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When it’s over, my knees are weak. It was so good that I move us to the bed, not bothering to clean up. I’m going to take her again before we sleep and when that happens, I’m going to fall asleep inside of her…I do almost every night and she loves it as much as I do.
Once we’re settled in the bed, she curls into me, her head resting on my arm, her hand flattening out over my heart. I reach over blindly to the nightstand drawer and feel around until I find the small box that’s there.
I smile because Luna’s eyes are still closed. It makes a man feel good knowing he can wear his woman out. It takes some work, but I manage to get the box open with one hand and the ring out. I slide it on her finger. I’m rather proud at how easy I accomplished it too.
“Gavin?” she asks, her voice still filled with sleep, but full of surprise too.
“I fell in love with you when I was seventeen, and I know without a shadow of a doubt I’m going to love you for the rest of my life. Marry me, Moonbeam.”
“Gavin,” she says, and she looks at me, tears in her eyes and … happiness. I gave her that, and I’m going to do everything to keep giving her that the rest of our lives.
“Luna, we grew up together, somehow we found our way back to each other, I’m asking you to grow old with me. Make us a true family with our son and any other children we are blessed to have,” I tell her, and she still hasn’t said yes, but I see the answer in her eyes. “Marry me, Moonbeam,” I say again.
“Yes!” she cries. “Absolutely,” she says right before her lips press against mine.
Finally, after all these years Luna Marshall is going to be my wife.
Dreams really do come true… sometimes it just takes them a while.
Luna
Eight Months Later
I lay back on my lounger letting the sun shine down on my face. I can hear Joshua and Gavin out by the grill talking about the upcoming football season. Wally is here too, and I can hear him talking to Meghan and making her laugh. Juniper isn’t here yet, but she’s on her way. I thought after everything that went down she’d decide to take off and leave Stone Lake behind for good, but she didn’t. In fact, she just purchased Elaine’s old tavern from the estate and is planning on opening it up next month. Gavin and Joshua were both ecstatic that she will be putting down roots here, and I couldn’t be happier either. It finally feels like we’ve turned some magical corner and the ghosts from our pasts have finally all been laid to rest—and some of those are burning in hell and I’m more than happy with that too. From here out, I have no room in my life for anything but my family, for the ones I love. They feed my soul and give me purpose. Waking up to Gavin every morning is a joy I never thought I would have. I hold the happiness close to my heart. It’s a gift, and I’m not about to take one single second of it for granted.
Ben offered Gavin a job at the Sheriff’s office. Gavin is way too overqualified to be a deputy, but oddly enough those two seem to have found a common ground. I think, although neither would admit it out loud, they like each other. Gavin took the job, the pay is a lot less, but the hours are steady. He’s home every night, and he never misses anything going on in Josh’s life. Mine and Ben’s relationship has returned to the easy footing it was before we started dating. Every now and then I catch a faraway look in his eye, and I see sadness when he looks at me, but it disappears fairly quickly. I hate that I hurt him, but I know in my heart that we weren’t right for each other. He’ll find a woman one day and when he does, he won’t let her go easily. He’ll fight for her. It never really occurred to him to fight for me. Maybe he knew it wouldn’t do any good because my heart already belonged to Gavin, but I think it’s because deep down he knew I wasn’t the woman he was meant to have. I hope whoever he ends up with it’s a good woman, someone who will love him, because Ben deserves that.
It’s been a little over eight months since Joshua’s kidnapping, and I came so close to losing everything I held dear.
Life is a wild ride. Just when you think everything is perfect, it likes to rear up and knock you down. When I look back over the years, there are days I’m surprised I’m still standing. Through it all there’s been one constant, however.
