Katelyn stepped out of Spring cabin, leaving the door ajar so she would hear Sawyer and Lacey if they stirred. She looked up at the skinny building that had been her sanctuary for all these months, her own lighthouse. Then she strolled the narrow deck, inhaling fully, deeply.
The air was already warm, despite the early hour, and the sky was the kind of blue that made you feel like only good things were possible. And though Katelyn knew she was only minutes away from the other cabins, she still felt like the sole inhabitant of an enchanted world.
Spring was long, long gone and summer was in its full glory. Everywhere she looked there were bright, beautiful blooms and verdant testaments to life, growth, and change.
From the wooden bench beside her cabin’s door, overflowing with the kids’ damp, stinky sneakers and fishing rods they’d cajoled her to buy, to the waxy leafed, red berried holly bushes beside the porch, to the fairy carpet of impossible to keep down pansies, everything whispered that life was beautiful—or could be.
Katelyn descended the three steps from the porch to the ground, savoring the warm sunshine on her bare limbs. It felt full of the promise that no matter what happened, how cold a winter was or how much rain poured down, eventually the sun would reign in full force again.
A now familiar feeling welled up in her. Hope. She walked a few more steps, still in awe of the massive cedar trees nearby, standing tall and strong, as if bearing witness to her new life. She was going to miss this place, and she was beyond excited that her, their, new home was just a meandering trail away.
Knowing she was safe from view, she dropped the notebook she had jotted her most recent checklist into, lifted her arms and spun in a slow joyous circle.
Steve wasn’t her direct problem anymore; he had received significant jail time. Her car, not that it was as big a worry now anyway, had merely needed to have its injectors cleaned. Since Callum had kindly helped Brian do that, she’d had no more problems starting it or keeping it going. Jayda had apologized, saying she overreacted because of the fright and knew full well that Steve’s attack wasn’t Katelyn’s fault. She’d pleaded for her to return to work, and Katelyn had agreed, but only to part-time. She wanted to do her own sewing and have lots of time to nest. She would keep persevering. But best of all, so best of all she could hardly take it in sometimes, she, Brian, Sawyer, and Lacey would be a family. Together they’d create a safe, joy filled home, a place to live and grow and love—
Two muscular arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her against a firm chest.
Katelyn shrieked. “You’re not supposed to see me yet! It’s bad luck.”
Brian nuzzled her neck. “I had to. I couldn’t wait until the ceremony. It’s hours away. And I promise there will be no bad luck, only fun and adventure and trails we tackle together.”
Katelyn turned into Brian’s embrace, so she could look him in the face. As ever, his closeness made her heart race. Would she ever stop responding to him this way? She doubted it.
“You make it awfully hard not to be madly in love with you,” she said.
He winked. “Ah, good. My malevolent plan is working.”
“Oh, it is, is it?”
“Yes—and lest you have any thoughts to the contrary, I have a few strategies to keep it iron clad from here to eternity.”
“Strategies, hey?”
Brian didn’t answer with words. Instead he lowered his head and took her mouth in a soft, then deepening, increasingly passionate kiss. His fingers played beneath the hem of her shirt, tracing slow sensuous patterns across the sensitive skin of her lower back. She was breathless when they broke apart.
“Hm,” she said. “I think your, er, strategies will be very effective.”
Brian grinned. “If you like my strategies, just wait till you see my techniques.”
Katelyn laughed, but felt almost weepy with happiness. How could this—how could he—be real? She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“No,” he replied seriously, “thank you.”
Hand in hand, they headed back to Spring cabin to wake the kids and start the day that would kick off the rest of their run together.