Confessing to the Cowboy

Epilogue



The café bustled with activity and the air smelled of smoked turkey and cornbread stuffing, of tangy cranberry salad and sweet potato pie. All the staff was on duty for the day when Mary provided a buffet style Thanksgiving dinner and this year she’d decided to make the meal free to anyone who lived in Grady Gulch. It was her way of saying thanks to the small town that had stood beside her during the past month.

Rusty and Junior worked side by side in the kitchen to make sure everything was ready when the doors opened in fifteen minutes. Already there was a crowd of people lining up outside, braving the cold for Mary’s fare and that sense of community that the Cowboy Café offered.

Cameron, Mary and Matt busied themselves to make sure the tables all had silverware and the water glasses were filled. The buffet itself had been set up across the counter and Cameron had already removed the stools that usually sat there and had taken them to a storage shed just outside.

The past two weeks had been crazy and wonderful. Mary and Matt had moved into Cameron’s house, Rusty had officially taken over the rooms in the back of the café and even Junior had been rewarded by all the good cheer by Cameron making him an official honorary deputy for his bravery and smart thinking in punching three on his cell phone despite his head injuries.

Mary was talking to Lila, Junior’s mother about allowing Junior to stay in Rusty’s cabin on the weekends and Rusty had promised to supervise to make sure Junior stayed safe and sound.

Cameron was even enjoying a new relationship with his father. Although far from perfect, it was better, and Cameron was just pleased that the two of them seemed to be moving in the right direction.

Mary ran back to the kitchen to check the final details as Matt and Cameron finished outfitting the last table. When they were finished Matt touched him on the arm. “I was just wondering something,” Matt said, his gaze not quite meeting Cameron’s.

“And what were you wondering?” Cameron asked.

Matt gulped visibly and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, obviously nervous about something. “I was just wondering that when you and Mom get married, maybe it would be okay if I called you Dad.”

Cameron hadn’t thought his heart could get any fuller, but it did as it expanded with love of this boy who had never known his real father, a boy who Cameron had called his own for a very long time. He placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “I would be honored to have you call me Dad. You’re already the son of my heart, Matt, and once your mom and I are married I intend to start the proceedings to adopt you, if that’s okay with you.”

Matt grinned up at him. “That’s more than okay with me.” He gave Cameron a quick hug. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to be thankful for this year,” he said and then turned and headed for the kitchen.

Mary walked up to Cameron, her eyes filled with curiosity. “What was that all about?”

“He asked if after we got married he could call me Dad,” Cameron replied, having to talk around the lump in his throat. He pulled her into his arms, loving the way she fit against him. “So that means at Christmas I’ll officially be his dad.”

She grinned up at him. “You mean by Valentine’s Day.”

It had been an ongoing discussion. Cameron wanted to be married by Christmas and Mary was holding out for a Valentine’s Day wedding.

As he gazed down into her eyes, so filled with happiness, so full of love for him, he was vaguely aware of the front door being opened and people starting to make their way inside.

“I’ve got a better idea,” he said impulsively. “Why don’t we get a license next week and head to the nearest justice of the peace?”

“Okay,” she agreed easily.

“Really?” His heart began a new beat of happiness as he thought of officially making her his bride.

She wound her arms around his neck. “I don’t need the hearts and flowers of Valentine’s Day or the glitter and shine of Christmas for my wedding day. All I need is you and Matt. And I’ve also been thinking that since Matt has shown such good responsibility with Twinkie, maybe he’s ready for a little brother or sister.”

He took her lips in a kiss that stole his breath away, that filled his soul with everything it had been missing. All the dreams he’d ever entertained about Mary and Matt filling his house with love and laughter were coming true.

“Now, if that’s not a sight to ruin an old man’s appetite,” George Wilton exclaimed as he swept past them to the head of the buffet line.

They broke apart with laughter and Mary quickly left Cameron’s side to take her place behind the counter where she could help serve the hungry.

Cameron sat in a chair and watched as Matt stepped up next to his mother to help. His woman. His son. Every space in his heart was filled with happiness.

His town was safe from the man who had terrorized it and next week Mary would be his wife and he’d start the adoption process where Matt was concerned.

He smiled as he saw the Benson brothers, Nick and Adam, along with their wives, Melanie and Courtney, enter the café. Melanie was in her wheelchair and Adam pushed her to a table nearby, then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Cameron would always believe that the important fact he’d overlooked in attempting to find the killer of the waitresses was that he hadn’t checked into Brandon Williams’s background. The fact that the man had presented himself as a disabled vet had been bought hook, line and sinker by Cameron. It was a mistake he would never make again.

George Wilton slid into the chair next to Cameron, his plate heaping with a little bit of all the food that the Thanksgiving feast had to offer. “Why do you have that dopey grin on your face?” the old man asked.

Cameron widened the smile he hadn’t even realized had been on his lips. “In the words of a very bright young boy, I’ve got a lot of stuff to be thankful for this year, George.”

George huffed. “And I’m still waiting for that sexy young thing to show up in my life to rock my world.”

Cameron laughed and in that moment knew that all was right in the world, or at least in the Cowboy Café in the small town of Grady Gulch, Oklahoma.

* * * * *