Page 173 of Peaks and Promises

CHAPTER 42

Reese

After we got home late that night, the three of us went straight to bed and crashed from exhaustion. And the next morning, for the second time in my adult life, I slept in.

A burst of adrenaline woke me, and my eyes flew open. Nate. Summer. Where were—

With a soft sigh, she rolled closer, and I put my arm around her waist, drawing her against me. We were home safe.

I’d reached out to everyone on the drive home—Garrett, my parents, my other siblings, Gunnar—to let them know we’d found Nate. He was unharmed, and we were on our way home. It was over.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I breathed her in, enjoying the warmth of her body tucked against mine. She felt better than I’d ever imagined, and it was almost hard to believe she really was mine.

But she was, and she always would be. Soon, like I’d told my dad, I was going to make it official. One last Haven wedding was coming, even if the bride didn’t know it yet.

I wanted to let her sleep, so I slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. When I emerged, her eyes were still closed and her breathing even. I smiled at how peaceful she looked, then quietly left the bedroom.

After starting the coffee maker, I turned and was surprised to find Nate. His hair was messy, and he rubbed his eyes.

“Hey, chief. Why are you up so early?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just woke up.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah.”

“No weird dreams or anything?”

“Nope.”

“That’s good.” I gestured to the couch. “Let’s sit down for a minute.”

With a nod, he followed me to the living room, and we sat down. He rubbed his eyes again and looked at me expectantly. I hated the idea of asking him to lie about what had happened. But if we wanted things to blow over, we needed to have our stories straight.

“Listen, a lot happened over the past couple of days,” I began. “You had to see some things no kid your age should have to see. I’m sorry about that.”

“Are you going to get in trouble?” he asked, worry in his tone.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. We need to be careful what we say to people about what happened.”

“Kind of like telling people I’m Nate Haven and you’re my stepdad?”

“Exactly like that. We’ll say your mom and I rescued you from Axel’s uncle’s house, and we don’t know what happened to Axel after that.”

He nodded. “Okay, I can do that. Are those biker guys coming back?”

“No. They’re not.”

His posture relaxed and his mouth turned up in a smile. “Really?”

“Really. I doubt you’ll ever see them again.”

“So now, Mom and I can just live here?”

“That’s the plan.”

“With you?”