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When he opened the door, Romeo ran inside. “Hello, fella.”
Romeo murred in response, causing Jillian and Avery to laugh.
Just then Marshmallow entered the living room. The cats sniffed each other and then ran off.
“Looks like everyone is happy.” Avery smiled at Jillian. And then realizing he still had the ring, he moved to her side. “We forgot this.”
And with that he slid the diamond ring on her finger and sealed the deal with a kiss.
Epilogue
Fifteen months later…
If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up.
Avery stood in the living room of the log home that he now shared with Jillian. He turned to the wall of windows that overlooked the Crooked S Ranch. For the first time in his life, he felt truly at home. He stared off into the distance at his ranch—their beautiful ranch.
It was hard to believe that after such a rough patch in his life everything had come together so well. It might not have been an easy transition, but it was so worth it.
And he couldn’t have done any of it without Jillian. She had always been there when he needed her. She was his source of strength when he felt weak. She was his best friend. And he tried his best to be those things for her.
“Hey, husband, what are you doing in here? Shouldn’t you be out tending to the livestock?”
He turned to find Jillian standing there with a kitten in each arm, one black and white, just like Romeo, while the other kitten was all white. His wife smiled broadly. “Aren’t we lucky that your sister decided not to stand in the way of true love?”
“What?”
“You know, letting my mother take Marshmallow so the cats could be together. Now they’ll live happily ever after.” Jillian held out the squirmy black and white kitten named Oreo. “And they make such cute kittens.”
Avery cradled Oreo in his arms, having a hard time keeping ahold of it as the kitten was in a constant state of motion. “Too bad your mother got Marshmallow and Romeo fixed. I could get used to having more kittens around the house. They are really smart.”
His wife sent him a puzzled look. “How do you get that?”
“They got us together, didn’t they?”
Jillian laughed. “Is that what happened?”
Avery nodded. “Romeo is a natural-born matchmaker.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. These two furbabies are ours.”
“Are you sure they’re old enough to leave their mother?”
Jillian nodded. “Positive. But I had to promise my mother that we’d bring them back to visit.”
Avery laughed. “I think we can do that. What about the other kittens?”
“Well, Suzanna is taking one. My mother is keeping one so it’s not so hard for Marshmallow. And your sister wants one. Speaking of Beth, she phoned and wants to know if she can bring home her new boyfriend next weekend.”
“She’s never brought home a guy.” Avery wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Should I be worried?”
Jillian shrugged. “I don’t know, but she sounded really happy on the phone. We could make it a dinner party and invite Blake and Suzanna over too.”
“They’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”
“Yes, they have.”
Just the way his wife said that clued him in that he was missing something. “What don’t I know?”
