Page 273 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
Could feel Nelly’s grin radiating from the kitchen.
Happiness spilling out of Piper.
The fact that they got to share a real Christmas with Finn for the very first time.
No longer having to run because they were free.
“Ah, sounds like I came to the right place,” Otto said as he moved around the couch to Finn. He knelt on a knee and pulled out two big presents and set them under the tree before he wrangled a red trike from the bag. It had a giant red bow on the handlebars.
Finn squealed. “I got a bikewikemyFeo?”
Fucking joy, man.
Didn’t really know what that was until right then.
This shimmery peace coming over me.
“Ah, yeah…had a hunch that you might like a bike like your Theo.”
“You ridewifme, myFeo?” Finn patted his chest.
“Absolutely, little man. I’ll definitely ride with you.”
Would spend my life beside this kid. Teaching him every good thing I could. Loving him. Protecting him.
Otto looked up at me.
A deep knowing flowed out of him.
The triumph that came with finding what was meant to be.
He rose, and he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Looks like you’ve been a good boy, too, but you’ve already got everything you need.”
Then he turned and slung the bag back over his shoulder. “I’ll be on my way, I’ve got a couple more kids on my list, Maci and Nolan.”
He sent me and Piper a wink before he strode for the door, singing, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.”
The door clattered shut behind him.
And as I curled my arm around Piper’s waist and looked down at Finn who climbed onto his trike, jerking at the handlebars without going anywhere, Nelly in the kitchen making what she said was her famous clam chowder, I knew Otto was right.
I had every single thing I needed.
Piper – One Week Later
“This is it.” Theo grumbled in that low voice as he glanced at me. He squeezed my hand as we stood in front of his cabin. Finn was in his other arm, hooked to his hip.
I peered up at him.
Taking in the severe, foreboding angles of his striking face. Intensity rolled off him. His presence more commanding than anything or anyone I’d stumbled upon in all my life.
In it, I’d found the greatest peace.
Sanctuary and joy and ecstasy.
I inhaled a shaky breath. The only thing it served to do was drag his aura in.
Mossy woods and crisp snow and the faint vestiges of warm, smokey leather.
