Page 101 of Grumpy on the Mountain

"No, Beau.No."

I step closer, my heart pounding but my voice getting steadier with every word.

"Do you know what Riley used to say to me? When anything even slightly challenging happened in our lives?"

I can see him trying to interrupt, but I'm not finished. Not even close.

"He'd tell me to 'let the adults handle it.' That I should stay home and 'do what I'm good at' while he took care of the real problems." My voice is getting stronger, more confident, fueled by every moment of growth I've experienced since arriving in this mountain paradise. "He made me believe I was incapable of handling anything more complex than picking out throw pillows."

Beau's gone very still, his eyes locked on mine. Because this ismymoment. My chance to prove that I'm not the same broken woman who threw her phone out a car window and hoped my old life would follow with it.

"But you know what I've learned since I've been here?" I continue, my confidence building with every word. "I'm not helpless. I'm not weak.Igot myself out of that toxic relationship.Idrove across three states to build a new life.Ilearned to operate your massive death-trap truck without killing us both.Igot a fucking job doing something that actually matters, something that helps people!"

The truth of it hits me like lightning.I did all of that. Me.

"And you know who taught me I could do those things?" I step closer, close enough to see the conflict warring in his expression. "You did, Beau. By believing in me. By encouraging me. By showing me that I'm capable of more than I ever thought possible."

His shoulders are tensing like he's fighting some internal battle.

"So don't you dare stand there and tell me to hide in your cabin like some damsel in distress while my six-year-old niece is missing and my family needs help." My voice drops to something fierce and determined. "Because that's exactly whatRileywould do. That's exactly howRileywould handle this. You're not him, Beau! You're not Riley!"

For a moment, we just stare at each other in the light of his cabin. Snow has started falling outside the windows, fat flakes catching the light like something out of a fairy tale.

But there's nothing magical about this moment—it's raw and real and absolutely crucial.

Finally, Beau moves.

He reaches out and pulls me against his chest, his arms wrapping around me so tightly I can barely breathe. His face buries in my hair, and I feel the tension drain out of his massive frame like air leaving a punctured tire.

"You're right," he mutters against the top of my head, his voice rough with emotion. "Christ, Molly. You're absolutely right."

I melt into his embrace, feeling the rightness of this moment settle into my bones.

This is what partnership looks like. This is what real love feels like.

Not control disguised as protection, but trust disguised as teamwork.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… I'm scared," he admits quietly, his hands fisting in my jacket. "I'm fucking terrified that something will happen to you. That I'll lose you. Just after I've found you again. That I'll fuck this up like I've fucked up everything else."

"Hey."

I pull back to look at him, holding his bearded face in my trembling hands.

"You're not going to lose me. We're going to find Maisie together, we're going to deal with Riley together, and we're going to come home together. Okay?"

He nods, leaning into my touch like I'm his anchor in a storm.

"Okay," he says finally. "Let's go get our little girl."

The drive down the mountain is like navigating through a snow globe that someone's shaken too vigorously. Fat flakesswirl in our headlight beams, and the road is already getting slick, probably too dangerous to be driving.

But Beau's truck handles the conditions like it was born for this weather, and so does he.

"Is this how bad storms get up here?" I ask, watching the world disappear into white outside my window.

"It can get worse. But it's bad enough." Beau's knuckles are white on the steering wheel, but his voice is steady. "We've got time before it gets dangerous. Mountain weather moves fast, but it's predictable."

As we round the bend onto Sienna's street, my jaw drops.