“I love you too, Angel.” I touch my lips to hers and pull her against my chest when she suddenly sobs. “I don’t really like hearing you cry.” I slide my hand up and down her back, and she laughs through her tears, tucking her face deeper against my throat.

“Sorry, I… I… I’ll stop in a second,” she says, and I close my eyes, feeling her tears wet the skin of my neck. Fuck, I wish my mom and dad were alive to meet her, to see I did good, that I found an amazing woman to share my life with, to build a family with.

“I wish my parents could have met you,” I whisper aloud, and her arms tighten around me and her body bucks on a loud sob that’s painful to hear. “They would have loved you baby, fucking loved you for me.”

“I wish… I… I wish I could have met them.” She hiccups, and I kiss her hair, running my hand down her back. “They made you the way you are, so they had to be amazing, so amazing. I know I would have loved them.”

Killing me. Fucking killing me.

“Baby,” I whisper against her ear, holding her tighter.

“I love you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making it easy for me to trust you, to fall in love with you.”

Yes, totally fucking killing me.

“I gotta tell you something,” I say, and her head comes out of my neck, her eyes searching mine.

“What is it?” she asks, worry filling her voice.

“My last name’s MacCabe.”

“Yeah, I know,” She smiles, leaning in to touch her mouth to mine, but I pull back, keeping her where she is.

“You ever hear that name before?”

“Aside from you, no.” She shakes her head then shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe in a romance novel or something. Why?”

“My parents owned MacCabe Lumber in California. When they passed, they left the company to me.”

“Okay,” she drawls, sounding confused, and I give her waist a squeeze.

“What I’m trying to say is I’ve got money, a lot of it.”

“You have money?” she repeats, her brows drawing together.

“Yeah.”

“A lot of it,” she adds, and I nod. “What do you mean ‘a lot of it’?”

“I mean I’ve got enough money to take care of you, any kids we have, buy a mansion, this place, a beach house, take trips, and live large, still never making a dent in that money.”

“Holy shit,” she breathes, eyes wide with shock and her lips parting as she stares at me.

“We won’t be doing any of those things,” I tell her, and she blinks. “We’ll go on trips, yes, buy a bigger place when we need to, again yes, but the rest, no.” I shake my head, feeling her fingers dig into my shoulders.

“I don’t care about your money,” she whispers, and I slide my hand up into her hair and pull her closer.

“I know you don’t, since until a second ago you didn’t even know I had any. I’m telling you, because I needed you to know. It’s part of who I am, but not who I am.”

“All I want is you.”

“And you got me, all of me. Always.”

Her eyes close, and when they open, her hands slide from my shoulders to my neck then up into my hair. “Then I don’t care about anything else.”

“Love you, Angel.”

“I don’t love you, Harlen. Whatever this is, it isn’t love. I don’t think there’s a word in the English language to describe how I feel for you,” she confesses, and my arms tighten around her as I shove my face between her neck and shoulder and I hold onto her, doing it tightly, knowing I’ll have this for the rest of my life. This contentment, this peace, and this happiness, as long as I have her.

***

“It’s beautiful, perfect Mom more than that it’s special, he made it using his mom’s diamond… I know but just wait until you see it,” I hear Harmony say, as I step out onto the front deck of the cabin the next morning. Seeing her curled up in one of the chairs with the phone to her ear and her hand out in front of her, moving her finger and watching the light catch on her ring, I smile. “No, I’m not upset I didn’t get to ask him to marry me.” She laughs then her head lifts, her eyes meeting mine, as her smile gets brighter.

Grinning back, I hand her a cup of coffee, and she tips her head farther back for a kiss. Bending at the waist, I softly place my mouth to hers then take a seat next to her in the empty chair. “Yeah, we come home tomorrow.” She sighs, then continues, “I’m not ready. I wish I could live here forever.” She might think she could live here, but she couldn’t. It’s too quiet, and she’d miss her family after a few weeks. I don’t mind solitude, and I still couldn’t live here forever. “I’ll tell him. Tell Dad I love him. Yeah, we’ll be there. I’ll let you know when. Love you too, Mom.” She whispers the last four words then pulls the phone from her ear and drops it to her side.

“Everything okay?”

“Mom’s ecstatic. She said to give you a hug and to tell you she’s happy for us and expects us at dinner when we get back and I have a day off.”

“Good, and we’ll make that happen,” I promise, lifting my feet to the rail in front of me.

“Dad said welcome to the family,” she whispers, studying me.

I smile, grabbing her hand and bringing it to my mouth. “Told you we talked and that it’s all good between us.”

“I thought you were lying,” she murmurs, and I laugh, doing it loud, and she grins at me then sets her coffee on the ground. She stands, coming to me, settling herself in my lap, wrapping her arms around my sides, and resting her head on my chest. “I don’t want to go home tomorrow.”

“We can come back anytime.”

“Something to look forward to.”

“Yeah, Angel.” I kiss the top of her head then ask, “Do you want a big wedding or a small one?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?” I lean back to look at her, and her eyes meet mine.

“I never really thought about it before.” She shrugs.

“You plan everything, baby.”

“Until you, I didn’t think I’d find a man who I’d want to spend my life with. All my other goals have been attainable. Finding a man who loves me the way you love me seemed outlandish, completely impossible. So I never put much thought into what my life would look like if I did find a man to spend it with.”

“Time to change that,” I tell her gently, and she nods.

“What kind of wedding do you want?” she asks after a long moment of us just staring out into the forest surrounding us, soaking in the peace and just being us.

“The kind where, at the end of it, you’re my wife,” I tell her honestly, giving her a squeeze, and she laughs.

“I can do that, but when your aunt comes for Christmas, maybe she, Mom, and I can start getting some ideas together,” she says quietly, causing my chest to get warm and my gut to tighten.

“She’ll love that.”

“Good.” She leans up and kisses my jaw. “We have a plan.”

“We have a plan,” I agree as her words from earlier wash over me, ripping me open and putting me back together again. I didn’t think I’d find a man who I’d want to spend my life with. All my other goals have been attainable. Finding a man who loves me the way you love me seemed outlandish, completely impossible.

Outlandish, completely impossible. I thought the same thing—that there was no way I’d find someone perfect for me. But right when I wasn’t looking, she walked into my life, proving that every fucking thing happens for a reason.

Chapter 11

Harmony

STOPPING IN FRONT OF THE nurses’ station I look over the top at Mimi, who’s bent over a stack of papers with her head in one hand and a pen in the other as she writes. “I’m going to the gift shop to get a coffee before they close. Do you want one?” I ask.

She looks up then leans back in her chair, stretching her arms over her head. “Yes please, milk and three sugars.”