Late one afternoon, six weeks after everything had gone down, Brent drove me out into the countryside, following a two-lane highway that led in the same vague direction as Stone Security and the home he once shared with his wife and daughter. I stared out the window, feeling a little less weight on my shoulders today. It was a beautiful spring day and the sky was a gorgeous blue. His hand was on my thigh and it didn’t cause creepy spider legs to crawl up my spine.

Today I almost felt like my old self once again.

He pulled the car to the side of the road and came around to help me out. I took his hand almost gratefully, happy to look up into his face and find him staring affectionately down at me. Things had been rough these last weeks, the nightmares keeping me up at night and the simple, unexpected touch of his hands bringing up dark things that came between us. But, right now, his touch was more than just welcome. It was desired.

“I thought we’d have a little picnic out here.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“Do you like it?”

“What?”

He gestured around us, at the expanse of land that opened up around us. “The property.”

I shrugged. “It’s beautiful.”

He smiled, seemingly happy with my response.

We walked up a slight incline to where he’d set up a lovely picnic at some point—I wasn’t sure when, but decided it didn’t really matter. There was a bottle of wine and small plastic containers that held all the necessary ingredients to a southern picnic: cold fried chicken, fresh fruit, chunks of cheese, potato salad, and fresh baked bread. I settled on the blanket and popped a strawberry into my mouth as his poured the wine. He handed me a glass and then held up his own to indicate his intention of giving a toast.

“To beautiful days, to beautiful property, and to beautiful companionship.”

I smiled. “I’ll second the first two.”

“What? You don’t think I’m beautiful?”

I laughed, leaning over to kiss him gently. “I think you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever met. And the most patient, too.”

“It’s not hard to be patient when you’re the reward.”

I blushed, but my heart soared a little at the compliment.

He reached over and cupped my jaw, drawing me close to him again. He kissed me with a hint of the old passion we used to share. It’d been a while. We’d made love a few times since that night at the Mad Dog clubhouse, but it wasn’t the same. Trigger touching me the way he had changed something, took away something I was afraid I’d never get back. But hope ignited in my chest in that moment, with that kiss.

“Do you remember the night I found you on the hotel balcony with my gun?” he suddenly asked a moment later.

I took a long swallow of the wine before answering, that night seared into my memory.

“I do.”

“You said we had decisions we needed to make about the future.”

“I did.”

“I think it’s time we talk about that.”

I bit my bottom lip, thinking this was the moment when he told me he was tired of waiting for me to get over myself, to go back to the person I had been. I thought this was the moment he told me he was gone if I didn’t stop keeping him at arm’s length.

Instead, he announced, “I bought this property.”

“Excuse me?”

“I bought this property. I want to start fresh and I thought rebuilding on the old property just wouldn’t be the same.”

He sipped his wine like what he’d just announced wasn’t a little bit of a shock.

“I thought you were going to fix the house and move back in.”

“I did fix the house. They finished two weeks ago.”

“Then why are you still at the hotel?”

“Because it’s not my home anymore.” He focused on me, his eyes moving slowly over my face. “That was the home I shared with Madeline and Josie. But they’re gone and it’s time for me to move on with my life. I guess I…” He stopped, looking down into his wine glass the same way he often studied his tumbler of bourbon back at the bar at Highland. “I think in my own way I’m as stuck in my life as you are in yours. But I’m going to do something about it.”

“And what’s that?”

“I’m going to build a new house here. And I’m going to move into it with my new bride.”

My heart sank as tears began to burn my throat. “Oh,” was all I could manage to say.

“You’re supposed to ask who my new bride would be.”

“I don’t think I want to know.”

“Why not?”

When I looked at him, there was amusement dancing in his eyes again. I slapped his shoulder, dropping my wine glass as I got up. I stormed over to the car, then spun on my heel.

“That’s a cruel thing to do, Brent! All this time I thought…I mean, I know I haven’t been the woman you had a right to think I should be, but to do this! It’s just cruel.”

“Dane…”

He got up and came to me, grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close to him.

“Don’t be stupid, Dane,” he whispered, his lips brushing my forehead.

“What are you…?”

Before I could get the words completely out of my mouth, he was pulling a ring out of his front jeans pocket. A simple ring, a gold band with diamond chips. A beautiful ring.

“I was wrong when I said I didn’t know what this was. I’ve known all along.” He brushed at a tear rolling down my cheek. “I love you, Dane. I think I loved you from the first words that slipped out of your mouth. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else.”

“Are you sure?” I looked up at him, doubt and happiness mingling so tightly in my belly that I wasn’t sure which was winning. “This isn’t just some whim you’ll regret later?”

“No. This is forever.” He picked up my hand and slipped the ring onto my finger. “Please tell me this is what you want.”

He sounded so frightened. I’d never heard fear in his voice before.

“More than anything,” I whispered.

He laughed, relief washing over him, over me. He picked me up and spun around, his laughter turning into something else, a call for family that I didn’t understand until I saw them coming up the slight incline. Jack and Remy were there. Rachel in a wheelchair, Rhonda pushing her. And then…

My parents, my mother crying, and my little brother…he’d brought my family to me for this occasion.

He’d known exactly what I’d want at this moment and he made it happen. Despite everything, despite all the times I’d pushed him away these last weeks, he stood steadfast and he made the perfect day happen for me.

What kind of a man does that?