That is why I want you to love him. I want him to be the most important person in the world to you other than Char, because having been one of the blessed few in your life that you cherished, there’s no better feeling in the world. Your heart, your soul, everything that makes you the woman you are, is beyond compare, and you are the only one I would wish for him if I can’t be there.
So this is what I ask of you–Love him, Mags. Love him in the way only you can. Fully, completely, with every part of your being. That is what I want more than anything else in the world and it may be selfish of me to ask this of you, but if I ever had a dying wish, it was for the two of you to find each other just like I found you and he found me.
Love, Anna
Tears flow freely down my cheeks now and I feel Red’s body trembling against mine. But I don’t dare look up at him becauseI know if I do, I’ll crumble completely. And I owe it to Anna, to me,andto him, to finish the letter.
P.S. I know you’ve probably put this letter off for a lifetime and then some, but if you’re reading this, I want you to know that my life was all the better for having you in it. I can’t wait for us to don our cowboy hats, boots, and short denim skirts and boot scoot our way into our next life together.
Until then, I’ll be watching over all of you and making sure that if you haven’t read this, that I bring you and Red together anyway. You of all people know how much I loved a love story.
A gasp escapes me as I reread her last words and suddenly, everything snaps together.
‘Making sure that I bring you and Red together anyway.’
‘You know I always loved a good love story.’
“Darlin’?” Red whispers, his voice thick with emotion.
I drop the letter onto the bed next to us and lift my eyes to his handsome face. My soulmate. The soulmate of my soulmate who has done everything in her power to make sure we’re together. “It’s her,” I say softly.
His brows pinch together. “What?”
“Either I’m crazy—and that’s not beyond the realms of possibility—or it’sher.”
Red’s forehead scrunches in confusion. “I’m not followin’ you.”
“The mountain spirit. The one at Bull bringing soulmates to everyone, rewarding them, it’s her. It’s Anna.”
His body goes completely still and I stop breathing, watching the shock and surprise in his eyes morph into awe and wonder.
“No way…”
I nod, looping my arms around his neck and leaning in so our foreheads touch.
“She’s been watchin’ over us all the whole time,” he murmurs, his voice a soft whisper. “Making sure we found each other in the same way she found us.”
It’s an overwhelming thought, but also deeply comforting.
Red pulls me closer, his gaze never leaving mine as he brings our mouths together, our kiss full of meaning and feeling—full of love.
“I can’t wait to start our lives together, darlin’. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He smiles against my lips. “And she loved us enough to give us to each other. That’s a gift I’ll never forget.”
Me either.
27
RED
By the time Friday morning comes, the storm has passed and between us shoveling snow around the truck, and a plow clearing the roads to town, we're able to drop the cabin keys back in Rainbow Springs and get on our way to Palmer.
Thankfully Mags offers to drive which gives me the time I need to organize something for her.
“Oh, my goodness. Look!” Mags shrieks as we drive down the old highway to Palmer.
