Page 92 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

“Yeah. That was Hope’s ring.”

“Hope.” She leaned into my chest as I wrapped her in my arms. “I like that name.”

When our daughter was born nine months later, we named her Hope.

Two years after that, we named our son Lou.

It didn’t take me long to realize that no amount of exploring the world would ever be as thrilling as the adventure of living life by Clara’s side.

She was the soul on earth I was made to find.

Epilogue

Clara

Twenty-three years later . . .

“Have you ever seen so many stars?” I whispered.

It was like someone had shattered a diamond on a blanket of the deepest blue velvet. The white whisps and swirls of the Milky Way streaked between them like dust.

This wasn’t our first trip to Montana, but the clear mountain nights never failed to take my breath away.

Karson circled his arms around me, pulling me closer as I snuggled on his lap with my eyes to the sky. “It’s something, isn’

t it?”

“Maybe we should move to Montana.”

Aria laughed from her camp chair beside ours and shared a smirk with Brody at her side. “You wouldn’t make it one winter.”

“True.” I laughed with her, tearing my eyes from the heavens.

We were circled around a bonfire, the light from the flames flickering over familiar faces.

Londyn and Brooks.

Gemma and Easton.

Katherine and Cash.

Aria and Brody.

Me and Karson.

My friends. My family.

“When we were in high school, we’d come out here to party,” Cash said, tossing another log on the bonfire before he settled into his chair beside Katherine’s. “Sneak beer and girls onto the ranch.”

“Ugly girls, right?” Kat asked.

“Friends. Just friends.” Cash leaned over to brush a kiss to her mouth.

“And I’m sure our parents knew we were out here, just like we knew every time the kids thought they were fooling us.” Easton chuckled. “Jake built a fire so big one time his senior year we could see it from the house miles away.”

Gemma smiled from her husband’s lap, because like me, I’d opted for a warm embrace instead of a chair of my own. “When I told him we were coming to his party spot tonight, you should have seen the look on his face. Even though he’s an adult, it’s fun to remind him every now and then that his mother wasn’t oblivious during his teenage years.”

Their son was the spitting image of Easton. Jake had grown into a tall, strong man much like his father. Their daughter, on the other hand, looked a lot like Gemma. Hailey was beautiful, elegant and witty.