The Place I Belong (35 page)

Epilogue

Six Months Later

H
ANNAH SIPPED HER
champagne and watched Adam prowl down the length of the buffet table, his pale-gray suit throwing his dark hair and eyes into compelling contrast. He was in his element as the charming, attentive host, smiling and chatting with their guests. However, she knew he was also checking on every serving bowl and platter to make sure it met his exacting standards. He wanted this day to be perfect for Matt.

She stood under a huge green-and-white striped tent set up in Sharon’s north paddock, the grass carefully groomed to remove all vestiges of horse manure. Satchmo had brought them all together, so Matt’s whisper pony had to be able to attend
the part
y.

Luckily, the weather had cooperated, giving them a day that was unusually warm for May in the mountains. The slight breeze carried the delicious and varied aromas of the dishes Adam and his staff had slaved over, wafting them to her appreciative
nostrils
.

“That confounded pony is at it again.” Sharon shoved Satchmo away from end of the buffet table, a lettuce leaf dangling from the pony’s mouth. “Lynnie! You have to keep a closer eye on this troublemaker.”

Lynnie stood up from one of the nearby tables. “You know what an escape artist he is. I had tied him up tight so I could take five minutes to eat.”

Hannah laughed and walked over to grab the short lead line hanging from the pony’s halter. “I’ll supervise him. You finish your lunch, Lynnie.”

“Did you hear Satch’s latest?” Sharon asked, retrieving her plate from the buffet table. “He decided he liked the hay in Willow’s net better than his, so he unlatched his stall door, turned over a water bucket, pushed it over to Willow’s stall, and used it as a stool for his front feet so he could reach the hay.”

Hannah pulled the pony’s chin up to look into his big, dark eyes. “Satchmo, you’re going to get yourself exiled from Healing Springs Stables and then where will you live?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Sharon said. “Everyone at the barn loves him. He keeps us laughing.”

Hannah smoothed the pony’s thick, cream-colored mane, which someone had decorated with daisies for the occasion. “Thank goodness he recovered fully from the EPM. I was afraid there might be permanent aftereffects.”

“Satch knew Matt needed him strong and healthy. Whisper ponies are smart that way,” Sharon said, as she went off toward the table where Lynnie sat.

Tim Arbuckle strolled up hand-in-hand with his wife Claire. “Hello, partner.” He stooped to give Hannah a kiss on the cheek.

She’d bought into the Sanctuary Veterinary Hospital’s practice, signing the final papers a month ago. She was putting down roots in Sanctuary.

Claire released her husband’s hand to give Hannah a hug. “I hear Bertha Shanks allowed you to treat Willie’s hairballs, so you’ve been given the ultimate seal of approval.”

“I was hoping she’d insist on Tim, but no such luck,” Hannah said with a comic grimace.

“She decided that if a U.S. senator owed Hannah an apology, then maybe she did too,” Tim said. “Now I’m headed for the
buffet
.”

“For the second time,” Claire said over her shoulder.

Hannah chuckled and led Satchmo over to a grassy patch so he could graze.

“Now that’s a pretty picture!” Ellen O’Brien, Matt’s cousin from Boston, sauntered up with her husband Pat. “You in your floating blue chiffon dress and the pony with flowers in his hair.” Satchmo lifted his head to sniff at her pockets, and she tickled the pony’s velvet nose. “Who prettied up your hair, Satch,
my boy-o?
”

“I suspect it was Julia Castillo, the red-haired artist who wanted to sketch you at Thanksgiving,” Hannah said. “She was picking daisies right before this party started.”

“That Thanksgiving seems like it was both long ago and just yesterday,” Pat said, his silver-sandy hair gleaming above his green sweater vest. “We flew down here thankful that we’d get to see our young cousin and got the meal of a lifetime.”

“It was quite a feast,” Hannah agreed.

It had been quite a crowd too. Adam was so overflowing with gratitude and happiness after the drama with Matt and Satchmo that he’d wanted to share his good fortune. So he had issued last-minute invitations to the Arbuckles, Julia and Paul, and Sharon. And he’d left his staff to run The Aerie while he cooked nonstop for two days.

Ellen laid a hand on Hannah’s arm. “You’ve been a wonderful catalyst for Adam and Matt. I can see the difference in both of them just since that Thanksgiving Day. They’re so much more at ease with themselves and each other.”

“Thank you. I think we’ve all come a long way,” Hannah said.

“Okay, I’ll take the little rascal now,” Lynnie said, taking the lead line from Hannah.

The O’Briens left to sample the buffet. Hannah spotted Matt talking with Julia and Paul and ambled over to join them. Trace sat beside Matt with the boy’s hand resting on his head. The German Shepherd had become a two-man dog since the night he’d tracked Matt through the woods.

“I was just admiring the colors of Matt’s boutonniere,” Julia said. “He tells me it’s also full of symbolism.”

Hannah had wanted to give her two men something meaningful for today, so she’d consulted with Lucy Porterfield, The Aerie’s hostess and floral arranger, about choosing the flowers. As she’d pinned them on their lapels this morning, she’d explained what each blossom meant.

Matt tucked his chin in to look down at the petals glowing against his navy suit. “I know this blue one is rosemary for remembering my mom.” A shadow of sorrow crossed his face, and Hannah’s heart twisted a little before he broke into a grin. “And the yellow one is to remind me that no matter how obnoxious I am, you’ll still put up with me.”

Hannah laughed. “That’s gorse, which means love in all seasons. I figured it would take something powerful to get us through the teenaged years.” She pointed to the other yellow flower. “This is celandine, which promises joys to come. There will be lots of those in your life.” Hannah’s voice cracked a little as her emotions welled up.

She’d used all the same flowers for Adam with one addition: a blue starflower for courage. Because he was the bravest man she’d ever known.

Suddenly needing to find him, Hannah looked toward the buffet table and discovered he was already gazing in her direction. He smiled a private smile that went straight to her core. Then he lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips over his boutonniere in a caress. A delicious shiver danced down her spine.

“You must be very flattered.” Paul’s voice broke through her distraction.

“I’m sorry,” Hannah said, flustered as she caught the knowing smile on Julia’s face. “What?”

“Matt tells us he wants to follow in your footsteps and become a veterinarian,” Paul said.

Hannah felt the same little thrill of pride as when Matt had first announced his new ambition. “I’m both honored and delighted that getting into vet school has given him incentive to do his homework.”

Matt was giving her a look of mock long-suffering when the sound of silverware tapping against crystal penetrated the general hum of conversation.

The crowd grew quiet as all eyes turned toward the sound. For
a moment, she could hear the more distant sounds of the barn: the
clank of water buckets, the thud of hooves, and a soft whinny. Then
she focused on where Adam stood in the clear space between the
buffet and the dining tables, tapping a fork against his water glass.

“Matt, Hannah, would you join me?” Adam said, with a gesture of invitation. “Lynnie, could you bring Satchmo up too?”

Matt looked at Hannah with a question in his eyes. She shrugged in answer. Adam hadn’t told her he was going to make a speech, although it shouldn’t have surprised her. He was both proud of and humbled by his new relationship with his son.

As Hannah came up to Adam, he put his arm around her waist and moved her to his left side. Matt stood to his right, having taken Satchmo’s lead line from Lynnie. Trace wedged himself between Hannah and Adam, his long pink tongue hanging out as he panted in the spring warmth.

“This party is for you and Matt, not me,” Hannah whispered, uncomfortable at being the focus of the guests gathering in front of them.

“Without you, there would be no party,” he murmured back into her ear, pressing her against his side for a moment before releasing her.

Shifting his glass to his left hand, he put his other arm around his son’s shoulders. Hannah turned slightly so she could see how Adam’s face lit up with his newfound awe at being a true father to Matt. The boy’s blue eyes blazed with an answering feeling as he looked up at his dad.

Adam swept his gaze across the guests, silencing the last bit of chatter, before he began, his voice vibrating with the power of his emotions. “I wanted to share this celebration with everyone here because you form the community that made it possible for me to be a father to the son I love so much. There is not a single person…or animal” —he paused to acknowledge Satchmo and Trace as the crowd chuckled—“under this tent who did not contribute in some way to the journey that brought Matt to me. My gratitude can never be adequately expressed in words. Which is why I cooked for you.”

Quiet laughter rose from the gathered guests, but Hannah knew he was only partially joking.

Adam turned to look at Matt and raised his water glass. “I’d like to thank my son for doing me the honor of taking my last name on this happy occasion of his legal adoption. Please drink a toast to Matthew McNally Bosch.”

“Dad,” Matt muttered under his breath, but he was smiling, one hand buried in Satchmo’s mane. “I guess it sounds pretty cool when you say it out loud.”

Applause swelled to fill the tent as Adam pulled his son into a hug for a long moment. Hannah felt a happy constriction in her chest while she swiped at the tears spilling down her cheeks.

Adam slid his glass onto the buffet table before snaking his arm back around her waist.

“Don’t make a speech about me,” she pleaded in an undertone. Her press conference in Chicago had convinced her she wasn’t cut out to be in front of an audience.

When she tried to step back, his arm became a steel barrier. “Humor me,” he murmured before he raised his voice. “Hannah is the other most important person in my life. She believed in me when I no longer believed in myself, and she had the courage to tell me the truth I didn’t want to hear.”

Little murmurs of approval rose from the spectators. Hannah felt a blush climb her cheeks. She was torn between the love she felt for the man saying these wonderful things about her and her embarrassment at having everyone else hear them.

He wasn’t finished though. “I’m a lucky man to have someone who loves me enough to do that, and I want to make sure I have her forever.”

Hannah’s nerves gave a jolt and her gaze flew to his face. He was looking down at her with such intensity she forgot about the guests. She thought he was going to kiss her, but then he dropped his arm and went down on his knee in the spring-green grass.

She gasped as he took one of her hands between both of his. “Hannah, I love you with every fiber of my soul. Will you make Matt and me the happiest men alive and stay with us for the rest of our lives?”

She wanted to laugh and weep at the same time. She looked down into the deep pools of his eyes, and what she saw made her rush out her answer. “Yes! Yes! Of course, yes!”

Applause and whistles reverberated through the tent.

Wrapping her other hand around his wrist, she tried to pull him up so she could sink her fingers into his thick, black hair and lean into his strong body.

“I’m not done yet.” He freed his hands but remained at her feet, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a black velvet jeweler’s box. Pressing the spring that opened it, he took out a ring with a blue stone that caught and threw glints of sunlight like sparkling confetti.

She gasped again as he took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger.

“It’s too beautiful!” she breathed.

Finally rising to his feet, he pulled her against him and bent his head to find her mouth. She stopped him with the tips of her fingers against his lips, still not quite believing he had just proposed to her in public. “Did you ever worry I might say no in front of all these people?” she murmured.

“No,” he said. “I was afraid you might slug me.”

She smiled up at him. “The amazing thing is I’m glad they’re all watching us right now because I want everyone in Sanctuary to know how much I love you.” With that, she cupped her hand behind his head and met his lips with hers. As her body melted into his, a heat that both scorched and soothed blazed to life inside her. The whistles began again.

“Dad?”

Adam lifted his head and Hannah glanced sideways to find Matt tugging at his father’s sleeve with a grin. “I’d like to kiss my mom-to-be too.”

Hannah thought she would explode with joy.

Discussion Questions

1) Adam’s struggle with his alcoholism is an ongoing fight against a disease that threatens to consume him. The negative aspects are obvious, but does anything positive come from his battle? Is it true that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger? Do you know anyone who is an alcoholic and has overcome it?

2) Hannah and Adam are both running from their past when they meet. Is that why they are initially drawn to each other? Do you think their relationship could have worked if they didn’t have the shared understanding of a dark past that affected
their prese
nt?

3) Food plays a major role in the novel as Adam expresses his feelings towards Hannah, Matt, and the Sanctuary community by cooking for them. Do you think he uses food in lieu of making actual connections with people, or does it enhance his interactions with others? Do you have a nonverbal way of communicating your feelings to other people? What is it?

4) Matt forms a unique relationship with Hannah even though she is not his blood relation. Why is it sometimes easier to open up to a stranger than to a family member?

5) The animals in the book are as much a part of the plot as the human characters. Satchmo and Trace play important roles in getting their human companions to communicate with each other about feelings that otherwise might have remained unspoken. Do you have any experience with animals breaking down barriers? Do you believe Satchmo faked his injury in the climax in order to bring Hannah, Adam, and Matt together?

6) The town of Sanctuary is a character with a personality all its own. How do you think the setting affects the storyline? Would it be possible for the story to have taken place elsewhere, such as a city? How would that have affected the characters and their relationships?

7) Matt is upset when he thinks Adam is going to send him off to live with his distant relatives. Why do you think it was so important to him that he stay with the father he barely knew? Is it that Adam is a connection to Matt’s lost mother, or does the fact that Adam is Matt’s biological father mean something more than just shared genes?

8) Do you enjoying reading about recurring characters like Julia, Paul, Claire, and Tim, who appear in earlier books in the Whisper Horse series? Which couple is your favorite, and why?