Authors: Raeanne Thayne
“Gee, when you put it that way, why wouldn’t I want to come?”
Brodie gave him a steady look at the sarcastic tone. “You’re going to have to face people sooner or later. Might as well man up and do it now while you have the added benefit of being able to honor Layla’s memory at the same time. People might stare but nobody’s going to say anything—not if you’re there with us and with Taryn.”
Evie’s throat felt achy, tight, and she wondered how it was possible to love this man more with every passing day.
Charlie stared at him for a long moment, myriad emotions chasing across his features, then he finally sighed. “You’re probably right. Kind of like taking your medicine in one big gulp instead of spreading it out for weeks.”
Evie smiled through the haze of tears she refused to shed. “We can put your bike in the garage and give you a ride into town.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
As Charlie headed toward the house, the three of them climbed back into the SUV then followed behind him at a safe distance.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Brodie asked her quietly when they reached the house and Taryn went to help Charlie find a place for his bike. “He’s right. A few people won’t be happy he’s there. Some people can’t let go, even after the truth came out about what really happened that night.”
She nodded. “Charlie needs this. I think the whole town does. The healing process is usually messy and painful and rarely comfortable. I think we’ve all learned that these past months.”
To her delight, Brodie reached for her hand and brought it to his mouth, one of those spontaneous gestures that charmed her to her core. “I love you, Evie Thorne.”
“And doesn’t that make me the luckiest woman in Hope’s Crossing?” she murmured.
When the two young people slid into the backseat, Jacques perched happily between them, Brodie once more pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the town spread out below them.
Across the valley, warm morning sunshine glinted off the snow that still capped Woodrose Mountain. Evie wanted to bask in it—and in the certain knowledge that, storm clouds or not, her future here in Hope’s Crossing would be filled with light and joy and peace. She refused to have it any other way.
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ISBN: 9781459225664
Copyright © 2012 by RaeAnne Thayne
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