Chapter 9

nine

. . .

Jemma

" Y ou're back!" Earl says with a big smile on his face as I walk into his shop. "Where's your bus?"

"Stuck on the mountain," I say with a laugh.

"How'd you get down?"

I grin as Michael walks into the shop behind me. "I walked with this guy."

Earl smiles knowingly as he looks at Michael. "So, she was your mate, Mikey."

"Mikey?" I repeat with a grin.

Michael laughs as he puts his arm around me. "Only Earl gets to call me that," he warns.

"I told you she was nice," Earl says with a grin. "Didn't I?"

"You were right," Michael says, smiling warmly at me. "She's the best."

I grab all of the chocolate bars in the store. Cold drinks, a chicken sandwich, chips, and a bunch of that beef jerky. I dump one into my mate's hand.

"You owe me a beef jerky," I say with a laugh.

"My bear owes you a beef jerky," he corrects.

"Does he have any money?"

Michael shakes his head. "Nah. I'll get it for you."

He insists on paying for everything, but he doesn't have a wallet, so I cover it as he tells me a thousand times that he'll pay me back.

Michael borrows Earl's phone and he calls Oliver to come pick us up.

As I'm sitting on the curb eating my sandwich and chips with my new man in front of the Montana mountains, I realize that everything is about to change.

I'm about to meet my new family. I'm about to see my new home.

And for once in my life, it all feels just right.

With this amazing man by my side, how could it not?