Blue, Nikola, Jeremy, and Dax met them on the trail. Stone heard them thundering toward him, and his shoulders lowered as the tension drained out. No mountain lion would stand a chance against his crew. They’d come to help him and Abi. He knew they would always come if he called, but it meant a lot to see that truth in action.

“Jeremy, grab the poles. Nikola, take off her snowshoes. I’ll carry her.” Blue tried to take charge like usual, but this was Stone’s girl, and he wasn’t about to relinquish his hold on her to anyone.

“No, Blue. I’ve got her.”

Blue studied him for half a beat then nodded. “Yeah, you do.”

Nikola removed her snowshoes and Jeremy took her poles. Blue turned and plowed the way down the trail. The rest of the guys followed as Stone carried Abi. They finally made it to the parking lot, and he got her settled in the passenger side of his truck. Nikola took her keys and drove her Cherokee back to her house with Blue and the others following in Blue’s truck.

Stone had so many things he wanted to say to Abi he didn’t know where to start. “I want to talk Abi. I promise I do. I won’t shut you out again.”

“Thank you, Stone.” She squeezed his hand and leaned back against the seat with a big smile on her face. “Let’s get back to the house, and I’ll let you talk until your throat hurts.”

“I’m not sure I can wait that long. I feel like I’m bursting inside.” That was a lame thing to admit, but he didn’t care.

Abi giggled, and it was the cutest sound he’d ever heard. “Bursting with lo-ove for me.”

Stone laughed. “That is for sure.” He lifted their clasped hands and brushed his lips across her knuckles. Nikola would’ve been proud. “That is for sure.” He repeated.

Abi blinked, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. He brushed it away then tried to focus on the road. It was still winter in Utah, and he wasn’t going to risk this woman to a car wreck if he could prevent it.

They made it to her house, and Stone rushed around to help her out. His buddies congregated on the sidewalk.

“Thank you so much for coming for me,” Abi said to all of them.

“Yeah.” Stone added.

“We only came because you know JFK wants your spot, and we couldn’t have that.” Jeremy winked. “Couldn’t have you dying on us and leaving us to deal with him.”

“I feel ya,” Stone said.

Abi tilted her head up and gave him the sweetest smile, somehow an invite to be a little more open with his friends. Stone remembered his promise to talk. Maybe that included talking to other people in his life too.

“Even if it was just to keep JFK away, it means a lot to me that you came.” Stone managed to say, barely able to hold Blue’s gaze.

Blue’s eyebrows arched up, and Jeremy and Nikola exchanged glances. Nikola slapped him on the shoulder. “Of course, my friend.”

“Let’s go, guys,” Blue said.

They all walked away, but Nikola turned back. “Are we going to have to change your nickname from Stone Cold to Lover Boy?”

Stone grinned. “I’d like that.” He honestly would love that. He didn’t want to be cold anymore.

Nikola laughed, and the rest of the guys looked stunned. Stone ignored them and wrapped his arm around Abi, turning her toward the house and escorting her inside. Julia freaked out when she saw her sister. It took a lot of hugging and reassuring to calm her down. Julia forced Abi to take a bath while she cleaned up Stone’s face and then made hot cocoa for all of them. Finally, Julia disappeared into her room and left them blessedly alone.

Stone sipped his hot cocoa then set it on the coffee table. He slipped his arm around Abi, and she tucked her legs up under her and leaned against his chest. He thought maybe she was too tired and was drifting off to sleep, but suddenly she sat up and rubbed her hands together. “You said you’d talk. You’d better be prepared for twenty million questions.”

Stone arched an eyebrow. “If I get a kiss for each question, I might agree to that.”

Abi pushed at his chest. “No way, nuh-uh, you promised talking. There was no kissing involved in this verbal contract.”

Stone leaned closer and inhaled her cinnamon and vanilla scent. She was like Christmastime and happiness rolled into one for him. “You’re saying you don’t want to kiss me?”

“I never said that, but talking is more important right now.” She gave him an impertinent little glare, but her eyes were sparkling and telling him she’d let him get away with a lot.

Stone tenderly covered her lips with his, aiming for a short kiss so they could “talk,” but the love and passion he felt for this beautiful and amazing woman took over quickly. Before he could stop himself, he’d lifted her onto his lap and was making short work of any protests she might have had.

Abi planted her hands on his chest and pushed back. “You play dirty, my friend. How am I supposed to resist those kisses?”

Stone grinned. “You’re not, but a deal’s a deal. You get one question now.”

“One!” She protested. “I think that was twenty million kisses right there.”

“It felt better than twenty million.” He agreed.

“For sure.” Abi cuddled into his chest, and they were both quiet for a minute.

“Before you start the questions, I want to apologize again for keeping information from you.”

Abi didn’t look at him, but she squeezed his waist. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Stone blew out a long breath, wondering how he could explain the turmoil he’d gone through. “When I promise something, I never want to break that and feeling like I was the reason Virginia died had sealed that promise in my mind. It was the only thing I could still do for her, to honor her memory.”

Abi nodded. “I understand, and I’m sorry I said you lied. I just wanted to be the one you share everything with.”

He considered that. How to explain his reticence to somebody like Abi, so full of light and able to love the whole world? “I’ve never shared much with anyone, really. I think I’m scared that the dam will break, and I’ll start talking nonstop.”

She glanced up at him. Her dark eyes sparkled. “Would that be so terrible?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Not if it’s you. I’m honestly glad we saw Jace and he spilled the secret so I didn’t have to break my promise to Virginia, but I’m sorry for what I put you through. Sorry I was scared.”

She nodded then winked. “So I’m scary now?”

“Terrifying.”

“Oh.” She protested, but he cut it off with a long kiss, figuring it was better to show her how he felt rather than mess it up with words.

Finally, he forced himself to pull away. Abi needed answers, and he would give her anything she wanted or needed.

“Okay.” He reclined against the cushions. “Ask away, my beautiful girlfriend.”

Abi didn’t say anything. Stone waited, but then he heard her sniffle. He tilted her chin up. She tried to smile, but tears were streaming down her face.

His heart slammed against his chest. He’d known this would be hard, but he hated to see her hurt. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s okay.” She pressed the back of her hand to her nose. “These are happy tears. You’re willing to talk, and even though I can’t think of one intelligent question to ask right now, it means so much to me that you’re willing. And it’s stinking adorable that you called me your girlfriend.”

Stone had never been called adorable, but he could get used to it. “I never thought a world would exist where Abi didn’t have a question.” He couldn’t help teasing her.

She shook her head and blinked back more tears.

“There was one other thing I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Last night, when I promised we would talk, I’d reconciled myself to telling you everything about Virginia, Jace, and the baby. I didn’t want to break my promise to Virginia, but I wanted to put you first. It was all a mess in my mind, but for you, I wanted to figure it out. Then seeing Jace made an even bigger mess.”

“He’s pretty good at messing stuff up.”

“He came to see me today.” Stone smiled at the memory. He’d liked that fight.

“What did he say?”

“Well, he tried to thump me. We had a great fight.”

“Oh, my goodness, stupid boys.” She touched his temple tenderly where a bruise must be developing. He knew there were scratches on his other cheek and paint in his hair. He probably looked like a mess.

“Did he do this or the mountain lion?” she asked.

“Jace did. It felt great.”

She rolled her eyes.

“He also told me that he’d give anything to be with Virginia and not to waste one more day without you.”

“So I have Jace to thank for all of this?” She cuddled in closer to him and kissed his neck.

Stone trembled from her lips on him. “I guess he sort of redeemed himself.”

“Not really, but I’ll try to forgive him.” She kissed his neck again.

“Stop doing that or the only talking we’re going to be doing is the nonverbal kind.”

“You’re better at nonverbal anyway.” She kissed his neck. Stone growled and bent his head, capturing her lips with his. She was right. They excelled at nonverbal communication. Plus, he’d tried to talk, so he couldn’t be blamed when the kissing took over and there was no room for anything else.

When they finally pulled apart, Abi cuddled against his chest, and Stone started talking. He began with the night Virginia had begged him to take care of her. Hours later, they were up to the present day. Abi had a lot of questions, but she also listened very well and shared some of her own secrets that he’d been dying to know, like how many men she’d kissed. He hated that, and she had to kiss him repeatedly to make him feel better, but it wasn’t as hard as he’d thought—sharing everything with her. In fact, nothing was as hard when Abi was around. She was the sunniest part of his life. He wanted to bask in that sunshine and return happiness to her as well.