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I take a deep breath. "Now, I don't feel like it's a dealbreaker. I feel like if you want kids, I'll throw myself into being a good dad and I'll probably wind up loving it."
"I don't want kids," she says, almost sadly. "It's another way I'm disappointing my parents, but I never wanted kids. I want my life. I don't want to live through my offspring."
I sigh in relief. "Well, good. Let's put that issue to rest, then, because we're on the same page. Besides, your parents already have grandchildren. They can deal."
"So...so all those years ago when you saw me naked, you wanted me?" she asks, hesitant.
"Fuck yes. You know what it was? It was the look on your face. That strength. That ownership of yourself. I mean,yes,I liked your beautiful body." I stroke down from her breasts to her stomach, then down to her pussy. She shifts her legs for me, and I stroke her petals, then her clit. She sighs. "But it was that confidence that really drew me. Kept you in my dreams. Kept you in my memories. But honey, you were a child. I knew it wasn't right, not then." I slide down the bed and settle between her thighs again. "Now it's right."
And then I get my dessert.
In the morning, I make her breakfast before I get showered and dressed for work. "I'm guessing you'll be at Dock Holiday today?"
She nods. "Gotta give my notice at Boots 'N' Beer." She smiles. "I'm ready for the next phase of my life. And I think it's the one I'm going to want to stay in for a long time. Years. Decades. Maybe the whole rest of my life."
"Can I be there with you?" I ask, putting on my boots. "Am I part of this?"
She looks at me seriously, those blue eyes level. "I think you are my life, Holt. I think you always have been."
I don't plan it. God knows I'm not prepared. "Marry me, then?"
She laughs out loud, and stands up from my kitchen table, wearing nothing but an old tee shirt of mine. "Yes. Yes, I will!"
And so begins the rest of our lives.
EPILOGUE
SAGE, FIVE YEARS LATER
"Baby?" I call, coming through the front door of the cabin after leaving Dock Holiday Guesthouse, my parents' place. The fishing tours are, thank god, not my responsibility now, since the boat business is under new management.
It's late since I stayed to close, but not too late. Holt will be waiting for me.
Holt doesn't answer my call. I kick off my shoes and take my hair out of its topknot, letting it fall down my back. I get a glass of water and pound it down, then splash my face with water from the kitchen sink.
What I'd love at the moment is a dip in the outdoor saltwater pool Holt put in the backyard soon after we were married. But I'm missing my husband. Maybe I can swim tomorrow. I peek into the bedroom, but it's empty. The sheets are turned back, but there's no Holt.
I love this life.
My sister Sammi has her degree in marketing and two wonderful kids with Zane. My sister Sara has found love in someone new, and she has a job she loves. My parents have four grandchildren to spoil and one more on the way, and Dad helps Mom and me run the guesthouse, except when he's helping the new manager run the boat tours.
The guesthouse is running just great now--guess all that experience I had with different restaurant and hospitality businesses all over town was good preparation--and Mom actually listens to my ideas. She lets me try new things, and sometimes they bring in new business. If they don't work, we try other new things. We go with the flow now, instead of being stuck in the old ways just because it's what we'd always done.
I really love this life.
Holt and me, we live in this beautiful cabin up on Big Horn Ridge, just the two of us. Just the way we love it. And Holt spoils me every chance he gets. So I spoil him back.
I turn to the backyard, and now I see that the citronella torches are lit. Which means he's out there. Waiting for me.
I can't help smiling all over my face. I race outside to the pool area. "Hey! There you are. I was just thinking the pool would feel good right now."
"Great minds think alike. Brought you a drink, too," he says from where he's resting on the double lounger, in his swim trunks. He nods toward the small table near the pool. "Fresh lemonade, with a slug of your good gin in it."
I pick up the frosted glass and knock back a third of it. I'm always really thirsty after a shift. "That's really good."
"Your recipe." He smiles, his teeth white in his trimmed beard. "Now, why don't you relax in the pool, Ms. Guesthouse Manager?"
"Come in with me," I invite. I pull my shirt off over my head, then ditch my work trousers and socks, leaving me in my bra and bikini underwear. I give him the eye to make sure he's watching, then take off the bra. I pretend to try to hide my breasts from him, while actually giving him a good look at the way my nipples have peaked in the fresh summer night air. Then I turn my back on him, slip my panties down, flashing him a glimpse of my split as I step out. "Can't wait to feel the water," I tempt, sliding my hands down my sides and walking toward the pool. I dip one toe in, then step down two steps. I bend over and splash my face and upper body, again letting him see the shadowy valley between my thighs. "Mmm, this feels so nice." I step deeper into the pool, letting my breasts bob free on the surface of the water. "Aren't you coming in?"
