How had he known she’d needed this?
“And your mother was one of those dreams?” he asked gently.
Mom.The familiar ache twisted tighter. “Grandpa died in a car accident when Mom was just a few years old.” She tried for a light shrug, but the grief still clung to her like a shadow. “I’m sure they would’ve had more kids if they’d had more time. Granny loved children.”
The road curved sharply, and ahead a tunnel yawned open from the mountainside.
“Oh, tunnel ahead.” Gratefully seizing the excuse to shift gears, she glanced over at Finn, mischief sparking. “My mom always warned me about tunnels. I like to be prepared.”
His deadpan response came without missing a beat. “Shocking revelation, Miss Austen.”
She snorted, and the tension in her chest cracked open a little more.
“Is sarcasm a permanent character trait for you?” she asked as the tunnel swallowed them in darkness.
Beside her, his voice dropped, low and wicked in the dark. “Some people inspire it more than others.”
Oh wow.
That voice... in the dark.
Her pulse floundered. “I’m flattered,” she said, aiming for breezy but hearing the breathlessness underneath.
“You should be.”
The tunnel spat them out into blinding sunlight, but the moment between them clung to the air.
She tossed the hair off her face and glanced briefly over at Finn. “I think one of my more prominent character traits is that I love giving other people surprises.”
She threw him a wink and caught the flash of something dangerous in his eyes before she turned her attention back to the road.
Whew.
“Good surprises? If not, that seems highly unfair of you.” His voice was rougher than before.
“I see it as generosity,” she tossed back. “Giving rather than receiving.”
He chuckled. “Ah, so not only are you magnanimous with the pressure of your foot on the gas pedal, but also with your surprises?”
She started to laugh—then caught the sly jab—and instinctively eased off the accelerator. “Sorry.” She shot him an unrepentant grin. “I forget the first time on this road can feel a little... death-defying.”
“I’ve only seen my life flash before my eyes twice in the last half hour.” He gestured to the stunning vista unfurling around them. “But if I had to go, this view”—his eyes caught hers, lingered, softened—“would certainly make for a memorable send-off.”
Volcanic heat infused her middle and into her face to the teary-eyed spot. Heaven and earth! She tried to redirect the reaction to something she could handle while driving. “I can do better than just a drive-by view.” She nodded ahead. “There’s an overlook with a short hike for an even better view.”
She veered into a small, paved turnout and flung open her door. “Come on,” she called over the roof of the car, willing her pulse to behave. “You’re going to love it.”
Or at least she hoped he would.
Finn rounded the hood to meet her, and without thinking she grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the trailhead.
He didn’t just let her; he laced his fingers through hers like he’d been waiting for the invitation. And her heart settled into the touch,even as it lit a thousand nerve endings through her she didn’t even know she had.
They crested the overlook together, the view exploding open before them—layers upon layers of blue mountains rolling toward the horizon, the trees already whispering hints of gold and crimson at their edges.
The sky stretched endlessly overhead, clear and impossibly blue, and her smile stretched with it. This was home. She breathed it in.
Finn stopped beside her, his hand still linked in hers.
