By nightfall, Mrs. Dottie will have planned an entire wedding. I don’t care. I slide my hand into hers, feeling the weight of the ring between our fingers.
No more fake.
No more almost.
Just her.
Just me.
Choosing each other in the daylight instead of hiding in hallways.
And this time?
I’m never letting her go.
This woman is mine.
Epilogue
Sadie
By the time we make it down from the mountain, Devil’s Peak already knows.
There are exactly three ways news travels here: the church bulletin, the hardware store, and Mrs. Dottie Henderson’s phone tree. Levi and I haven’t even turned onto Main Street before I see people standing outside storefronts like they’re waiting for a parade.
“You told someone,” I accuse from the passenger seat.
He keeps one hand steady on the wheel, the other resting casually on the console like he didn’t just kneel at sunrise and flip my world upside down.
“I didn’t.”
“Then how does half the town look like they’re about to throw rice at my windshield?”
He glances at me, mouth curving faintly. “You’re wearing a ring the size of a sunrise.”
I look down at my hand again. The diamond catches the light, sharp and unapologetic. It doesn’t feel heavy. It feels right. Wepull up in front of the firehouse and I freeze. There are streamers tied to the ladder truck.
Actual streamers.
Pink and gold balloons bob against the garage doors. A banner hangs crookedly between two bay lights:
Congrats, Hotshot & Lieutenant!
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
Levi exhales slowly. “I’m going to pretend this is subtle.”
The garage doors roll open as if they’ve been waiting for our exact arrival.
Music blasts out—something loud and celebratory—and the entire firehouse crew spills into the bay in full grins.
Sawyer raises both arms. “ABOUT DAMN TIME!”
Tyler whistles. “Five thousand dollars well spent, Lieutenant!”
Heat floods my cheeks.
Levi climbs out of the truck first and comes around to my side before I can gather myself. He opens the door like we’re in some kind of small-town fairytale and holds out his hand.
