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Ethan held me, squeezing me tighter, and when I looked up at him, he leaned in for a kiss. He then made his way over to the truck. Leaning up against the front of it, he stood there, looking out over the water, giving me the privacy I asked for. I let out a breath and knelt, once again, in front of Darren’s grave.
“Darren, I’d like you to meet Ethan,” I said quietly, picking the dead flower petals I’d somehow missed from the plants. “He’s the one I told you about. He’s the man who’s looking after me now, and you need to know that he is a good one.”
I blinked away the tears that were forming in my eyes and looked up just in time to see the lone Trumpeter swan land on the water. I watched as he swam toward me, when suddenly, from the far side of the river, another swan began swimming toward him.
I smiled as the one that I’d seen before made its way to the bank, climbing up onto the grass. I watched as he began walking toward me just as he had before, then he stopped and stared. I smiled as the other swan joined him. They both came a little closer, pecked at the ground, and then stopped, looking back over at me.
“Did you finally find your mate?” I asked quietly.
The second swan turned, making its way back to the water, and called out, just as I’d asked my question. The other swan took off toward the water, swimming over to the other one. They both sat there for a moment and then took off down the river together.
I quickly finished clearing up the dead flowers, then stood up and brushed off my pants. “Was that swan my sign?” I questioned, looking down at Darren’s name. “It was, wasn’t it?” I softly smiled and whispered good-bye to Darren before walking over to where Ethan stood. The minute he noticed me, he opened his arms so I could walk into them.
“You, okay?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Yes.” I rested my head against his chest, taking comfort in his embrace.
“Did you see those swans? I was afraid the one was going to attack you.” He chuckled. “They are damn big birds.”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t. The one is always here. I think he was just coming to tell me he’d found a new mate.” I smiled.
Ethan looked at me funny. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, it’s a story for another time. We should get going. Remember, we have dinner plans with Trinity, Thomas, Tristan, and Brooke,” I said as I glanced at my watch, noticing the time.
Ethan nodded, pulling me closer against him, and met my lips. “Let’s get going.”
I kissed him again, then we both climbed into the truck. I watched out the window as Ethan pulled away, and just before we started driving off, the two Trumpeter swans rose out of the water and flew off.
PEGGY
Two Weeks Later
The sliding door off our bedroom opened and Ethan stepped out onto the back deck, carrying two mugs full of coffee.
“Here we go,” he said, placing the mugs down on the small glass table before sitting down across from me.
“Beautiful morning, isn’t it?” I said, looking out over the lake. The sun was just beginning to rise. We’d started sitting out back in the early mornings on Tuesday. Peggy’s Petals was closed for the day, and it gave us the opportunity to spend some private time together. When Ethan said nothing, I turned and looked at him. He sat there, a soft smile on his lips as he watched me.
“Every morning with you is beautiful,” he replied, his voice low. “Probably my favorite part of every day is looking at you.” He took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips, where he placed a very gentle kiss on the back of my hand. “Are you meeting Trinity this morning?”
“Yes, our usual breakfast date. I thought afterwards we’d head over to the house and start work on painting.”
We’d kept my place, planned on fixing it up and using it as a rental property. We had a lot of work ahead of us, but together we knew we could get it done.
“Sounds good. I promised Thomas I’d come by and help him with a delivery this morning. That should give you girls time for breakfast before we get to work on the house.”
“Sounds good.”
Ethan kicked his feet up and placed them beside mine on the small ottoman, picked up his coffee, and took a sip. Sitting back, he placed his hand over mine. I knew without a doubt that here with him was the place I wanted to be.
* * *
I pulled open the door and walked into The Crispy Biscuit. Trinity sat in our usual booth, her nose in a book. I smiled as I walked over to her. It must have been a good one because she didn’t lift her eyes from the page, even when the little chimes went off.
“Well, look who’s reading a book. Shocker.” I smiled.
Trinity looked up at me and shook her head. “What’s even more of a shocker is that I’m reading yet another one of these damn political thrillers. Thomas was telling me about this one. He wouldn’t shut up about it, and my curiosity got to me.”
