Epilogue

B anff was lovely in the winter. Snow clung to the mountaintops. The Bow Falls froze into blue-green mounds they could walk on. There were hikes in the mountains navigated in snowshoes. They lowered their bodies into the smelly hot springs and emerged refreshed.

She spent hours with members of The Society as they assessed her drawings and gathered details about the flowers. They expressed their disappointment over her decision to leave them in the spring, but she promised to send drawings of the alpine flowers she discovered closer to home, so they were happy with that.

She was as anxious as Robert to return to the quarter of land he'd filed on. It was indeed a beautiful spot.

"I want to see the flowers blooming from our home," she said as spring approached.

"Has the house been magically built?" he teased.

She sniffed, pretending annoyance she didn't feel. "It hasn't, and it won't be unless we get back."

"Then let's go. First, I have something for you." He held up the paper that now regularly ran her tales and drawings about the West. She opened it to see her latest submission about Banff along with a drawing of the majestic mountains. They didn't usually run that type of story, but they'd accepted this one because, as she'd pointed out, it was part of opening the West.

"You should be proud and pleased. Your work has the recognition it deserves."

"I'm pleased, but I found something more valuable than recognition." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I found you. You are my heart, my joy, my delight."

He silenced any more description of what he was to her with a kiss that warmed her clear to her toes.