My Hands Hold My Story (Rough Draft)

Epilogue

Dedicated to all my lovely readers! 

Two years later

As the sun beat down on me, I leaned back on my heels, rubbing my hand across my sweaty forehead. Behind me was a well-weeded garden that any housekeeper would be proud of. It wouldn't be long before I would be helping harvest the produce and taste the results of my hard work.

Beneath my knee, I felt the ground vibrate and glanced over my shoulder. Sam and Katie were running towards me, though the three year old toddler stumbled every few steps he took. A wide, excited grin on her face, Katie signed my name as she moved.

Curious what had her so happy, I wiggled my hands in question. 'What?'

The six year old came to a stop in front of me and bounced from foot to foot. She made the universal gesture for 'come.' As she'd grown up, I had tried to teach her some signs, but she had little patience to learn them. Katie reached my side, grabbed onto my arm, and pulled as hard as she could.

Amused by her determination, I stood up and let her pull me towards the house. When we reached the porch, she pointed to the east.

Lifting my hand to shade my eyes, I peered out to the horizon. Almost immediately I spotted what had her so excited: a group of four horses and riders.

Remy was back.

A smile curved my lips as I put my arm around the porch post. Father, Simon, and Remy had been gone for over a month, taking a herd of horses to sell. The sale would mean the ranch was going to be a success, or at least it would have a better chance.

In the past two years, things had changed quite a bit on the ranch. Anna never returned. She rarely wrote to her mother and, if I remembered correctly, she had married a blacksmith somewhere in the territory of Idaho. With her gone, the main source of strife in my life vanished.

Cordelia was, at best, polite to me. She never unbent enough to learn any sign language. I had resigned myself to the fact that she and I would never be friends. It was a shame, but I knew well enough that I cannot change another person if they did not want to change.

Susan had begun stepping out with the young man who helped Father at the store, Jonah Smith. Knowing she received little affection from her mother, I couldn't blame her for seeking happiness elsewhere at her young age of sixteen.

Shaking my head, I pulled my thoughts from the past. As the three riders drew nearer, one horse, a familiar black one, surged ahead. A grin on his face, Remy was the first to reach the house and he swung to the ground. I stepped away from the porch in time for him to pick me up and spin me around.

The trip must have been more successful than anyone had hoped for. Or he'd missed me as much as I'd missed him and he was happy to see me.

In two years, Remy had become even more muscled as he worked, not only to help my father on the ranch, but to build up his own spread to the west. Each night, he and I spent a few minutes, studying the plans he had for his own land. It was as much mine as it was his, and it felt...right that it was like that.

He set me back on the ground and, before I could get my bearings, he went down on one knee in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kate jumping up and down, clapping her hands together. Remy took my left hand and brought out a distinctive little black box.

Oh.

I couldn't take my eyes off of it, my heart in my throat. A gentle tug on my hand brought my attention back to Remy. He had one of those rare, heartfelt smiles on his face that made my heart skip a beat. "Marry me?" he said, speaking with slow deliberateness.

What other answer could I have given? "Yes!"

Relief showed through the grin that appeared on his face. Standing up, he worked the ring out of the box and then slipped it onto my finger. Without giving me a chance to admire the gold band, he stepped closer and brushed a strand of my hair from my face.

Did I care that my father and siblings were probably watching? I can honestly say I did not give them a single thought as I went up on my toes and pressed my lips against Remy's. He wrapped his arms around me, so he must not have minded an audience either.

Our future was in our hands.