Extended Epilogue

Virginia smiled as she walked over to check on her father one lovely afternoon. It was so nice to see her father doing better, and she liked having him live close by these last couple of months.

For her part, Virginia wouldn’t have minded her father taking a guest bedroom in the house with her and Mark, but he had protested the idea of intruding on their privacy.

Then, Mark had the idea of having his men quickly build a sod house for her father so that he could come and live with them as soon as possible. This was something a couple of the older hands knew how to do, and it was easy to get the men on board with it as a learning experience for the younger hands who were curious about it.

Placed a short distance away from the bunkhouse, Grant was far enough away to still have his privacy and close enough to be in sight. It was also only temporary, as Mark planned on building him something a little nicer before the weather turned cold.

For now, her father was seated on the wooden bench outside his sod home, idly whittling away at a piece of wood. He wasn’t very good at carving things out of wood, so he often didn’t end up making anything, but it was something he had always wanted to practice and had never had the time to do.

She was ever so glad that he was finally getting the chance to do so now that he didn’t need to run a ranch any longer. Mark was doing just fine managing both. As she sat down next to him on the bench, getting a smile of acknowledgment from him, she couldn’t resist teasingly asking, “Don’t you have anything else you could be doing right now?”

“Nope, I have decided that my new occupation is to be a lazy old man,” he replied good-naturedly.

Virginia giggled at him, pleased at the fact that he was feeling playful. “And what have you been up to with the men? I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to you for the last couple of days.”

Though she was trying hard not to, she still couldn’t help but worry about her father anytime he went somewhere. She knew that gambling was a hard habit to break, after all.

Her father must have seen the worry she was trying to hide, as he told her, “I did go into town with the men yesterday evening, and I even had a couple of drinks, but they kept me from doing anything I shouldn’t have been.”

Feeling a little embarrassed that her worry had been so obvious, Virginia apologized. “I am sorry for doubting you, Papa. I know you have been doing really well about not gambling.”

“It’s been good for me to be around other men who aren’t on my payroll, and to not have to worry about finances, so that has helped as well. Still, sometimes I do get that certain itch,” Grant admitted.

“Well, I am glad that you are fighting it, and I know that Emily will be just as proud when I write my next letter to her to tell her about it,” she told him, wishing with an inward sigh that her sister and Will had been able to stay longer before going home.

“I suppose I have enough to say in a letter by now,” her father cautiously said, as though silently asking what she thought about the idea.

“I think she would love to get a letter from you!” Virginia exclaimed. “I have been telling you to write her ever since she left, you know.”

“Yes, well, I just don’t feel that I have had enough to say to make it worth writing my own letter. It makes more sense just to add a note in yours,” he explained for perhaps the dozenth time. “After all, you write her at least once every week anyway.”

Virginia was tempted to tell him, again, that it would mean a lot to Emily to receive a letter just from him. However, as he had already said he was going to write her, she decided to help however he’d let her.

“Well, I know she will be happy to hear from you. Do you need a postage stamp or paper?” she asked, hoping to ensure that he wrote his letter sooner rather than later.

“I’m sure that I can find some paper, and I can get my own three-cent stamp,” he assured her.

She could tell from his tone of voice that he was in no hurry, but at least he sounded like he was really going to write this time. Feeling moderately better about it, she decided to let the subject drop.

Just then, she caught a glimpse of Francis riding up the dirt road on her usual piebald mare. Her father saw her at about the same time, nudging her. “Go on and have yourself a nice evening picking berries. I hope you pick enough to make a pie and don’t get too distracted yapping.”

She playfully slapped his shoulder as she rose to her feet, telling him while walking away, “Just for that, you might not get any even if I do pick enough berries for a pie.”

Virginia heard him chuckling behind her as she went to greet her friend. Francis was already dismounting and, as she was planning to stay a while, leading her horse into the corral where it could drink water and graze a little while staying nearby.

The two of them gave each other a quick hug before working together to take the saddle off the mare as Francis said, “It is so good to see you again! I know you and your husband were busy with all that mess with Mr. Hamilton, and then getting your father settled in, but it truly has been too long!”

Virginia offered her a bright smile. “I agree! These last few weeks have been very busy, but I hope everything is settling down now. Papa is completely moved into his sod house, and Emily and Will are back in their own home. Mr. Hamilton has already been sentenced to prison for a long time, even though a couple more people only recently came forward with things he had done to them. That will probably end up lengthening the time so that he never gets out.”

“Well, it sounds to me like that is a good thing,” Francis remarked, her tone indicating that she was curious to know more but also willing to let the subject drop.

Deciding that she would rather talk about more pleasant things, Virginia let the conversation pause while they put the saddle and other things aside, then said, “I am just glad that all of that is over, and Papa only slipped up once since then with a little bit of gambling when he went for a drink before he was finished moving onto the ranch. He is much less stressed too, which has put him in a much better mood, though he does sometimes get cranky about not having enough to do.”

“That’s not surprising,” Francis replied as they grabbed the baskets for berry picking that Virginia had set on the edge of the porch earlier. “He’s probably both relieved at the lack of stress while also being so unused to anything else that part of him would rather have that back again.”

With a sigh, Virginia nearly got caught up once more trying to find a way to help her father before she stopped herself. “Let’s talk about something more cheerful. Tell me about some news on your side. Some nice news of something that has happened to you lately.”

“All right,” Francis agreed as she tilted her head to the side slightly in consideration. A moment later, she was smiling brightly, and Virginia knew she had thought of something, even if she was a little confused at the hint of shyness in the smile.

“So, as you know that Hank and I have been married for a while now…” Francis trailed off, her eyes shining with happiness.

The words alone wouldn’t have given anything away. However, paired with the fact that Francis was practically glowing as she also placed her free hand lower down on her stomach in a meaningful way, Virginia was easily able to catch the implication.

With a gasp, she asked, “You’re going to have a baby?! That’s wonderful!”

She couldn’t resist pausing their walk long enough to give her friend another hug. “Yes, I am, and Hank and I are both very excited,” Francis said, not that Virginia was at all surprised to hear it.

Linking their arms together as they resumed walking, Virginia let her thoughts become wistful. “I hope that Mark and I can have a little one of our own within a couple of years of yours being born. That way, they can be playmates.”

She was quickly caught up with how lovely the mental picture was, getting sidetracked on what he or she might look like if they were a blend of her and Mark’s looks. She really hoped any children they had would all get their father’s good eyesight.

In fact, she was so preoccupied that she didn’t even notice Francis staring at her at first. When she did notice, her friend smirked at her, pointing out, “Do you have any news you want to share with me? Because the last I was aware, you were sleeping in separate bedrooms.”

Virginia was sure that she went from a minor blush of happiness to fully scarlet cheeks as she realized she had indeed implied that. “No, I don’t have anything to share at all about either of those things. We still aren’t sharing a bed, so you won’t be hearing any news of that sort from me for at least a while,” she stated without being able to look Francis in the eye as they continued walking.

“But?” Francis pressed as they reached the blackberry vines. “I can tell that something is different, or you wouldn’t even be considering having children with Mark. Have things really improved with him that much?”

“Well, I suppose they have and haven’t at the same time,” Virginia replied as they separated to start filling their baskets.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Francis asked with playful exaggeration.

Virginia giggled a little at her friend’s response. “What I mean is that, technically, very little actually changed, now that I think about it. We are both still as stubborn as always, and we still don’t agree on everything either. However… we did admit to being in love with each other. So, in a way, it also feels like everything has changed.”

She knew the sigh she let out with the last of her words was possibly the most lovesick-sounding sigh she had ever heard, but she really couldn’t help it. She and Mark had only shared a few kisses since their first one, and she was starting to want more. They were already married, after all. However, there was no way she was going to be the one to bring that subject up with him!

When she noticed that Francis was silent, she looked away from the berries she was picking and over to her friend. She had expected to see Francis either smiling at her with happiness or smirking and on the verge of asking when they were going to move into the same room.

What she hadn’t been expecting was to see Francis smiling, but also looking at her teary-eyed. “I’m so glad that everything is getting better with you and Mark,” Francis said earnestly. “I knew there was nothing really that I could do about it to help other than let you vent and try to give you someone cheerful to talk to. I’m just happy that was enough.”

The heartfelt tone from her friend, paired with more than a little sniffling from her, was enough to make Virginia’s eyes start watering as well.

“Thank you,” she told Francis. “You’re a great friend.”

That just seemed to make matters worse for them both for a moment, but then Francis started giggling. “If anyone comes up to us right now, I, at least, have a good excuse for being emotional. What’s yours?”

“I don’t have one,” Virginia freely admitted, giggling a little herself.

Their laughter soon died down, and they picked berries in silence for a while. When they did talk, it was about baby names and other such things.

They hadn’t finished their conversation, nor had they filled their baskets yet—though that was partially because they were eating berries too—when they spotted Tom walking toward them.

Francis looked over at Virginia, who shrugged to convey that she didn’t know why her husband’s foreman was approaching them. He didn’t seem worried or as though he had bad news of any sort for them. In fact, he appeared pleased about something, and this sparked Virginia’s curiosity.

“What is it?” she asked as soon as he got closer, not even giving him a chance to speak first.

“Nothing bad,” he started by assuring her. “Mark just wants to talk to you about something.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, but it was Francis who pointed out, “All right, so why did you come out here and not him?”

Tom paused for only a moment, not seeming to have expected that question. Then he shrugged and replied, “Because he wants to talk to you at the ranch house. I think he has something to show you there as well, which is why he couldn’t have come here.”

Virginia was more suspicious than ever, though it wasn’t the bad type that made her worry it was something she wasn’t going to like. She shared a glance with Francis, finding that the other woman felt the same way.

“And how long might this talk last?” she asked, wondering if it was going to be short enough that she could go back to berry picking with Francis afterward.

“That part, I don’t know,” Tom freely admitted.

With a frown on her face, Virginia looked back at Francis, this time questioningly to inquire what Francis wanted to do. “We can put all the blackberries we have picked so far in your basket—I think they’ll fit—and I’ll keep at it for a little while longer. If you aren’t back soon, I’ll just walk back to the ranch house with my berries to see if you are available to continue our visit, or if we are going to call it quits for the day,” Francis suggested.

“Are you sure?” she asked, even as she held her basket out for Francis to dump her blackberries into. “I feel like that makes me a bad hostess.”

“Don’t be silly,” her friend assured her. “You can make it up to me by telling me all about whatever it is he wants to talk to you about.”

“Very well,” Virginia replied. She still wasn’t entirely convinced, but she was very curious to see what Mark wanted to discuss with her.

A moment later, she was walking toward the ranch house and trying to figure out what it could be. The only things she could think up were outlandish ideas, such as Mark buying some land over by where Emily and Will lived and wanting to tell her that they could move to be closer to her sister.

Then again, maybe Mark had convinced Will to take over the Edison ranch. After all, she was pretty sure that had been offered, but Will had wanted to live close to his family.

At any rate, the only things Virginia thought about were all good ones. So, she was mentally prepared for a pleasant surprise when she set down her basket and walked to the front door of the ranch house.

At least, she had thought she was prepared. As it turned out, she was not at all ready to open the door to see red rose petals strewn all over the floor, round white candles lit a few inches from the walls on the floor, and Mark standing there a few yards in front of her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and smiling nervously at her.

She was sure that she was gaping at him, but she didn’t care in the slightest. “What is…” Virginia started to ask, unable to gather her thoughts enough to finish her question.

Still, it was enough to spur him into action. Mark cleared his throat, gazing earnestly at her. “I know that we are already married, but I didn’t get to do this right the first time. So, if you’ll allow me, I’d like to remedy that.”

Virginia could do nothing more than stare at him with wide eyes for a long moment, only nodding when she became aware of the fact that her lack of response was making him uncomfortable.

As surprised as she already was, she couldn’t refrain from gasping when he got down on one knee in front of her, her eyes going even wider. “Mrs. Virginia Ford, I know that I already technically proposed, and that we already said our wedding vows, but that doesn’t feel like nearly enough to me,” he began.

“Neither of those were done with me loving you, you see, and that’s the way they should have been done: with love. So, now, I wanted to give you the words of love you should have had on both of those occasions, even though it won’t in any way make up for it.”

By now, Virginia had both of her hands covering her mouth and tears streaming down her cheeks. But Mark ignored this and went on, “You are amazing and caring. You value your family so much, and it makes me proud that I am a part of your family now that I am your husband. I have no doubt that you will stay by my side through thick and thin, and that means more to me than you will ever know.”

He paused for a moment here to reach up and wipe away some of the tears on her cheeks before resuming. “And I hope someday you’ll be just as sure that I will always stay by your side as well. So, though we are married, perhaps you would do me the honor of becoming my wife in every way. I would love to see little girls just like you filling the ranch house with their stubbornness and laughter. Of course, if you aren’t ready for that, I want you to know that I am perfectly fine to wait for—”

“Yes!” she cut him off by exclaiming while simultaneously throwing herself forward and her arms around his neck.

She would have interrupted him as soon as he asked, but she had been vainly trying to stop crying first. When he rose to his feet, pulling her up against him while he was at it, Mark looked at her as though asking her if she was certain.

The hope on his face made it clear what he wanted, though, so she didn’t waste any time in replying. She simply stretched herself upward, used her arms around his neck to pull him down a little, and kissed him. She thought that was enough of a reply, and he didn’t seem to mind at all. As far as she was concerned, this was a moment worthy of being a fairytale ending.