The Elite

Epilogue

Six Months Later

"Finally!" I cried when we pulled up to the new house.

Nathan and my father laughed.

"Jeez you're impatient," Nathan teased.

I led the way in. It was amazing. On the upper floor was the kitchen and dining room. A bathroom was on the left and, on the right, the stairs leading to the lower floors. I stepped to the side so the movers could carry our things down. Then I ran after them, excited to see the other floors.

The stairs led into a living room where we would put a large TV and leather couch. We had three bedrooms: one for my dad, one for Nathan and I, and one for any guests we'd have. Each room had its own bathroom and I couldn't wait to try out the tub after seeing it had a whirlpool setting.

Down on the third floor was the laundry room and what my dad and Nathan claimed as their 'man cave'. I rolled my eyes as they excitedly talked about what they would put in there and went back up the stairs and outside. We had put a tarp over the pool. It was April and we weren't ready to open the pool again.

With the money Matt had given us, we were able to make the barn even better. November had been colder than normal so the first thing we did was get heated stalls. It was good because we had a really harsh winter. The trophy room had been rebuilt and all the kids brought in the trophies they kept at home to refill it. I missed all my trophies but, with the five Nathan had saved in the center of it all, it felt perfect.

We added another corral so that we could teach Nathan how to break Little Bit. She was old enough to start learning it all and Millie would soon be riding Little Bit at the classes. Carson was just too large for her and she wanted to go to the junior competitions.

I wandered down to Spirit's grave and sat cross legged. As a surprise, Nathan had planted some flower seeds around the grave and, during a windy November, seeds had spread on top of the grave, too. It was gorgeous and I came down regularly to make sure weeds didn't take over. Weeds never grew, though, and that was confirmation for me about Nathan's claim: Spirit was with us.

"Hey Spirit," I said. "Things have gotten so amazing here. I wish you could see it all." I looked around. The movers were still bringing things in the house and one of our new teachers was down at the corral with a new batch of kids. "Dad finally retired and passed it on to Nathan and I." I sighed. "You know, I love him a lot but I'm too afraid to tell him. It too a lot but we finally got our lives back. I've lost count of how many interviews I did for newspapers." I inhaled the scent of the flowers deeply. "God I miss you," I whispered, starting to cry. "I can't do competitions anymore. Not without you. I tried with Flame but if just wasn't right."

I stopped talking and caressed some of the flowers. I heard footsteps and looked up, beaming as Nathan sat beside me.

He had changed a lot in the six months. He was more muscular and tanned. He kept his hair cut short after last summer's heat.

"Come with me?" he asked, standing after about ten minutes of silence.

"Of course," I said and blew a kiss to Spirit. "See you soon, old girl."

Nathan laced our fingers as we walked through the forest path to the very back pasture. We hadn't been able to ride down there because of the media circus that became our lives again after the court date was set. We ended up not suing the Bankers. Our message came across loud and clear and the truth finally got out there.

Ever since then, their museums' popularity had dropped. I felt guilty for a while until Polly came by the barn with another bribe. We kicked her off the property and my dad built a simple fence to put a no trespassing sign on it.

"Okay, close your eyes," Nathan said, standing front of me.

"I don't wanna," I whined but did anyway.

He took my hands and led me forward. I felt the grass tickle my ankles. Finally, he stopped.

"Open those beautiful eyes of yours," he murmured in my ear, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

I gasped. "You finished!"

The whole pasture - all 50 acres of it - was cut. The grass was at an even height and it was as green as it could be. He put his chin on my shoulder while I looked around.

"I'm thinking about planting some flowers out here," he said pointing along the edge of the pasture. "Kind of like how I did with Spirit's grave. What do you think?"

"I think it would look beautiful," I said honestly. "Are you sure you don't want me to help you mow?"

"I'm sure," he said. "It's my job. You're not stealin' it from me."

I giggled then sighed, leaning into him. "I'm really happy, Nathan," I whispered.

He turned me in his arms and kissed me deeply. "So am I," he whispered into my lips.

"I have a secret," I said, kissing him a few times.

"Oh  yeah?" he asked, lacing his fingers behind my back. "What kind of secret?"

"Mm, the good kind, I think," I said and he arched a brow. I started feeling nervous. "I've been keeping it mostly because I'm a chicken shit." He snorted. "I also... with everything going on... it's been hard to find the right time to-"

He cut me off and kissed me. "I love you, too."

I beamed. "You do?"

He nodded, brushing his nose against mine.

"And it's a good thing you do," he whispered.

"Why's that?" I asked, putting my head on his chest.

"Well, while you were being horribly rude and being on your period last week, I went out shopping."

I laughed. "I warned you that sometimes I get a little...."

"Bitchy?" he suggested and I giggled. "Anyway, I got you a gift."

"Ooh," I said, leaning back. "I love gifts."

"I know you do; especially jewelry right?"

"What girl doesn't love jewelry?"

He beamed. "But first," he said and pulled a rose out from his back pocket.

I gasped. "Aww, thank you," I said, smelling it. "Wait." I looked around his back. "How'd you hide it in there?"

"I have my methods," he said and kissed me gently. "About 10 months, we were eating in an IHOP with your father and Matt. Do you remember?" I nodded. "You said that, when your future husband proposes to you, he'd better have at least one rose."

"You remembered all that?" I asked.

"Of course I did," he whispered, caressing my cheek. "Which bring me to your gift."

He dug in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. I opened it excitedly and gasped. It was a diamond ring. I looked up at him. He was smiling tenderly, still touching my cheek.

"I love you a lot," he said quietly. "And I want you to be my wife."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. So? What do you say?"

I stood on my toes so I could kiss his lips without him having to move.

"I really want you to be my husband," I whispered and he grinned. "Especially since you remembered the rose."

He laughed. "Look at the band," he said quietly, taking the ring out.

I held it up and gasped. In the inside of the band was an engraving of a horse. I looked up at him, tears in my eyes. He wiped one away when it fell.

"Our wedding rings will have her name," he whispered. "It was Spirit that truly brought us together, Willow. Not the rumors, not the media, not even your father. It was Spirit and she deserves to be recognized for it."

I cried more as he slid the ring onto my finger and I kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off my feet, swinging me and I laughed into his lips.