Page 68 of Seeking Her Studs

“Yes!” I say, loudly. “Of course, yes!”

Reese jumps up and raises a fist in the air before pulling me in and dipping me in a deep kiss. I hear Kaylee giggling from next to me and Sunny runs around our feet excitedly.

When we break apart, Briggs takes my hand, his eyes full of tears as he slips the ring on my finger.

I gasp as I see it more closely. I don’t need to ask to know it’s their mother’s. I had already admired the delicate three-stone design in the pictures I’ve seen of her around the house. Once on my finger, it gives me a profound sense of peace. It’s something tangible that signifies the three people I love most in this world.

I nestle into Briggs’ big arms and kiss him deeply, then turn to kiss Colt.

I break apart from them, suddenly very aware that we’re not quite alone.

“I think this is a good time for me to suggest again politely that I should be allowed to use the camper as my own.” Kaylee says, with a grimace.

I laugh. “It’s okay with me.”

“Yeah,” Colt says with exasperation. “We’ll get to renovating that old thing right away.”

Maybe that wasn’t Gram’s plan when she passed it on to me. But I know she would be proud of the decision. Because I want to do the best for Kaylee in the same way Gram wanted to do the best for me.

I think about what Gram wanted me to find in Solace Springs in her first letter.

A home.

I look around me. Not at the house, but the people I love surrounding me.

I say a silent thanks to Gram.

Because that damn camper brought me to my home, too.

EPILOGUE

FOUR YEARS LATER

Colt

“You packed her swim diapers too?” I ask Kaylee, as I go through the diaper bag for the third time to make sure everything is in there.

“It’s in the swim bag.” Kaylee rolls her eyes. “Jeez, Colt. It’s just for a few hours. You’d think we were going out of the country.”

“You’re young and we’ve never been away from her for this long,” Reese says as he pulls our one-year-old daughter Suzie in for a tight hug.

Suzie giggles as Briggs pays peek-a-boo from across the room, displaying her new teeth proudly with a big smile.

“Do you not want me to take her at all? It seems like you don’t even want a break.” Kaylee shrugs, frustratedly. It’s summer vacation, and she just arrived at the mountain cottage after traveling across the country in the camper from college.

“No, please take her!” Blaire says as she slams the cottage door behind her. She sighs as she settles next to me and looks between all of us. “We need this. It’s perfectly okay to take a break. And Kaylee is the best role model whom Suzie is so lucky to have.”

“I am a good role model, aren’t I?” Kaylee beams, pretending to brush her shoulders off.

“You are.” I ruffle Kaylee’s hair. “And Blaire is right, as always.”

“Yes, yes, I am,” Blaire says in a hurry as she picks Suzie up out of Reese’s arms, gives her a big kiss on the cheek, and hands her over to Kaylee.

“Alright, I’ll be back in two hours. Ryan is going to get here then, so if he arrives before me, please be nice.” Kaylee points her fingers threateningly at all of us.

I roll my eyes. Ryan is her city-slicker boyfriend that she reunited with while she was in New York City for school. They met at camp four years ago and I swear that’s who got her to start swearing. But Blaire claims that he’s a perfectly nice guy and that he’s crazy about Kaylee, so we’re at least humoring her by letting her invite him here.

“I’ll make sure that he’s completely comfortable and your brothers behave,” Blaire nods, ushering Kaylee to strap Suzie into the car seat.

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