Page 12 of Rescued By the Mountain Guardian
I ran over to her, Bluey hot on my heels. “Raci? What is it? Are you okay?”
She nearly tumbled out of the car, completely hysterical. “I can’t leave. I can’t do it. I can’t, Ayden. I love you.”
It was like heaven to my ears.
“Oh, Raci. I love you, too. So fucking much. I’m so glad you didn’t go. I was dying without already.”
We kissed and kissed, my tears mixing with hers, and when we broke apart, panting and foreheads pressed together, we both laughed through our tears.
“We’ll figure it out. Whatever it takes. Okay?”
Raci nodded. “Okay.”
“Good. Now let’s go home.”
EPILOGUE
Raci
Six months later
I packedup all my shit and moved to the mountains for Ayden. It was crazy and I questioned moving my whole life, but one thing that never wavered?
My love for Ayden.
It’s what kept me going. What told me I was making the right decision. And he was there with me for every step of the way.
After hiding out in Appleridge for a few more days after never being able to leave, I left Ayden for a week to handle my business. I put in my notice at work, gave my landlord a thirty-day notice, and told my family and friends.
They were shocked to say the least but mostly all supportive. I hadn’t a clue what I was going to do with myself in Appleridge. Ayden insisted I didn’t have to work, that he made plenty for the both of us to live comfortably but I didn’t want to lose myself and my career either. I worked hard for where I’d gotten. Besidewhat the hell would I do all day? Learn how to garden? Ha, I’d end up breaking a nail.
After sitting down with my boss, she offered me a remote position, working on the website and launching new landing pages, putting all of my marketing skills to work yet doing it all from home. It was perfect.
A month later, I brought Ayden back to the city with me to pack up my apartment and officially move in. We dined with my parents, made love in a hotel, and relaxed at a spa, Ayden getting a taste of the city life. We even made plans to come back and see my parents again along with a theater show. The city was growing on him, I could tell.
I settled into life with Ayden easily. We created a routine around our work schedule, meals, and walking Bluey, making sure to spend as much time together as we could. Sometimes our lunch break ended with us in the bedroom, or hell, fucking on the kitchen table, or the couch, or the dining room, or the…well, I could go on and on. I was pretty sure we christened every part of the cabin.
A few months into me living here, we adopted a puppy together and named her Lollie, a gorgeous husky just like Bluey.
Bluey was quite jealous at first and didn’t take well to Lollie but eventually he came around.
Ayden showed me how to live in the woods, how to garden, how to cook, everything I hadn’t learned before. I started to enjoy growing fruits and veggies and even started my own herb garden. He took me camping and showed me how to really live off the land, something I couldn’t quite say I enjoyed. The vote was out but I was pretty sure glamping was the way for me.
“Sorry, babe, but I’m always going to be a city girl at heart.” I grinned at my man as we walked hand in hand, each of us holding a dog leash.
“No need to be sorry. It’s what makes you you. And it’s what I love most about you.”
“You’re a secret city lover.” I teased.
“Nope, just a Raci lover.”
“A Raci lover…I like the sound of that.”
We kissed, right there in the middle of the street, happy and not afraid to show it. “Besides, you’re not a city girl anymore. You’re my small-town girl.”
I burst into laughter. “You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.”
Ayden rolled his eyes playfully. “Uh huh. Either way, you’re mine.”
“That I am.”
Two months later, he asked me to marry him under the starry sky.
I said yes, a thousand times over.
Forever with my small-town boy.
THE END
