Page 31 of His Cabin Obsession

“Fine, I’ll wait,” I say. “Honestly, Harry. Front row seats to the world’s finest novel ever, and we can’t even get a sneak preview, can we?”

“It’s hardly going to be the finest ever,” Olivia says, closing the file and opening another.

“Of course, it will,” I say. “You better not be disparaging the talents of my wife.”

Olivia laughs and rolls her eyes at me. “Alright, alright. Do you want to see today’s articles or not?”

“Go on, then,” I say, bringing Harry over to perch on the end of the desk and skim-read the news. Olivia’s been writing short news articles for the various different arms of Stoneforth Industries, and she’s better at it than even I would have expected. She has some serious talent as a writer. With Harry coming along so quickly, she had to switch to part-time college student, but she’s been pretty good at using the rest of her time to fit in some work.

“Well?”

I look up into her expectant blue eyes. “Excellent, as ever,” I tell her with a smile. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to keep you. Someone with your level of talent shouldn’t be working with me.”

“Well, the good news is,” Olivia says, leaning over to kiss Harry on the nose, “You’re going to be able to keep me forever.”

I laugh, and offer her my hand as I get up from the edge of the desk. “Come on, Mrs. Stoneforth. Let’s get dinner.”

My wife, and my boy; as I lead them through the house to our dining room, where my housekeeper has whipped us up a delicious meal, I can’t think for the life of me of anything more in the world that I could possibly need.

My loves. My life.

Extended Epilogue

Olivia

“Don’t go too far!” I yell, watching Harry closely. He waves a hand at me over his head, but doesn’t look back. I shoot a look at my younger brother, Liam, and he sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” he says. He trails after Harry and Alex, my second son, with his hands shoved into his pockets.

I just smile. As much as he complains, I know Liam loves being an uncle. It’s not as though anyone forced him to come on this retreat with us.

“Would you like a coffee, sweetie?” my Mom asks from across at the cabin. She’s holding up a mug, just in case I can’t hear what she’s saying.

“Yes, please,” I call back. I catch a look at Aaron’s face, deep in conversation with my Dad. “And one for Aaron, too.”

He glances over at me gratefully and smiles. I smile back, then jostle our youngest, Sammy, on my hip. He’s not old enough yet to be running around with his older brothers, even if he does squirm and complain in my arms.

Mom emerges with three steaming mugs balanced in her hands, and Aaron quickly rushes over to help. Before long we’re reconfigured, Aaron and my Dad still talking shop while Mom and I sip from our hot mugs and look out over the view.

“It’s really beautiful here,” Mom says. “I can see why you loved it so much.”

“Well, this isn’t the exact view.” I point to the left, further along the edge of the cliff where the trees hide any other settlement from us. “It was around that way a bit. That cabin is far too small for a family trip, though.”

Sammy makes a whining noise and reaches for my mug. With a sigh, I hand it over to Mom, who deftly rearranges her hands in order to hold both our mugs while still leaning on the fence. That’s the thing with growing up with older siblings, Sammy is jealous of absolutely everything anyone else has that he’s not old enough for yet.

“How’s the tour going?” Mom asks, bringing me back to the present.

“Oh,” I laugh. “Well enough, I think.”

My latest book is already topping the bestseller lists, tour or no tour. I opted for virtual appearances so I wouldn’t have to leave my family to go on the road. I’m appearing somewhere right now, no doubt, filmed ahead of time in a studio with my agent.

Aaron moves over towards us and rests on the fence beside me, slipping an arm around my back. “Hey, Moms,” he says, greeting us both.

“Hello,” Mom laughs.

“We were just talking about having a barbecue tonight. What do you think?”

What do I think? I smile at my husband and plant a kiss on his cheek. My boys, my parents – everyone in my life that matters to me, all gathered not far from where it all began, together and relaxed. Happy. “It sounds perfect,” I say.

“Great,” Aaron says. “I was thinking I could call my assistant and get him to send in -”

“No!” Mom and I say in unison, laughing.

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