Page 35 of Off-Limits to the Grizzly

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Later that day,I give Zach a curious look as we pull up in front of a grand house on the edge of the forest. It’s like a super-sized log cabin. A lodge, I guess you could call it.

“So?” I crook an eyebrow. “What are we doing here?”

He shrugs, then says, all casual, “Thought you might want to live here.”

My mouth falls open. “This place is for sale?”

“Yup.” He jumps out of the truck and runs around to open the door for me. Then he takes my hand and holds it tight. “Let’s go take a look.”

It’s a beautiful house. Rustic on the outside, but super-cozy inside, with tons of space. There are two stories, a huge basement and a loft.

“Think five bedrooms will be enough?” Zach asks, as I look out of an upstairs window at the endless pines surrounding us. They don’t seem sinister anymore. They feel like old friends. He hugs me from behind, gently stroking my belly.

“Oh, I hope so, because this feels like my dream house,” I say.

“We can always build an annex at the back if we need to accommodate a few more,” he mutters into my hair.

My heart gives a little jump. We both want to have a big family. At least six, Zach says, which sounds about perfect to me. Our own little bear clan. The big rowdy family I’ve always dreamed of.

Outside, there’s a huge wraparound porch, and beyond that is a wild yard.

“It’s just lovely,” I breathe.

“We’ll get some big rockers. Then you can sit right there, watching me chop wood.”

I laugh. It’s a long-running joke of ours. Turns out on that first morning, when I woke up and saw him chopping wood outside the cabin, he knew I was watching him. He says he smelled my arousal as soon as he came into the cabin, and he knew he was a goner.

“So?” Zach turns to me as we stroll down the front steps.

“So?” I turn my head to meet his gaze.

“Shall we take it?”

“Can we?”

He laughs. “Baby, you want it, it’s yours.”

I give a little gasp. I’m not used to things—well, life—happening like this. “Will we have to sell the cabin though?”

“Not a chance.” He shakes his head, smiling. “That little place has way too much history. Besides, it might be a good place for our teens to let off steam when they get to be too much.”

“Then yes, please. Let’s take it!” I hug him tight, my heart rising up high, dreaming of our beautiful future together.

EPILOGUE

Five years later

“That’s weird,” I say as Zach pulls up in front of our house.

“No kids, huh?”

“Yeah…” I look around as I grab some groceries off the backseat, and we head up the driveway. Our three cubs arealwaysoutside, no matter the weather. Typical little bear cubs, Zach says.

I look for them in the treehouse and in the little adventure playground that Zach has built in a corner of the yard, but it’s all deserted.

“House looks dark, too.”

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