Epilogue
Dallas
Dallas bumped thestroller backward over the little lip in the base of the doorframe and tugged it behind him as he entered the taproom. He and the kids were headed for the playground up the street to wait for their mother to finish up for the day just as soon as they got to give her their present. Hannah had left the ranch before breakfast and it was now almost suppertime. They were taking her out to celebrate her birthday.
The taproom was empty. She had to be in the brewery out back. Judging by the smell, she was perfecting a fresh batch of her maple brew. The sweet smell of the syrup was offset by the damp odor of barley and sharp suggestion of hops. He had no idea how that combination could turn into something so amazing, but the women who came for Wednesday ladies’ nights had a decided preference for it.
The change in management at the Grand Master Brewery two years ago hadn’t hurt business at all. It was booming, in fact. Hannah had expanded its service to include food, but the taproom didn’t carry a full menu and most likely, never would. The intention was to keep it community-centric and give people lots of opportunity to mingle. She also hosted numerous fundraising events for the hospital and nursing home. Installing Ford Shannahan as manager had been another stroke of genius on her part. Not only was he a real people person, he helped with the heavy lifting.
“Hello?” Dallas called out.
“Mommy?” Benny sang, taking his cue from his dad.
The three-year-old occupied the front seat of the stroller, gripping the guardrail and kicking his sneakered heels against the footrest. He looked just like his proud dad, right down to the dark curls and hazel eyes, but he had his mommy’s sweet personality and engaging smile. He was cautious and caring, too. He watched over one-year-old Rose, quiet for the moment in the rear section of the stroller under the blue and yellow canopy, and couldn’t stand it if she cried.
Rose, on the other hand, while a junior version of her mom, was more of an opportunist, like her dad. No caution there. Hannah had already warned him that their daughter wouldn’t be stripping her way through medical school, and he was to stop playing stripper music for her. He pointed out that Rose would have plenty of money to fund her education, so if she ended up as a stripper, it would be because she liked to dance. Then he’d proceeded to play the music for Hannah, one thing led to another, and well, here they were. Baby number three was on the way any day now.
Hannah’s mother was flying in from Sweetheart that evening to help with Benny and Rose until after the new one arrived. Ryan planned to pick her up at the airport in Billings and fly her by helicopter to the ranch. Hannah’s relationship with her mother explained so many things. Tessa Brand was excellent with small children, and loved the grandkids to pieces, but when it came to looking after herself, she was at a bit of a disadvantage. After the death of Hannah’s father in a boating accident on Flathead Lake, Tessa had looked to her children for support rather than the other way around.
The door between the taproom and the brewery swung open. Hannah maneuvered her very pregnant belly through it. She rubbed the small of her back, glanced up, caught his eye, and smiled. Dallas lost his train of thought, as he often did at moments like this, when he was struck by how beautiful she was and couldn’t believe his good luck. The kids were forgotten. He was transported back to the first moment he set eyes on her, at a friend’s pre-wedding party, when he’d taken one look and known in his heart that she was the woman for him.
The money continued to be a big PITA. However, it did come with perks. He loved life on the ranch. It was a great place to raise a big family—and they’d made an excellent start on that. He liked being a country doctor. It was all he’d ever wanted to do.
Well. He had one other thing he was good at.
“Hey, honey. We have a birthday present for you,” he said.
“This should be good. Although I can’t see how you could top last year,” she replied. They’d made her a chocolate and coffee-flavored cake and decorated it to look like a frothy mug of stout beer.
“Hold that thought.”
He lifted Benny out of the stroller and set him on his feet before rescuing little Rose.
“What in the world…” Hannah exclaimed when she saw what they were wearing. Benny sported a tiny tearaway police uniform. Rose wore a wee pink bikini top decorated with miniature pink tassels. Dallas had stenciled a G-string on her diaper with a pink Magic Marker.
He grabbed his phone. Joe Cocker began to croon “You Can Leave Your Hat On.” Benny immediately got into the spirit of things. He jiggled around the room, shaking his groove thing. Dallas wasn’t sure what it was Rose was trying to accomplish. Her bottom bobbed up and down but her rhythm sucked. She definitely wasn’t the one Hannah had to worry about making a career out of stripping.
Hannah was laughing so hard by now, tears dripped off her eyelashes and onto her cheeks. Dallas handed her two five-dollar bills just before Benny’s big finale. The uniform came off to reveal Batman training pants. Both kids toddled over so their mother could tuck the bills in their undies, as they’d been coached, although Rose was most likely following her big brother.
“Worst father ever,” Hannah said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
He scooped her into a bear hug despite her massive belly making it awkward. “But best husband, am I right?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. Soft blue eyes, hazy with love, gazed into his. “The best,” she assured him. “And when you give me the adult strip show version later tonight, I’ll be the luckiest woman alive.”
The End