Page 142 of Echoes of You

“We’ve known each other since we were five, and we’ve been living together since you got back.”

Maddie pressed her lips together, and I saw the war in her mind playing out on her features. She wanted to say yes, but she also wanted to be responsible. “I like my cabin.”

My brows lifted at that. “It needs a ridiculous amount of work.”

“It’s where we fell in love.”

I softened at that. “Mads, I’ve loved you every day since kindergarten.”

Her eyes glistened in the afternoon light. “It’s where you finally gave me everything I’ve ever wanted.”

I knew in that moment we weren’t living anywhere but that cabin. “I’ll call Jordan today and ask if I can buy it.”

A laugh burst out of Maddie. “You don’t mess around.”

I pulled her closer, my mouth a breath away from hers. “Not when it comes to the things that matter. And that will always be you most of all.”

EPILOGUE

MADDIE

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Why doI feel like I’m going to hurl?” I asked as Nash’s SUV turned onto the drive that used to be bumpy gravel but was now smooth pavement.

He chuckled. “Please, don’t. Clyde and I really don’t need that.”

The dog stuck his head between the seats at the sound of his name and dropped one of Nash’s T-shirts in my lap.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, a smile curving my lips.

Nash sent Clyde a scathing look. “Why doesn’t he steal any of your stuff?”

“I think it’s because he loves you more. He wants to be close to you.”

Nash slowed his SUV so he could kiss me. “I don’t know. I think you’re pretty loveable.”

“Really?” I kissed him back, deep and slow.

Nash pulled back, eyes sparking a deeper green. “But I’m not sure what all of this says about your dog training skills.”

My jaw dropped, and I smacked his arm. “Jerk.”

He shrugged. “He’s not very good advertising.”

The truth was, I didn’t need advertising. Word of mouth was spreading from one client to another, and I was working with more and more dogs. I still had my job at The Brew, but between private clients and working with the SAR K9s, I wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.

Nash took his foot off the brake. “Ready?”

My stomach flipped. “So much went into this. What if it’s not what we pictured?”

Nash and I had moved into his house while the construction took place. We’d been involved in every step of the renovation, but the moment the crew had gotten to the final stages, we’d stopped dropping by. We wanted that moment of a big reveal. If we were in there every single day, we wouldn’t get the true feeling of change.

Nash took my hand. “If we don’t like something, we’ll have them fix it.”

That was easier said than done. Holt’s friend, Chris, had done us a huge favor by squeezing us into his already crazy-busy schedule. And he was breaking ground on Holt and Wren’s house on Monday. Now that they knew they were expecting a little earlier than planned, they needed that house done stat.

Nash squeezed my hand. “Have a little faith.”

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