Page 61 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

I leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “We’re thinking about heading down to Medford. Let Lucy see it for herself.”

Riley went still. “You’re telling her today?”

“Just about the cabin,” I clarified quickly. “We’re not saying anything else. Not yet.”

Relief softened her shoulders a little. “Okay. That makes sense.”

Asher stepped closer. “But we wanted to check in with you first. See if you want to come?”

Riley hesitated, her eyes flicking between the three of us. “Yeah… yeah, I’d like that. It’s been ages. I miss her.”

She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You sure?” I asked, watching her closely.

Her chin lifted. “Of course. She’s my best friend.”

Asher caught it too, that flicker of tension beneath her words. He brushed his fingers lightly down her arm. “You can stay here if you’d prefer.”

Riley laughed, short and a little too quick. “Of course I want to see Lucy. It’s going to be strange, leaving here.”

None of us said anything for a beat, because we knew exactly what that meant.

Leaving here might mean leaving it all behind.

But what else could we do?

So we got ready to make a move into town.

In the truck, Riley was quieter than usual, her gaze fixed on the winding road ahead. But when we hit the turnoff that wouldtake us into Medford, her fingers curled around mine where our hands rested between us.

But only for a second.

Of course, she couldn’t let anyone see us. Least of all Lucy.

I wasn’t sure what was more unsettling, the sudden shift back to reality, or the way Riley lingered in my thoughts like smoke that refused to clear.

Sitting beside me in the truck with her hand slowly drifting back onto her own lap, she felt so much farther away than she had the night before, curled up between us, laughing in the firelight as if nothing could touch us.

Medford came into view slowly, all melting snowbanks and slushy sidewalks. The streets were waking up again, life returning to normal like the storm hadn’t ever happened.

But it had.

And we all knew nothing was the same.

The inn was warm when we stepped inside, the scent of cinnamon and old wood wrapping around us. Lucy was at the front desk, chatting with Nancy Hayes. The second she saw Riley, everything else faded.

Lucy crossed the lobby in three long strides and pulled Riley into a hug that nearly lifted her off her feet.

“Oh my god, finally,” Lucy said into her shoulder. “You look… why do you look amazing? I look like I’ve been scraping ice off roofs for a week straight.”

Riley laughed softly. “I’ve had nothing to do but sleep and drink coffee. Cabin life agrees with me, apparently.”

“Unfair,” Lucy muttered, stepping back to look her over. “Cabin life never doesthatto my skin.”

Beckett and Asher held back a little, giving them space, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Riley. The way her posture shifted. Just slightly. Like she didn’t quite know where she belonged anymore.

“It was warm. Safe,” she said after a moment. “And honestly, I needed the quiet. You were right about that much.”

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