Epilogue
It was summer again. The cool morning air settled in a mist around the buildings and trees. The sun hadn't topped the mountains yet and the valley was still in shadow. Two figures were seen walking toward a small copse of quaking aspen. They entered the grove and walked, hand in hand, through the trees for a short distance then stopped and faced each other.
"Two years ago today we met," Willy said, eyes smiling up at Max.
"I'll never forget you quivering up in that tree, hanging on for dear life. Suzy couldn't figure out what you were doing up there so she just kept barking at you."
"I'm glad you helped me get over that fear. She has been a good dog to have around. Her pups and the kids are inseparable," she said.
"We're inseparable, too," Max answered, taking her in his arms. "I just can't imagine life without you. All those months that we were apart was a nightmare for me. I could hardly function for thinking about you. You can't imagine the sheer joy I felt when you called that time and said you wanted to see me again. I don't think I slept at all that night."
"I'm sorry I put you through all that. I had to get over the grief and then convince myself that it was all right for me to be happy," Willy told him. "I couldn't believe that you would still be interested in me after all the put-downs I gave you."
"I'm a hard man to discourage. When I set my mind to something, I don't usually change it. I never lost hope that one day you would come around. I just hated to have to wait."
"That day when you delivered yourself in a box to our door will go down in the annals of family history. The kids will tell their grandkids, 'My Daddy Max was a very strange man. He liked to pull tricks on people." Her voice crackled like an old person's. "I remember the first time he came to see us. He climbed in a refrigerator carton and he was all scrunched up because he was a big man. When we got home and opened it up, he jumped out at us. We were scared to death. Mother fainted dead away and all the neighbors came running and called the cops."
Max was laughing at her impersonation. "It gains something in the telling, doesn't it?"
"You can bet they'll get the most out of it," she chuckled.
He drew her to him again. "My favorite story is the one where Great Grandma Willy proposed marriage to Great Grandpa Max the minute he walked in the door after getting out of the box."
"It wasn't the minute after!" Willy hotly denied. "You had been there at least four hours!" she insisted.
"I don't care how long it was, honey. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was resigned to having to pussyfoot around for at least a week before I could even get you in the mood to ask."
"Pussyfoot? Well I hope you have learned your lesson about trying to second-guess me. I'm certainly not predictable, am I?"
"You are now. I can predict exactly where you'll be every night. I know you'll be there to meet me at the door when I get home and you'll put your arms around me and kiss me. I know that you will snuggle up to me in bed and get your hair in my face," he said, ruffling it as he spoke.
"You didn't know I'd marry you so soon or that we'd be willing to move to Star Valley with you," Willy pointed out.
"No, I thought we'd have to wait quite a while to get married, but I did know you would move to Star Valley. I saw how much you loved it here when you came before. And I knew you could do your writing from anywhere."
"Now that I've lived through a winter here, I think Arizona looks better and better," she teased. "Maybe we should go on a long vacation there every winter."
"And miss the snowmobiling and skiing and deer in the back yard?" he asked. "And being snowed in with the power off and having to snuggle up in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate with the kids and tell stories and sing songs?"
"No, that was the best part of the whole winter," Willy agreed. "I think later that night is when this happened." She patted her abdomen, smiling wickedly up at him.
Max put his hand over hers on her belly. "Are you sure you should be walking this far? You're six months along now."
"The doctor said walking is the best thing for me. Now horseback riding would be off limits," she laughed.
Max turned Willy so her back was to him but his arms still enfolded her. "Willy?"
"Hmmm?"
"I can't imagine anyone being happier than I am now. I have everything I could wish for in the world. Becoming a father is the greatest thing I can think of. I love Allison and Jeff, but helping to create a child of my own is beyond any joy I can conceive. It just doesn't get any better than this."
Willy chuckled. "You may have second thoughts about that when you have to wake up every hour and change diapers and clean up throw-up and diarrhea and walk a sick kid half the night."
"No, I'm even willing to do all that. That is only a temporary annoyance, but I'll get to have the child all my life. You're young and strong. We could have a dozen!"
Willy turned in his arms and embraced him, tears spilling from her eyes. "I love you, Max. I can never tell you too many times. I love you, I love you, I love you."
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