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A shaky breath that sounds almost like a laugh falls from my lips. “So, getting out of this car and going to marry this guy…you wouldn’t be mad?”

“Of course not,” Jess replies. “Just be careful. Well, more careful. You are pregnant, after all.”

“Hey, I did all the right things. He wore a condom, I got his name. It was just a freak accident,” I say with a snort. “No one could have predicted this would be the outcome.”

Jess laughs from the other end before groaning. “Okay. Go marry him. Then, you know, come home so Mom learns this from you and not Facebook. Also, don’t try to tell her this over the phone. I don’t think it’ll go over well. Actually, this might just give her a heart attack.”

“Worse than the one she got when she found out about Caleb and Cassidy?” I ask carefully.

For a moment, my sister is quiet. Then, she laughs. “No, probably not.” She sighs again. “Go do what your heart is telling you it wants to do. You might not be in Willow Ridge right now, but I’m sure the mountains have doused you in enough of their magic to let you know that what you’re doing is the right thing.”

My heart swells, and as if he senses me watching, Max looks up. All I can imagine is this potential future we could have. The bungalow at the end of the cul-de-sac with fall leaves and children running around in Halloween costumes.

But I don’t know if I see it here, or back home.

“I know what I’m going to do,” I tell Jess. “Will coming home for Christmas with a husband and newborn be too much?”

“It might send Mom to the psych hospital and Caleb on a bit of a rampage, but hey. What’s a family Christmas dinner without a bit of drama?”

I grin as I grab the license. “Love you.”

“Do what’s best for you and that baby, and I’ll see you when you come home. Door is always open. Okay?” Jess says.

I take comfort in always having my big sister. “I will, and thank you. See you soon.”

With that, I hang up and get out of the truck. Max straightens, the corners of his lips quirking as I stride towards him with the license in hand. He meets me halfway, arms wrapping around my middle and bringing me flush against him—or as flush as I can be with this baby.

“I should have told you I would do anything to make this work,” he murmurs, dropping his forehead to mine.

I swallow hard. “Would you consider moving?” I ask carefully, heart racing. “I mean, I really like it here. I suppose I haven’t seen enough to make an actual informed decision and well, you guys do have these amazing cinnamon rolls which are a huge plus⁠—”

Max cuts me off with a swipe of his lips. “Winnie?”

“Yes?” I ask, smiling up at him.

“Will you marry me?”

Tears burn my eyes as I nod. “Yes.”

Max releases a shaky breath as his forehead drops to mine again. “Thank fuck.”

I close my eyes and breathe him in; my chest warms with how comforting he feels, and relief pools in my stomach at how easy it is to simply exist with him. And it helps knowing he still wants me. Wants this. Wants to marry me.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I murmur.

He hums under his breath, then sighs. “I will follow you to Alaska if that’s what you want,” he says finally. “I’ll go wherever you go, and if you want to have this baby in your hometown surrounded by your family, then I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

The tears I’ve been trying to hold back threaten to spill over. “You will?”

“Yes,” he says, pulling away. I blink my eyes open and stare at him. “Winnie, I don’t care where we live or where we raise Parasite. I don’t care if it’s here or in Colorado. The only thing I care about is you.”

I can’t stop the first tear from falling, or the second. But Max wipes away the third before it can streak down my cheek. “Really?”

He chuckles, nodding once. “Yes.”

I blow out a shaky breath and look around, taking in the gorgeous dark brick buildings, the runway of trees releasing their fall leaves in preparation for the incoming winter, the wet streets and dark clouds hanging over us. I think about the weekend; the kids running rampant in costumes with their parents chasing after them, the joy of simply having him by my side.

And I realise, that’s all I really care about.