EPILOGUE
FAITH
Walker’s view hadn’t changed much since the first day I set foot on his mountain. I had though, and so did the little bundle of life in my belly who grew by the day. I pressed one hand to the top of my belly as I stared out at the light rain that sprinkled the mountain in coolness at the end of autumn, winter’s early kiss settling in.
The rock face before me reverberated with Walker’s renovations that he promised would be finished before our baby arrived. Not that we would have him—or her—here. He’d kept his promise and set foot on his dad’s land for the first time in years, claiming it back for both of us. I had handed the management over to a co-worker I trusted, and we had built the first foundations of our family home there together.
But Walker’s home here above Red Hart would always be his, and it would always be somewhere special for us all. Which was why he was currently building a folding wall that would shutter out that gorgeous view I loved…and keep crawling—and sometimes running—feet in. A wall that we could open and close as we chose.
At least until our mountain offspring was grown enough to know the lay of the literal land.
Walker swung in off the side of the mountain, flicking off the myriad of carabiner clips that hung from his belt attached to several ropes I made him put up for safety’s sake. He objected, as did I.
My voice won out.
Or he let me win.
I preferred to go with option A. Either way, I felt more secure with him all strapped in when he worked on the impossible wall he seemed to build out of nothing, but then he knew this section of the mountain intimately. Dusty hands wrapped around me as I squeaked and batted at him but that didn’t stop the Walker from nuzzling into the crook of my neck.
“Your beard is ticklish,” I muttered, only half sassing him out.
“And you’re fucking beautiful.” He brushed his chin roughly against my cheek and claimed my mouth in a deep kiss. “When I'm finished later, we’re sharing a warm pool. Then I’m showing you what that extra shallow area is made for.”
His kisses grew deeper until I moaned, then he drew back. I flapped at him, but the glitter in Walker’s eye told me I wasn't getting anything else from him until he was good and ready. Pouting, I let him lift me in his arms and place me in his rocker gently, wrapping me up in his thick blanket. The same one he had wrapped around me on the first night I invaded his home months ago.
Then he knelt and addressed my bump. Well, our bump, because we both made the little kicking bubble that grew inside. Our mountain blessing.
“Your mother might be sassy, but she’s strong. You’re gonna need that strength out here. But it’s the most beautiful place in the world. She says it all the time when she thinks I’m not listening, but I am,” he told my stomach.
I ran my fingers through Walker’s hair where he was starting to let it grow out on top a little. “And your daddy is the craziest mo–”
Walker’s hand rose to clamp over half my face. “Shh,” he reprimanded me. “Potty mouth.”
The glimmer in his eyes from before promised me filthy things for later. I looked forward to his demonstration of the shallow and warm pool he had spent the last few weeks carving out while I napped in the mountain's heart.
This place would always be ours, even when we lived closer to town. It wasn’t just Walker’s and it wasn’t just the place where we met or where my car fell off the side and hadn’t been recovered yet. Maybe one day. It was the place where I met a recluse of a mountain man who thought he’d been forgotten. But that had never been true.
No, this was a place that belonged to both of us. A place where we left our hearts in the secret sacred spaces within the mountain, our promise to return together.
Because together, we would never forget each other.