Page 14 of Rescued By the Lumberjack
"Hey Adam!" April's bright demeanor hasn't changed much over the years. "You here for coffee or for something else?"
It's been three months since I rescued Phoenix from the side of the cliff and claimed her for myself. Now when I walk into the little coffee shop, everyone knows who I am and what I'm looking for-- even when I order a latte to go with it.
"Figured she'd be done around now," I answer, shaking my head at the cup April holds up in a silent question about that coffee.
"She was just finishing up when I was in back a minute ago. You wanna go back and get her?"
Phoenix and I did keep our clothes on long enough to get to know each other a little better after that first day. Not that either of us learned anything that changed our minds about each other.
I bought her ring the next day.
Turns out, my curvy little sweetie likes to bake. In fact, she'd rented the commercial kitchen that Raine and April installed in the back of the cafe only a few weeks before I found her clinging to the side of a mountain.
This is my girl's dream, comin' in to work an hour before the first birds chirp so she can have the cases filled with baked goods by the time most of the town's people start filing in looking for their daily caffeine fix.
"Did I hear Adam?" Phoenix comes through the door from the back room, her apron already off and her purse in her arm, ready for our trip down to Slow River today.
When she sees me standing aside to let customers choose between cherry turnovers or strawberry tarts, she bolts for my arms, giving me a kiss that'd get us kicked out of most places around town. But April just gives us a grin as she pulls both the tarts and the turnovers out of the case and boxes them up for the tourists to take with them up to the hot springs where they say they have a campsite reserved.
"Drive safe," she tells us. "We expect pictures."
"I'll be back in a couple of days. There are fresh loaves in the freezer, directions on the board. If you need help-- don't call."
It's a damn good thing I meant every word of what I said when I told Phoenix I was putting babies in her belly right off because, as far as we can figure, we got pregnant that first day. Or maybe the day after.
We were so busy getting our happily ever after started off right, that Phoenix didn't realize she'd skipped a period till she'd skipped the next one.
A trip to Alice McAllister's general store for a home pregnancy test and a confirmation by Doc Jones a few days later and we're heading down to the Valley this afternoon to pick up a few things.
Maternity clothes, baby things, a marriage license. You know, the usual.
There's a lady down in the valley that runs an Airbnb on her goat farm, so we booked ourselves a private little cabin for a few nights as sort of a makeshift honeymoon.
I'll treat my wife to the real deal after the baby gets here, but for now, we decided it would be a fun way to start our life as Mr. and Mrs. Morris.
Epilogue 2
Ten Years Later
Phoenix
It started snowing early this year, which means my husband's logging crew is packing up early for the season.
Adam's had to be in the field for the last few days helping with tear down and last minute logistics before he's finally home with me and the kids for the rest of the season.
I think the hardest adjustment I had to make when we got together was how much he's away from home during the good weather when the crews are active.
Even though, as one of the supervisors now, he gets to spend a lot more time with us even during the season. I always look forward to the first good snow of the year that brings him home until the following spring.
We had our first two babies early, we're pretty sure we got pregnant with Michael that first day we met. Then our daughter came along just a couple of years later. We spent the first years of our marriage so wrapped up in being a family that it's been like meeting Adam all over again now that the kids are older and getting interested in spending more time away from us.
Like this weekend, Michael is on an away game with his hockey team and Jayly is staying with friends, giving me a rare chance to have both the house and my husband to myself-- and I have plans to take full advantage of it.
Adam checked in about an hour ago that he was on his way home, so he should be walking through the door any minute.
Checking myself in the mirror, I give my hair a fluff and test buttoning and unbuttoning Adam's flannel shirt to see if it's better to leave it open or leave more to the imagination.
There is some seriously scandalous lingerie under my husband's giant flannel. He's used to me stealing his shirts to lounge in, especially when temperatures start dropping like they have this week, but this time, I don't have my usual leggings underneath.
