I nodded. “Who would’ve thought there would be so much work for an HR Recruiter in this little mountain town?”

“Well, thanks to you, it’s not as little as it once was,” Jude said. “We certainly don’t have a shortage of women anymore.”

“I can’t take full credit for all the women who’ve moved here. A lot of that goes to Kenzie and her matchmaking service.”

He laughed. “We’re almost to the point where she’s going to have to start bringing in some more men.”

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “It’ll all work out in the end. If you believe in fate.”

“I believe something brought you to me, and it was more than your sister marrying my brother.”

“Her wedding brought me here.” I looked over at him. “And you kept me here.”

He nodded at a point off to the right of me. “There’s our tree.”

I followed his stare and smiled as I saw the bench next to that tree. Someone had decorated it for fall, trimming the armrests with strands of leaves. No matter what, though, that would always be our bench. I got the warm and tinglies just looking at it.

“Bryson will be going down for his nap when we get home,” I whispered. “What do you say we work on baby number two?”

We’d just started discussing adding to our family. Work had sidetracked both of us for a while, but our cabin would feel pretty empty once Bryson started school in a couple of years. Plus, I wanted him to have a sibling—sister or brother, it didn’t matter.

“That’s a good plan.” He smiled over at me. “I love you.”

I smiled back. Those words would never get old, no matter how many times he said them a day.

“And I love you,” I said. “Thank you for making me so happy.”

“Ditto.”

As we continued up the trail, I was restless to get back home, but I knew it was important to stop and smell the fall air. Autumn in Blackbear Bluff lasted such a short time. Jude and I had the rest of our lives to make love in the middle of the day.

Source: www.seynovel.com