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For several miles, his bear said nothing.

You’ve been desperate for this all week, Gabe said eventually.

His bear stirred. I know.

Gabe waited.

When his bear spoke again, the earlier excitement had gone. I don’t want to frighten her.

The admission caught Gabe by surprise. His bear had never doubted that Mara belonged in their life, had never hesitated over wanting her close, and had spent days impatient for the moment she would finally know what they were. But now that the moment was almost here, what mattered most to him was not his own excitement.

It was Mara.

Neither do I, Gabe replied.

Mara recognized the road a few minutes later. “We’re going back to the orchard?”

“Yes.”

She looked toward him. “And whatever you need to show me is there?”

“I need somewhere private.”

The humor faded from her expression, and Gabe wished he could reassure her without giving away what he was about to do.

They passed the main parking area and continued farther up the narrow track until Gabe stopped near the older section of the orchard, well beyond the trees visitors used for picking. Here the rows had lost some of their neatness. The trees were older and broader, their branches reaching across the spaces between them, while fallen leaves and windfall apples covered the ground beneath.

Mara climbed out and looked around. “All right.”

Gabe came around the truck and held out his hand. She paused for only a moment before putting hers into his, and that simple act of trust made it even harder to think about how differently she might look at him in a few minutes.

He led her between the trees, away from the track and farther into the old orchard. Leaves crackled beneath their feet. Above them, a bird flitted away through a canopy of copper and gold.

The farther they walked, the quieter his bear became. There was no impatience now, no urging Gabe to hurry. Only an awareness of Mara beside them and the knowledge that soon there would be nothing left hidden between them.

They reached a small clearing where the orchard opened toward the mountain. Nobody from the road could see them there, and the surrounding trees would hide even a large bear from anyone who happened to wander farther into the orchard.

Gabe stopped and released Mara’s hand.

She turned slowly, taking in the clearing before facing him again. The uncertainty on her face was impossible to miss now.

“What I’m about to show you is going to seem impossible,” Gabe said. “But I would never hurt you.”

Mara looked at him for a long moment. “I know that.”

No hesitation. No qualification.

Gabe stepped away from her, his pulse quickening as he put several feet between them. It wasn’t the shift that worried him. It was what Mara would do when she saw his bear. Would she run? He couldn’t blame her if she did. Or would she stay, and look at him afterward as if she had never known him at all? That would be worse. Either way, in another minute the choice would be hers.

His bear had gone completely still.

Are you ready? Gabe asked.

Warmth moved through him as his bear answered.

I have waited my whole life for her.

Gabe looked at Mara one last time and let go of the world.