“I will,” Morgan said.
And meant it.
Patrick reappeared in the doorway a few minutes later.
“You okay?” he asked.
She thought about it honestly. “Yes. I think I am.”
He came in and stood beside her. She leaned into him slightly. He put his arm around her. “Ready?”
She took one last look around.
“So ready,” she said.
She acceptedPatrick’s offer to drive back. She fell asleep before the city was fully in the rearview, which she hadn’t intended to do but which her body apparently decided was necessary. When she woke, they were already in the mountains, riding along the highway curving through the dark shapes of the ridgelines against the evening sky.
Patrick was driving with his usual unhurried ease, one hand on the wheel, the radio low. He glanced at her when she shifted.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“You needed it.”
She had. The last few days had taken a toll, but she hadn’t been lying when she said she was ready to move on. She looked at the mountains and felt a sense of peace settle over her.
The Pine Ridge town limits sign appeared in the headlights, and that’s when she felt it.
She was home.
EPILOGUE – PART I: WILL YOU?
PATRICK
In a very short time,Morgan Sullivan had become his lover, his best friend, his confidant, his…croie. She’d settled in Pine Ridge as if she was born to it, and he could no longer imagine his life without her in it.
Officially, she was living at Frank’s, and technically, it was true. In reality, she spent as many nights with Patrick as not. His housemates were fine with it. More than fine, actually. She’d become a part of their lives almost as much as his. She’d won Garrett over the minute he’d come home from work and found that she’d meticulously sanded and painted the wainscoting in the dining room. Declan appreciated the fact that she’d organized and color-coded the files in their newly renovated library-slash-office. He’d even seen Wade—who didn’t engage with people as a rule—smile as he watched Morgan playingfrisbee with Bruno in the back yard. It was hard to tell who was having more fun—Morgan or Bruno.
Sensing his stare, Morgan looked up from her laptop, gifting him with one of her smiles. She smiled a lot more these days—something he liked to take credit for.
Patrick ran his fingers over the small velvet box in his pocket. He’d had the ring custom made in nearby Sumneyville on personal recommendation. The jeweler had listened when he described what he wanted without trying to redirect him toward something safer or more conventional. A diamond, clean and simple. Emeralds flanking it on either side—deep green, the shade of Morgan’s eyes in the morning.
“Almost ready?” he asked.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Positive.”
“I’m perfectly fine staying here,” she tried. “I’ve got plenty to keep me busy, and it’s really a family thing…”
Her attempts to get him to leave her behind were cute. And totally out of the question.
He stalked across the room, gently closed the lid of her laptop, and leaned down for a kiss. “Youarefamily, Morgan.”
The expression on her face was a mixture of doubt and hope. His big, boisterous, nosy clan took some getting used to, but Morgan had quietly admitted that she’d always felt a little envious of close-knit families.
“It’s just… there are going to be so many people there.”
He’d been introducing them to her in small doses. This would be the first full-clan gathering, and he could see how it might be overwhelming.