Page 25 of Enticed by the Mountain Man
“That’s because you’re happy.”
She’s right.
She slides off my lap and starts gathering plates for breakfast, humming again. I sit there for a minute, just watching her move, the sunlight catching her hair. She fits here like she’s been part of this place all along.
She tilts her head, eyes soft. “You really love me, huh?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I really do.”
She kisses me once, then again, her fingers brushing the back of my neck. “I love you too,” she whispers. “Even if Connor kills you.”
“Pretty sure he won’t,” I murmur. “But if he does, at least I’ll die happy.”
She laughs, pressing her forehead to mine.
We eat breakfast together at the kitchen table, passing the syrup, stealing bites from each other’s plates. It feels easy. Ordinary. The kind of morning that’s worth building a life around.
She tells me about a recipe she wants to try, about fixing up the old garden out back, about helping Annie at the bakery when the holidays hit. I listen, not because of the words, but because of how alive she sounds.
When she laughs, the sound fills the cabin, and something in me unclenches a little more.
After breakfast, she wanders to the window, coffee in hand, looking out at the line of trees glowing orange and gold with the season. I come up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, my chin resting on her shoulder.
“Welcome home, sunshine,” I whisper.
Epilogue - One Year Later
Maeve
The bells from the chapel start to ring just as the music swells.
Outside, the trees shimmer gold and red in the afternoon sun, a perfect Pine Hollow fall day. Crisp air, a breeze that smells like apples and woodsmoke, and laughter floating through the little square.
This town has seen so much love that it almost feels charmed. Everywhere I look, someone is smiling, someone holding hands, someone whispering something soft and secret.
And today, it’s my turn.
Connor squeezes my hand. “You sure about this?”
I grin up at him. “Completely.”
He chuckles. “You know I’ve been rehearsing this conversation in my head for months. The one where I tell Hawthorne that if he hurts you, I’ll end him.”
“I’m sure he’s terrified.”
“Oh, he is,” Connor says, smirking. “Told him I know how to make him disappear.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “You didn’t.”
He gives me a sideways look. “He knows I’m kidding. Mostly.”
I glance down the aisle, heart stuttering a little. Graham’s waiting at the altar, standing tall in a dark suit that does nothing to hide how broad his shoulders.
He doesn’t look nervous. He looks ready. His eyes find mine like he’s been waiting his whole life for this.
The rest of the world fades. The music, the chatter, the breeze, all of it falls away. It’s just him.
I take the first step forward, my arm tucked in Connor’s. My heart feels too big for my chest. Dottie’s sitting in the front row, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Beside her are Annie and Cal, smiling at each other like they still can’t believe their luck. Maisie and Ford are there too, holding hands. The whole town seems to be here, people who’ve become more like family than neighbors.
