Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“I missed you,” he says.
“I missed you, too, though I knew you were out there somewhere with me.”
“When you two are done being devastatingly tender, could someone slice the bread?” Boone says.
Cade grins at me, then puts his hands under the water to wash up.
As I’m drying my hands, Rhett comes in from the direction of his bedroom office with his reading glasses still on. When I told him how appealing he looked in those glasses, he said he had no idea what I meant, but he seems to wear them more often now.
He folds his glasses and slides them into the neck of his shirt as he looks around at me, Boone, and Cade, as if he’s taking a mental roll call, and his expression changes in a nearly imperceptible way I’ve learned to read.
Then he walks over, cups the back of my neck, and closes his mouth down on mine. Boone’s kiss was playful and hungry, Cade’s was quiet, and Rhett kisses me like he’s confirming something.
I’m here, I came back, and everyone he loves is under the same roof.
“Everything clear?” he asks when he lifts his head.
He means the trails Turner used, and maybe even the fear that still rises when a branch snaps unexpectedly.
“Everything’s clear.”
“Field report?” he asks as his thumb strokes the back of my neck.
“The western corridor’s active again.”
“And you?”
I smile because I know what he’s really asking. “I’m home.”
Boone clicks off the burner. “Now that Rhett’s completed his interrogation, can we eat?”
“I wasn’t interrogating her.”
Cade chuckles as he slices the bread. Boone starts carrying food out from the kitchen, and Rhett helps him, while I get drinks for everyone.
The food smells incredible. There’s smoked chicken, roasted potatoes, the peppers and onions, and fresh bread. On the island, there’s a fruit cobbler cooling, made from berries I picked yesterday.
As I set the last glass of iced tea on the table, Boone slides both of his arms around my waist and rests his chin on the top of my head. “Best part of the day,” he murmurs.
“Dinner?”
“You.”
I lean back against him, smiling.
A second later, Cade steps in beside us and slides an arm around my shoulders, squeezing my arm. He bends and kisses my temple before resting there a moment.
Rhett watches us as he sets the butter on the table, then he crosses the last few steps and stops in front of me. He brings his hand to my cheek and brushes across my skin with familiar certainty. “You have dirt on your face, Red,” he says.
“I probably have dirt everywhere.” I grin. “Are you going to let me sit down anyway?”
Rhett’s mouth curves and his eyes close halfway. “I suppose.” Then he leans down and kisses me so good, I forget everything else for a moment.
When he draws back, he stays close, setting a hand on my waist, fitting it alongside Boone’s, while Cade’s arm stays around my shoulder.
I’m completely surrounded, safe, and wanted.
I’m home, in every sense of the word.
It’s a life I’d have never been brave enough or creative enough to imagine, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.
I’m still smiling and feeling the warmth of the men’s arms even after we separate to take our places around the table.
Outside, evening settles in over the mountain.
Inside, I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
***