Chase the Wind (Apache Runaway Book 2)
Page 30
“It is,” she replied fervently. “Oh, it is.”
Chase nodded at his parents. “Our thanks for the land, and for…for…” He took a deep breath. “For making me feel welcome in your home, and in your life.”
“To the newlyweds!” Jenny said. Tears of joy sparkled in her eyes as she lifted her glass in a toast. “May you all live happily ever after.”
“Here, here,” Ryder said, touching his glass to hers.
“To love and laughter,” Lester said, smiling at Dorinda.
“To long life and happiness,” Dusty added, brushing his lips across Rebecca’s lips.
Jenny grinned up at Ryder. “To grandchildren!” they said in unison.
Chase glanced at his mother, at Ryder, at Dusty and Dorinda, and then his gaze settled on Beth.
“To coming home,” he said softly, his voice choked with emotion.
And as Beth squeezed his hand, Chase knew he had found everything he had been searching for, and more.
Epilogue
Christmas Day
Six years later
Jenny sat at the foot of the table, her gaze moving from one beloved face to the next. How quickly her little family had grown!
Dusty and Rebecca had a five-year-old daughter, Allison. Three years ago, Rebecca had given birth to twin sons. The boys, Jeff and Benjamin, were almost two, and the spitting image of their father, who acted as if no one else had ever produced twins. Much to Rebecca’s dismay, Dusty was bragging that he’d done it again, that she wasn’t carrying one child, but two. They were outgrowing their little house in town and planned to build on their property come spring.
Dusty was still sheriff, and now had two full-time deputies. In addition to keeping law and order, Dusty ran a couple hundred head of cattle on their land.
Dorinda and Lester had five children now: in addition to Lester’s three girls from his first marriage, they now had a four-year-old boy, Lester, Junior, and an eighteen-month-old daughter, Melinda. They had sold the property close to town and built an enormous two-story house across the river. It was the biggest house in the valley.
Chase and Beth had also built on their land, though their house wasn’t as elegant as the Harbaughs’. Built of stone and oak, it blended into the landscape. Chase had refused to abandon his old way of life completely; he had built an Apache wickiup and a large sweat lodge behind the house so that his children would not forget their heritage.
In the summer, Jenny and Ryder sometimes spent the night in the wickiup with the older grandchildren. On occasion, Chase and the men used the sweat lodge. One hot summer day, the women had gathered inside to see what all the fuss was about. They had used it several times since then.
Chase had gone into partnership with Ryder, and between them, they raised the finest horses west of the Mississippi. And the prettiest children. Their oldest son, William Kayitah, looked just like his daddy; their daughter, Jennifer, had her father’s black hair and her mother’s expressive brown eyes. Beth was expecting another baby in the spring.
Jenny knew it was wrong to favor one child over another, but she had a soft spot in her heart for Chase’s son. Of all her grandchildren, he was her favorite. Perhaps it was because he so reminded her of Chase when he’d been a baby; perhaps it was because, on rare occasions, she saw a resemblance to Kayitah. Once, she had thought she hated the Apache chief, but she knew now that was impossible. How could she hate the man who had fathered Chase, who had spared Ryder’s life?
Beth’s parents had finally come around. They sat side by side at the far end of the table, looking a little overwhelmed by all the commotion. One thing was sure, whenever the Fallon clan got together, it was never quiet! And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jenny bowed her head as Ryder said grace, giving thanks to Usen for the bounty before them, a bounty measured not only in the banquet spread before them, but a bountiful harvest of friends and family gathered close to share their love at the most wonderful time of the year.
As Ryder said, “Amen”, Jenny murmured her own thanks that her family was here, beside her, that they loved and respected each other.
She felt that love swell around her as steaming platters were handed back and forth and the merry laughter of her grandchildren filled the air.
She met Ryder’s gaze across the table, and knew she would ask nothing more of life than what she had now—a husband who loved her, happy, healthy grandchildren, and the promise of more on the way.
Truly, life was good.
About Madeline Baker
Madeline Baker started writing simply for the fun of it. Now she is the award-winning author of more than thirty historical romance books and one of the most popular writers of Native American romance. She lives in California, where she was born and raised.
Chase the Wind Copyright © 2000, 2014, 2016 Madeline Baker
Published by Butterfly Kisses Press
Cover Design by Cindy Lucas