“OK,” I sigh, deciding it’s probably best if I just come out and say it. “I don’t think it’s by chance that it happened.”
She stills, her confusion deepening. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a Cooper family lore. It goes that there is a mountain spirit livin’ within these ranges that has been rewardin’ our bloodline for generations by calling their soulmates to them.” I let that hang between us, watching her expression morph from surprise to uncertainty.
“I don’t understand. You think amountainbrought me here… toyou?” I nod, cradling her hands in mine and relishing in the warm buzz that suddenly feels stronger than before. Her gaze drops down which makes me think she can feel it too. “How did it start?”
“The prophesy?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s believed to have started when the Cooper family first settled on Moose Mountain. That’s a day’s travel away, near the town of Woodward Valley. Anyway, they made it their home, and so it goes that the prophesy was activated. After that, the spirit would gift the protectors of her lands with their One–their soulmate.”
“I don’t…” She scrunches her nose up before her eyes widen. “Isla said something a few weeks ago about the mountainmaking people all gushy once they’ve found their One. Is this what she was talking about?”
I nod. “She thought she’d let it slip and you’d figure it out. That’s why she gave you the book to read.”
She gasps, lifting one of her hands to her mouth. “I haven’t even started it yet,” she whispers.That answers that question then.
I let silence fall between us, wanting to give her time to process everything before I continue.
“How do you know? I mean, how are yousupposedto know if someone is your soulmate? Is it like some lightning bolt coming down from the sky or…”
I lace my fingers with hers and lift our hands between us so that her knuckles are resting over my sternum. “Can you feel that?” Her eyes turn from unreadable to curious.At least she’s not completely rejecting the idea.“The tingles. The heat whenever we touch. The way our hearts beat in sync. The way I feel you even when I’m not with you.That’sthe Call.”
She slowly pulls her hand free, fisting them in her lap. “I don’t know, Sutton. This is almost too much to believe…” Her gaze doesn’t leave mine, but I can see she’s struggling.
Hell, if I hadn’t seen it happen time and time again, I’d doubt it too. In the beginning, it was almost too much to hope that it was true.
“I think I need to read that book,” she says quietly.
I sense her pulling away from me before she physically moves back over to her end of the couch, taking a healthy gulp of her wine when it’s within reach.
Then her eyes jump to mine. “Alex and Cate have been trying to get me to read those books foryears,” she whispers.
I can’t help but smile at that, but I’m still on edge. Now that Blair has been brought back into my life, I’ll be damned if I let her slip through my fingers a second time. The first timewas because of my anxiety and waiting too long. This time, I’m prepared to wait however long it takes for me to prove to her that she’s my One. My soulmate. My heart.
“I think I might go,” I say, pushing up to my feet. “You need time and space to process this.”
She opens her mouth to say something but shuts it again. “Yeah. I think you’re right.”
I nod. “I know it’s a bit out of left field.”
“Just a bit,” she snorts before she cocks her head and looks me dead in the eye. “But you believe it, this prophesy.”
“I think I would’ve struggled with it had I not read the books and seen it happen with Will and Birdie, and then Case and Isla. It’s happened too many times now for itnotto be true. Besides, I can’t think of anythin’ better than knowin’ that the mountain has brought me the one person put on this earth for me to love.”
“I just… you think that’sme?How can you be sure?”
This is it. It’s time to lay my cards on the table and put myself out there, something I couldn’t do back in Boston.
Bracing my arm on the back of the couch, I lean in close so that she’s all that I can see. “Gorgeous, a decade ago I wasn’t ready for you and missed my chance. I’ll be damned if I let myself make the same mistake. Not with you, not again. Believe me when I say I’m ready for you now. I made it my mission to work on myself so that when you came, I’d be the man you deserve when you found me.”
“Sutton…” she says softly.
“I’ve beenwaitin’, Blair, and I’ll keep doin’ it for as long as it takes for you to trust me when I say you’re right where you belong.”
Her lips part, her breath hitching as wonder and curiosity cross her features.I can work with that.
