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She kissed his sweaty temple. “No. You need to stay here forever.”
He raised his head and she could see the laughter on his face. Such a change from how he’d looked mere hours previously. “I wish I could, but that would get a little awkward, especially around other people.” He leaned down and kissed her deeply, and by the time he got up, she was boneless.
Beth watched as Wyatt went into the en suite and returned with a warm, wet washcloth, which he used to clean her up gently. She gave him a grateful smile as he returned it to the bathroom, then got back on the bed and stretched out next to her. They talked and kissed for a little while, then got up and dressed so they could eat.
Wyatt placed an order at the diner, and although she didn’t see who, someone was good enough to deliver it to them. Beth set up two places for them to sit and eat at the dining table, and they devoured everything on their plates. She suspected he’d eaten as little as she had over the last day, and by the time they were done they were both groaning with full bellies.
As the sun began to set, he took her hand and led her outside onto the front porch, Freya at their heels, to watch the sky change color as night fell. It was beautiful and peaceful, and they sat together on the swing, wrapped around each other in comfortable silence.
Wyatt stroked her hair slowly, his lips kissing her face. “He won’t come after you, Beth.”
She gazed up at him, doubt creeping into her mind. “How will you stop him?”
“You know my friend, Ben?” She nodded. “He works for a private security firm called Centurion Security. He can’t really talk about the kind of jobs they do, but I suspect most of it is either for wealthy and famous people, or the government.”
“You mean, under the table jobs?”
“Right. Ben did some digging and discovered that Newman has his fingers in a lot of illegal pies. That information has been passed on to certain people who are now very keen to talk to him about his actions and a whole stack of money that he shouldn’t have. He’ll be far too busy dealing with all of that to even think about you, let alone come after you again.”
Tears flooded her eyes. “So it’s really over?”
“It’s really over.”
She cried, but this time they were happy tears. Yes, her ordeal with a man she truly regretted letting into her life was finally over, but really, it was just a beginning. Beth Adams would finally get to live the life she’d always wanted, with the man she loved more than words could express right by her side.
A twist of fate had led to her car breaking down on the side of the road several months ago, and the despair she’d felt had soon turned to hope. Joy. Bliss.
Love.
Her love for Wyatt Kincaid would give her strength enough to weather whatever life wanted to throw at her, because she’d never have to do it alone. Her handsome, kind, caring, generous man would be right by her side, always.
Right where she wanted him.
Forever.
Epilogue
Beth sat back against the cushions, sipping her soda and turning her face up toward the sun. It was moments like these that made her so fucking grateful her car had broken down all those years ago on the side of the road near Silverbell Shore. That one simple event had led to her finding the love of her life and marrying him a year later.
She was sitting on their boat, watching their two fur babies run around and play. Every now and then, Freya and Rosie would dive into the lake, go for a swim, and come back on board, only to shake water all over their parents.
Her husband stood at the bow, the light wind blowing through his hair. They both wore sunglasses and hats; his cap was Navy themed, while hers was a straw hat with a wide brim and a light blue ribbon wrapped around it. They both loved being out on the water, especially in the warmer weather.
Another summer had rolled around, which meant they’d soon be marking five years of wedded bliss. Accepting Wyatt’s proposal of marriage had been one of the easiest things she’d ever done, and she’d never regretted it for a single moment. They’d talked extensively both before and after their wedding about children, and had agreed they didn’t want any.
But they had adopted another dog. Rosie was a German shepherd who’d been dumped at a local shelter, and her fur was darker than Freya’s. Beth had taken one look at her, into the round, sad eyes staring back at her, and hadn’t been able to resist. They’d adopted Rosie on the spot and taken her home to meet her new sister. Freya had been a little wary at first, used to being the sole center of attention, but her parents had lavished her with love and the two dogs had soon settled into playing together.
Wyatt had taken her out on the boat and they’d scattered her mother’s ashes in the lake her first Christmas in Silverbell Shore. She knew her mom would have loved her new home, and the man she’d been engaged to marry by then.
The mystery of how Miles Newman had found her had been solved when Wyatt had examined every single inch of her little blue car and had located two tiny trackers. One had been in the trunk, underneath the carpet, and the other inside the car, underneath the driver’s seat.
Sneaky bastard. Beth had been angry when Wyatt had located them. She’d been angry about a lot of things Miles had done, but she’d worked through her complicated feelings with a therapist and was in a much better place. She’d also learned her ex had fled the country when he’d discovered his employers and the MC he’d been in bed with had found out what he’d been doing and would never set foot on American soil again if he wanted to stay alive.
When she’d found out about the balance of the secret bank account he’d had and that Ben had removed the money, she’d had him split it between a number of charities and shelters who helped victims of domestic violence get back on their feet again. Knowing that money would make a real difference was reward enough.
She’d found peace with her husband. She led a happy life. The life she’d always dreamed of. The life she wished her mom was still around to see her living, but she knew in her heart Annika Adams would have been thrilled to see her only child madly in love and living in a beautiful town with an unbeatable backdrop.
Business was better than ever. A lifestyle magazine had done a feature on Silverbell Shore a few years previously, highlighting their boating business, and since then the warmer months had seen more tourists than ever come to stay and spend their money in town. Beth had needed to set up a booking system just to keep up, and even so had to turn down some bookings because there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to cater to everyone.
