Page 84 of Bear's Heart

He kissed her lips.“It won’t.I promise you that, my heart.”

Epilogue

In all, Bearand Josie spent four weeks on their road trip.

They took Bear’s Bronco for the trip, so they could both drive.His classic truck had hand controls, as well as the regular foot pedals, so they took turns at the wheel.

Seattle might have been the destination, but they only spent a day there, before driving south to Tacoma and heading west to the Olympic National Park and then the Hoh Rain Forest.

Washington state proved to have excellent accessible trails and they explored the mountains and lush green rain forest on sunny and wet days before continuing south to Portland.From Portland it was another detour to the coast where they stayed in an adorable grey shingle cottage in Cannon Beach for several days.

From Cannon Beach it was down to Northern California—they skipped San Francisco as they both preferred small towns—and visited Monterey and stunning Carmel before doing another detour to Yosemite.

Yosemite was a favorite, not just for the scenery, but for the romance.Bear splurged so they could stay at the grand Ahwahnee Hotel.It was in the historic Ahwahnee’s fabled dining room that Bear proposed, presenting her with a stunning Marquise cut diamond he’d bought in Carmel while she’d been answering emails from her Bozeman design firm which hoped to hire her full time.

Josie wasn’t sure she wanted to return to work for Melissa and Neil—or anyone else—but she absolutely knew marrying Bear was the right choice, and accepted his proposal with tears in her eyes.

The ring was a little loose on her finger but otherwise it looked perfect on her hand, and it matched the overwhelming love in her heart.She didn’t want a long engagement.Josie already felt wedded to Bear and hoped they’d marry soon.

And so, during the drive back to Montana they chose a route that would take them through Nevada where they married in a very sweet little Las Vegas drive-through chapel.It was just them and two strangers as witnesses.There was no dress, no flowers, no music, nothing but them and their love and commitment to each other for the rest of their lives, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and pledging to do for others whatever they could, for as long as they could.

The next day when they climbed in Bear’s Bronco and began the twelve-hour drive home to Marietta, Bear flashed Josie a warm, teasing smile.“How does it feel to be Mrs.Anderson?”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek.“Wonderful.”She laughed then kissed him again.“I feel like a legend.”

The End

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