Page 153 of Broken Strings

I shake my head even as I smile. “You’re the pits. But I love you anyway.”

He huffs a laugh, coming to a halt outside the white front door. I stop beside him, a frown marring my face. “What now?”

Tossing me a devil-may-care wink, he side-eyes the door pointedly. I follow his line of vision, my breath catching in my throat when my eyes land on his surprise.

“Oh my God. Is that…is that…mylocket?”

The lump that appears in my throat makes speech impossible, so all I can do is stare mutely at the necklace draped on the door knocker.

He steps forward, unlooping it carefully before stepping closer to me once more.

“I know you said you’d left me your heart that day Noah forced you to leave, but until you told me, I was none the wiser.” He unfastens the clasp, stepping behind me to drop the locket over my head so that it rests on my chest.

As he closes the fastening, I reach a hand up to reverently touch my much-loved, long-missed birthday gift.

“Where did you find it?”

He wraps his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder as he palms my stomach.

“After you were shot, all hell broke loose. Everything was taken into evidence, including your locket. We had to wait until after Noah’s sentencing before your friend—the one I can’t stand—”

I snort a laugh despite myself. “You’re hardly talking about Vaughn.”

My husband rolls his eyes, continuing as though he hasn’t heard my jibe. “—well, he pulled strings to have it retrieved from evidence, though Christ knowshowbecause I had precisely zero luck.”

He presses a kiss to the curve of my neck, his lips brushing against my skin as he murmurs, “I’ve had it repaired so that it’s as perfect as it was the last time you wore it.”

I click the side of the locket, my breath stalling in my lungs when my eyes land on the images of Cade and me, the ones from all those years ago. They’re exactly as I’d left them, the smiling faces of two carefree teens staring back at me, oblivious to the heartache in their very near future.

As though reading my mind, Caden whispers across the shell of my ear. “We’ve weathered the storm, Bam. It’s clear skies and calm seas ahead of us, and I’m going to love you every day as if it’s our last day.”

I lean back against this man with the soul of a poet, and the heart of lion, as I soak up the start of our forever.

The front door flies open, making us both startle.

“Mum.Mum!”

Bella flies out onto the porch, her big brother at her back, stopping her gently from ploughing into my rounded belly.

She shrugs him off impatiently. “Did youseeour garden, Mum?”

My chest tightens at the relatively new title I’ve earned from Bella before I shake my head.

I hold my hand out, shooting a soft smile over my shoulder at my grinning husband. “Show me, Curly-Sue.”

Our daughter grasps my hand in her much smaller one as our son reaches for my free hand. They both begin to chatter wildly, clearly having made themselves right at home in our forever house.

I twist my head towards Cade just before we round a corner. My eyes find him leaning against the door, watching us with a content smile on his handsome face.

“Love you.”

I mouth the words over Bella’s head, my heart filled to overflowing.

Cade’s parting words follow me around the corner, accompanied by a bark of laughter that echoes through the house, making me smile so wide, it almost hurts.

“Ditto, idiot.”

EXTENDED EPILOGUE

---