Epilogue

Vaughn eyed the two cups on the coffee table, one half full the other quite empty. Seated on the couch with her, he had sipped his hot milk while Chelsea had talked about the ranch– her spring crops, her animals, and her plans for the year. Her hot cocoa had probably been quite cool when she had stopped to drink it; she always got carried away when she talked about the ranch. Chelsea might have been born in the city, but she’d been made to be out here.

He wasn’t entirely sure when it had happened, but at some point as he had talked about his work these past months, she had drawn closer to him and he had wound his arms around her. And at some point after that she had dozed off in his arms, leaning back against him.

As she shifted against him, a few strands of her russet hair tumbled into her face and he had to resist the urge to brush them away for fear of waking her; she worked long days and needed her rest. He’d been so foolish to leave as he had when he could have been helping her all this time, working somewhere he wanted to be with someone he wanted to be with.

Chelsea stirred. Her eyes flitted open and she glanced up at him. "Still here?" she murmured.

"Yup. I’m not going anywhere," he said, stroking her hair.

"Good," she whispered before her eyes fell closed and she was sound asleep again.

He still wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to win her over, but he was determined to get it right this time. Maybe those damned nosy sailors had had it right after all; maybe this was the island of happiness. As long as she was here, it would be for him anyway.

Leaning back, Vaughn tugged his Stetson down over his eyes. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered if Chen’s shop stocked blue feathers.

The End