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Deacon was flying Shelby and Beau back this evening, so they had left two hours ago. Logan was catching a flight back tomorrow to Washington, D.C. to see his wife, Juliet, and his little boy, Griffin, during the rest of his brief vacation time. They were discussing a few changes coming, but he wouldn’t elaborate further – and none of the mess pressed him for information.
One by one, each couple was heading out for the night – when Houghton chuckled and shook his head.
“Who knew Ortega grew a patient streak in him?”
“What do you mean?”
“That man is not patient at all. He’s pushy, aggressive, goes after anything he wants, and frankly? I’m shocked you two are still sitting here with us.”
Lena looked at Jake, who smiled indulgently at her, just sitting there relaxing in his seat and watching her.
“I would do anything for her,” Jake said, not taking his eyes off Lena. “And if my bride wants to sit here and talk, then I’m perfectly fine.”
“I thoughtyoudid,” she asked, surprised… and swallowed as he got to his feet, not taking his eyes off hers – and held out his hand.
“We’ll be leaving now,” he said… instead of asking.
“Yes, we will.”
“See y’all come spring,” Houghton said cheerfully and clinked his glass against Logan’s, laughing as Jill shushed them both.
Lena didn’t say a word and couldn’t look away from Jake as he walked her to the doorway, plucking her coat from the rack before holding it out for her. She slipped her arms inside, and he shrugged on his quickly, handing her some gloves, a hat, and a scarf.
“We aren’t going to be outside that long.”
“I’m not taking any chances with you.”
Leaving the house a moment later, they walked hand in hand toward their cabin in the distance which already had the fairy lights twinkling inside.
“Did you leave them on?”
“Nope. Pulled a few strings.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I kinda wanted to set the mood for my favorite girl,” he smiled and leaned over to lift the frozen mat off the front porch, plucking a key up and depositing it into his pocket. “Gideon.”
“Gideon was in our cabin?”
“For just a few minutes, I’m sure.”
As he opened the door, she smiled. There was a small bottle of some pink liqueur, the fairy lights sparkled, giving off a soft glow, and the fireplace had been started along with music playing in the distance.
“Oh wow,” she breathed, smiling and utterly enchanted that he’d arranged so many things just to please her.
“How are you feeling?”
“So full,” she chuckled in embarrassment. “Perhaps my eyes are bigger than my stomach.”
“I’m glad you loved your cheesecake.”
“I love the man who arranged for it to be there.”
“You didn’t mind that it wasn’t some massive fancy wedding?”
“I quite prefer that it was just ours…” she admitted softly, smiling at him.
Jake leaned over, grabbed the bottle of pink liquid, and winced.
