Page 12 of Mountain Man's Flirty Farmgirl
And just like that, under a sky full of fall sunshine instead of stars, I knew I wasn’t lost anymore.
I’d found home.
Her name was Sienna.
EPILOGUE
SIENNA
“Dunk him! Dunk him! Dunk him!”
I gripped the baseball in my hand, ignoring the cheers from the crowd gathered around the dunking booth. Blade sat on the platform above the water tank, arms crossed, that cocky smirk on his face that made me want to nail this throw even more.
“Two strikes,” he called down to me. “You sure you don’t want to forfeit? Save yourself the embarrassment?”
The crowd booed good-naturedly. Blade’s buddy Ashe cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Don’t listen to him! He’s been talking trash all afternoon!”
Another of Blade’s friends, Marc, shook his head. “Blade’s about to eat those words. Literally. Along with half the tank.”
I wound up for my third throw, feeling the familiar weight of the ball. Ten years of marriage, two kids, and countless Sunday afternoon games of catch in the backyard had improved my aim considerably. Blade might’ve forgotten that.
I let the ball fly.
Thunk.
The target gave way, and Blade plummeted into the water with a splash that sent half the crowd scrambling backward, laughing. When he surfaced, his dark hair was plastered to his head, and he was grinning like an idiot.
“There she is!” Ashe whooped, clapping. “That’s our girl!”
The crowd erupted in cheers as Blade hauled himself out of the tank, water streaming from his clothes. He didn’t even bother shaking himself off before he was walking straight toward me, that dangerous look in his eyes.
“Oh no,” I said, backing up. “Blade, don’t you dare?—”
But he was already wrapping his arms around me, pulling me against his wet chest as the crowd cheered louder. His mouth found mine, and I could taste chlorine and mischief and ten years of mornings waking up next to this man.
When he pulled back, I was nearly as wet as he was, my sundress clinging to my skin. “You’re terrible,” I laughed, pushing at his chest.
“You love it.”
“I love you. There’s a difference.”
He kissed me again, quick and sweet this time. “Nope, same thing.”
Marc walked over, still grinning. “You two are disgusting. In the best way.”
“Says the guy who refused to get in the dunking booth this year,” Blade shot back, wringing water from his shirt.
“Hey, that’s because last year I nearly took out the target mechanism,” Marc said. “Some of us throw too hard.”
Ashe snorted. “Some of us got banned from the ring toss for the same reason.”
“That was one time.”
“It was three times, and you know it.”
I laughed, watching the easy banter between Blade’s closest friends. They’d all grown up here in Wildwood Valley, left forthe military, and found their way back after discharge. And now they worked together on the construction crew, building the new honky-tonk on the edge of town. It was Blade’s biggest project yet, and if everything went according to plan, it would bring live music and tourists to Wildwood Valley by next summer.
“Speaking of domesticated,” I said, glancing at my watch, “we need to go collect our offspring before they convince Grandpa to let them ride the pony again.”
