Page 19 of Restored by the Mountain Man (Eden Ridge: Hunter Brothers #3)

"No," she calls back. "You don't owe him anything, Zo."

"Let him in," I repeat, standing on shaky legs. "I need to hear what he has to say."

There's a long pause, then I hear Laurel's warning voice. "You have five minutes, Hunter. And if you make her cry again, I'm siccing all your brothers on you."

The door opens wider, and Ezra steps into the cabin. He looks terrible. His hair is disheveled like he's been running his hands through it, his eyes are red-rimmed, and his usual confident posture has been replaced by something that looks almost broken.

When his eyes find mine, the pain in them is so raw it takes my breath away.

"Zoe," he whispers, taking a tentative step forward before stopping himself. "I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry for the way I spoke to you."

"You should be," Laurel mutters from her position by the door, arms crossed and radiating protective fury.

Ezra doesn't take his eyes off me. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I know I probably don't deserve another chance. But I had to come here and tell you that what happened tonight had nothing to do with you and everything to do with my own cowardice."

I wrap my arms around myself, trying to maintain some emotional distance. "You made me feel like I had violated something sacred. Like I was an intruder in your life."

"You're not an intruder," he says fiercely. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in three years. You brought me back to life, Zoe. You made me want to be a better man."

"Then why did you treat me like the enemy?"

He runs a hand through his hair, his voice breaking. "Because I was scared. Because seeing you in that room, surrounded by Elizabeth's things, forced me to confront something I wasn't ready to face."

"Which was?"

"That I'm in love with you," he says simply, and my heart stops. "Completely, desperately, forever in love with you. And there you were merging with my past, and that terrified me."

Laurel makes a small sound of surprise, but I barely hear her over the pounding of my heart.

"I've kept that room closed for three years," Ezra continues, his voice gaining strength. "Not because it was a shrine to Elizabeth, but because I was afraid of what I might feel if I faced the future we'd planned together. I was afraid that letting go of that pain would mean letting go of her."

He takes another step closer. "But seeing you there tonight, seeing you looking at her dreams with such respect and care, I realized something. Elizabeth would want me to be happy. She would want me to love again, to build a new future with someone who brings out the best in me."

Tears start flowing down my cheeks again but these feel different. Cleaner somehow.

"She would want me to love you," he says, his own voice thick with emotion. "Because you're exactly the kind of woman she would have chosen for me. Strong, brave, and kind. Someone who would love her husband's broken heart back together."

"Ezra," I whisper.

"I love you, Zoe Diaz," he says, dropping to his knees in front of me.

"I love your laugh and your strength and the way you make me feel like I'm worth saving.

I love how you stood up to Tom's parents today, how you take care of everyone around you, and how you make me want to be the man you deserve. "

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something small and wrapped in tissue paper.

"This isn't a ring," he says quickly, seeing my expression. "I'm not proposing. I know we have a lot to work through, a lot to figure out. But I wanted to give you something that represents how I feel about you."

He unwraps the tissue to reveal a small glass ornament. It's clearly handmade, with swirls of gold and deep brown that catch the light.

"I made this tonight," he explains. "After you left, after I realized what I'd lost. Nash taught me glassblowing years ago, and I thought.

.. I thought maybe I could make something beautiful for you.

Something that shows you're not a replacement for what I lost but something entirely new and precious. "

I take the ornament with trembling hands. It's warm from his touch and absolutely gorgeous.

"The brown is for your eyes," he says softly. "The gold is for your heart, for the light you bring into everything you touch."

"It's beautiful," I whisper.

"You're beautiful," he says. "Inside and out. And I'm so sorry I made you feel like anything less than that."

I look down at this man I love, kneeling on my cabin floor with his heart in his hands, and feel something shift inside me. The hurt is still there but underneath it is something stronger. Love. Hope. The possibility of forgiveness.

"I love you too," I say quietly and watch his face transform with relief and joy. "I love you even though you're stubborn and closed off and sometimes say things that hurt."

"I love you even though you're nosy and pushy and make me want to be vulnerable when it scares the hell out of me," he replies, a smile breaking through his tears.

"I love you even though you have terrible timing and a tendency to shut down when things get hard," I continue, stepping closer.

"I love you even though you challenge me and push me and refuse to let me hide from my feelings," he says, rising to his feet.

"I love you," I say simply, reaching up to cup his face. "Just you. Broken pieces and all."

"I love you," he replies, covering my hands with his. "I’ll never hurt you again."

When he kisses me, it tastes like apologies and promises, like tears and hope, and the beginning of something real and lasting. I melt into him, feeling the walls around my heart crumble completely.

"Okay, that was actually pretty romantic," Laurel admits from behind us. "But I'm still mad at you, Hunter."

Ezra pulls back just enough to look at her over my shoulder. "I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her. To both of you."

"You better," Laurel warns. "Because if you hurt her again, I'll convince Grayson to bury you somewhere in those mountains where no one will ever find you."

"Understood," Ezra says solemnly, then looks back at me. "Can you forgive me? Can we try again?"

"We can try," I tell him. "But things have to be different. No more running away when things get hard. No more shutting me out when you're scared."

"No more closed doors," he promises. "Literally and figuratively."

"No more closed doors," I agree.

He kisses me again, deeper this time, and I taste our future in that kiss. It won't be easy. We both have baggage, both have wounds that still need healing. But we have something worth fighting for now.

We have love. And sometimes, that's enough to build everything else on.

"So," Laurel says, settling back on the couch with the ice cream. "Are you two going to keep making out, or can we finish this movie? Because I really need to know if Christmas Tree Farm Lady chooses the grumpy neighbor or the city developer."

Ezra and I look at each other and burst out laughing. And in that moment, surrounded by ice cream and romantic comedies and my best friend's protective love, I know everything is going to be okay.

We're going to be okay.