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“Is it broken?” she tipped her head to one side, a little smile playing on her lips as her arms tightened around me.
“I don’t know,” I said.
She smiled and released me, stepping back to put a little space between us, but taking my hands in hers. “You saved my life tonight,” she said. “Matilda and Sequoia too.”
I frowned at the overstatement. “Who’s Sequoia?”
“My puppy.” She wrinkled her nose at the distraction, then went on. “What if saving someone reverses the curse? Now I’ll never die.”
“Don’t joke about it.” I didn’t like talking about the worst things that had happened in my life to those I loved. “But maybe…” I trailed off, thinking. “Maybe you’re right. And maybe not. Maybe we just get the cards life deals us and sometimes we get a few in a row that are hard to handle.”
“And some that help you win,” she added. “Though I still intend to kick your ass later.”
“I’ll enjoy that,” I told her. She took my hand then, and pulled me to the dance floor, throwing one hand over her head and shaking in a small circle before stepping close to me again. Prior to this night, I would have taken any bet that had me dancing to ABBA and won it easily because there was no chance it would happen. But for Harper?
For Harper, I was willing to put aside a lot of the things I thought I believed about myself. For Harper, I was willing to find out who I really was. Who I could be if I just let myself.
And as we laughed and danced, I let my eyes roam the crowd out there on the wide open deck under the stars and the huge red trees around us, and my heart felt like it might balloon right out of me. My sister and Connor were laughing together, Maddie sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck. Chance and Mike were turning in a circle on the dance floor next to us, Finn doing the Floss at their side as Sam and Miranda stood behind him, trying to do the move themselves and failing. Ranger George and his wife were dancing too, next to Frank and Adele, and for a minute I worried about the movie we were supposed to be making because Tuck had Annie Gish spinning in a circle on the dance floor too, their faces glowing with smiles. Most of the guys from the crew had been invited, and they stood in clumps near the buffet and the bar, smiling and talking, relaxed and apparently happy.
Even Craig Pritchard looked happy, though he still sat at the table where he’d been eating. I caught his eye over Harper’s head and for a long minute he just watched me, dancing with his daughter. Finally, he nodded his head, and reached out one hand, showing me a thumbs up, which I took to mean I had permission to do what I did next. I twirled Harper back into my side, her blond hair flying around her and then settling over her shoulders. I brushed the hair from her face, took her in my arms, and leaned down to kiss her again.
Chapter 22
HARPER
The end of the night of Maddie’s wedding was kind of a blur—a happy blur. Cam and I danced and laughed, and everywhere I went, he was nearby, never really letting me out of his sight. Since we hadn’t gotten to really talk—or at least, I hadn’t—I was sure he was keeping me close in case I decided to leave again, but I had no intention of wandering away now.
We stayed until the end, spending time with the people who had become good friends, with my father, even. And as I joked with Annie Gish toward the end of the night, telling her about my near-death experience with the mountain lion, I had a realization. I was more at home here than I’d been anywhere in the world.
When I really thought about it, it made perfect sense. I was home. It was that simple. This was the place I’d started my life, and the roots ran as deep in me as these big trees were tall. I’d traveled the world, been planted and bloomed in plenty of other places, and I could do it again. But I’d never felt as calm, as right, as I did here among these people, in this place. And I knew I didn’t want to leave, though I also knew I would have to figure out how to handle the promises I’d already made once this party was over. I let the worry slide off my skin, determined to enjoy every second of what was left of the night, of having Cameron close at my side, of feeling this clear sense of happiness and belonging.
Maddie and Connor climbed into their festooned golf cart around midnight, heading for the bridal suite at the Inn. They’d planned a honeymoon to Tahiti, and I knew they were leaving early the next morning to catch a plane. I joined the crowd of people in front of the Outpost, waving them off.
The party wrapped up after that, I was glad again that I’d hired a crew to shut things down, freeing Mike and me up to just go home after a long day.
“It was perfect, Harper,” she whispered, bumping my shoulder as we both walked through the parking lot toward the little road back to the Inn.
“It was,” I said smiling.
Chance and Cam were exchanging a look over our heads, and I felt a surge of joy I could barely contain at being a part of this world, at fitting here so well.
“See you Monday?” I called to her as Cam and I headed for the truck.
She stopped, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. “Monday? But aren’t you…?”
“If my job is still open, I can explain when I come in Monday,” I said.
“Of course it’s open,” she laughed. “See you Monday.”
I climbed into Cam’s truck as he held the door open for me. “You’re sticking around then?” he asked, looking uncertain.
I looked up at him and smiled, my heart filling again as our eyes met. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
We didn’t talk much after that, but the next morning we took the dogs out to the pen and pulled the Adirondack chairs to the fence to watch them tumble around as we drank coffee side by side. When I had woken sufficiently, and emerged from the happy haze of spending a mostly-sleepless night in Cameron’s arms, I turned to look at him.
It hadn’t been easy, loving Cam—and I knew now that just as he said he was falling in love with me, I was in love with him too.
He wasn’t the kind of guy who charmed you to death, or who went around sweeping girls off their feet. He was handsome, that was certain. But I doubted many other girls would have gotten past the gruff armor he’d been wearing when we met, doubted may would have gone to the trouble to see the generous man beneath. Maybe I’d seen it only thanks to proximity. Living right next door and being thrust together over and over by circumstance had given me the opportunity to see the things Cam didn’t show most people—the love he had for his sister, the gentle affection he showed Matilda. In fact, I realized as I’d gotten to know him, that while Cam tried to seem hard and unfeeling, the person he was toughest on—meanest to—was himself.
