Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
He carries it up to the house as Ethan follows, looking up at his dad like he’s some kind of superhero. And honestly? He kind of is.
He’s a pillar of the community, running the fire station and giving the young men around town someone to look up to. He’s always lending everyone a helping hand and whenever we go into town, we always have people stopping us to chat. Everyone adores him, and I can’t blame them. He’s an incredible man. He makes me feel like the most cherished woman in the world every single day.
I still can’t believe he’s mine.
Graham turns when he arrives at the steps that lead up to our dream house and looks at me. His face is flushed from the sun and his hair is a little wild from the breeze. “You okay?” he asks, his voice low and warm.
“I’m just perfect,” I say, smiling back at him. And I mean it. Everything about this life we’ve built feels like a dream—a slow-paced, peaceful dream filled with love, laughter, and moments like this.
Ethan sprints up the wooden steps and runs into the house. It’s a gorgeous log cabin with a sprawling deck that overlooks the nicest lake in the Greene Mountains. When I first saw it, I fell instantly in love—just like when I first saw Graham.
There was a bidding war and we couldn’t come close to matching the highest bids, but the previous owner loved Graham and wanted to reward our commitment to serving the Greene Mountains community, so he let us have it at a cheaper price.
Graham always says that being good does pay, and in that moment, I believed him.
It’s so peaceful out here surrounded by trees and wildlife. Some mornings, I see deer grazing in the yard, loons gliding along the clear lake, or a hawk circling overhead. It’s perfect.
Graham builds a campfire with the kind of practiced ease that makes me wonder if he was born with a hatchet in his hand. Ethan watches, wide-eyed, as Graham shows him how to stack the wood just right and ignite the flames with a single match. Soon, the fire crackles and dances, and the smell of fresh fish grilling over the flames fills the air.
I sit back and watch them—my two favorite people in the world. Graham is so good at this—at all of it. Being a dad, being a husband, being the kind of man who makes everyone around him feel safe and cared for. Especially me. He still makes me feel beautiful. He makes me feel like the most cherished woman in the entire world.
Ethan crashes after dinner and Graham carries him upstairs in his big warm arms, cradling him like he’s still a baby. My heart swells as I follow them, knowing we’re going to have another addition to the family by next summer.
I hold my flat pregnant stomach as I kiss Ethan’s forehead, knowing a little brother or sister has just started growing inside my womb. It’s smaller than a pea, but it’s there.
I still haven’t told Graham yet, but I know he’s going to be thrilled.
We grab some drinks—him a beer and me some iced tea—and sit outside on the deck, watching the sun slowly dip behind the mountains. It’s one of those perfect evenings where everything feels so right it can bring a tear to your eye.
“I love this life,” I say softly, leaning against him on our double seater. Sometimes I think about what my life would look like if I hadn’t made the move out here and it always makes me cringe. I could have missed all this.
Graham kisses my temple. “Me too. I love our little family.”
“What if it wasn’t so little?”
He takes a sip of beer as he looks out at the lake, clueless. “I’d love that too.”
I breathe in his comforting scent and smile. This man even smells like the mountains.
I reach for his big hand and press it against my stomach. “Good, because we’re having another baby.”
For a moment, he just stares at me and I can see the wheels turning in his head. Then, his face lights up in that heart-stopping smile and he shakes his head, his dark eyes watering.
“Well, hot damn. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any more perfect.”
He cradles my face like I’m the most precious thing in the world and gazes into my watery eyes. “You’re amazing, Cara,” he whispers in a deep raspy voice. “Every day, I feel like the luckiest man alive with you by my side.”
He kisses me long and deep and then picks me up with his strong sturdy arms, carrying me straight to our bedroom.
“I love you,” he whispers as he lowers me onto our bed. “You really are my dream girl.”
I moan as he kisses a trail down my neck, not stopping until his insatiable mouth is between my legs, making my back arch and making me whimper.