Page 29 of Stranded with the Mountain Man

When we part, her eyes are bright with unshed tears."When did you get so good with words?"

"I had three days to practice my speech," I admit, a smile breaking through."I kept thinking about what I'd say if you were still here when I got back."

"I almost left," she confesses."Had my bag packed and everything."

"What changed your mind?"

"Mrs. Havers, partly." She rests her hands on my chest, fingers toying with a button on my shirt."And Bear. And... the realization that I've spent twelve years running toward something, never stopping to ask if it was what I truly wanted."

"And now? What do you want, Dr. Wilson?"

Her smile is slow and sure. "To see where this leads.With you. Here." She glances out the window, toward her aunt's damaged house."A research station does sound nice.And I've got those grant applications almost finished--"

I silence her with another kiss, laughing against her lips."Always the scientist."

"You love it," she accuses, fingers threading through myhair.

"I love you," I correct, lifting her onto thecounter."All of you. The scientist, the mountain girl, the woman who makes my coffee too sweet and reorganizes my kitchen when I'm notlooking."

"I love you too, Ross," sheadmits."Never stopped." Sheflushes."And I only reorganized the kitchen because I wasbored."

"You were nesting," I counter, watching the blushdeepen."Making yourself athome."

"Maybe I was," she admits. "Is thatokay?"

I answer by kissing her again, deeper this time, hands sliding under the robe to find warmskin."More than okay. It'sperfect."

Her legs wrap around my waist, pulling mecloser."We should probably talk more aboutlogistics.The house reconstruction, the teaching position applicationdeadline--"

"Later," I murmur against her neck. "We have time."

And we do. For the first time in twelve years, time feels like a gift rather than asentence.Whatever comes next--rebuilding her aunt's house, navigating her career, balancing my past with our future--we'll face it together.

No more running. No more hiding.Just us, finding our way back to each other, one day at a time.

As I carry her back to bed, her laughter warming me from the inside out, I know I've finally found what I've been searching for all along.Not solitude, not escape, but home.

And home is wherever Deena is.

Epilogue

DEENA

1YEAR LATER

"Almost done. Try not to blink," Rosco says, balancing precariously on a ladder as he installs the final light fixture in what is now officially my researchlab.The transformation of Aunt Millie's east wing is nothing short ofmiraculous.

One year ago, I stood in pouring rain watching part of this housecollapse.Today, it's a state-of-the-art research facility with gleaming countertops, climate-controlled storage forspecimens,and enough workspace to accommodate two research assistants from Riversend CommunityCollege.

"If you fall and break your neck on the final day, I'm going to be seriously annoyed," I call up to him, trying not to sound as nervous as Ifeel.The man may have spent years on motorcycles and climbing mountains, but watching him on a ladder still makes my stomachknot.

"Relax, botanist. I've done this a thousand times." He secures the fixture with practiced efficiency, then flips theswitch.Lightfloods the space, illuminating the room in its fullglory."Perfect. What do youthink?"

I spin slowly, taking it allin.The custom shelving he built for myspecimens.The workbenches positioned precisely at my preferredheight.The large windows that let in natural light but can be darkened with the press of abutton.The cabinets painted my favorite shade ofgreen.

"It's perfect," I whisper, emotion suddenly clogging mythroat."Better than anything I could haveimagined."

Rosco descends the ladder, wiping his hands on his jeans before wrapping his arms around me frombehind."Your own private researchkingdom.Dr. Wilson's mountainlaboratory."

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