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The lantern nearest them moved gently in the wind, throwing shifting light across his face. They were standing closer now than they had been at the rail, close enough that Mara had to tip her head back slightly to look at him, and his thumbs moved once over her knuckles.

His expression changed. The smile faded, but not because anything was wrong.

Mara had seen him look at her before. She had caught him doing it across the table at the restaurant, in the bakery, on the trail. This was different. There was want in his face, she knew that much, but there was something softer beneath it too, something that made her heart tighten unexpectedly.

“Gabe.”

His eyes moved to her mouth, then back to her eyes, and for one breath she thought he was going to kiss her.

He didn’t. He stood there with her hands inside his, and waited.

He wanted her to choose.

The realization sent a small rush of heat through her that had nothing to do with his palms.

Mara stepped closer, and Gabe went very still.

She could have stopped there. She didn’t. She lifted her face, and his head lowered at the same moment.

The first touch of his mouth against hers was gentle. Warm. Careful enough that she felt the question in it.

Mara answered by leaning into him.

His hands released hers only so one could slide around her back, the other brushing lightly along her cheek as he kissed her again, deeper this time but still unhurried. For a few seconds there was only Gabe. His mouth. His warmth. The steady pressure of his hand and the faint sound of her own breath when she finally drew back.

They stayed close. Gabe looked down at her, and Mara smiled, and couldn’t seem to help it. His answering smile was almost shy.

And that made her want to kiss him all over again, so she did, leaning in before she could think too much about it. This time there was no question in it. Gabe made a quiet sound low in his throat and drew her a little closer, and when Mara stepped back she was still smiling.

Yesterday she had been very aware of how little time she’d known Gabe and how recently she’d ended things with Scott. Tonight, she still knew it. She just didn’t want to step away. Was it too soon? Probably. But it didn’t feel like a mistake, standing here under the lanterns with the taste of cider and Gabe still on her lips. It felt like the first thing she had been sure of since she packed her suitcase.

“So,” she said softly.

“So.” Gabe held out his hand.

Mara looked at it, then at him, and slipped her fingers through his. His hand closed around hers, and they started walking again.

The trail wound on beneath the lanterns, quieter now, the lights stretching ahead through the trees. Mara stayed close enough that their shoulders touched from time to time, and after a while she stopped noticing when it happened.

Her hand was warm now. Not because she had remembered her gloves. Because Gabe was holding it.

Once they stopped beneath a cluster of lanterns hung high in the branches, their light shifting in the breeze. Mara tipped her head back to look at them, and without thinking about it she leaned against Gabe’s shoulder. For the briefest moment he didn’t move. Then he relaxed against her.

Mara stayed where she was. The moon shone through the branches above them, while somewhere farther along the trail somebody laughed and the sound faded again into the trees.

Eventually Gabe said, “We should probably keep moving.”

“Probably.” Neither of them did, and Mara smiled against his shoulder.

A moment later they moved on, still hand in hand, and the trail curved out of sight ahead of them between the lanterns.

For once, Mara didn’t care how long it took them to reach the end.

CHAPTER 10

Gabe

The first batch of bread had come out late, and Gabe couldn’t explain why.