Page 68 of Revived

Sipping my new cup of coffee, I shrug. “I don’t know. What’s something you can’t usually enjoy with Grayson? Like, it would be hard to do it with him in tow?”

Luke ponders my question as he scrambles the eggs on the stove. “I haven’t been golfing in ages…”

I wrinkle my nose at him. “Anything besides golf?”

His chuckle makes my core heat up again. “Not a fan of golf?”

“Not so much.”

“What about a hike? There’s a trail up that little hill on the north side of town. It’s not too ambitious, but still a good workout. I do it with the guys a lot. We could pack a lunch and enjoy the weather.” He grins at me over his shoulder.

“Now that I can get on board with.”

Dressed and packed up, Luke drives us to the trail where we park the car, hoist our backpacks on our shoulders, and start our ascent just after nine in the morning. The end of June will still bring humidity, but the overall temperature isn’t too bad. I can smell the sunscreen on our skin, the dirt beneath our feet, and the pine from the trees as we climb the hill.

“When’s the last time you came out here?” I ask as we huff along.

“A few months ago, actually. Cash, Cooper, Kane, Drew and I came out here to get some fresh air and a workout before Cash and Piper’s wedding.”

“Ah. That’s right. I love that you have your little bro-tribe.”

Luke’s cheeks start to redden, and not just from the temperature outside. “Yeah, they’re my boys. I had been on the force for a few years before each of them joined. Cooper first, then Cash a year later. Despite making it hard for anyone to get to know me, they both chiseled away at my walls and brought a smile to my face each time I worked with them. They were young and hungry, the same way I remember being when I joined the department. And when they learned about Hannah,” he pauses, breathing deeply. “They didn’t treat me differently like everyone else, and I appreciated that.”

“It’s important to have friends like that. Pfeiffer has always been that mirror I need to tell me the truth, even when I don’t want to hear it. And yet, she’s the one person I know I can be myself with one-hundred percent.”

“Well, you seem to have created your own trifecta of girls since moving here too,” he chides as the steepness increases.

“Yeah. I like Jess a lot too. She’s feisty and honest. I never had authentic friends like that back home. Just another thing I’ve found here in Emerson Falls.”

We continue our climb for another few miles before we finally make it to the top, the surrounding scenery utterly breathtaking. “Wow. This is amazing.” The tops of trees poke up into the sky all around us, while beneath them rests the entire town of Emerson Falls. You can see for miles in any direction. Buildings are scattered around in the center of the town while houses and neighborhoods stretch out from the hub, trees and streets woven beneath the seams.

“I’m sure you’ve seen better views than this living in New York.”

“Well, my family lives in the Hamptons, so it’s mostly the beach we get to see. But when I would venture into the city, I made it a point to go to the tops of buildings and look at the New York cityscape, which was definitely impressive. But it was foreign. I didn’t have a connection to it. This place I know—It’s ingrained in my heart, which I think makes the view even more spectacular.”

Luke’s fingers find my chin as he turns my head to face him. “I’m glad you’re here, Rachel.”

“Me too, Luke.” Our lips meet in a soft kiss, but then he pulls away before we can get carried away.

“Later,” he growls in my ear before finding a spot on the ground to rest and eat our lunch. We snap a few selfies with the view in the background—one of us kissing, and another of us making goofy faces. And when I look at them later that night, it hits me.

He’s the one—the one man I want to spend my forever with. Never in a million years did I think that this journey and leap of faith I had coming out here would lead to this—my forever. This is what I want. Grayson and Luke. Our own little family. A home filled with love and laughter and a person I can grow old with.

Luke is my one.

When he moves into the kitchen to start dinner later that evening after another round of lovemaking when we returned from our hike, I make sure to call Pfeiffer to fill her in.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Pfeiffer. Can you talk for a minute?”

“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

“I’m in love,” I whisper, moving to shut my door, leaving just a crack in case Luke calls for me so I can hear him.

“Yeah, I kind of figured,” she teases and then laughs.

“No, he’s the one, Pfeiffer. I want to spend my life with this man.”

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