Page 18 of Stubborn Mountain Man

I stared at her a long time. Weird food cravings? Maybe I’d gotten her pregnant last night. It had occurred to me too late that we hadn’t used protection our first time. I’d gotten so caught up in the moment, it had completely slipped my mind.

It was too soon for her to have cravings related to pregnancy, though, and we definitely used protection the second and third times we’d made love. It was just that one slip up.

“Don’t knock it until you try it,” she said.

And that was how I ended up sitting across from her at my kitchen table with pancakes slathered in peanut butter and chocolate syrup in front of me.

“It’s not bad, but I prefer maple syrup and butter,” I said.

She made a face. “In college, my roommates and I always had waffles with peanut butter and maple syrup. I figured it would translate to pancakes, but maybe not so much.”

I laughed. “I was starting to worry we might be incompatible in our food preferences.” I shook my head. “If you’re going to move in with me, eventually we’ll have to work that out.”

Gillian tilted her head. “Is that an invitation to move in with you?”

She said it in a teasing way, but I was dead serious. “You can move in with me right now. I’ll hire the moving van.”

Her head straightened at that. “I can rent a place in town. You know, while we date and make sure I don’t drive you crazy.”

“You drive me crazy, but in a good way. And I don’t know about you, but this is the real deal for me. When I woke up to find you gone this morning, I thought I’d lost you. I went looking for you.”

She sucked in a breath. “I knew I should have left a note. I thought I’d be back here before you were up. I wanted totell my parents I’d met someone and that I’m moving back to Sweetheart Falls.”

“You told your parents about me?”

She nodded. “My dad. Which is the same as telling both of them. He’ll go straight home and report everything I said.”

“Should I brace myself for an angry father to show up at my door with a shotgun?”

For a second, I was afraid she might take offense to my question, but her smile widened and she shook her head. “No. My parents might have been strict, but they’re also pretty chill when it comes to things like that. They just always wanted what was best for me.”

“Well, I grew up in a household that was the opposite of that.”

I stopped there. I’d tell her more about my past later. For now, she just needed to know one thing.

“You’re always safe with me,” I said. “I’ll protect you and give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“Everything I’ve ever wanted is right there.” She pointed at me. “The rest doesn’t matter.”

And those words made me the happiest man alive. As I took another bite of peanut butter and chocolate pancakes, they tasted even sweeter than ever because I knew they were made by the woman I loved.

EPILOGUE

GILLIAN

“Remember the first time we were here?” Kane whispered in my ear as we sat around a campfire with our closest friends.

“How could I forget?” I asked, returning his smile.

It had been eight years since the day we made love on the rock that was just feet from where we sat right now. There would be none of that tonight, but I was hoping for a little alone time when we all retired to our tents.

We were enjoying a small campfire at the top of the mountain with our small friend group of three couples. We’d roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and told spooky stories, but I was getting restless for some alone time with my husband.

Soon after we got married, Kane and I moved closer to town. We needed a bigger place for the kids we planned to have. But being closer to the kids’ schools and daycares was a huge benefit too. With three boys under the age of six, I needed all the time savings I could get. Especially with me working part-time as a copy editor for a marketing agency and my husband working full-time as a park ranger. We both loved our work, but we were long overdue for a vacation.

“Guys, I think we’re going to turn in,” Kane’s friend Scott said, pushing himself to his feet. He reached out a hand for his wife, Brenna, who gave him a smile before letting him pull her to her feet.

“What do you say?” Kane whispered. “Do you want to hit the hay early?”

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