Page 16 of Broken Mountain Man

He came back carrying a small velvet box that made my heart stop.

“Oh my God.”

“Let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” He dropped to one knee beside my chair, and I couldn’t breathe. “Six months ago, you stumbled into my woods and turned my whole world upside down.”

Tears pricked my eyes.

“You made me remember what it felt like to be alive. Made me want things I thought I’d lost forever.” His hands were shaking as he opened the box, revealing a simple, perfect diamond ring. “I love you, Brittany. More than I thought I was capable of loving anyone.”

“Elias...”

“I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. I want to grow old with you in this cabin, in these mountains.” His voice cracked. “Will you marry me?”

The tears were falling freely now. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”

His smile was brighter than the sunrise as he slipped the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, like everything else about this life we’d built together. Were building together.

When he kissed me, I tasted relief and joy and promises of forever.

“I love you too,” I whispered against his mouth. “So much it scares me sometimes.”

“Good scared or bad scared?”

“Good scared. The kind that means it matters.”

He kissed the palm of my hand. “I was terrified you’d say no.”

“Never. I’d be crazy to say no to this. To you. To us.”

I looked at the ring sparkling on my finger, then at the man who’d given me everything I’d never known I wanted. “So when do you want to have this mountain wedding?”

“Tomorrow? Next week?” He grinned, looking younger than I’d ever seen him. “I don’t care as long as you’re mine. Now, how about we celebrate our engagement properly?”

Heat flared in his eyes, and I felt that familiar pull low in my belly.

“What did you have in mind?”

Instead of answering, he carried me toward our bedroom, and I marveled at how perfect my life had become.

I had work I enjoyed, a home I loved, and a man who’d chosen me above everything else.

And now I had a future with him that stretched out like the mountains around us—endless and beautiful and full of possibility.

What more could a girl ask for?

EPILOGUE

Brittany

Eighteen Months Later…

Our morning routine had become sacred.

Coffee first—always coffee first. Then twenty minutes on the porch with Elias, watching the mist roll through the trees before we started our day.

I was still working remotely, and Elias had started working with Lone Mountain’s search and rescue team part-time. He didn’t go out on calls but led teams through the woods so they could get to know the terrain better. On weekends, we hiked or worked on the cabin. What started as his simple bachelor retreat now had two additional bedrooms, a proper library nook with bookshelves he’d built by hand, and a wraparound deck that made the most of the mountain views.

Domestic bliss, mountain style.

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