Sarah walked briskly, begging herself not to cry.

She reached the front door to the office, and answered her ringing phone as she stepped outside.

“Hello?”

“Sarah, are you okay?” Mandy asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied, pausing to gather herself.

Oberon Logging was housed in an old Arts & Crafts bungalow with a porch overlooking the creek and the valley below.

The view was exquisite. A pair of well-used rocking chairs set up on the porch told her Max felt the same. She imagined sitting in one of the chairs with Orson in his sling, looking out over the scenic vista.

Somehow, the panorama of fall beauty only made things worse.

Her eyes began to water, and she tripped down the steps out to the gravel lot where her rental car waited.

“You don’t sound fine,” Mandy said. “Did you talk to him yet?”

“Oh, I talked to him,” Sarah said, opening the car door and sliding in.

“Well, how did it go?” Mandy asked. “What did he say?”

“I, um, I didn’t tell him about Orson,” she admitted.

“What?” Mandy asked.

The phone switched to Bluetooth and Mandy’s last question echoed accusingly through the car’s speaker system.

Sarah turned down the volume and pulled out of the parking lot.

“I just didn’t have the heart,” she sighed. “I’m going back in the morning. But I don’t think I’ll tell him then either.”

“Why not?”

“He was kind of a jerk,” she said.

“Oh,” Mandy said, sounding taken aback. “I thought you really liked him.”

“I did,” Sarah replied. “I guess it has been a whole year. He was really cold.”

There was a moment of silence so long she almost wondered if the call had dropped.

“Maybe you should come back now,” Mandy suggested. “There’s no point in seeing him again if you’re not going to tell him”

“No, I’m exhausted,” Sarah said. “It was a nine hour drive. I need sleep. And besides, I really do need to meet with him at the office tomorrow. He took a partner, and I want to meet with her in person, since I’ll need both of them when the trees are mature.”

“Hmm,” Mandy replied.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing,” her sister said. “Just… do you think the fact that the new partner’s a she has anything to do with him being cold?”

The silent roar of jealousy in Sarah’s chest took her breath away.

“Sarah?”

“Who knows?” she replied quickly, thinking of the pair of rockers on the porch in a different light. “I should go now, since I’m driving, but I’ll call back when I get to the hotel so I can talk to Orson. Is he doing okay?”

“I hate to tell you this, but he’s happy as a clam,” Mandy admitted. “I’m sure he misses you, but between Kate and the kids and his Aunt Mandy cuddling and playing with him, he really doesn’t have time to pine.”

Relief flooded Sarah’s body.

“Oh, good,” she said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“If things turn around just take your time,” Mandy said. “I planned a week out here when you said you needed me.”

“Have I told you lately that you’re the best sister ever?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, but it never hurts to have it printed on a t-shirt,” Mandy teased. “Get some sleep. And don’t worry too much about that guy. Orson’s got everything he needs with you.”

They signed off, and Sarah was alone in the car with her thoughts.

The road wound around the hillsides, occasionally opening onto a spectacular view of the valley.

It was hard not to be reminded of her trip here last year.

The bright foliage through the windshield gave way to the memory of the crisp woods and Max beside her.

She’d been ridiculously attracted to him from the moment she’d stepped into his office.

By the time he answered her questions about the industry she had scooted her chair close enough to practically see her reflection in his dark eyes.

When he stood to shake her hand, the scent of the forest tickled her nose, and his hand sent a tingle of awareness down to her toes.

“Would you like me to walk the timberland with you, Miss Bennett?” he asked, just as she was turning to go.

“It’s Sarah, please,” she’d said. “And yes, I’d love that.”

They spent the day hiking the trees she was about to buy.

Sarah considered herself the outdoorsy type, but Max didn’t even have to stop and consider his wanderings, he clearly knew the ridges and sky outside Asheville like his own backyard.

When evening came, they’d gone to a small pub where he’d plied her with hard cider until she finally agreed to dance with him.

And after they walked back to his office, he invited her in.

He lived in a tidy apartment above the office. The decor was simple, which only accentuated the breathtaking view over the river and the forest

Sarah had always been self-conscious, but she’d lost herself immediately in Max’s arms. The heat of his body pressed to hers, the sweetness of the cider lingering in their mouths, the scent of the wood stove in the corner and the night birds’ cries through the open window all swirled together and she floated in a sea of bliss. It felt right to be in his embrace, right for him to possess her fully and for her to melt for him again and again.

But in the morning she’d woken up early and felt all the embarrassment that had failed her the night before. Sarah aspired to be a woman of character. How could she sleep with a man she had just met?

She’d snuck out while he slept, and fled, with the taste of him still on her mouth. Secretly, she hoped that it had meant something more to him too, that he would reach out to her.

And then when he did, she suspected he was just being nice in order to keep her business, and decided it would be better to just ignore his calls and forget all about Max Reynolds.

About six weeks later, she learned that although she could ignore his calls, she wasn’t going to be forgetting him any time soon.

Sweet Orson had been conceived in that night of happiness and comfort.

That was good enough for Sarah, and it would have to be enough for Orson too.

At last she pulled up at the bed and breakfast where she had stayed last time. She parked behind the big Queen Anne Victorian and grabbed her bags out of the trunk.

Now that the trip was looking less bright than she’d hoped, she almost wished she’d booked a room at a regular hotel, but it was too late now.

As the owner had promised, the key was under the mat of the clapboard carriage house behind the big house. She opened up and just like last time, she had to smile at the coziness of the space.

The sconce lights on either side of the fireplace were on to welcome her, revealing the whole first floor - a small but open space with a living room, dining table and an open kitchen.

An inviting looking stack of paperbacks waited for her next to the big cozy chair by the fireplace. And someone had placed a bouquet of fresh wild flowers and a basket of muffins on the kitchen island.

She dashed upstairs and began to unpack in the largest bedroom. When she was finished, she could call and coo to Orson over the phone. Then she’d have a warm bath in the clawfoot tub and wander down for a snack and a look at that collection of paperbacks.

A night of relaxation would surely put her worries at bay and help her be ready to face the day tomorrow. She missed Orson terribly, but she also couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed an evening that wasn’t punctuated by feedings and diaper changes.