felt his cock growing against her ass. “You tired?” she asked.

“Does it feel like I’m tired?” Raid retorted, tightening his hands on her waist.

“Just checking,” she said as she moved down his body, another smile growing on her lips.

An hour later, she snuggled into Raiden’s side as she tried to catch her breath. Raid might not be able to have more than one orgasm in a single lovemaking session anymore, but he took great pride in making sure she was satisfied at least twice.

“Raid?” Khloe asked.

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“I love you.”

“And I love you back,” he reassured her.

“What time is Caryn bringing the kids home tomorrow?”

“No clue.”

“I should get up and check the schedule, see when the kids need to be where,” Khloe said, making a move to get up.

“No,” Raid said, shaking his head. “It’s late. We’re comfortable. The dog’s sleeping. We can check the schedule tomorrow. Go to sleep, Khloe.”

She smiled. “Fine.”

“Fine,” Raid echoed.

It didn’t take long for his breaths to even out and his grip on her relaxed.

Thirty minutes later, Khloe was still awake. She should be sleeping. It was late, and their kids would be wound up tomorrow, wanting to talk about how much fun they had with Aunt Caryn and Uncle Drew and explain in minute detail all the fun things they’d done.

Sighing, Khloe slipped out of bed and picked up her warm, fuzzy robe she’d dropped on the floor before crawling under the covers earlier.

She padded over to the window and looked out across the dark landscape. There was a full moon tonight and as a result, Khloe could see all the way down their driveway to the road, and the forest beyond, where Raid had spent so much time.

Instinctively, Khloe looked to the left, to the corner of their room that Duke had occupied for so many years. He was gone now, he’d died peacefully in his sleep, but not a day went by that Khloe or Raid didn’t think about him. He’d never be replaced, but the coonhound they’d acquired not long before Duke’s death was doing her best to fill the big shoes he’d left. She was still learning how to be a search dog, but her energy and enthusiasm had helped her find half a dozen lost hikers already.

But Callie was still no Duke. She loved getting pets, loved people, but preferred to sleep in her crate, her safe space, rather than in the room with her and Raid. It had taken some getting used to at first, but they’d both eventually adjusted to her personality.

Khloe stood at the window, thinking about how lucky she was for a long while…before frowning as something caught her eye. She leaned forward, her forehead practically touching the glass, and tried to figure out what the hell she was seeing.

In the distance, between the trees on the far side of the road, stood what looked like…a person. No, not a person. Maybe a bear?

But bears didn’t walk on their hind legs.

Khloe blinked and shook her head before squinting and trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what she was seeing. The…thing in the woods turned toward her for a moment, looking in the direction of the house, before disappearing into the trees.

“What are you looking at so hard?” Raid asked a split-second before he wound his arm around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Khloe turned and looked up at her husband with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“I’m pretty sure I just saw Bigfoot.”

Raid’s lips twitched. “Yeah? Maybe it was a wereraccoon.”

“Don’t laugh at me, Raid. I know what I saw!”

“Uh-huh. I’m thinking your brain’s stuck in D&D mode. Come on, come back to bed. It’s super-late now, and we’re gonna have to be up way before we’re ready when Caryn returns with our munchkins.”

She let Raid lead her back to bed, loving how he always snuggled up against her when they were under the covers. His arm went around her, and he kissed her gently behind the ear. “Sleep, sweetheart.”

“I really did see Bigfoot,” she told him, wanting him to believe her so badly.

“Let me guess…at least eight feet tall, black and brown hair, walking along the edge of the road?”

Khloe came up on an elbow and turned to stare at Raid. “Yes!”

“I’ve seen him too,” he told her, completely nonchalantly.

“Oh my God, Raid! Why haven’t you said anything before now?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I feel bad for him. Ever since that show aired all those years ago, he’s been hunted relentlessly. I figured I’d give him a break.”

Khloe lay back down and snuggled into Raid’s chest. “Yeah…I get that. But still! You should’ve told me!”

“Would you have believed me?” he asked sleepily.

Khloe wanted to say yes, but she wasn’t sure if that was completely the truth.

“I love you, Khloe. Only we could be having this conversation as if we’re talking about seeing Davis, the way he used to creep around in the forest.”

Her husband wasn’t wrong. Davis Woolford, the formally homeless veteran, had moved to Washington, DC, and had managed to become one of the many bakers working in the White House. He came back to Fallport now and then, and everyone was overjoyed to see how successful he was now. He’d gotten into therapy, had married, and he now had two children. He was as proud of Fallport as Fallport was proud of him. He’d left his troubles behind him and made a life he was proud of.

“I can’t believe I just saw Bigfoot,” Khloe whispered.

“I can show you something else big and hairy,” Raid told her.

Khloe giggled and shoved an elbow back into his belly.

Raid chuckled in return.

“Raiden?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“It’s a good thing, since you married me. Now shush and let me get some sleep.”

Khloe grinned and sighed in contentment. She fell asleep in her husband’s arms…dreaming of Bigfoot joining forces with Anise to take down Saltborn the Stone Giant, who’d overtaken the troglodyte scouts and come to slaughter their hunting party.

* * *

Thank you for reading the Eagle Point Search & Rescue Series! I loved every second of writing it and being in small-town Fallport was a joy! Next up for me, I’m going back to where I started…active-duty Navy SEALs! The first book, Protecting Remi features not only an ocean rescue, but a kidnapping as well (both things I love writing because it allows the heroine to be scared, yet strong. Doing what she can to help herself survive with a little help from the Hero!) Thank you all for your support and read on!

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