Page 55 of Suddenly Tempted
“Thank you,” he said, then turned to the urn. “And thank you, Mum. Thank you for everything you did for me and all the ways you showed me love.”
He tipped up the tin and the ashes drifted out. The wind caught them, gently lifting them away. Devlin watched them go until he could no longer see them, then he took another deep, wonderful breath. It was as if he had been carrying a mountain on his shoulders for weeks, and had only just slipped out from beneath it.
It was time to stop clinging to the past and start looking towards a future he had never allowed himself to believe was possible. A future where he didn’t have to carry the weight of the world alone.
He turned to Darcy, who took his hands in hers and smiled at him in a way that made him feel perfectly warm, and perfectly happy.
“You always know how to make me feel better,” he said.
“It’s because . . .” Darcy paused, looking away for a moment. He saw her take a breath — the same deep, magical, mountain-aired breath he’d just taken himself — then she turned back to him. “It’s because I think I love you, Devlin Storm. I don’t know how it happened, but it did, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
As if the mountains themselves had heard her, the sun caught the lake, making it shimmer. For a second, Devlin thought of his mum. She was here, he was sure of it, and proud of him for finally letting go.
“Let’s go home,” Darcy said, softly.
He nodded, and they walked away together, side by side. It was only when they had rounded the mound of rocks that Devlin stopped. Without a word, he turned to Darcy and pulled her close, kissing her warm lips with his cold ones.
When he pulled back, he grinned, his heart full. “You are the bravest person I have ever met. And I think I love you, too, Darcy Wainwright.”
Chapter 29
DARCY
Darcy may as well have been carried down that last stretch of slope by the wind. She felt weightless, as if she was a flurry of snow. Only Devlin’s hand in hers kept her grounded. He needed her as much as she needed him — more, maybe.
“Just think,” she said, “if I hadn’t been on reception that day you demanded your helicopter, you might be walking down this mountain hand in hand with Clive, the guy who does my off shifts.”
Devlin laughed and doubled up, wincing.
“Please don’t be funny,” he said. “My body is broken and laughing hurts.”
Darcy zipped her fingers across her mouth, but a few seconds later she had forgotten. Being with Devlin was a new high.
“Actually, you’d probably both be at the bottom of the hill in the helicopter wreckage. There’s no way you’d have thrown your body over Clive to keep him safe. Butterfly wings and hurricanes and all.”
“I was going for the controls,” Devlin said, grinning. “Just the controls. Not at all distracted by the gorgeous woman who had talked my ear off the whole flight because she was so nervous.”
“I tend to do that,” said Darcy, treading carefully as they rounded the mound of rocks. “You’ll have to get used to my noise.”
“Good, because I tend to like it,” Devlin replied. “It felt quiet when you were sleeping.”
They walked in silence for a beat, neither of them saying it, but both of them thinking.
“So, elephant in the mountain,” Darcy was the first to break. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Devlin dropped his chin, blowing out air between his teeth.
“Mainly, because I’m an idiot,” he said, squeezing Darcy’s gloved hand in his. “But also because I thought I needed to do that alone. You know, the wholeDevlin is a mountainthing.”
“Well, do that again and I’ll push youoffthe mountain,” Darcy joked. The rangers came into view as they got halfway back to the outpost.
“Oh, no,” Devlin said. “They’re going to be so mad at me.”
“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “But I explained what I thought you were doing, and they seemed less likely to leave when they heard. Besides, look at you. They’ll be able to see by the exhaustion on your face just how much you have been through. Let’s go and find out.”
Darcy reluctantly let go of him so that the man could take Devlin’s good arm. Together, both rangers helped Devlin down to the helicopter. Its rotors spun lazily, a third ranger sitting in the pilot’s seat and giving them a thumbs up. The two rangers walked Devlin to the steps, but he shook his head and looked back at Darcy.
“Ladies first,” he said, and she smiled. She hesitated for a moment, looking at the outpost and thinking once again about the amazing time they’d shared inside it. She wondered if they would ever be back. And if they were, if they could arrive in style as well as leaving in style.
