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The cat sashayed along one of the logs on the other side of the fire pit. Then, deciding it was her seat, she sat and gave us both an imperious stare. I clicked my fingers for her, and she ignored me.

“I sent my draft off to Anita today,” I said.

“That’s great!”

“I think she’s going to like it. Leo, her assistant, keeps sending me gifs of guys kissing, so he’s obviously already had a sneak peek.

” I glanced up as an owl flew overhead. “I feel pretty good about it. And Ben went nuts when I sent him the chapter with the kiss, so at least one fan is going to buy a copy.”

“More than that, I bet,” Ryan said.

I hummed. “Well, hopefully. Otherwise I’ll be looking for a new job real soon. Have you got room for another apprentice?”

“I know you too well to let you near power tools.” He watched me rub my hands together. “Are you getting cold?”

“A little, but it’s too nice to go inside.”

“Stay here then,” he said.

He pressed a kiss to my cheek before standing up and heading to the cabin. He was back a few minutes later with the blanket from the couch, and he draped it around my shoulders. He stepped over the log and sat beside me again.

I pulled the edges together, warmed by more than the blanket.

“I could start a fire if you want.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Though, for the record, we should do that one night soon. We can invite the guys and make s’mores. I’ll bet Haider only lets you use fancy chocolate for s’mores, right?”

Ryan ducked his head and grinned. “Maybe. He has strong opinions about grocery store chocolate.”

“As he should,” I said. “Compared to what he makes, can you even call the stuff from the grocery store chocolate?”

My time at Harmony Lake was almost at an end, but I wasn’t too upset about it.

Mostly because I’d already decided I was coming back as soon as I could.

There were things I needed to sort out at home, like how much of my stuff I’d be bringing with me and how to get it here, but the last month had proved how many of my possessions I didn’t actually need.

It turned out that I was just fine living out of a suitcase as long as I had my laptop, although admittedly I was missing some of my books.

I’d expected to feel at least a small tendril of panic worming through my guts when I’d committed to the idea of moving, but I hadn’t.

It felt right. I’d signed up for a lease at a small apartment in town because I figured Ryan and I could use a little space to make sure this wasn’t just the honeymoon period, and he’d agreed, but I also figured that I’d still be spending most of my time out here at the cabin anyway.

Ryan had already asked me how many books I had and was building a shelf for them in the downstairs bedroom, which he said could be my office when I came to live with him at the cabin.

Harmony Lake, as long as Ryan was here, was already home.

“Have you told Rebecca I’m coming back yet?” I teased him now, knowing he’d been avoiding that conversation.

“She’s gonna be mad she made so many cookies,” he muttered.

“Hey, you still did her a huge favor!”

He grinned at me. “Taking my side against my sister already? I like that.”

“I think it’s in the terms and conditions when you sign up for a new relationship,” I said. “‘Have your boyfriend’s back, even if he’s a giant scaredy cat who’s afraid to tell his sister you were together this whole time.’”

“I’m not afraid .” He raised his eyebrows. “Just, she’s going to give me so much shit for it, so I’m delaying the inevitable.”

“If it’s inevitable, there’s no point in delaying it.”

“Hard disagree.”

I laughed and leaned against him. “No, it’s fine. It gives me a chance to write that five-star review and fill it with innuendos about the quality of the service and repeated mentions of how comfortable and robust the bed is.”

“Oh, I see it now,” Ryan muttered. “You want Rebecca to torture me.”

“Only a bit,” I teased. “For funsies.”

The cat stood up and stretched, her spine an arch. Then she leapt silently from her log and slunk off toward the cabin.

“We still haven’t named the cat,” I commented.

“We’ll do it when you get back,” Ryan said.

A happy ending wasn’t always fireworks. Sometimes it was a hundred different little things all clicking into place, those jigsaw puzzle pieces, and fitting neatly.

And that was more than fine, because fireworks were here and gone again, leaving nothing behind but the smell of burned powder and afterimages burned into your vision when you blinked.

A jigsaw, though? That was something you built slowly and carefully until at last it was complete and you were looking at the big picture together.

A happy ending was stars and the lakeside, a cat you hadn’t named yet, and the warm love of the kindest, strongest guy you’d ever met. A happy ending wasn’t even an ending at all, just the start of the best part—the ever after, in Harmony Lake, with Ryan.

And I couldn’t wait to wake up beside him every day for the rest of our lives.