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“Josie—”
“No, listen,” I cut Hunter off. “Emmett’s grandfather built your home. I’m not letting you give that up. You’re mountain men.” I nudge Beau playfully. “And I would never want you to be anything else.”
“Josie,” Emmett says, looking pained. “That’s sweet. But you have to understand. We’d do anything to be with you.”
“Whatever it takes,” Beau agrees. “Even if it means dealing with city people.”
“And real jobs,” Hunter says, making a face.
My heart squeezes. This is real. It’s been a dreamy honeymoon between Christmas and New Year’s, but this is real now, and we actually need to figure out the logistics of it. Money. Living situations. All of it. Especially the money…
A thought strikes me. “Hold on. I just sold several photos. It’s not a full-time income yet, not even close, but I can work harder. I can put up more photos, build it out, make my own website, get a social media following. I can try to make this my actual job, and I can do it from anywhere. I don’t need to be in Seattle. I can build my business from the mountains.”
Even as I say it, I hear how crazy it sounds. A handful of sales and I’m ready to quit my apartment and move to the Cascades. My mother’s voice is already in my head, telling me to be realistic, to have a backup plan, to stop chasing things that don’t pay the bills. But my mother’s voice has been wrong about me my entire life. And the alternative is what? Staying here, signing another lease on a place that doesn’t fit us, going back to a job I hate so I can afford a life I don’t want? No. I’d rather bet on myself and be scared than play it safe and be miserable. I’ve already done miserable. I’m done with it.
Hunter stares at me, stunned. “You’d do that?”
Emmett’s eyes get that cloudy look and the back of his neck turns pink. I’m starting to understand what that means. Beau looks at me like he’s afraid if he says something, the spell will break.
“Of course I’d do that,” I tell them. “I want to be with you. I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re together. And come on, there are way more interesting things to take pictures of up there. Beau said those foxes are going to have kits in the spring. You’re not going to find that down here in the city.”
Beau lets out a breath and kisses me hard. Emmett crosses the room and scoops me up into a big bear hug before Beau has even let me go. Hunter is grinning, watching them not-fight over me. Emmett sets me down and kisses me slow.
“You’re mine,” he murmurs.
“I’m yours,” I agree.
“And mine,” Beau adds.
“And yours.”
“And—well, now I’m just copying everybody else,” Hunter says with a laugh.
“And yours,” I tell him and kiss him.
I get the letter on my door the next day. I have seven days to sign my new lease and pay my rent or quit. I show the guys, and that cements the decision that was made in whimsy the day before. We’re really going to do this, together, at the cabin. With the clock ticking, we start packing up my things. My stuff from Preston’s place is still in the back of their truck, and there isn’t that much to pack from my apartment.
I can’t stop thinking about Courtney. About the fight I overheard, or the look that she gave me when I was leaving the party, or the fact that she told Nola ‘no’ when Nola asked for a sibling. I’m worried about her, and no matter how fraught our relationship has been our whole lives, she’s still my sister. Beyond that, she’s Nola’s mother, and Nola deserves a fighting chance at happiness.
I text her one evening. To my surprise, she texts back almost immediately. We agree to meet for coffee the following morning. I let the guys know and leave them with a list of things to pack while I’m gone. They’re more than happy to do as I ask, because of course they are. The faster we get me packed, the sooner we can start our lives together at the cabin.
The next morning, I’m sitting in the coffee shop, waiting for Courtney. I’m wearing a pair of worn jeans and a comfortable sweater. She comes in dripping in designer labels. She orders her drink then sits down across from me. She fixes me with a flat stare.
“Have you seen Mom and Dad since the party?”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve decided that I’m okay with that. They know how to reach me if they want to be part of my life.”
She blinks at that. “What is your life?”
“Authentic,” I sigh. “I’m done changing myself to avoid people’s judgment, especially Mom and Dad’s. And honestly, it’s incredible.”
Courtney bites her lip. “That sounds… interesting. So, what are you doing now? Like, for money?”
“I’m taking photos,” I tell her with a dreamy smile. “I still can’t quite believe it, but that’s what I’m doing, and it’s working. My photos are good enough to sell, and people are buying them.”
She stares at me. “Photos. Josie, come on. You can’t live on photos.”
“I’m already doing it.”
