Page 186 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

She looks even more confused now. “On Main Street…”

“In front of each of the businesses, right?” I step up to her, staring down into her gray eyes that no longer look so stormy, that are now calm, content, filled with the steely resolve of a woman who finally has what she wants and will do anything to protect it and never let it go. “I thought it was time you finally opened your own shop. I bought the newspaper building for you to do just that. This will sit out front.”

“What?” Her jaw drops, and her body starts trembling. “Killian…”

“I thought Raven could use the upstairs as her office, so she doesn’t have to sit in the bakery, unless she really needs some new gossip.”

That draws a grin across her face, but she still looks unsure.

I grip her chin and brush my thumb along her jaw. “Why do you look like you’re not happy about this, Honeybee? Too much pressure? Do you not want to do it? Too busy up here with Niall? I thought you could just bring him in with you. We could convert one of the back rooms into a little nursery for him so he could nap during the day and?—”

She pushes up on her feet and crushes her lips to mine before I can continue to list all the things I was prepared to do to make this work. Her arms snake around my neck and tangle in my hair as she kisses me hard, almost frantically. I return it, unsure of exactly what’s happening. And by the time she pulls away and presses her forehead to mine, she’s laughing.

“You’re a good man, Killian McBride.” She pulls away and grins up at me. “And I love this and the store. I just don’t know that I’m ready for it.”

“You are. You’re going to make a fortune on those tourists. I’m just sorry we couldn’t get it open in time for the festival this year. But next year, I already know what your bestseller is going to be.”

“Oh?” She raises a brow. “What would that be?”

I lean in, feathering my lips across hers again. “That one you made that smells like me. You can call it McBride Mountain Lumberjack.”

She barks out a laugh loud enough that it startles Niall awake, and he issues an annoyed wail.

Despite his distress, we both laugh, and she slowly pulls him from my arms and settles him to her chest, rocking him gently and trying to get him back to sleep. “I’m sorry, kiddo.”

She looks so beautiful like this, holding our son.

So happy.

It finally matches the way I always imagined things would be.

And I may not be a perfect father, not even close, but I refuse to fail her or Niall.

Nothing will ever threaten anyone I love again.

Never.

This is McBride Mountain, and I’ll protect anything and everything on it with my life until the day it ends.