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“Did you doubt us, brother?” Evander snapped the box shut and returned it to his pocket. His concerned gaze roamed over Merrick, then flicked to Tamsyn. “Both of you have had a long day. Ready to go inside and let everyone fawn over you for a while?”

He meant Merrick more than her, but she picked up the clues quickly. It was time to settle her husband somewhere comfortable and let him catch his breath again. The fact he hadn’t passed out yet was a testament to his inner strength, but he didn’t need pushing to that extreme.

Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Would you mind helping him inside, Master Evander? I think I’d just like a minute to… I’d just like a minute,” she repeated firmly.

“Of course, sweetheart. Want me to ask Callie to wait for you?”

“No, it’s okay.” She didn’t know what she was going to do with her minute; all she was sure of was that she needed it. “I’ll be right behind you.”

On impulse, she stepped forward as Callie’s husbands moved in unison to get Merrick on his feet. The hug she gave each of them was brief—a quick, tight squeeze of her arms and a press of her cheek to their hearts—but long enough for her to sense their initial shock and then their pleased acceptance of her gift.

She watched them cradle her wounded hero between them, almost carrying him toward the glass house, as Callie hurried along beside them, chattering a mile a minute.

When the clearing was empty, she turned back to the picturesque view and stalked her way to the edge, stopping with her sneakers inches from the unforgiving drop. The sun was sinking slowly behind the horizon, bringing shadows to life across the valley and a chill to the air.

Only a few weeks ago, her life had been unfairly balanced on a razor’s edge. The ending to her story would have been her cold, lifeless body being thrown over a cliff not dissimilar to this, crashing into the forgotten abyss to rot with so many who’d come before her.

Now her future was wide open, with Merrick as her certainty.

“This is a lesson in faith, little owl. Faith in yourself, faith in me.”

She’d learned that lesson well, she thought, breathing in deep. There would be others to learn, she was sure, but she’d been brave, she’d found the courage to love and trust, to put her faith in the one man who deserved it.

Turning away from the edge, she hurried toward the house, toward her husband.

Wasn’t she just the luckiest woman in the world?

The End