Page 449 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

He tugged, and she stopped walking slow up toward Golden Hills Bluff. He didn’t want to think about the fact his stomach still hurt. He’d nearly died, but apparently there was more for him to do here on earth because he hadn’t been called Home.

“What is it?” She moved close.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Addie touched her hands to his cheeks and pressed her lips to his. Jacob slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close—as close as they could be. For now.

It was all there in her kiss.

Promise. A future. Hope.

When she leaned back, she said, “Are you going to tell me why we’re freezing our butts off on a mountain this early?”

Jacob lifted his chin. “Somewhere you need to be?”

“We couldn’t watch the sun come up from your apartment?”

“The view from there is good.” He’d watched it every day since he got home from the hospital. “But this is better.”

They set off again.

“This is where your grandpa brought you when you were little?”

Jacob nodded, a lump in his throat.

“Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“We won’t be long. Then you can go to work.”

“As if I’d rather do that than spend the day with you.” She glanced over.

“How are Kyle and Stella?”

She chuckled. “Complaining that they keep finding more things tolikeabout Benson and then threatening to pack up and leave. It’s pretty hilarious.”

“They’re hooked. They just don’t want to admit it.”

She glanced over. “I’d have said the same. But I’ll freely admit it.”

“I love you.”

She squeezed his hand, her cheeks turning a gorgeous shade of pink. It was an expression he’d never seen before. Confidence and vulnerability. Strength and brokenness.

Life’s journey was like the path up this mountain, with its twists and turns. Blind corners and tricky drop-offs. Patches of flowers that would bloom with the seasons.

This route saw winter. It saw the blazing sun and pouring rain. But in the end, they would reach the summit.

When the corner came, he picked up his pace. “Come on.” The vista took his breath.

Beside him, Addie gasped. “I’ve never seen this. It’s beautiful.”

“If you look to the left, you can see Benson. All the way over there.” He pointed.

Between were mountain peaks—and patches of snow. Overhead, the dark sky above glowed to lighter blue, then a yellow haze. Below was a stripe of orange, then red met the horizon.

“It’s stunning, Jacob.”

“Jake is fine. I told you that.”

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