It had been nearly twelve ugly and beautiful months.
Because Valerie had worked on the investigation of Moose’s death, she had been convicted of obstruction of justice and accessory to murder, after the fact. Last week, she had been sentenced to three years in the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings.
Valerie had gotten a reduced sentence because of her candor and willingness to work with county attorney’s office in clearing her past works and limiting the effects of her criminal behavior.
Evelyn was found guilty in district court for one count of deliberate homicide. It carried a minimum sentence of life. She would never leave prison.
At least the sisters were in prison together—there, they could continue protecting one another.
Holly was just getting up for the morning when Ty walked into her kitchen. Since they’d been dating, he’d been staying over more and more often. She loved every minute of him being there with her.
He moved behind her as she cracked an egg and poured it into a bowl to scramble. Ty wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face into her loose hair. “Good morning, babe. I was going to make you breakfast today.”
“You don’t need to cook for me, babe,” she said, turning and giving him a quick peck to the cheek before cracking another egg.
“I have plans for your birthday. You can have breakfast, but I am going to need you to go along with my plans for the rest of the day.” He rubbed his morning stubble against the edge of her ear.
“Only if you say what I want to hear,” she teased.
“I will tell you all day, every day. I love you, Holly Dean.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. She would never get tired of hearing him say those words. “I love you, too.”
She put down the eggshell and washed her fingers off in the sink and dried her hands. Turning around, she smiled at him. He reached behind his body and pulled out a box from his back pocket.
The little box had a red bow and there were skis on the wrapping paper.
“Ah, it’s so cute,” she cooed.
“You haven’t even opened it yet,” he said with a laugh.
“What is it?” she asked, going to the table to sit and open it up.
“It’s your first present of the day.”
She moved from foot to foot in excitement. “What? You didn’t need to get me anything. I don’t need anything more—I have you, that is the greatest gift I could get.” She smiled at him as she sat down.
“You are so full of it this morning,” he teased, coming over and kissing the top of her head.
“I mean it,” she said, trying to sound affronted by his teasing.
“Birthday girl, I’m the lucky one.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Now, open up your present.”
She pulled off the bow and slowly opened the package, taking her time.
She lifted the top of the black cardboard box. Inside was a set of ski tickets to the local resort. “Ah, babe, thank you. When are we going?” she asked.
“Today, but you’re not done opening presents. Wait here,” he said, putting a finger up and motioning for her to stay.
He stepped to the window and waved toward the garage. A few seconds later, Rebecca came in. She had a huge, mischievous smile and a cake in her hands. “Hi, kiddos!” she said, sounding so excited. “Happy Birthday!”
“Thank you!” Holly said, excited to see the woman who had become a major part of their life and regularly popped in with “extra” food she’d made for dinner. She loved the woman almost as much as she had loved her mom.
Ty took the cake and set it on the counter. “Thank you for doing this, Mrs. Dolack. We’re glad to have you here for this.” He sent the woman a wink.
“You know you can call me ‘Mom.’” Mrs. Dolack waved him off. “And I’m just honored you called. I’m happy to be a part of this. Our little family,” she said, her smile growing impossibly wider. “Oh, Holly, here is the best part.” Mrs. Dolack reached out the door behind her. Then she lifted a new set of red Rossignol skis and handed them to Ty.
Holly set her ski passes down on the table and cupped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, guys, I love them!”
“You’re welcome. I know how much you’ve been wanting to get back out there.” Ty handed her the skis.
He really was the best man she’d ever met.
She sucked in a breath as she looked at the freshly waxed skis. “They are beautiful. We’ll have to go this week. Maybe after we can go to Mom’s for some hot cocoa.”
The older woman nodded, but she put her hand over her mouth like she was struggling to keep a secret.
“Wait.” He smiled. “First, look at the binding.”
She lifted the ski to look. There at the end of her right ski’s binding was a small velvet box. She stopped and stared.
“If you don’t like it or whatever, I can take it back,” Ty said.
She could barely move as she stared at the velvet box. Was he doing what she thought he was? If so, this was going to be the best birthday of her life.
He dropped to his knee in front of her. “Holly Dean, you are the love of my life. When we were kids, I knew I wanted to marry you, but I thought it was crazy. If only I had listened to my heart, then we could have saved so much precious time...”
She put the back of her free hand over her mouth, staring at him in front of her. Her eyes welled with tears. She had never known she could be so happy as she had been since he had come back into her life, until now.
“Holly,” he continued, “we grew up together and it is my hope that we can grow old together. Will you marry me?”
She nodded. “Yes. Absolutely, yes. You are my best friend. I wanted to marry you when we were kids, too.”
He opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful Black Hills gold ring that she had ever seen. It had leaves of green and pink roses in the gold. At its center was an inset diamond. It was stunning.
Ty slipped it on her finger. It fit her just as perfectly as the man who was giving it to her.
“I am yours,” she said, staring at him.
“As I am yours,” he said, standing. “Ski buddies, forever.”
Their kiss was deeper than the meeting of lips. In that moment, the people who had lost so much over the years and had been left stranded alone by life came together as a family.
If you missed the previous books in
Danica Winters’s series, Big Sky Search and Rescue, look for these titles, available now:
Helicopter Rescue
Swiftwater Enemies
Mountain Abduction
Keep reading for an excerpt from Campus Killer by R. Barri Flowers.