“Three… no wait. Maybe four. Then if we don’t need all the rooms, we can have a Den for them to play in so we’re not trippin’ over toys,” she explains.
Turning my head, I press a soft kiss to her hairline before spinning her in my arms and meeting her glistening gaze. I gently swipe away a lone tear falling down her cheek. “What’s this?”
“Can we have a dog? No, a cat? Oh, maybe a pet cow? One of those mini ones that don’t grow so big that you see all the time on the internet?”
A chuckles bursts out of me. “That’s why you’re cryin’? Char, don’t you know by now, I’ll give you anythin’ you want.” At that, she buries her face in my chest, giggling as she tries to pull herself back together.
"That goes both ways you know," she whispers, her eyes full of love and adoration. I smile down at the woman in my arms who has tears drying on her cheeks and laughter in her eyes, knowing that she’s everything I'll ever need and everhadneeded. Now that I have her, I honestly don't know how I got through the last fifteen years withoutthis… withouther.
There’s just one last thing I need to do before I know for sure that I'll never have to worry about not having her by my side.
Something must give me away because her expression falls. “You just tensed. Is there somethin’ else?”
I lift my hand and rub the back of my neck, a burning itch stealing my attention out of nowhere. If ever I needed proof that the damn mountain spirit was trying to force my hand, I definitely have it now. Without thinking, I look to the top of the mountain. “Yeah, yeah. I’mdoin’ it. OK!”
Char’s eyes grow as big as dinner plates. “Austin? Did you just shout at themountain?”
I rub the back of my neck harder, only stopping when a still-frowning Char places her hand on my arm and gently pulls it away, linking our fingers together as she looks up at me with those big blue eyes of hers. "Whatever it is, whatever you're worried about tellin’ me, I promise you, it’s nothin’ we can’t handle. We were apart for fifteen years, we could’ve missed our shot at this—at us—but we didn’t. I like to think that means the universe has played a little part in bringin’ us back together.”
“Yeah…”
"Like in Aster's books. The universe or the mountain spirit, with a little help from the couple's families and friends, all play a part in makin’ sure that the soulmates get together and stay together. And?—"
I press my finger to her lips, chuckling when she purses her lips and kisses my skin with a cute little smile. I hope our children get that from her, or maybe her eyes, or her cute button nose. Most of all I hope they get her heart because if they have that, they’ll be set for life.
This is Char,myChar, of course she wouldn’t run for the hills—or back to town.
Leading her over to the blanket again, I sit down before pulling her into my lap, wanting to have her close to me. “I like this. Bein’ here with you, I mean,” she whispers, snuggling in close.
“Good. So…” I start to say.
“So…” she replies, copying me. “C’mon, Austin. Please tell me.”
“The mountain spirit that Aster writes about is real,” I blurt out, bracing myself for her reaction.
She doesn’t even hesitate. “Really? That’s socool!Is this what you were nervous to tell me?” I nod. “Oh love. This isn’t bad news. You’re tellin’ me I was called back to Spring Haven because I’m your soulmate?” I nod again. “Well,duh. I could’ve told you that. I’ve known that since I was sixteen. I just had to take my own journey before I hopped back on the path that was always goin’ to lead back to you.”
This woman…
I eye her skeptically, my hands gripping her hips and not letting her go. I guess I had nothing to worry about. “You don’t think it’s crazy to think that there’s a prophecy that sees soulmates bein’ called to the mountain as a reward to the protectors of the spirit’s lands?”
“Nope. You know what? Even if I hadn't read Aster’s books, Istillthink I’d believe you. Want to know why?”
“Why’s that, doc?”
She slides her hands up my chest and loops her arms around my neck, leaning her forehead against mine. “Because you love me, and I love you. You’re goin’ to build us a house right here in this field, with four bedrooms and a private master for us–”
“With a lock on the door,” I add, gliding my hands up and down her back, loving the trembles and hitched breaths I’m earning.
“Can’t forget that,” she murmurs, soft lazy eyes meeting mine.
“You really don’t care about the mountain’s Call?”
“You and me, it wasalwaysgoin' to happen, Call or no call. It doesn't matter to me how or why it happened, just that it did. I love that I'm your One and you're mine.” Her eyes bore into mine. “The only one that I've ever loved, been loved by, and ever will." She frames my jaw in her hands and kisses me softly before inching back a little. "I'm goin’ to be layin’ in a hammock over there with you by my side until I’m old and gray and you have to physically help me get into it.”
I chuckle. “Maybeyou’llbe helpin’meinto it.”
“Maybe we’ll just have to stay there forever,” she replies.
