Page 108 of Walking Away

Light burst across the square as the great tree flared to life, white and gold cascading upward, the courthouse steps glittering with a hundred tiny trees. The crowd erupted in cheers. Rosie barked once, sharp and jubilant.

Sara drifted closer through the swirl of light, her uniform catching the glow. She gave Scout a small smile.

“Thanks for the plate,” she said quietly. “You were right—the marshmallows weren’t half bad.”

He grinned. “Told you.”

Sara’s eyes flicked to Caitlin, then to Burke, softening. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said.

As she turned away, a faint crease pinched her brow—as if she’d caught something in the crowd the rest of them missed—then it was gone, swallowed by the glow of the lights.

She melted back into the crowd.

Caitlin stood in the wash of music and light, the folder still clutched in her hands, and felt something shift inside her—something deep, final, and freeing.

Burke reached for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “You ready?” he asked.

She nodded, tears still glimmering. Then, deliberately, she rose on her toes and kissed him. Not in shadow. Not in secret. Right there in the glow of the courthouse lights, with half the town watching.

It wasn’t about defiance.

It was choice.

For the first time,Caitlin West didn’t care who saw.

Burke Scott

Later, as the crowd faded and Rosie finally tired of her lively admirers, Burke led Caitlin home. They stood together in the soft glow of her cottage, the twinkling Christmas lights casting a gentle halo around them.

Burke bent down and wrapped her in his arms. For a heartbeat she melted into him, breathing in his warmth and the steady rhythm of his heart under her cheek. When he began to ease back, she clung tighter, her lips brushing close to his ear.

“I love you,” she whispered, her voice breaking on the words.

He tried to pull back to see her face, but she held him tighter still, as if letting go might undo everything.

“Caitlin,” he murmured—her name like a vow—“I love you too. I think I have since the day I saw you walk out of the visitor’s center. I never stood a chance.”

Slowly he eased back enough to look at her, and when their eyes met, hers shimmered with tears.

“Burke,” she said softly, “I didn’t think this was possible for me. I thought he would drag me back to Denver—or worse. I thought love—real love—was gone forever. I just?—”

Her words crumbled into quiet tears.

Burke lifted his hand, wiping each tear gently with his thumb, then pressed a kiss to the damp trail they’d left. His voice was steady, unshakable.

“Sweetheart, this was meant to be. And—hell or high water—nothing in this world is going to take it away from us.”

He watched the moment settle over her, saw understanding flicker in her eyes. He wasn’t just saying it—he believed it, with the kind of certainty he’d never known.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, afraid that if she let go, the moment might slip away. But as Burke’s arms tightened around her again, she knew—finally, fully—that it wouldn’t.

Outside, frost and stars glittered—but all the light she needed was here.

Chapter 59

Steady

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