Chapter 35
Lana
When we pull up to Jake’s, I’m overwhelmed by the reception—Kori rushing forward to envelop me in a tearful hug, Jake and Ella hovering nearby with obvious relief, Julia bouncing on her toes with uncharacteristic restraint.
Even Connor and Mia came from the lodge for support.
But it’s Caleb’s expression that undoes me—the carefully controlled facade that can’t quite hide the fear he must have felt when he realized I was missing.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” Kori whispers fiercely in my ear. “I should have stopped you.”
“It’s not your fault,” I assure her, though guilt gnaws at me for putting everyone through this. “I shouldn’t have gone alone.”
Sergeant Miller approaches, his face stern but not unkind. “We’ll need a formal statement from you, Ms. Mills, but that can wait until tomorrow.”
I nod gratefully, suddenly aware of how exhausted I am. The adrenaline that carried me through the ordeal is fading fast, leaving me shaky and light-headed. Caleb must notice, because his arm slides around my waist, steady and supportive.
“Let’s get you inside,” he says quietly, guiding me toward the house.
Once in the kitchen, away from the crowd of concerned faces, I finally let myself lean fully against him, drawing strength from his solid presence. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I should have told you where I was going.”
“Yes, you should have,” he agrees, his voice tight with lingering fear and relief. “But we can talk about that later. Right now, I need to know you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” I assure him, though I’m not entirely sure it’s true. The memory of Hawthorne’s cold eyes and the gun pressed against my side is still too fresh.
He guides me to a chair, and Ella appears with a steaming mug of tea and a gentle pat on my shoulder before retreating to give us privacy. I take a sip, the warmth seeping into my cold fingers.
“What happened?” he asks finally, sitting across from me, his eyes never leaving my face.
I tell him everything—my impulsive trip to town, Hawthorne’s ambush, the abandoned storage facility where they held me. As I speak, I notice something fall from my jacket pocket onto the floor between us—the pharmacy bag, crushed and forgotten in the chaos of my abduction.
Caleb bends to retrieve it, and my heart stops as I watch recognition dawn on his face when he sees what’s inside. The pregnancy test. The one I never got to take.
“Lana?” His voice is careful and questioning as he holds the package.
I swallow hard, unable to meet his eyes. “I’ve been feeling off for a few days. Nauseous in the mornings. I just... I needed to know.”
He’s silent for so long that I finally look up, bracing myself for... what? Anger? Fear? Instead, I find him watching me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“Were you going to tell me?” he asks softly.
“Yes,” I say immediately. “I just wanted to be sure first.”
He nods slowly, then reaches across the table to take my hand. “Do you want to find out now?”
His calm reaction surprises me. “You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be upset?” He looks genuinely confused.
“Because we’ve only really known each other for a few weeks,” I point out. “Because this would complicate everything.”
A small smile touches his lips. “Lana, after everything we’ve been through—nearly dying in the underground room collapse, uncovering a century-old conspiracy, you getting kidnapped by a corrupt mayor—I think we can handle a pregnancy test.”
His words release something tight in my chest, and I find myself smiling back despite my nerves. “Okay. Let’s find out.”
I take the test into the bathroom, my hands shaking slightly as I follow the instructions. When I emerge, Caleb is waiting in the hallway, leaning against the wall with forced casualness.
“Now we wait,” I say, setting my phone timer for three minutes.
Those three minutes feel longer than the hours I spent as Hawthorne’s captive. We sit side by side on the edge of the bed in the guest room, not speaking, our shoulders touching. When the timer finally chimes, I take a deep breath.
“Whatever it says,” Caleb says quietly, “we’ll figure it out.”
I nod, too nervous to speak, and go to check the result.
One line. Negative.
I stare at it for a long moment, surprised by the complex mix of emotions washing through me—relief, yes, but also a faint, unexpected disappointment.
“It’s negative,” I tell him when I return, holding out the test for him to see.
“Are you okay?” he asks, studying my face carefully.
“I think so,” I say honestly. “It’s probably for the best, given everything that’s happening.”
He takes the test from my hand, looks at it, then sets it aside and pulls me gently into his arms. “You know,” he says against my hair, “I’m actually glad.”
I pull back slightly to look at him. “Glad?”
“Not because I wouldn’t want—” he stops, recalibrates. “I’m glad because now when I ask you to marry me, you won’t think I’m only doing it because you’re pregnant.”
My brain stutters to a halt. “When you... What?”
He laughs softly at my expression, then grows serious.
“I know it’s fast. I know we’ve only known each other a short time.
But Lana, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.
These past weeks have shown me exactly who you are—brave, stubborn, compassionate, brilliant.
I love you. And after nearly losing you today, I don’t want to waste any more time pretending I’m not completely, irreversibly in love with you.
Besides, life is too short. When you know something is good for you, something you can’t live without, you grab onto it. ”
I stare at him, speechless, as tears well in my eyes. This wasn’t how I expected this day to end—not with a kidnapping, not with a negative pregnancy test, and certainly not with a declaration of love that makes my heart feel too big for my chest.
“You don’t have to answer now,” he says quickly, misinterpreting my tears. “I know it’s sudden—”
“Yes,” I interrupt, the word bursting from me. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Now it’s his turn to look stunned. “You will?”
I laugh through my tears, throwing my arms around his neck. “You’re right—it is fast and probably crazy. But I’ve never felt like this before. Everything with you feels right, even when the world around us is falling apart. So yes, Caleb Brennen, I will marry you.”
He pulls me closer, his arms strong and sure around me, and when he kisses me, I feel something settle inside me—a certainty, a belonging I’ve never known before.
“I don’t have a ring,” he murmurs against my lips. “This wasn’t exactly planned.”
“I don’t need a ring,” I assure him. “Though I have to say, proposing right after a kidnapping and a pregnancy scare is certainly memorable.”
He laughs, the sound warming me from within. “We’ll have quite a story to tell our kids someday.”
“Kids, huh?” I tease, though the thought sends a pleasant shiver through me. “Already planning the future?”
“Our future,” he corrects, brushing my hair back from my face. “And yes, I plan to have many adventures with you, Lana Brennen.”
“Lana Brennen,” I try out the name, liking how it sounds. “Has a nice ring to it. Although I might hyphen it as Mills-Brennen, if that’s alright with you?”
“Whatever you want,” he says, and I believe him. “As long as you’re with me, the details don’t matter.”
A soft knock at the door interrupts us, and Kori’s voice calls through, “Is everything okay in there? Jake wants you guys to come out. He has something he wants to tell everyone at once.”