Page 94 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

“Let’s ask them now,” I whispered into my husband’s ear.

“Okay.” He kissed my cheek.

I took a fortifying breath, then looked around our circle. “We wanted to run something by you guys.”

“For the wedding?” Kat asked, sitting straighter.

“Sort of.” I laced my fingers through Karson’s, silently telling him to take over.

Like Katherine, I was a bundle of emotion this week. While she buried hers in activity, I’d resorted to what seemed like an endless stream of near-tear moments.

I was so happy for Gus. I was so proud of the man he’d become. And he loved Delilah with every cell in his body, treating her with such adoration and respect. I’d told him as much in another mess of tears a few days ago. Gus had hugged me and said he’d learned that from watching Karson. His dad.

But happy and proud, I still felt like I was losing my baby boy. So I’d been leaning on my husband, like tonight, to speak up for me when I couldn’t get the words past the lump in my throat.

“We drove the Cadillac up here,” Karson said. “As you know.”

The day we’d pulled into the lodge’s parking lot, everyone else had already been here. They’d descended on the car, greeting it like an old friend. This wasn’t the first trip to Montana that we’d brought the car, and like past times, having it here gave everyone the chance to drive it again.

Gemma and Katherine had taken it to town on grocery store runs. Londyn and Brooks had spent a few hours getting lost on the Montana highways. Then Aria and Brod

y had done the same.

“We want to give it to August and Delilah,” Karson said. “As a wedding present. But we wanted to check with you guys first.”

The crackle of the fire was the only sound.

Then Londyn nodded and the smile that stretched across her face was brighter than the flames. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“Best idea ever.” Gemma nodded.

Cash shook his head in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“It’s time for that car to go to the next generation,” Karson answered. “Your daughter. My son. I can’t think of a better pair. And maybe someday, they’ll continue the tradition. Send it down the road with someone else who needs it.”

Katherine buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Cash stood and scooped her up, settling her on his lap. She took a moment, then sniffled and looked up, drying her eyes. “Sorry. I’m a wreck this week. Who needs another beer?”

Cash trapped her before she could stand. “No one needs another beer, sweetheart.”

“Let’s have a toast.” Aria raised her beer bottle into the air. “To the original Lou.”

I smiled. She’d deemed one Lou the original and the other Lou—my son—the famous Lou. “To the original Lou.”

The circle cheered.

Lou usually got a toast at these functions. He’d stuck with us all, decades later, especially since every woman in the circle was wearing a piece of his jewelry. Lou had gifted Hope’s jewelry to us all, along with our own respective letters.

Well, except for me.

Over the years, we’d shared the contents of those letters with each other. Mostly, Lou had written about his wife. Combined, those letters had given us a glimpse of his love for Hope, and wearing something of hers was an honor.

To Londyn, he’d gifted a gold locket. To Gemma, an opal pendant necklace. To Katherine, a pair of ruby stud earrings. To Aria, a ring adorned with tiny gold roses. I wore Hope’s wedding rings as my own. And Karson wore Lou’s wedding band, the piece Lou had gifted to me.

It was almost like he’d known that the man it was destined for was Karson. I liked to think so.

I dropped my forehead to Karson’s, closing my eyes. “I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.” He cupped my cheek, tipping my face so he could cover my lips with his. We kissed like we had in the beginning. We kissed like we hadn’t kissed for twenty-three years. We kissed like two people who had never taken our days for granted.