by Zoe Chant
"Tired," she said, and gave a sudden, soft laugh. "And thinking about how we ran away from our apartment building and left dinner on the table. There's going to be a mess to clean up when we get back. Um ... there is an apartment to go back to, right?"
Keegan returned just in time to overhear this. "Your apartment building's fine. Well, mostly fine. There's some smoke damage on the first floor, but you should be able to move right back in."
"If you want to," Derek told Gaby quietly.
She looked up at him, eyes wide and bright. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking your place isn't very big, and neither is mine. When your lease is up, I think maybe we should look for somewhere with a little more space. Enough bedrooms nobody has to share."
"Unless somebody wants to," she said teasingly, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. "Do you think we might be able to find a place with a yard for Sandy to play in?"
"I think that sounds perfect."
Gaby laced her fingers through his. With her warm, soft weight pressed against him, he felt her giggle again. He knew what she was feeling; relaxing tension often turned into giddy relief, when even the tiniest things seemed unendurably funny.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked her quietly.
"I was just thinking that, with Ghost caught, I guess teaching you to run the espresso machine was completely pointless. You'll never have to draw another shot of coffee, unless you just want to."
"Only if we open our own coffee shop."
He expected her to laugh, but instead she was quiet in a thoughtful kind of way.
"Is running a coffee shop something you want to do?" he asked after a moment.
"Is that weird? You know, I've thought about it. I would like to own my own business someday. I'd always thought it was something I never could do ... startup costs and property rental in the city would've killed me. I had to be practical for Sandy and my mom's sake. But ..." She hesitated, working her thumb in slow sweeps across the back of his hand. "Ever since we've been out here, I've been thinking about how many of the things I used to think were impossible actually could be possible if we thought about moving somewhere with lower property costs. I bet I could open a café in a little town like this for a fraction of what it'd cost in the city. Of course, there'd also be a smaller customer base. It would never be a wild success." She looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling. And anyway ... I don't think you'd want to live in a small town, would you? I didn't think I would. Except, the longer we've been out here, the more I like it."
"I'm actually more comfortable in rural places," Derek admitted. "It's the bear in me. I've mostly stayed in the city because ... actually, you know, I'm not really sure why. Inertia, I guess. It's easier to find work there, but it's not like I couldn't get a job somewhere more rural. The kind of thing I do, I could do just about anywhere."
Her laugh—God, he was starting to love that laugh—came out on a huffed sigh of relief. "I'm so glad it's not just me. I guess I just bonded with this little town as soon as I set foot in it. There hasn't really been time to think, and I know this isn't a good time to be making decisions about our future, but ..."
"No need to make any decisions right away," Derek told her gently. "Especially not 'til all this is sorted out. We have time."
"Yes." She gripped her fingers tightly around his hand, interwoven with his. "All the time in the world."
Epilogue
"This is perfect," Gaby declared.
She knew she'd probably been saying that every five minutes for the entire time they'd been looking at the house, based on Derek's fondly amused grins every time it slipped out again, but, well, it was perfect.
It was spring now, and ever since their adventure in Keegan's cabin the previous summer, she'd had a mental picture of the kind of place she wanted to live in. As the winter had gone on, as her relationship with Derek deepened and grew until the commute between their separate apartments had started to feel like the distance from the Earth to the Moon, she'd added detail after detail to the dream house in her head.
And this place was probably about as close as she was ever going to get, at least not without costing so much that it priced them right out of Derek's savings.
It was just outside the same little town where Keegan's cabin was. She'd loved the cabin, but she didn't want something quite that remote, especially with a child who was starting first grade this fall. But this was close enough that Sandy would be able to walk to school, and Gaby could walk to the little downtown where she had already noticed a perfect ground-floor retail space with a FOR RENT sign in the window.
The house was on three acres with an old horse barn and an overgrown pasture with a stream running through it. There was a fireplace in the living room, a gorgeous master bedroom upstairs (with windows looking out on the woods), a bedroom for Sandy, and another for the sister he was going to have in the fall. Gaby touched her pregnant belly lightly as they walked from room to room.
There was even a little guest cottage across the yard that she knew her mother would absolutely love, so Luisa could stay nearby while also having her own space.
No more Mama in my kitchen. At least not constantly. I love her, I really do, but .... enough is enough.
And it had a price tag she simply couldn't believe. You wouldn't even be able to get a condo in town for a price like this.
She reminded herself that the cheaper cost of houses in the country came with drawbacks, like fewer jobs and fewer customers for the coffee shop she was already dreaming about.
"I think that's the look of a woman in love," the real estate agent said, ticking off a mark on her clipboard.
"It sure is," Derek said, sliding his hand around her waist. "We're getting married this summer."
"I think she meant with the house, dear," Gaby said, tilting her head back to smile saucily up at him.
"... oh."
"But that too," she added, standing on tiptoe to kiss his nose. "What do you think? I mean, I don't want you to feel like I'm making the decision for both of us. If you don't like it—"
"Are you kidding? I love it. There's plenty of room in the woods to—" Aware of the real estate agent's presence, he amended whatever he was going to say to, "—ramble, as much as we want. There's space for a woodshop and workout area in the old barn, and ... did you have the same thought about Luisa moving into the guest cabin?"
Gaby nodded. "It's—"
"—perfect," Derek finished for her, and swept her into a dip and a long, lingering kiss.
Hours later, with the initial round of paperwork done and the gears set in motion on the long purchase process, they left the real estate agent's office and wandered around the little downtown, peeking into antique and hardware stores. Sandy was with Luisa in the city, and Derek and Gaby made it clear that they wouldn't be back tonight. It felt strange and luxurious to Gaby, having the whole afternoon just for the two of them.
"Knowing you," Derek said, squeezing her hand, "you've already got your coffee shop location picked out."
"I sure do. Right around this corner."
She stopped in front of the picture window with the FOR RENT sign. It looked like it had been awhile since this little brick building had had a tenant; the glass was dingy, and last fall's dead leaves were drifted in the doorway.
But that just meant it might be possible to get a good deal on it. And then she could make it her own. She could already smell the tantalizing scents of fresh-brewed coffee and baking cinnamon rolls. She was helping Polly in the kitchen at the Daily Bean now, and Polly had given her the responsibility of making the morning donuts, which coming from Polly was the highest honor that could be bestowed on a fellow baker.
This wasn't precisely the use she'd meant to put her business and accounting classes to, or at least not the most lucrative of the possible options. But after all this time working at minimum wage for someone else, the idea of owning her own business, being her own boss, thrilled her to her core.
"Here we go again," Derek murmured, kissing the top of her head. "You've even got a name picked out for the business, don't you?"
"I'm thinking we can call it the Brown Bear. Where the coffee is 'as strong as a bear.'" She made air quotes.
Derek burst into laughter. He sounded joyous and free. For all the changes Derek had wrought in Gaby's life, she was endlessly grateful to have been able to give him something meaningful in return. He was almost a different person now, playful and happy, a devoted father to Sandy (who had started calling him "Dad") and in all ways a much happier and more contented man than when she'd met him.
"As long as you don't want me to pose for your sign."
Gaby grinned and put her finger to her lips in mock thought. "That's a really great idea. Thanks for suggesting it."
"Me and my big mouth—"
"Hey there, you two! If it isn't the last two people I expected to see."
Gaby didn't recognize the man waving at them from the opposite sidewalk until he jogged across the street to join them. She'd only ever seen Keegan in his sharply dressed police lieutenant persona, but this was obviously Keegan in country-cabin mode. He was wearing a plaid shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and jeans.
"Hi, Gaby," Keegan greeted her, and to Derek, "I'm surprised you're willing to show your face in town, after what you did to my cabin."
"Hey, man, haven't I been coming out on the weekends to help you fix it up?" Derek put an arm around Gaby. "Anyway, that's no way to talk to your newest neighbors."
Keegan let out a laugh and slapped Derek on the shoulder. "You actually did it. You're buying a house here."
"Just put in an offer today." Derek pointed down the street. "It's right outside town. Gorgeous place on three acres. I think Gaby's already arranging the furniture and redoing the wallpaper in her head."
"Shows how much attention you were paying," Gaby said, whapping him gently in the arm. "I'm not a wallpaper kind of girl. In fact, the first thing we're doing is stripping that awful wallpaper in the living room so it doesn't overwhelm the pretty wooden molding on the shelves."
"See what I mean?" Derek said, winking at Keegan.
Gaby snorted. "Mm-hmm, and I heard you making plans to completely remodel the barn, so this sounds like a case of pot and kettle to me."
"That's amazing," Keegan said. "You two even sound like a married couple. When's the wedding, again?"
"June," Derek said, "and you'd better be there, because it's tough to have a wedding without the best man."
"I assumed my invitation got lost in the mail."
"We haven't sent out invitations because we were hoping to have the wedding in the yard of our new house," Gaby said. "Except the house-hunting process has been going pretty slowly. I think we've finally got it, but we're obviously a ways out from closing."
"You're missing the perfect solution," Keegan said. "You can have the wedding at my cabin. I don't mind, and I know you two both loved it up there." He paused, frowning. "Assuming you want to. If you don't want to get married on a spot where you almost died, I get it."
"Actually, I think it'd be a good way to erase those memories and replace them with new, better ones," Gaby said slowly. She'd had her heart set on getting married in her very own yard ... but now that she thought about it, their new house was probably going to be chaos for the first few months as they moved in and worked on the various remodeling projects they'd planned. Adding the chaos of a wedding would be a bit much.
"Gaby?" Derek asked. "I'm happy with whatever you want. The only ingredient I really need for the wedding is you."
She squeezed his hand, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on Keegan's cheek. "It's beautiful up there. We'd love to. Thank you."
And now that she thought about it, she could picture a gorgeous ceremony beside the creek, the lacy skirt of her white dress rippling in the wind, the woods making a perfect scenic backdrop to the ceremony ...
"Uh-oh, I know that look," Derek said cheerfully to Keegan. "She's probably got the ceremony halfway planned out in her head already. Have you written my vows yet, hon?"
"Are you kidding?" she asked, twining her fingers in his. "I wrote our vows months ago. Why put off something that important until the last minute?"
"Right, all you're putting off are the unimportant things, like the actual location of the wedding."
"Hey, we have one of those now, thanks to—um." She paused and looked curiously at Keegan. "I don't think I've ever heard Derek say your first name."
Keegan laughed. "Really? Well, in that case, I think I'll just stay mysterious for now. Most people call me Keegan anyway."
"All you have to do is look it up on the police department website," Derek told her.
"Spoilsport," Keegan said. "Anyway, since we seem to be straying onto the topic of the police anyway, I did want to tell you two that a verdict was handed down on Sorenson yesterday."
It took Gaby a moment to remember that Sorenson, as it turned out, was Ghost's real name. She would probably always think of him as Ghost.
"They're putting him away for a good long while, I hope," Derek growled, tightening his arm around Gaby.
"You better believe it. We've managed to not only get him for his attacks on the two of you, but also for several mob-related killings elsewhere in the country. You won't be seeing him again anytime soon."
"Oh, thank God." Gaby sagged against Derek. Even knowing Ghost was behind bars, there had been a part of her still struggling with the knowledge that he was still out there. Some nights she woke from nightmares of a polar bear trying to tear its way through her door, rolling over to touch Derek and reassure herself that she was safe.
But now he'd be going away to a maximum security prison.
It's over. Really over, this time.
"You okay?" Derek murmured into her hair.
"I'm fine," she said, and was surprised to realize she meant it. "For the first time in months, I really feel like everything is gonna be okay."
"Well, in that case," Keegan said, "let me treat you two to a burger in the finest small-town diner in Autumn Grove. We like to welcome new neighbors around here."
As they turned to walk down the street in the fresh, warm spring afternoon, Gaby looked up at the mountains. They held no fear for her now, nothing but a sense of promise and beginnings. She had a new life with Derek to look forward to, and she couldn't wait to get to it.
A note from Zoe Chant
Thank you for buying my book! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to be alerted by email when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. If you'd like to contact me, my email is [email protected]. I love hearing from my readers.
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Cover art: © Can Stock Photo Inc.
***
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