“It’s goin’ to be a battle—” he continues.
“Not for me and her. With her brothers? Maybe. But Em and I are goin’ to be just fine,” I reply before he can finish. “I’m walkin’ into this with my eyes open and my heart sure. My soul is all in, Sutt. Whatever happens, whatever it takes, I’m prepared to be patient and see it through. I believe in the Call and I want to honor the promise I made Sully. He might’ve been the one to ask, but I didn’t have to think before I said yes.”
“For the record, Em didn’t take long to agree either,” Sutt adds.
“She’s doin’ this for her dad,” Will says quietly. “We’re just lookin’ out for you, brother.”
“That’s how I know I can do this, Will. I’ve got all of you.”
“Damn. That’s deep,” Case replies.
I shrug. “The way I see it, the best thing we ever did was move to this mountain. Y’all have found your Ones, and I’ve?—”
“Got Wyatt,” Case replies with a smirk, making us all laugh.
“Yes,” I agree, “but this is my chance to give back to the mountain, to this family. ToEm.” I look around all of them feeling even more certain than ever that getting married today is the right thing to do.
No, not the right thing… It's what Ineedto do.
It’s destiny, after all.
I’m cleaned up and dressed in the best clothes I could find—or borrow from my brothers. On my feet are my lucky boots I brought with me when we moved here. It’s the first time in a long while they’ve been shined within an inch of their life though.
Staring at myself in the mirror, I’m struggling to get my wavy brown hair to cooperate—or at least stay in one place—when there’s a knock at my door.
“Come in.” I know it’ll be one of my brothers. They’ve been conspicuously quiet since our talk on the porch but I’m still expecting a last-ditch effort to change my mind—or one last check that yes, I reallydowant to do this. News flash, I’m not changing my mind.
Moments later, Will’s head pops around the corner. “Are you decent?”
I arch a brow with a laugh. “Bit late to ask now, don’t you think?”
“Good point,” he chuckles, stepping inside. In his hands is a nondescript but dusty as hell wooden box. It looks a lot like the one he found under his floorboards when we first started renovating. That one had been hidden there by Gramps.
“Why are you bringin’ me your box from Gramps?”
He sits on my bed before holding it out to me. “It ain’t mine. This one’s for you.”
I stare at the box. It has my name carved roughly into the wooden lid. I jerk my gaze back to Will. “Moresecrets from Gramps?”
“Thinkin’ this might be the last one, but you never know with him. We might end up findin’ treasures and trinkets for years to come yet.”He’s not wrong there.
“OK. What’s in it?”
Will shrugs. “Beats me. I wasn’t goin’ to open it without you. If Gramps wanted you to have this, you know there’s a reason.”
I look at the box again, equally scared and curious about what might be inside. Given the day I’ve had—and what’saboutto happen in a few hours—it could be anything. “Where’d you find it?”
“At the back of the bunker under the shelves with the expired medical supplies. Don’t know how we didn’t spot it sooner, but I caught sight of it last week when I was down there checkin’ how much space we have left.”
My brows furrow. “It was just sittin’ there? We’ve all been down there so many times. How could we have missed it?”
“I’m startin’ to think that place is haunted.”
“By our grandfather?” I shudder. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Case better watch his back. We always said Gramps would come back and visit him if he put a satellite on the mountain.”
Will laughs. “I still believe that Grumps is Gramps incarnate.” He nods to the box. “You goin’ to open this thing or do you want me to?”
“You’re the one still holdin’ it.”