Pepper plonked herself down on the chair by the gateleg table, threw her head back, and sighed hard. “He is the most amazing man on the planet.”
“Where is he?” Aurora asked.
“Waiting for me where you can see the horizon of the valley meeting the canyon.” They’d ridden from Nightshade Downs. Pepper on Dash, Jack on Pepper-the-horse who they’d renamed Salt because she was the earthy type. Mother Earth, Jack had called her after seeing her interact with young ponies.
“Jack likes to look at the land around him. He says he’s been away so long he needs to see as much of it as he can every day. If he gets a moment.”
He didn’t find the idea of a dude ranch so unsettling now. He was going to employ others to run that side of things, once he’d shown them the ropes. But Nightshade Downs was going to become a working horse ranch again. They were going to make it a breeding center. This time next year, they might have a half a dozen foals.
Babies!
“This is the best day of my life,” she told her grandmother. “Other than the other best days over the last month.”
“It’s been quite a ride,” Aurora said, folding her hands on her lap.
“I understand now why I wasn’t supposed to have left the valley. Nor Jack.” It was odd to think she might have been the first cousin to face off her great-grandfather. “Everything that happened to me that night, it was supposed to have happened back then, six years ago, wasn’t it?”
“Gave us all quite a turn when you up and left. And it wasn’t just your great-grandfather you faced off. You had to contend with all three.”
“I’m playing that bit down.” There had been a lot talk about it and even Molly and Lauren were astonished by what had happened at the lodge house.
“What would have happened if I’d stayed? Would Jack have stayed?”
“We’ll never know.”
“But just think. If Jack and I had gotten together six years ago, we might be an old married couple by now. I might have had three children! You’d have been a great-grandmother, Aurora.”
“I kind of already am.”
“Children,” Pepper said. “Jack wants them.”
“Good to know.”
“He was called home, wasn’t he? As soon as you knew I was coming back, you grandmothers went to work.”
Aurora didn’t respond. Typical. Keeping it all to herself.
“And how are your skills shaping up?” Aurora asked.
Pepper threw herself back in her chair. “They’re there.”
Pepper didn’t admit it, but she liked having the gift. Somehow, it felt right that it was within her. It felt part of her, although she wasn’t practicing or anything. She was just letting it come as it came. “Maybe I’ll take over Mystic A dot com.”
“You keep your hands off my website. Anyway, you’ve got enough to handle and soon, you’ll be rushed off your feet.”
“I already am.” She lifted her legs and rested her feet on an upside-down half-barrel.
“There’s more on the way,” Aurora said with a chuckle.
“I won’t have time for anything else.” Mr. Watson was overhauling Daybreak Lodge and Jack was managing the refit while Pepper concentrated on the emporium and the cabins. They were turning the lodge into a six-bedroom, four-bathroom guesthouse like she’d wanted. It would take months to complete, and they had a lot to handle in the meantime. But it was free now. It had a happy vibe, although it was never meant to be Pepper’s home. She was going to open it up and share it with others.
“You’ll find the time,” Aurora said. “Believe me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“How’s your vegetable plot going?”
“We’re moving it to the ranch. It won’t be anything like yours for years, mind you. But I’m definitely going ahead with Pepper’s Gourmet. Just as soon as I get time.” It didn’t worry her anymore, not having her own little business. She had so much more and was loving every moment. It was rewarding to see the cabins sparkle and the emporium take shape. They were having a grand opening next week.
She inhaled the melody of herbs all around her. Lemon myrtle, lavender, mint, rosehip, bergamot. Her whole world was heavenly.
“What’s the latest news from your lawyer?” Aurora asked.
“My idea worked!”
“Did you think it wouldn’t? You’ve got to trust that common sense, Pepper. I can see I’ve got my work cut out for me over the next few years.”
“At least you won’t get bored. You’ve got me to thank for that.”
“You won’t have much time to yourself soon, either.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a hot one,” Aurora said, pushing back the brim of her hat. She stood and poured them both a glass of iced tea from a jug on one of the many tables on the veranda, crowded with plants and lotions.
“So how much did you get?” Aurora asked, nudging her laptop out of the way before putting down two tall glasses of iced tea.
“One and a half a million!” At this very moment, there were lawyers in Texas and in Bermuda working like dogs to keep the Donaldson out of the news, or rather, to keep him squeaky clean. D’Pee and Slick were taking the fall for the whole thing. Their office had been closed and D’Pee would never sell and buy real estate again. He’d likely not even get a job at a gas station or a fast-food outlet.
No sign or peep from Bob Smith though. He was still out there, no doubt hounding someone else.
“One and a half million,” Aurora said. “You did good, child. I’m proud of you.”
Pepper had asked for a settlement to cut through the toing and froing of legalities and litigation and goodness knew what else and it had worked! The Donaldson agreed to the sum so quickly she almost wished she’d doubled it.
The three towns would share half a million for beneficial commercial purposes. But a trust was being formed with the remaining million dollars, to help any Calamity Valley resident who found themselves falling on bad times through no fault of their own, whether it was medical attention they couldn’t afford or a helping hand through times of unemployment or other financial struggles.
“The Portal is on its last legs,” she informed her grandmother.
“About time.”
After all the incredible things that had happened in each town, with the goings-on at Daybreak Lodge witnessed by a hundred-and-fifty people—plus the press—the people of Calamity had fought back against the humorous reports, the name calling, and the disbelievers. They laughed in the face of those who spurned them.
It effectively put a lid on the unusualness of what had happened and turned the stories of the valley into fabled history. Each town was going to have a plaque dedicated to the great-grandmothers. The story was there for all. Nobody could make up anything because the valley residents had all the answers.
“And what about the valley website?” Aurora asked. “I understand you’ve been overseeing that, too.”
“I’ve put it in the hands of the geek boys.”
“Good. You wouldn’t have time to run it much longer. Not while you’re running around after your own.”
“My own what? Oh, by the way, I’ve spoken to the head chef who catered Marie’s gala evening, and he’s keen to move to Reckless. He said he’d consider taking on the diner! Isn’t that marvelous?”
“Looks like all your plans are coming to fruition.”
“I’d never have predicted all this a month ago.”
“If only you could predict what’s happening right now.”
Pepper glanced at Aurora. “What are you up to? Why all the cryptics?”
“It’ll come to you.”
Pepper took a moment to study Aurora, love for her swelling. Was this what she’d look like in forty years’ time? Would she be handing out advice to her own children, to her children’s children?
All the grandmothers had been seen in the last few weeks much more than previously. Each would visit their towns, talking to the residents, talking to the tourists. They were a huge pull, and now that their roles to get their granddaughters ready to beat the curse on the towns were over, they had a lot more time on their hands. It was a new way of life for them, too.
“I’ve been talking to Molly and Lauren about our weddings,” Pepper said, “and we’ve decided we each deserve our special day, so it’s not going to be all three weddings at once, like everybody seems to expect. Although Marie and Ralph haven’t set a date yet. They’re still discussing it.” Which meant Ralph wanted a small affair and Marie wanted to invite the whole population of Texas.
“And when are you thinking of getting hitched?”
“Haven’t decided dates, but Molly will go first, since she got engaged first. Then Lauren. I’ll go last.”
“You might want to reconsider and get married first.”
“I left the valley last and came back last. I don’t want to jinx anything by being the first to get married.”
“Are you taking Jack’s name?”
“No—well, yes. I’ll be Pepper Mackillop Shepperd. That way our children can have both our names, because if I have girls, obviously they’re going to have to be known as Mackillops. Molly and Lauren are doing the same.”
Aurora relaxed back in her chair and picked up her iced tea. “Last out, last back, first in.”
“Aurora, I can’t be the first to get married. Molly and Lauren have been engaged and thinking about their weddings much longer than I have.”
“I doubt they’d mind. Once they hear your news.”
“Molly suggested a month after each other. What do you think? Is that long enough for people to have a rest between wedding festivities?”
“It certainly gives them time to get their finery pressed and dry cleaned.”
“Jack wants us to get married as soon as possible.”
“Wise man.”
“He wants children straight away. So do I.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Pepper pulled her feet onto the chair and hugged her knees.
“What will you call your firstborn?” Aurora asked.
“I was thinking of naming her after Jack’s mom.” They hadn’t discussed this; they were too busy being together and loving each other, but it had come into Pepper’s mind a week ago when she was in the ranch house kitchen. Her firstborn was bound to be a daughter. Same for Molly and Lauren. It was Mackillop tradition.
Her spine tingled. “Did you say something?” she asked. There was a fragility in the air, but not a delicate awareness, something strong. Something taking hold.
“I was talking about my first great-granddaughter. Is Jack ready?”
A thought caught hold and wouldn’t budge. “Aurora, what are you saying?”
“Do I really have to tell you? You haven’t felt the magic yourself? You haven’t gotten a tug to your belly so strong, so tough, so tight that you don’t know what’s happening to you?”
Pepper glanced at the horizon. Jack was riding up, leading Dash. Calamity land undulated for miles until it hit the rim of the canyon and the earth became rustic and bronzed, dotted with shrubs, teeming with wildlife, unseen but continuing what was meant to be. Maintaining their important role of sustaining the delicate balance of life on earth.
“Yes,” she said in reply to her grandmother, “in the ranch house kitchen last week. I thought it was…” The air had warmed and seemed to swirl around her. She’d envisioned Jack’s mom as well as her own mom, both smiling at her. There’d been a tug at her belly, like Aurora said. She’d thought it was love. Love from beyond, love from the present situation—but could it have been love from the future?
She held her breath, eyes wide as she gazed into the olive-green, all-knowing eyes of her grandmother.
Aurora nodded, a smile on her face.
Shock registered in Pepper’s entire body. Goose bumps rose on her flesh. She stood, putting a hand to her stomach. “I have to tell Jack.” She was having a baby. She and Jack were having a baby.
“Enjoy the moment,” Aurora said softly.
She was so bewildered when she moved off the veranda and walked through the herb garden, she could hardly think straight. But at the gate, she turned back to her grandmother. “Thank you!”
“For what?”
“For teaching me so much. For letting me know how to love, and how to give, and how to be.”
Aurora put her feet up on a footstool. “It’s your turn now. I’m due a rest.”
“Just one thing!” Pepper called. “Will it be only Mackillop girls who are given the gift, or will it be the boys, too?”
Aurora studied her before answering. “I guess we’ll find out. It’s not like Jack hasn’t gotten some wacky inner sense these past weeks, is it?”
Exhilaration rushed through her. The Mackillops had changed. They were out, being who they were and not ashamed of it. They were living their lives with joy, hope, and splendor in their hearts. Pepper and her cousins would be teaching their children so many different things than they had been taught. There would be so much more to share.
The sun was so high and so bright as she made her way to Jack that it made the earth hazy and the horizon look like it had been inked in gold.
“Jack!”
He reined in his horse and Dash.
The brim of his hat sat low on his brow as he gave her a smile.
When he got closer she’d see love in his eyes. Love for her, for their new home, for the land, and for their town. For the news she was about to tell him.
“Everything okay?” he called as he dismounted.
Her heart was beating strongly, her smile wide as love enveloped her in a way she’d never experienced before. “Yes,” she called back, beaming. “Everything’s wonderful.”
She took a step toward him and turned it into a run. She was running into her future.
He released the horse’s reins and strode toward her.
She ran faster, breathless with excitement.
“Pep!” he said, laughing as she barreled into him and he steadied her. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Something good?” he asked, his almost-smile suffusing his face and lighting the golden flecks in his dark brown eyes.
“Something incredible,” she whispered, and flung her arms around his neck, wondrous of everything she’d been given, of everything she was about to receive, and wondrous of Jack, because they were truly part of each other now.
Forever.
The End