"Thank you. For saving my life."
"Thank you." His arms tighten around me. "For saving mine."
I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat, steady and strong, and let myself believe that the future we're planning will actually come true.
For the first time in my life, I'm not afraid of the variables I can't control.
Because I have him. And he has me.
And somehow, against all odds, that's enough.
EPILOGUE
BOONE
ONE YEAR LATER
The cabin smells like coffee and cinnamon rolls, and somewhere in the kitchen, Mara is singing off key to a song I don't recognize.
I lie in bed for a moment, listening. A year ago, this cabin was silent. Orderly. Every item in its designated place, every surface clear, every corner accounted for. Now there's a laptop charging on the nightstand, a stack of physics journals on the floor beside the bed, and a pair of bright red hiking boots kicked off by the door.
Chaos. Beautiful, perfect chaos.
"I know you're awake." Her voice carries from the kitchen. "Your breathing changed five minutes ago."
"Surveillance is my job, not yours."
"I learned from the best." She appears in the bedroom doorway, wearing one of my flannels and nothing else, a mug of coffee in each hand. "Happy anniversary."
"It's not our anniversary."
"It's the anniversary of the day you blocked my car with your truck and looked at me like I was a problem you couldn't solve." She crosses to the bed, handing me a mug and settling beside me. "I'm counting that."
"By that logic, we've had seventeen anniversaries this year."
"And you've remembered every single one." She grins at me over her coffee. "Which is very romantic, Mr. I Don't Do Sentiment."
I pull her closer, careful not to spill either mug. The scar on my shoulder pulls slightly with the movement, a permanent reminder of the night everything changed. I don't mind it. Every time I see it in the mirror, I remember why it's there.
I remember what I almost lost. And what I found instead.
"The team dinner is at six," I say. "Vivian wants us there early to help set up."
"Vivian wants me to help with the new protocol software. The team dinner is her excuse to corner me in the kitchen while Deck distracts you with tactical planning."
"You're probably right."
"I'm always right." She drains her coffee and sets the mug aside. "Also, my dad called this morning. He's flying in next week for the grand opening."
The grand opening. My chest tightens pleasantly at the thought.
Six months ago, Mara announced she was opening a satellite office of Plummer Technologies in Whisper Vale. A small team, just a dozen employees, focused on the non classified aspects of her quantum encryption work. The building is a converted warehouse on the edge of town, retrofitted with security features I personally designed and equipment Colt fabricated in his shop.
She didn't have to do it. Her company runs fine from San Francisco, and she's proven adept at managing remotely.But she wanted roots here. Wanted to build something that connected her old life to her new one.
Wanted to bring jobs to a town that's become her home as much as mine.
"Richard's staying at the lodge?" I ask.
