Denise checked the caller ID on the phone before answering. Only a few people had the number at the cabin, but they still got random calls from solicitors. She smiled when she saw the name.

“Hey. How’re you?”

“Funny,” Bree said. “That’s the same question I was going to ask you. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever.”

She walked across the kitchen to the sliding glass doors and out to the raised back deck. “I know. I’m sorry. I haven’t really felt up to making the effort.”

“Do you want me to let you go?”

“No!” Hearing Bree’s voice, she realized how much she missed her. “I want to talk to you. I just…I didn’t realize I needed to until I heard your voice.”

“I get it. How are the kids?”

She stared down at the dock where her parents had taken them after breakfast. Their shrieks of laughter echoed off the lake as they jumped off the dock and swam. Sweetpea loved the water as much as Kaden and Kimber and jumped right along with them.

“They’re good. Getting them into therapy right away helped, but it’s going to take a while before they’re a hundred percent.” She sighed and leaned against the wood railing.

“How’re things going at the rescue?” she asked. A tiny kernel of guilt lodged in her stomach, but she shoved it back down. She loved the rescue, but taking care of Kaden and Kimber was more important.

“The new office manager is working out really well. She asked if she could use the changes she’s making for her process improvement project for one of her management classes. I told her to go for it. I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course it is. What does a good grade mean? We absolutely sucked and she had to redo everything or she only had to make minor improvements for efficiency?”

Bree laughed. “No idea. Which do you want it to be?”

“Hopefully I didn’t screw it up that bad.”

“You’ve managed to bring in a profit the last few years, so I doubt it.”

“How are you and Jase settling in together?”

“We’re good.”

“You hesitated. Why did you hesitate?” Christ, if this shit screwed them up on top of everything else, she might very well lose her shit again.

“Normal learning to live together stuff. The man leaves his socks everywhere. And not both socks. One sock of a pair. Actually not even a pair, since I don’t think he has a matching pair.”

Tension in her shoulders released. Bree ranting meant Bree was annoyed, not ready to stab someone. Bree ranting was a good thing.

She listened half-heartedly and picked at the chipped stain on the railing.

“Have you heard from Chris at all?” Bree asked.

She quit picking at the chips. “A couple of texts from random numbers, but when I tried to call them back they’re not in service.”

“What did they say?”

“The first one said miss you and the second one said be home soon.”

“When was the last one?”

“A week or so, I guess?”

“Have you tried to call since then?

Too many times to count. “Not in a couple of days.”

“You okay?” Bree asked.

“Yeah. I’m just…you know. Doing that girly thing I hate doing.”

“Pining?”

“That’s such a stupid word. I’m questioning and second-guessing.” Was he coming back? Would it be the same now that he didn’t have a reason to be with her? Did he really mean to tell her he loved her? Why didn’t he give her a chance to say it back?

“So…pining.”

“Moist.”

“That doesn’t bother me.”

“Irregardless.”

Bree gasped. “You didn’t.”

“I did. I’ve got more where that came from.”

“Fine! I won’t say you’re…you know…anymore.”

“Thank you.”

“You know what your problem is?”

Denise rolled her eyes and dropped her head to her forearm where it rested on the railing. “If I say yes, can I avoid this next part?”

“No. You’re a closet romantic.”

“Do what now?”

“Face it. You say you hate all the girly stuff, but secretly you want Chris to come riding in on a white horse and sweep you off your feet.”

“I’m gonna have to go with no.”

“I’m bringing all my Disney movies up with me and we’re going to watch all of them until you admit it.”

She smiled in spite of the Disney threat. “I’ve missed you.”

“Aw. I’ve missed you, too. We’re still planning on being there for Labor Day weekend. That was actually the reason I called—to make sure it was still okay for us to come up.”

“Of course it is. Kaden and Kimber are excited to see you. Gran won’t come?”

“And I quote, ‘If God wanted me to be in the wilderness he wouldn’t have made cities.’”

“She does know this house has four bedrooms, right?” It even had satellite since her mom refused to rough it any more than Bree’s grandmother.

“She thinks it’s a log cabin with a moss roof. Hey. I’ve got to go. I sent you a present, so don’t shoot anyone coming up the drive.”

“What present?”

“It’s a surprise, silly. I’ll see you in a few days. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She disconnected the line and stared down at the phone, then dialed Chris’s number. Expecting it to go straight to voicemail, she stood upright when it rang more than once. Shit! She didn’t know what she was going to say. She’d dialed out of habit—she hadn’t believed it would actually ring.

Her heart pounded in her chest and sweat formed under her arms.

“Hey.”

“Hi. I—”

“I can’t answer the phone. Leave a message.”

Her shoulders sagged and she tried to look on the positive side. At least it was ringing now.

“Hey. It’s me. Denise. I keep trying your number and this is the first time it didn’t go straight to voicemail. I didn’t leave any messages before since I didn’t know if you’d get them. I’m not even sure why I tried calling this time, but I… We’re up at my parents’ cabin and the cell reception is bad and I didn’t know if you were trying to call or… Anyway. Um. I’ll talk to you later.”

She ended the call and banged her head against the railing. She. Was. Such. A. Spaz.

Ugh.

Lifting her head, she watched her mom wrap a towel around Kimber, then pull her into her lap. She was grateful her parents had been able to spend a few weeks with her and the kids. Kaden and Kimber had needed them as much as she had. There was just something about having your mom and dad with you when you felt like shit.

Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. Rubbing them with the heels of her hands, she tried to shove them back in. Something else she'd been doing a lot of lately. Doc Tailor had told her it was years of suppressed emotion finally having a way out.

By her own estimation she should be done crying sometime in the next ten to twelve years.

Sprocket whined and leaned against her leg. She reached down and rubbed behind one of her ears. Her dog had barely left her side in the last few months. She’d tried to dig a hole in the bathroom door one morning when Denise had accidentally shut her out.

“Aunt Denny,” Kaden yelled from the path below.

She rubbed at her eyes a final time and looked down. Kaden ran ahead of her parents, who were holding Kimber’s hands. Sweetpea foraged along the side of the path.

She waved at Kaden. “Hey, buddy. Hungry?”

“Yes! Grandpa said I could help make hamburgers for lunch.”

“Cool,” she said. “After you take a shower.”

“Aunt Denny,” Kaden whined. “We were in the lake.”

“I know,” she said. “And now you’re covered in fish pee. You need to wash that stuff off before you stick your hands in my food.”

“Fish pee? Argh!” Kaden ran the rest of the way up the path and she heard the door downstairs open and slam.

Kimber stayed next to her grandmother, either unconcerned about being covered in fish pee or she recognized the Moana reference since she and Bree had watched it on a loop for an entire weekend.

She was envious of their resiliency. They still had the occasional nightmares and Kaden had his heart set on taking karate lessons so he could fight the bad guys, but for the most part they’d bounced back surprisingly well. Being surrounded by love and support helped tremendously—something she constantly reminded herself of.

Going back into the house, she set the phone on the cradle on her way to the kitchen. Everyone came up the stairs from the basement at the same time.

“Sweetie, someone was coming up the drive as we were walking up,” her mom said. “Can you see who it is while we shower and change? I’ll give Kimber a quick bath.”

“Sure. Bree said she’d sent me a present, so it’s probably the delivery guy.”

“That’s sweet of her. Aren’t they coming up for the long weekend? Why couldn’t she have brought it then?”

Denise shrugged. “Dunno. She didn’t say.”

“Well, hopefully it’s something worth the delivery fee. Can’t imagine it didn’t cost her an arm and a leg to have something sent all the way out here.”

Her dad was looking at her mom like she’d lost her mind.

“What?” her mom asked. “They’ll be here in a week. They could have saved the money and brought it with them. I’m only saying.” She threw her hands up in the air and turned toward the bedrooms. “Far be it from me to suggest anyone be fiscally responsible.”

Shaking his head, her father said, “I’ll be quick.”

“Okay.” She crossed the house to the front door and opened it as a large black, extended-cab pickup truck crested the small hill in front of the house.

Her breath caught in her throat and her heart danced a few fast beats before settling back into a steady, thumping rhythm.

His hair was long again. He rounded the front of the truck and walked toward her, concern pinching the center of his brows together.

He climbed halfway up the steps and stopped when they were eye level. “Why are you crying?”

Was she? She hadn’t realized. Shaking her head, she said, “Water main break. I can’t stop it.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’d hoped you’d be happy to see me.”

The uncertainty in his voice killed her. “I am. I am so fucking happy to see you.”

“I’d feel better about this whole thing if you could stop crying.”

“Doc said I'm overdue, so it may be a while before that happens.”

He climbed one more step, forcing her to tilt her head back. “What can I do to help?”

“Touch me.”

His hands clasped the sides of her face and he touched his lips to hers. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pressed her body as close as she could with one step still between them. She wanted to wrap herself around him. Put her hands on every inch of him. Have his weight press down on her.

The screen door slammed and a throat cleared. “Son. I’m going to have to ask you what your intentions are toward my daughter.”

Trust her dad to kill the moment. That must have been why he’d looked at her mom like she was crazy. He’d known Chris was coming. She didn’t know whether to punch him or hug him. Maybe both.

Chris broke their kiss and stared at her. “Well, sir, I plan on declaring my undying love and devotion to your daughter.”

“Jesus. You couldn’t have found someone normal?”

The screen door slammed again, so she assumed her dad went back inside and the question was rhetorical.

“Is normal what you want?” Chris asked.

“I think normal would be pretty damn boring.”

He brushed the hair away from her face. “Me, too.”

“What does declaring your undying love and devotion mean, exactly?”

“For starters, it means one day he’s going to ask me that question and I’m going to ask his permission to marry you.”

For once in her life she didn’t have a snappy comeback. She must look like a fish because all she could do was open and close her mouth.

“In the meantime, it means I’m not leaving you again.”

She shook her head. “You can’t make those kinds of promises, Chris. With your job—”

“I quit.”

“You—What?” He’d knocked her speechless for the second time in only moments.

“They wanted to transfer me to Arizona. I said no. I’m not leaving you again. That’s one of the reasons it took me so long to get up here. I had to process out of the Bureau.”

“You can’t do that for me.” She tried to lower her arms, but he held her tighter.

“I did it for us. I also did it just for me. I was burning out, Denise. Fast. I knew I needed to make a change, but I didn’t know what to do. Jase offered me a partnership in V.E.T. Adventures. I accepted.”

“Oh.” He’d quit. For her. For them, but also for her. She licked her lips. “Does it mean anything else?”

His thumb brushed across her bottom lip. “Yeah, it does. It means I’m in love with you and I plan on being in love with you for a very long time.”

“Oh.” The tears stopped. Everything stopped. The doubt and fear. Everything inside her fell into place as if it been a swirling mass that finally settled into calm, peaceful bliss.

“Oh. I can wait until you’re ready to say it, too.”

She shook her head. “Today.”

“You’re going to say it today?”

“No. Yes.” She wasn’t making any sense. “I love you. Marry me. Today.”

He blinked at her. “Today, today?”

“Yes. Gatlinburg is three hours from here. There’re wedding chapels all over the place. It’s not Vegas, but I’m sure we can find something.”

A blinding grin spread across his face. “You’re serious.”

“Fuck yes, I’m serious.” She had never been more serious about anything in her life than she was of the man standing in front of her. “I don’t want a big wedding. Almost everyone I want to invite is here. Bree might kill me, but she’ll get over it.” She shrugged. “In a couple of years.”

He kissed her deeply and possessively. She was consumed and rebuilt. Weakened and strengthened. He took everything she had and gave her everything she’d ever need.

“Do I still need to ask your dad for permission?”

The screen door opened and Kaden tromped out followed by a bouncing Kimber and her mom. “Come on, kids, everyone in the car.”

“We want to ride with Chris and Aunt Denny,” Kimber said.

Denise raised her eyebrows at Chris.

“Sure, they can ride with us.”

“Yay!” Kimber skipped to the truck and waited for her grandmother to open the door.

Her dad came out of the house and pulled the door shut behind him. He held a ring out to Chris. “You’re going to need this. It was Karen’s mother’s.” He kissed Denise on the temple and strode down the steps to help her mom with the kids.

They both stared down at the ring. “I guess this means I have his permission.”

Denise grinned. “I guess so.”

He stepped up onto the porch, then knelt down on one knee. “Denise. Will you marry me?”

She threw her head back and laughed, then held her left hand out. “Yes. I will marry you.”

Chris stood and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Whew. Thank goodness. That was one of the most nerve-racking things I’ve ever done.” He slid the ring over her finger. “Can’t tell you how long I practiced that speech.”

The ring wouldn’t go past her knuckle.

“Uh oh,” he said. “Is this a bad omen?”

Pulling the ring off, she rolled her eyes. “It means my grandmother was all of five-foot-two and ninety-pounds with all her clothes on. We’ll get it sized.”

He stopped her from stepping off the porch. “Denise. Are you sure this is what you want?”

She could see the concern in his eyes. “I want you. I want a life with you. There’s no amount of planning or waiting or tulle that’s going to change that.”

His arms banded around her so tightly it squeezed the breath right out of her. Or maybe it was the overwhelming happiness that made her breathless.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She smiled. “I love you.”

“Aunt Denny,” Kimber called, hanging out the window. “Grandpa wants to know if we’re going anytime soon and if you’re going to stay here and make decorations all day.”

“Decorations?” Chris asked.

“Declarations,” she explained.

“Ah. I can make my declarations on the drive just as well as I can make them here. Oh! Wait. One more thing.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small envelope. “I came with a card.”

She took it and ripped along the seam to open the envelope. “So you’re my present?”

“I was going to wear nothing but a bow, but with your parents and the kids, I thought it might be a little much.”

Flipping open the simple card with a heart on the cover, she threw her head back and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

She handed him the card. “Remind me we need to take a selfie with that showing off our rings.”

And they all lived happily ever after. The End. Team Chris for the win! :P

“She’s going to be so mad at you.”

“But you love me, right?”

“Damn skippy.”