Page 6 of Finding Happily Ever After

Natalie patiently answered Simone’s questions for a few more minutes before finally the girl left, along with the rest of her classmates.

“You delivered a baby?” he asked as soon as they were alone. “That’s amazing.”

She shrugged. “You didn’t hear? I didn’t think there was anyone in town who hadn’t heard about it and really, it wasn’t a big deal. It was just…first aid.” Natalie laughed and finished zipping up her bag before hoisting it up over her shoulder. “More reasons for everyone to learn,” she added as she bent to pick up her CPR dummy. “I guess we’ll get to this in our next class. Next week, same time?”

Aiden nodded, even though he wasn’t really sure of the Outdoor Ed schedule at all, but that sounded right. “Let me help you with that.” He took the dummy from her before waiting for a response. To his pleasure, she didn’t resist. Even if it was just a few more minutes, Aiden was happy to spend more time with her.

“Thanks again,” he said once she’d loaded up her truck with her supplies. “It was really nice meeting you and…”

He hesitated.Why?He wanted to ask her out, because…well, because of everything he’d been feeling for the last few hours since they’d met. But despite his ridiculous attraction to the woman, there was no way he could ask her out. He could barely find time to watch a television show, let alone go on a date.

But a date with Natalie would be a whole lot more fun than any television show he could think of, so…

“Think about the outdoor survival classes, okay?” She spoke before he could man up enough to ask her out. “I’ll do some looking into it for you and—”

“Join us on our hike next week.”

Aiden blurted it out before he’d even realized what he was saying. Was there even a hike scheduled? He had no clue.

“What? A hike?”

“Yes.” He hoped he appeared more confident than he felt. Even if there wasn’t a hike on the schedule, he’d put one on it. “First aid is…Thursday?” He hoped he’d guessed right. When she nodded, he smiled. “Right. And the hike is during Tuesday’s class.”

“It is? But it’s February. There’s snow…”

“It’s more of a snowshoe. Maybe. But it might just be a hike.” He was fully aware of the hole he was digging, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. And if Natalie noticed that he was totally full of bullshit, she didn’t say anything.

“I’ll have to look at my shift schedule.” She closed the tailgate. “Can I let you know?”

“Of course.” Aiden stepped back and offered her a small wave. “Thanks again for today.”

He watched as she climbed up into the truck with the Glacier Falls Fire Department logo emblazoned on the side. When she flashed him one more of her gorgeous smiles and offered him a little wave as she drove away, it was only then that Aiden realized that even if he didn’t currently have time in his life for a relationship, he would do anything to find it.

Sleep was overrated anyway.

ChapterThree

If someone had toldStephanie Starz, one of the world’s hottest movie stars, a year ago that she’d be in a small-town hospital in the middle of the mountains, staring at a newborn baby, she would have thought them completely insane.

But Steph’s life had changed so dramatically in less than a year that very little surprised her anymore. Including the love she had felt instantly and intensely for the tiny baby boy in front of her.

Her nephew.

He had cords and wires and different types of tubes monitoring his levels and providing oxygen, and she couldn’t hold him. Yet. But she’d settle for stroking his thin, delicate skin with one finger through the portal hole in the incubator while the machines monitored all his vitals.

Little Cole was born less than a week earlier in what had turned out to be a very dramatic series of events when Stephanie’s half-sister Hope had gone into early labor. There hadn’t been time to get her to the hospital, and because they were out of town on the Ever After Ranch where Hope, her twin sister Faith, and their husbands ran a wildly successful wedding business, when the firefighters, who were first on the scene, arrived, there’d been no choice but to deliver the baby.

Thankfully, besides being about a month premature, born to a mother with her own health issues, Cole’s prognosis was good.

“He just needs to build up those lungs,” Hope said from her wheelchair. “But he’s a fighter. He’ll be okay.”

Steph didn’t miss the emotion in her sister’s voice. She turned away from the baby and gave her sister her full attention. “Heisa fighter,” she said. “Just like his mother.” Steph squeezed her sister’s hands in hers, and Hope dropped her chin to her chest.

But only for a moment before lifting it again and nodding.

“That he is.” She forced a smile, but Steph could see how tired she looked. Her eyes were red from a combination of crying and lack of sleep, and her sister’s entire body looked frail and so much smaller than it had only a week ago.

“When do you start—”

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