Page 15 of One Night with the Mountain Man

Jules and Tyson said their vows under an arbor made of wildflowers as the sun hung low in the sky. The evening flew by in a whirlwind of hugs from Samuel’s family, toasts to the bride and groom, and spending one song after another pressed against Samuel’s chest as we held each other tight on the dance floor.

Once the happy couple retired to their cabin to start their honeymoon, the party began to die down.

“Where are you spending the night tonight?” I’d been afraid to ask, but now with everyone saying their goodnights and promising to see each other at brunch the next day, I needed to know.

“That depends on you.” Samuel tugged me close. “My closest neighbor is prepared to look after Lucky for the next day or two if you’re up for company in your cabin here.”

“How close is your closest neighbor?” Having left his place in a helicopter, I didn’t remember seeing another cabin anywhere near his as we flew back to the resort.

He shrugged. “About five miles away.”

“I don’t want Lucky to be lonely.” In the short time we’d spent together, the dog had carved out a special place in my heart.

“I get it.” Samuel pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll come back in the morning for brunch. We can take this slow and get to know each other before we jump into anyth—”

I stopped him with a kiss. “Not what I meant. Let me grab a bag so I can come with you. I’m not letting you out of my sight again until I know you won’t disappear on me.”

His smile kicked off a chain reaction through my nervous system. I couldn’t keep from grinning in return. “I’ll never disappear on you, gorgeous. You’re my one-way ticket out of the darkness. My reason for coming back from the edge. I don’t know how we’re going to make things work yet, but we’ll find a way.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already got some ideas. We were meant to find each other. Now take me back to your cabin, mountain man.”

“Our cabin.” He gathered me up in his arms. His kiss said it all.

I relaxed against him. I’d come to the mountains with a heavy heart, afraid to face the memories of my past. I’d be leaving with a heart full of new experiences with the promise of new memories to be made. If Samuel had taught me anything so far, it was that there was room in my heart for both.

EPILOGUE

SAMUEL

Istood on the deck of the cabin Tyson and I built with our own hands. He and Jules wanted a place of their own close to the Mountain Ridge Resort so I’d carved out a piece of my land where they could come whenever they needed time away.

“Did you ever think two Texas boys would end up in the mountains of Virginia together?” Tyson asked.

“Fuck no.” I shifted my gaze to where Jules and Adelaide settled into the matching rocking chairs I’d given them as a wedding present. “But I’m sure as hell happy we did.”

Tyson turned away from the mountain view and looked toward his wife. “How did we get so lucky?”

I chuckled. “Maybe all those four-leaf clovers you picked as a kid?”

“That explains it for me, but what about you?” he asked.

“Somebody finally knocked my head out of my ass,” I admitted. “I suppose I should thank you for that.”

My brother clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Took a hell of a lot of effort. You really had it wedged in there tight.”

I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

“I’m just kidding. Sounds like you and Adelaide are getting serious?”

We’d been serious about each other from the moment we met, but it had taken some time to knock everything else into alignment. She had a thriving business in New York, and all I had going for me was the land I owned in Virginia and an outbuilding full of handmade furniture.

“Yeah. She’s moving her business here next month after her big show.” Mentioning the show made that muscle along my jaw tick, but I trusted her. She’d be featuring my furniture as one of her lines and was convinced I’d get enough custom commissions to keep me as busy as I wanted for as long as I wanted.

“I’m happy for you.” Tyson said. “You’ve got talent and it’s about time you shared it with the rest of the world.”

“Thanks.” I held his gaze longer than necessary. I wanted to make sure he knew how grateful I was to him for everything, not just the compliment about my furniture making skills.

“You’re welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for the missus and me to politely kick you out of our cabin so we can take advantage of our new place. They don’t call this the honeymoon phase for nothing.”

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