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“Yeah. I’ll feel better being on the property in case anything happens with your animals so I can help out right away. Who knows how bad it’s going to get and if I’d be able to make it over right away.”

Cade and his business partner are two of the only large animal veterinarians in the area. The pay isn’t great and the work is hard, involving lots of travel and heavy lifting. Working in the city with companion animals is a much easier path, but never what Cade wanted to do.

A veterinarian on the property during the so-called storm of the century gives me a whole lot of peace of mind. And nothing makes me happier than being able to protect the people I love, so having Cade’s little family safe on our property is a double win.

“Trust me, I feel better having you here, too. I don’t think anything will go wrong, but you just never know.”

“Aidan will love having a sleepover with your parents,” Cade continues. “They always give him way too much candy and let him stay up past his bedtime. Too bad Savanna isn’t here yet because then Victory would also be in heaven.”

The loss of Cade’s sister and Victory’s best friend still hurts all of us and always will. But I’m glad that Victory became such close friends with Bobby’s fiancée. In fact, she’s the one who set their wild and crazy relationship in motion.

“Isn’t it nuts that Bobby is the first one out of all of us to get engaged?” I ask. “And he’ll probably have kids with Savanna at some point in the near future. Bobby, a dad.”

“Right? Boggles my fucking mind every single day.”

“It’s going to be–”

“Are we going to keep pretending that everyone doesn’t know you kissed Ashley?” Cade asks, taking a sip of coffee. “ThatIdon’t know you kissed Ashley?”

There are so many reasons that I love living in a small, rural town: the privacy and wide open spaces, the stunning nature views, and the slower pace that lets me actually enjoy life, just to name a few.

But the one glaring drawback to the strong sense of community is that everyone – literally everyone – knows your business.

Within minutes.

It’s unreal.

And eating three slices of bacon while Cade stares at me over the rim of a coffee mug only lets me stall answering for so long.

“I didn’t kiss her,” I grumble. “She kissed me.”

Cade chuckles. “Okay, fine. Well, if you apparently hate her so much, why did you let her kiss you?”

I immerse myself in the memory of having Ashley in my arms again while taking a sip of strong, black coffee. She felt exactly the same, but also different.

The only way I can think to describe having your first love back in your arms after a long separation is when you have a favorite book that absolutely changes your life in some way. Your world view, your habits, your priorities.

Everything.

And then, all of a sudden, there’s a bonus epilogue released years later that ratchets your enjoyment of the original up a million notches.

Yeah.

Ashley’s new set of tits and smoking curves are the epilogue.

Being with her again was a sense of comfort from the past mixed with excitement over…

Over what?

There’s no future for us. Not anymore.

“I’m single and she’s sexy,” I say, with a shrug. “Why not let her kiss me?”

“Cut the shit,” Cade replies. “I have to leave for work soon, and I want a decent answer or else I’m going to have to come back for dinner.”

“How can I still want someone who hurt me so badly?” I ask softly. “I mean, seeing her again just made me realize that I never really got over her. I thought that I did, but I guess what really happened was that I found a way forward because I had to. But under the surface, the feelings were always there.”

Cade starts to reply, but now the dam has been opened and I can’t stop talking.