Stone salutes him away while Stone’s phone vibrates in his pocket. He pulls it out only to huff a sound.
“Well, seems like tomorrow’s brunch with my brother has returned to normal. Isla texted that she attempted to make muffins and a casserole for tomorrow and she burned them all.”
I smile to myself. “Huh, I guess now that I’m here, they don’t need to impress me. Everyone can be themselves.”
Stone pecks my lips quickly. “That’s a good thing. But still, remind me to pick up donuts tomorrow morning so we don’t starve.” He nods to someone behind me. “Your cookies are ready. Be right back.”
As he heads off, I reflect to myself.
This feels so damn perfect. Stone Madden was always right. We were always going to be something. We were always going to have a life together. In Lake Spark too.
Maybe if I would have realized earlier then it would have gone so easily, but then it might not feel as amazing as it does now. Hurdles make us stronger.
The only thing I will always hold on to inside of me with strong conviction is that the moment Stone’s eyes met mine with the strike of a flame would lead us here.
In that moment, I should have known that it would always be him.
EPILOGUE: STONE
6 MONTHS LATER
Well, that plan went out the window.
The whole “have a few days at the Dizzy Duck Inn with my secret motive” plan.
We have people in to repaint my home office and add another wall so Harlow and I each have some space to work. It meant that we needed to be out of the house for a few days.
Perfect. We could stay at the place where it all started. Use my investment card to get us a great room too, except that’s under renovation, so we had to settle on a smaller chic room.
And now, Harlow is lying on her stomach with her head near the edge of the bed, and although I think she has drool escaping from the corner of her mouth, she still looks beautiful.
Her groan fills the room. “Stone, I can’t take this. Take me out to the pasture and kill me.”
I snort a laugh and come to kneel down next to her, my fingers instantly finding home on that spot behind her ears. “Well, that’s a bleak outlook. It’s just a virus. It will pass.”
Yep, a romantic few days got obliterated by a virus that’s taken her down for the count.
“Is the room spinning?” she mumbles.
I pretend to evaluate the room. “I don’t think so.” She growls from that answer. “Just rest.” I reach for the thermometer and take her temp; it’s one of those forehead gun ones. “Yikes, you should probably take off a layer or two to get the fever down.”
Her hand rises then flops back down. “You want to really try and get me naked right now?”
I grin. “Oh, how I wish it would be for the reason I want. But that’s not what’s happening.” Harlow murmurs into the mattress, and she looks miserable. “At least we ruled out that we didn’t fall into the accidental-pregnancy trope. That’s, I guess, a bright side.” Not that we don’t want kids, just not now. We both agreed we wanted to enjoy life with just the two of us before adding a little one to the mix. Until then, we can dote on my niece.
“My head hurts.”
“Sleep, Harlow,” I order before I adjust the pillows.
“So bossy.” She still manages to tease me, which tells me that she must be on the mend.
By the time she’s fast asleep with a little snore because she’s ill, I take a moment to recall how my master plan has failed.
I walk to the corner of the room, shove my hand down the inner pocket of my suitcase, and pull out the envelope. A letter that screams special. It's closed with melted wax, our initials imprinted. On the inside, the letter is written in the beauty of a fountain pen that uses actual ink. You can imagine a quill and a lantern nearby.
Trapping the envelope between my fingers, I sigh because I didn’t get my moment.
But I guess that’s us. Our road together tends to have corners and twists and turns until we land right back where we started; together.
