Page 22 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Yet other days, the island was simply that—the island. A place where together they would hide from their parents and the inevitable chores they were supposed to be doing, lay on their backs in the cool grass and dream about what their futures would look like.

It had been awhile since Hope had visited the island. Life got busy; she’d grown up and instead of dreaming about her future, she was living it. She’d been so completely immersed in running the ranch and living her life that even if there’d been time to take a break and visit the island, there’d been no reason.

Until her last trip to the city.

Hope had done her best to ignore what Doctor Friesen had said to her on the phone almost two weeks ago. “Irregular results.” “Run a few more tests.” “Specialist.” But she wasn’t stupid. She knew she couldn’t ignore it forever. Especially because the specialist she’d visited had used the words, “Uterine cancer.”

Cancer.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. She couldn’t even tell Faith the real reason she’d been in town. Not that there was any point in getting her worried. In fact, she’d been feeling much better ever since she got back. She had more energy, and she hadn’t had any more irregular bleeding. There was likely nothing to tell at all.

Hope pushed through the bushes along the water’s edge and with nimble feet, balanced her way across the log and onto the island. She laid down on the cool grass and closed her eyes, letting the familiar sounds wash over her and clear her head. The river was still running high, after the winter runoff higher up in the mountains. Somewhere close by, a bird sang out to its mate.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, focusing as she did so on relaxing her entire body. She tried to clear her mind, and relax the underlying tension and worry she’d been holding onto. As much as Hope had tried to put the doctor’s appointments out of her head so she could focus on the ranch and the weddings, random thoughts couldn’t help but sneak in.

Maybe it would be easier if she’d told Faith? Or Levi?

Thinking about Levi made her smile and then all hope of trying to relax was completely out the window as thoughts of him filled her instead. The kiss they’d shared in the barn almost a week ago, and more importantly, all of the subsequent kisses since then. And there’d been a few.

She’d returned home from her city trip almost a week ago, and Levi had taken care of all the pre-wedding deliveries. In fact, the entire event had been set up exactly the way she’d asked him to, so not only was she not running around trying to make everything happen with limited time, she was actually able to enjoy herself at the festivities a little bit. Something she couldn’t remember doing in a very long time.

Working with him had proved to be beneficial in more ways than one.

Hope refocused on her relaxation efforts, but it was pointless. She couldn’t get Levi out of her head. With a smile on her face, Hope sat up, wrapped her arms around her knees, and stared out over the river.

She hadn’t realized she’d gone to the island looking for answers of any kind, just some quiet so she could think things through. But as if the answer was delivered by the current, a decision of what to do about the impending test results came to her.

She was falling for Levi Langdon. Again. Maybe she’d never actually fallen away from him. It didn’t matter, because what did matter was that maybe now that they were older, they might actually have a chance at something real.

Which was why she couldn’t tell him about the doctor’s appointments and tests. Not yet. Not until there was something to tell.Ifthere was something to tell. She’d been feeling so much better in the last few days that she was absolutely certain that Doctor Friesen was overreacting. But either way, she wasn’t going to say anything. There was no point in taking the focus off whatever it was that was happening between her and Levi. It would only cast everything in a different, more negative light, and if she was ever going to find out if there could be something real between them, nothing could get in the way.

Levi

“We’re sure glad you could join us for dinner, Hope.” Aunt Deb poured them each a cup of coffee before sitting down across from Levi once again. She grinned widely at her nephew and Levi shook his head with a laugh. “We’ve been asking and asking, but Levi keeps saying you’re too busy with weddings.” She fixed him with a stare and Levi shrugged. “But isn’t that why you hired my long-lost nephew in the first place? If he’s not pulling his weight around there, you just let me know.”

Hope smiled in his direction, which had the added benefit of sending a thrill through him. “Levi’s definitely helping out,” she answered good-naturedly. “In fact, he’s almost beentoogood.”

“That’s not something we’re used to hearing when it comes to Levi.” Logan jumped in. “Are you sure you’re talking aboutthisLevi?”

Levi threw his napkin at his cousin, which earned him a look of reproach from his aunt.

“I’ll have you know that we’re only able to be here at dinner tonightbecauseI already took care of the setup for Saturday’s wedding.” He puffed up his chest with deserved pride. It had been a bit of a learning curve at first, but Hope had such detailed notes about what each bride wanted and how to set tables and place everything, it really wasn’t much for him to show up and execute her plan. It had been a few weeks already, and Levi actually enjoyed the wedding business, something he’d never thought he’d say out loud. More importantly, he loved working with Hope.

He wasn’t foolish enough to think, even for a minute, that she wasn’t the entire reason he looked forward to showing up to work each and every day. That making her smile wasn’t the highlight of his day. Well, maybe the kisses he tried to sneak as often as possible were the highlights of his day.

Either way, working on a fishing boat had nothing on Ever After Ranch.

“I’m sure you can’t take all the credit.” Katie gave Levi a look and rolled her eyes. “I think Hope probably has a pretty good handle on her business.”

“She definitely does,” Aunt Deb jumped in. “Word in town is that you’re fully booked for the season. Is that right?”

“It is.” Hope nodded and sipped her coffee. “Well, as much as I want to be. I have a few free weekends, but not many. In fact, I’ve been thinking of opening up to a few winter weddings next year. It’ll be a lot of extra work…”

Levi didn’t miss the glance she gave him. If there was work to be done, he’d be there for it.

Wouldn’t he?

His mind shot to the unanswered text he’d received from his boss earlier that day. His trip to Glacier Falls was supposed to be temporary. But that was before. Before Hope.

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