“Firstly, that man loves you. There’s no way he’ll let you live at home while he’s at Cooper Ranch. But don’t you worry about that.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Just leave it to me,” Dare replies. “Jude wasn’t the only one Dad asked to look out for you, Little Em.Yourjob is to focus on you and your husband. Trust us to take care of the rest.”
“What does thatmean, Dare?”
“You’ve got to trust me.”
“I do. Implicitly,” I reply without any hesitation.
A slow growing smile curves his lips. “Good. Cause all we want is to have you back on the mountain she calls home. Let us do this for you, call it a weddin’ present.”
“Albeit, a little late,” Ash says. “Then again, it wasn’tsupposedto be real. Was it?” He shoots me a smirk.
“Yeah, yeah. More the fool me.”
Dare laughs. “Nope. More the foolusfor underestimatin’ the old man. He knew exactly what he was doin’ and wouldn’t have chosen Jude for you without knowin’ what was comin’. Not when it comes to you. Not when the mountain never gets it wrong.” God I love my brothers.
I look back out at my husband.No, she definitely got it right this time.
I think back to the journal entries I’ve read so far from Henley and Marion and how they justknewthey’d met the love of their lives.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t question it when Dad asked Jude to marry me and why I’ve never had any doubt about my husband or his intentions. If anything, I’m the one who has been questionin’ the life I’ve lived so far.
What I have realized is I will always miss my parents, that will never change. I also know they would want me to remember them and cherish their memory but not let it hold me back.
I want to live my life to the fullest and make them proud, and I want to do that on the mountain that I have–and always will–call home.
It’s just now, I get to do that with my One. My husband. MyJude.
Chapter 20
Jude
Em and I don’t get the chance to be alone again until two nights later when the Wilsons and Wyatt leave us to go back to Timber Falls.
I love that they all came to check on her–with Wy tagging along for the ride–but the power of the Call is strong, which means I’ve beendyingto have my wife all to myself again.
Turning my head on the pillow, I brush my lips over her temple. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“I’m tryin’ to work up the courage to tell you somethin’,” she says into the dark room.
My body stiffens on instinct, all warm and fuzzy thoughts going out the window and replaced with worry. I quickly run through a highlight reel of the last week to try and work out what could’ve gone wrong. A lot has happened, but I thought we were in a good place.
We’relivingtogether now. I have a list of projects I’m slowly adding to that I want to do around the house. And though I won’t admit it if asked, I’ve enjoyed being somewhat of a house husband this week while my wife works in her dream job every day.
Sensing my worry, Em reaches over and switches the bedside light on, bathing the room in a soft warm glow before sitting cross-legged on the mattress facing me.
Unable to stop myself, I let my eyes roam over her bare body. Tracking my line of sight, she snorts, laughing under her breath as she grabs the sheet and spoils my view.
“Eyes up here, hubby,” she muses.
“Sorry.”
“Oh no, don’t you dare apologize for checking me out,” she replies, narrowing her eyes. “My body, my soul, myheartis yours, Jude.”
“Gotta say, you tellin’ me you’re scared to tell me somethin’ is always goin’ to make me worry, wifey.”