Page 28 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Cuddled up in bed, Hope’s smooth, soft back pressed up against his chest, he’d told her about the places he’d traveled to over the last few years. Mostly his trips involved the coast, and fishing, but the money he’d earned on the boats had allowed him the opportunity to explore parts of the world that had always been little more than a dream. He’d been to Costa Rica, Ireland and Scotland, Australia, and to more states and provinces than he could count.

Hope, on the other hand, hadn’t been anywhere.

At first, Levi had reacted with shock, but it made sense. After her parents died, she’d dedicated her entire life to getting Ever After Ranch off the ground. And she’d done it, too. Hard work, long hours, and a complete devotion to her business had definitely resulted in success. But that success had come at the expense of seeing the world.

The idea occurred to Levi sometime right before dawn. He’d woken early, and unwilling to fall back asleep, he’d spent the time before the sun rose in the sky letting her silky hair run through his fingers, and thinking about how he could pull off the ultimate surprise.

He was going to take Hope on a trip. Nothing elaborate. At least not yet. But it would have a beach, because the idea of spending a week alone with Hope in a bikini sounded pretty damn appealing.

As soon as he was finished in the shower, Levi grabbed Logan’s laptop from the little desk in the kitchen where he always kept it and settled in at the table with a cup of coffee to begin his search. Right away, he narrowed down his choices to an all-inclusive resort. There would be plenty of times to do some more adventurous exploring, but for their first trip together, he wanted it to be easy. So all they had to focus on was each other.

First trip together.

Levi laughed out loud at how easily he’d assumed that there would be more trips. He’d gone from zero to sixty with Hope, and he wasn’t about to start making apologies for it because it felt right. More right than anything he’d ever done.

“What’s so funny?” Logan walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Is that my laptop?”

“I left mine at the barn.” Levi hardly looked up. “I needed to take care of something before I headed back to the ranch. Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Logan shrugged and sat across from him at the table. “So what’s so funny?”

“I’m just laughing at myself,” he answered honestly. “I’m just trying to sort out some plans for…well, for—”

“You and Hope?” Levi looked up from the screen and stared at his cousin, who grinned. “What?” Logan asked casually. “You don’t think we all noticed that you didn’t come home last night?” He tipped his head in question but only laughed when Levi didn’t answer. “Hey,” Logan said. “You don’t have to answer to me. Besides, it’s not like any of us are surprised.”

“Except me.” Katie walked into the room and both men turned to look at her in surprise. “Okay, I’m not really,” she confessed. “I’m actually more surprised that she took you back, if I’m being honest. I mean, you kind of left.”

Guilt flashed through Levi. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt terrible about the way his younger self had handled things and it was sure to not be the last time either.

Before he could reply, Logan answered for him. “Well, even the smartest women make poor choices sometimes.” He winked at Levi across the table.

Hope hadn’t been the only thing he’d missed. Levi had missed his cousins, his family, a lot.

“Either way,” Katie said. “I’m happy for both of you.” She wrapped an arm around him and squeezed. “What are you looking at? Mexico? Nice! Is that where you’re going next?”

“Next?”

“Didn’t you say you were going back to work on the boat?” She shrugged and pulled out a seat at the table. “I don’t know, do you fish in Mexico?”

“You can,” he said. “But I don’t.”

“But youdofish?” Logan asked. “Look, I’m not trying to chase you away, Levi. Quite the opposite. I actually like having you around, but you did say that you were just visiting. Has that changed?”

Both his cousins looked at him, waiting for an answer.

And he wanted to give them one. Especially because up until that exact moment, he’d managed to forget that his trip to Glacier Falls was in fact meant to be temporary. Just a side trip while the boat he’d been working on underwent some repairs. A few weeks, the summer at most, before he went back. Somehow, he’d managed to forget all that and slip right back into life in town as if he’d never left.

“Levi?” Katie watched him carefully. “Are you staying?”

“I want to,” he answered honestly. “But you’re right. It was only supposed to be temporary, so I guess I’ll have to work out a few details.”

Not the least of which would be finding different work. He enjoyed working for Hope at the ranch—for so many reasons—but it didn’t pay very much. And besides that, it was only temporary for the busy wedding season. He was used to making a good living on the fishing boats, and although he had a bit of savings, it wouldn’t last long if he didn’t secure regular work. And then, of course, there was Hope. Hope was the big one. Would she want him to stay? He was pretty sure of the answer on that, but it wouldn’t hurt to talk to her about it first, just to make sure they were on the same page the way he hoped like hell they were.

And then there was the small, but very important detail of his boss. The owner of the fishing company he’d worked for called again the night before, and of course Levi had let it go to voicemail. He’d left Levi a message that only a few short weeks ago would have been the best thing he could have heard. He’d offered Levi his very own boat.

Him. A captain.

It had been a dream of his for years, since he was a deck hand on his first vessel. It wasn’t that Levi loved to fish. It was more that he’d always aspired for more. And now he had the chance to grab it.

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