Page 60 of Devoured By the Forbidden Mountain Man

That pulled a small, tired laugh from her.

I crossed the remaining space, and Georgia came into my arms on her own.

We stood near the window while the room darkened around us, her cheek against my chest and my hands resting across her back.

After a while she said, “I’m glad you told me.”

I rubbed one hand slowly over her back. “I’m glad you wanted the truth. I meant exactly what I said.”

Georgia lifted her face and studied me as if she heard more in that than I had planned to say aloud. Then she kissed me.

The kiss stayed slow and quiet, nothing like the shower. It carried no demand except closeness.

When we separated, she rested her forehead briefly against my chest before reaching for her phone.

“I need to call Meredith.”

Georgia put the third conversation with Meredith on speaker. It was shorter than the others.

Georgia told her they had found Gavin in Oregon and that he had agreed to come back because Meredith was finally willing to speak with him.

Meredith cried.

Georgia didn’t fill the silence or reassure her that everything would be fine. She waited until Meredith could talk again, then suggested the Lantern House for Halloween.

The restaurant made sense. Meredith wouldn’t be isolated in somebody’s home, and the party also gave them access to quieter back rooms if the public crowd became too much.

Meredith hesitated for a long time.

“I don’t know whether I can tell everything tomorrow.”

Georgia sat at her desk again, one hand resting near Gavin’s old folder.

“I know. I’m not asking you to promise that before you even get here.”

“What if I see him and I can’t do it?”

“Then you see him and you can’t do it. But you’ve spent seven years deciding from a distance. Maybe being in the same room is the next thing you can do.”

Meredith breathed shakily. Eventually she agreed to come to the Lantern House without promising a confession, and Georgia didn’t ask for one.

When the call ended, the office had gone fully dark beyond the windows. Rain began tapping softly against the roof again, lighter than the storm from the previous night but steady enough to blur the lights from my house across the property.

I returned Gavin’s recovery folder to the locked cabinet.

Georgia gathered her notebook and the few papers she wanted for the morning.

We were almost ready to leave when her phone vibrated. Georgia looked at the screen and went still; Gavin’s name filled it above a message longer than the earlier ones.

GAVIN: Truck’s packed. Piper is still furious, but she made me take food and kissed me before I left, so I’m choosing optimism. I’m heading out now. I’ll stop when I’m tired and check in. See you tomorrow.

Georgia read it twice.

Her eyes filled again, but this time the emotion came with a smile.

She turned the phone so I could read it.

I looked over the message and handed it back.