Page 37 of Jack Raider

“What?”

“Son, if you miss her, and she misses you… why waste time? I lost a whole lifetime because I forgot who I was. Don’t throw away yours just because of a few miles.”

I thought about it all night.

The Next Morning,I was walking down toward the shop when I heard a car engine—a familiar, low hum. I turned just as Eloise’s SUV crested the gravel drive, dust trailing behind her like a ribbon of good luck.

She parked, got out, and slammed the door like she had something to prove.

“You could’ve called,” I said, heart thumping harder than it had any right to.

“You could’ve asked me to come with you,” she shot back.

I walked toward her slowly. “I didn’t want you to feel obligated.”

She looked up at me, eyes softening. “Jack, I don’tfeelanything I don’tchoose. I missed you.”

I took her face in my hands, brushing my thumbs across her cheeks. “I missed you, too. Like I’d left something behind that I couldn’t breathe without.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she whispered. “I felt the same way.”

“I know.”

And then I kissed her.

It wasn’t the slow, sweet kind from the porch. This was the kiss of someone who’d waited hours to touch her again. Who’d gone to sleep with her name on his lips and woken up with the ache of missing her.

When we finally pulled apart, she was breathless.

“Next time,” she said, “you don’t leave without me.”

“Deal,” I said, forehead resting against hers, besides, Wolf already loves you.

Eloise laughed. “Guess I better stick around, then.”

I never thoughtI’d be the guy planning a proposal.

Hell, I never thought I’d be a guyworthyof proposing to someone like Eloise—someone who could handle a scalpel in one hand and a shovel in the other, who made hot chocolate taste like love and only laughed when I had bull poop on me.

But here I was. Standing on the mountain. Ring in my pocket. Sweating like I’d just run drills in the desert.

It was sunset—Eloise’s favorite time of day. The sky was painted in fire and gold. Wolf was curled up near the porch, tail thumping gently as he watched me pace.

“You nervous?” Nate called from inside, sipping from a beer like he had zero shame in eavesdropping.

“I’ve defused bombs with less stress,” I said.

“She’s gonna say yes.”

“I know,” I muttered. “I just want it to be… right.”

“You’re here. She’s here. That’s right enough.”

I glanced up as I heard her footsteps crunch over gravel.

Eloise walked toward me in one of my old flannel shirts and boots, her hair pulled back in a braid. She looked like home.

“You’ve been weird all day,” she said, smiling.

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