“That’s good,” I say, cracking open the beer and taking a much-needed swig. “You can imagine the grillin’ I got from your brothers when I told them what had happened.”
A snort escapes her. “Let me guess, Ash was the worst?”
I smirk. “Oh yeah.”
“What did your family say?”
“They know it’s nobody’s fault. That was what I was worried about, that y’all would think I did it on purpose.”
She’s already shaking her head before I’ve finished speaking. “That thought would never have crossed my mind. You didn’t know what Dad was goin’ to ask of you that day.
I nod, feeling a hell of a lot better at her faith in me and my character. “I just knew I had to go with Sutt and Blair that day. A gut feelin’, I guess. Then I saw you and it was like I’d been walkin’ around blind and finally I could see.”
Her lips part and I know I’ve caught her off-guard with that.
“I had no idea. I knew I felt calm when you were close to me and somehow I just knew you were a safe place for me and my family,” she says.
“It’s crazy, right?”
She scrubs her face with her hands as a dry laugh escapes her. “You’d think I’d know something was up when I didn’t even think before acceptin’ your proposal.”
“Definitely not complainin’ about that, not since it’s brought me to you, here and now.”
She stares at me for a good long while before nodding, a gentle smile curving lips I can’t stop looking at.
“So, where do we—” she asks, just as I say, “What do you think—” and we both laugh.
“Seems we have a habit of talkin’ at the same time, hubby,” she says with a wink.
I nod her way. “You go first.”
“I was goin’ to ask where we go from here?”
“That’s all up to you. I came to Palmer to tell you in person about the mix up. But, in the interest of honesty, I already wanted to see you before Pete told me. I’ve really enjoyed gettin’ to know you better over the past few weeks and I’ve been feelin’ pretty bad the last wee while. Probably because of the?—”
“Call,” we say at the same time.This time our synchronized thinking fits perfectly.
“Yeah,” I add, staring down at the beer in my hand. “I know the prophesy is in Aster’s books and has become somewhat like folklore these days, but I’ve seen it happen so many times now that I do truly believe in it. I get it if you don’t though.”
Em’s quiet for a long time. When I look over at her, I find her watching me closely. “My thoughts on the Call are a bit more complicated.”
“Because of the rivalry?” I ask.
She shakes her head before she stops, as if to think about it, before she nods. When she shakes it again, I can’t help but bite back a grin. “I’ve never quite believed in the whole ‘meet the love of my life and have a happy ever after’ idea. Not because I was adopted or anythin’. My parents were amazin’. The best I could’ve ever asked for. I just didn’t set out and design my life around meetin’ someone and fallin’ for them. All of the decisions I’ve made have been with the sole focus of achievin’ whatIwant.”
“To be fair, I hadn’t put much thought into it myself. At least not until Gramps died and we moved to the mountain,” I say. “But there’s somethin’ about makin’ a big life change—or maybelosin’ someone you’re close to—that has a way of makin’ you reevaluate things.”
“I definitely understandthat.” Hope blooms in my chest.
“Then Will met Birdie and we found out about the Call, and seein’ how happy my brother was and how perfect him and Birdie are together, I realized that one day I might be lucky enough to find that too.”
Em’s face falls. “Oh.”
“Though, I wasn’t exactly sure I’d find my soulmate livin’ on a mountain in small-town Alaska. That seemed fairly unlikely,” I confess.
“Then you met me…”
“Bingo!” I reply, making her laugh quietly. The sound makes my heart flip.