Summer Nights

by Sanders, Jill

  “Can you believe that we once fought over this thing?” She pulled it out and placed it on her pinkie, since it was too small for her other fingers at this point.

  “For good reason—we all pitched in ten dollars to buy it,” Aubrey added as they all moved closer.

  She held up her hand and showed the ring off. “We should have bought another pizza,” she said. “Not that the ring isn’t cool, I mean.” She held it up. “By the power of the unicorn . . .”

  “God, it’s ugly.” Scar chuckled. “I’m glad I wasn’t the first one to fall in love.”

  “Shut up.” Zoey held the ring to her chest. “It’s beautiful.” She glanced down at it and smiled, enjoying the way the crystals sparkled in the light. “I earned this.” She felt her eyes burn and wiped away the tears before they fell.

  Suddenly, she had arms wrapped around her, and she held on to her sisters.

  “Stop,” she moaned. “I’m just going across the field.”

  “No.” Elle took her shoulders. “It’s not the physical distance we’re celebrating—it’s the leap you’ve taken.” She kissed her cheek. “We’re happy for you, and we all voted that Dylan is the one for you. Officially.”

  She put her hand over her heart. “Oh god.” She felt her breath kick. “He is, isn’t he?” Full realization dawned on her. She’d known earlier but had tried denying it. Like someone trying to stop the rain. She should have known she was doomed. “He’s the one.”

  Her bags were picked up as she was nudged out the door and down the stairs to where a golf cart waited for her.

  “Do you need us to drive you there too?” Elle joked.

  “No, I’ve got this.” She’d started to reach up to put the cart in gear when a bottle of champagne was shoved in her face.

  “To celebrate,” Hannah said.

  She set it in the seat next to her. Her bags were loaded on the back by Scarlett and Aubrey.

  “Good luck.” They all stood back as she pulled out of the parking area.

  “Have fun storming the castle,” she thought she heard her sister yell behind her, and she laughed as she drove toward her future with Dylan.

  She parked the golf cart next to the steps at the cabin and smiled up at the plaque that read BEAR-FOOT BUNGALOW above the doorway.

  Then she noticed Dylan standing in the doorway.

  “Elle had the code reset for us.” He grabbed her bags. “Head on up.”

  When she stepped into the cabin, she gasped at the beauty of the place.

  “Hannah,” he said softly from behind her. “Who I suspect had help. But I brought you these.” He pulled a bundle of wildflowers from behind his back. “I should have given you flowers long ago.”

  She took them from him and hugged him, then turned back to the room.

  Soft string lights dotted the space. The kitchen table was set up with flowers of every color on a white tablecloth. Dinner was laid out; the food was still steaming.

  “They just delivered the meal,” he said. He took the bags and set them down and shut the door behind him.

  “They also hung blinds.” She nodded to the windows as she set the wildflowers into a waiting vase. Then she paused to bury her face in them and took a moment to enjoy the fragrance of them all.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, no more bears watching us do it at night. We’ll leave the voyeurism to the Youngs.”

  She laughed as she turned toward him. He took the bottle of champagne from her and set it down on the counter. Then wrapped his arms around her.

  “I can’t tell you how happy I am to know that we have this to ourselves.” He leaned in and kissed her.

  “I’m just thankful to get out of the same room as my sister.” She laughed. “She snores.”

  He chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it. I was sharing a room with my two brothers.” He kissed her again. “How about we eat this meal before it gets cold?”

  She turned around and took a seat when he pulled out the chair for her. She sat back as he opened the champagne and poured two glasses, then sat across from her.

  They each took a sip, and she picked up her fork. The chicken cacciatore looked amazing, and she dug in.

  “So, I was thinking,” Dylan said after a moment. “After we find my father . . .”

  His pause caused her heart to go crashing down in her stomach. She hadn’t thought that far into the future. Only now, only tonight.

  “I want to put the condo up for sale and move out here with you.”

  She felt like she could breathe again. “Really?” She set her fork down. “What about your work? Your family?”

  He reached for her hand. “I work here, remember?”

  She chuckled. “I’m sure you have something else you were doing before you came here.”

  He shook his head. “A few odd jobs at the family business, but nothing major. Actually, it’s really Joel who runs the business while Dad’s off . . .” He motioned. “Wherever, doing whatever. Owen knows more than I do. Out of the three of us, he’s the one we always expected to take Dad’s place.”

  She relaxed. “You wouldn’t mind staying at the camp? Really?”

  He squeezed her hand. “As long as you’re here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. Then he shocked her by turning her hand around and frowning down at the ring.

  “What’s this?” he asked. He had been playing his thumb over the ring.

  She chuckled. “My prize for rescuing you today.”

  He glanced up at her. “From your sisters?”

  She nodded. “The Wildflowers.” She glanced down at the ring.

  “Fitting name for the bunch of you.” He held up his glass. “To the Wildflowers,” he said and joined her in a sip.

  “So, I was thinking, with the sale of the condo, we could have a house built instead of just a cabin.” He picked up his fork.

  “I like the way you think.” She started eating again and smiled across the table at him.

  By the time they were done eating, the champagne was all gone, and they stepped out on the front porch. She had grabbed a light jacket to ward off the chill in the night air.

  “Looks like we’re in for more rain.” He nodded to the dark sky; the clouds blocked out the moonlight and the stars.

  “You can feel it in the air.” She leaned against him as they watched the dark waters across the small grassy area.

  “This view is a lot better without the dumpster and the black bear chasing me,” he joked.

  She turned in his arms and hugged him. “It seems like only yesterday, doesn’t it?”

  He brushed a strand of her hair away from her eyes. “Would it freak you out too much if I told you how much I love you?”

  She shook her head, reached up on her toes, and kissed him. “I love you too.”

  His lips covered hers again.

  “I don’t know what my future holds, as far as my father or the family business, but I know that here, now, at this place and time, I’ve never been happier than I am holding you, being with you.”

  “Me too.” She laid her head on his chest.

  “If I could, I’d hold on to this moment for the rest of my life,” he said into her hair.

  “Then let’s do it.” She leaned back. “Hold on to this forever.”

  “Okay, I’m game.” He nodded. “Forever it is.” He kissed her.

  “I mean . . .” she started, but he stopped her.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean, and when we can, we’ll go into town and pick you out a ring that . . .” He pulled up her hand and played with the unicorn. “Doesn’t have a horse on it.”

  “It’s a unicorn,” she corrected.

  “One with a diamond, then.”

  She looked into his eyes. “Not too big, though. I tend to play rough.”

  He laughed. “Right. Besides, it would probably get in the way of that mean right swing you used to lay out Ryan.”

  She hugged him. “I love you,” she said into his chest, then
leaned back and said it again when their eyes locked. “I love you. I never thought I could be so happy.”

  “I had always hoped. It’s a good thing I persuaded you to take me on.” He smiled.

  She squinted at him. “You didn’t have to persuade me. I took one look at those broad, sexy shoulders and knew I had to get my hands on them.” She threw his words back at him.

  She ran her fingers over them now and smiled when he reached around and hoisted her up, his hands firmly on her butt.

  “Then that makes two of us,” he said, walking them up the stairs and back into the cabin. “Why fight it anymore?”

  “Yes,” she said between kisses. “Why fight it?”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jill Sanders is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pride Series, Secret Series, West Series, Grayton Series, Lucky Series, and Silver Cove romance novels. She continues to lure new readers in with her sweet and sexy stories. Her books are available in every English-speaking country and in audiobooks and have been translated into several languages.

  Born as an identical twin to a large family, Sanders was raised in the Pacific Northwest and later relocated to Colorado for college and a successful IT career before discovering her talent as a writer. She now makes her home along the Emerald Coast in Florida, where she enjoys the beach, hiking, swimming, wine tasting, and—of course—writing. You can connect with Sanders on Facebook at http://fb.com/JillSandersBooks, on Twitter @JillMSanders, and on her website at http://JillSanders.com.