Epilogue
Kade - One Year Later
The soft glow of dawn filters through the curtains, casting a pale golden light across the room. Liv sleeps beside me, her face peaceful, framed by tousled hair and tangled sheets.
I watch her for a moment, heart full. She’s always loved sunrises—and here, at Blue Hollow Lake, was where we watched our first one together. It feels like a lifetime ago, and still, like no time at all.
Leaning in, I press a kiss to her temple and whisper, “Hey, sleepyhead. It’s time.”
She stirs, eyes fluttering open, thick with sleep. “Is it really that early?”
I smile and take her hand. “It’s sunrise. You know we can’t miss it.”
She lets out a small laugh, squeezing my fingers before sitting up. I pull on my sweats and a T-shirt while Liv pulls on my hoodie leaving her legs completely bare, and pad quietly out onto the porch. The cool morning air greets us, crisp and earthy, the lake still and silver in the predawn light.
I settle onto the porch swing and pull her into my lap. She fits there like she always has—perfectly. Her head tucks beneath my chin, her fingers idly tracing patterns on my forearm.
“Kade,” she whispers after a while, voice soft with wonder. “Look at that sky.”
The sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon, spilling pink and orange across the water like someone tipped over a jar of paint. It’s breathtaking—but not more than her.
“I know,” I say, but I’m not looking at the sky. I’m looking at her.
She tilts her head to look up at me. “You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Stare at me instead of looking at the sunrise.”
I grin. “Can you blame me? You’re the most beautiful thing out here.”
She rolls her eyes, but I feel her smile against my chest. Her hands settle on mine again, grounding me—anchoring me—and that’s when I feel it. The box in the pocket of my sweats. Small, velvet, and heavier than anything I’ve ever carried.
My heart starts to beat a little harder.
She doesn’t know. She’s just watching the light dance on the water, peaceful and content.
And I’m sitting here, holding everything I’ve ever wanted in my arms, wondering how I ever got this lucky.
My heart hammers as I shift just slightly, careful not to disturb her. The box pressing against my thigh, a quiet reminder of what I came here to do. What I’ve been waiting to do.
She sighs contentedly and rests her chin on my shoulder. “You’re quiet this morning.”
I swallow, my throat tight. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
I pull back a little so I can really see her. The sunrise paints her skin in soft light, turning her eyes to molten gold. She’s so beautiful it knocks the breath right out of me.
“About you,” I say. “About us.”
Her brows lift slightly, curious. She starts to say something, but I shift her gently off my lap and reach into my pocket.
Her breath catches as she sees the box.
I drop to one knee on the porch—right where the early morning sun touches the wood—and open it.
Liv goes still, eyes wide, one hand covering her mouth as she takes in an elegant solitaire diamond nestled in a delicate white gold band that catches the light like a sunrise itself.
“I’ve been carrying this with me for months,” I say, voice low but steady. “Waiting for the right moment. But if I’m being honest, I could have proposed to you the first time we kissed.”
She lets out a watery laugh, blinking fast.
“I didn’t just fall in love with you once, Liv. I fall all over again every day. When you smile. When you fight through the hard days.”
I pause, breath catching.
“I want forever with you. All of it—the messy, the beautiful, the quiet mornings, and everything in between.”
I lift the ring, heart racing. “Olivia Cavendish… will you marry me?”
She doesn’t answer right away—not with words. She drops to her knees in front of me, tears sliding down her cheeks, and throws her arms around my neck.
“Yes,” she whispers, her voice trembling with emotion. “Yes, yes, of course.”
I slip the ring onto her finger, a rush of relief and joy flooding through me all at once. Liv lifts her hands to cup my face, pulling me into a kiss—soft, desperate, full of everything we’ve both been holding back.
My hands instinctively find their way to her waist as I stand, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. Her legs wrap around me without hesitation, and I carry her backward until her back presses against the cabin’s weathered wall.
She clings to me like I’m the only thing anchoring her to this moment—and maybe I am, because that’s what she’s always been for me. My hands slide beneath the hem of her hoodie, fingers skating over the soft skin of her back, and she shivers, more from want than the morning air.
“Kade…” she breathes, her forehead resting against mine, eyes still shining with tears and sunrise.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper. “Always.”
I kiss her again, slower this time, deeper. Her hands tangle in my hair as she arches into me, and everything else fades—the chill, the lake, the rising sun—until all I feel is her, warm and real and mine.
I carry her inside without breaking the kiss, the door falling shut behind us with a soft thud.
Our clothes come off in the lazy, familiar way they do when you know each other’s rhythms—no rush, just need. Her laughter is low and breathless as I trail kisses down her throat, and her hands roam over my back like she’s memorizing me all over again.
I fuck my girl slowly, surrounded by creaking floorboards and the scent of pine, with the light of the morning spilling across the bed.
It’s not just about the heat—it’s about the promise.
About the way she looks at me like I’m everything she’s ever wanted.
It’s the way she whispers my name like it’s her favorite word.
And when we’re tangled up afterward—her head on my chest, our legs intertwined—I press a kiss to her hair and close my eyes.
Fiancée.
God, I love the sound of that.