Montana Desire

Epilogue

Cori

Three Months Later

The snow was so bright that I had to squint against it in the early afternoon sun. “I should have brought my sunglasses,” I said.

A soft laugh came from behind me, and Grant tucked his arm more firmly around my waist. “I told you.”

“Yes, you did. Happy?”

“That I’m right? Yes. That your eyes hurt? No.”

I put my hand on top of his. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“Cori, sweetheart, you don’t have to ask me if I’m okay every five minutes.”

“Sorry.”

He pressed a kiss to my hair. “Don’t be sorry. I’m okay.”

We were on Ginger’s back. The sprain I’d checked out what felt like years ago now was fine, and this was part of getting her back up to speed.

And it was Grant’s first time riding a horse since the surgery. By all rights, he probably could have been riding before now, but all his doctors were erring on the side of caution. I didn’t blame them. I wanted to be on the side of caution as well.

That made me ask how he was feeling every five minutes, much to his amusement.

We’d almost taken separate horses, and then at the last minute, he declared that he wanted us to ride together. No complaints from me. Getting to be this close to Grant wasn’t ever something I would say no to.

My mind flicked back to the trial, and I pushed it aside. I didn’t want to think about it, but it kept popping back into my head like bad song lyrics. Round and round and round.

“Do you think I’d go to jail if I jumped off the witness stand and punched Joel in the face?”

“Maybe just overnight,” Grant said. “As tempting as that sounds, I’d rather you didn’t.”

I sighed. “I know. But somehow, I don’t think he’s going to be able to keep his mouth shut during my testimony or yours, and that’s going to make it difficult.”

“I’ll build you a dummy in the backyard, and you can beat the hell out of it any time you like.”

“That sounds fun.”

If he did that, it would be nice. Just as nice as every other part of our life since moving in together to his place. Our house was now just as colorful as mine had been. And I had very specific and…vibrant memories of the painting process.

Grant loved painting, and it wasn’t always the walls that he wanted to use as his canvas.

My life with him was a distraction from the fast-moving trial and the fact that my parents were still trying to get me to go back to medical school, though without blackmail this time. He was my constant when everything else around me was a storm.

“Where’d you go?” he asked.

“Just thinking about…everything,” I said. “Where are we going?”

He hadn’t said anything other than that he wanted to go for a ride with me. But though the Resting Warrior property was large, there weren’t a lot of places to go, and it was too snowy for us to go to their other hidden property.

“You’ll see.”

“I swear to God, Grant, if Lena’s put together another surprise for me out here, I’m just going to kill you.”

Grant’s laugh rang out over the snow. “As hilarious as that would be, I can at least promise you that’s not the case.”

“Good.”

“I thought the surprise party was nice.”

I winced. It had been nice, but given the circumstances, I didn’t think I would ever really want a surprise party again. Just thinking about it put a pit in the bottom of my stomach. There was nothing about that day that I wanted to relive.

A little way ahead of us, there was a small group of trees that looked familiar. And within them, almost invisible and covered in snow, was a small building. The last time I’d been here, no snow had been on the ground. Though the hail had made it kind of look that way.

“Is that the same one?”

“It is,” Grant confirmed.

I laughed. “Why are you taking me there?”

Behind me, I felt him shrug. “It was really the start of everything,” he said. “I just wanted to visit it.”

He wasn’t wrong. That had been the official beginning of everything between us. Grant made it no secret that he’d liked me before then, but that moment surrounded by shattering hail was when we’d found each other.

We pulled up just outside of it, and Grant dismounted easily before lifting me down off the horse. “Grant.”

“Cori.” He lifted an eyebrow, daring me to tell him that he shouldn’t be lifting things as heavy as me. He’d been cleared by the doctors, but I was still nervous. No matter that every time he lifted me like that, I got butterflies through my whole body.

He smiled down at me. “Stay here for a second. And close your eyes.”

“This isn’t reassuring me that there isn’t an impossibly tiny surprise party in there.”

“Close your eyes,” he said again.

I obeyed, blocking out the sun. Frankly, it was a bit of a relief since it was too bright. The air was cold, sweet, and fresh. It reminded me of Grant, and that wildness that was always there underneath the surface.

“Okay,” Grant called, his voice quieter from inside the little shed. “You can come in.”

I opened my eyes, squinting against the sun. Petting Ginger on the neck, I made sure her reins were tied off before pushing open the door and freezing.

“Not a surprise party, exactly,” he said.

A blanket was spread across the ground in the small space, and a couple of candles had been set around the edges. On the blanket was a basket of food and a bottle of wine.

“Grant,” I managed. “What is this?”

He grinned. “A picnic, of a sort.”

I laughed. “You decided you wanted a picnic in a shed in the middle of January?”

“Yes,” he said with absolute certainty. “Because this was the beginning of everything, I wanted to start here.”

“Start what?” I took a step forward, and the door to the shed closed behind me. Daylight filtered in through the small, high windows, but it was far dimmer, letting the few candles create a cozy glow.

“Cori,” Grant said. “I love everything about our life. I love waking up with you every morning. I love every color you’ve put all over our house. I love helping you explore every fantasy you have and finding more.”

I blushed at that, disbelief dancing at the edges of my mind. Was this happening? Was he doing what I thought that he was doing? That wasn’t possible, right? It was too fast?

No.