Chapter 1

ONE

Ansel

“Anything else you need me to do?” I ask.

“No, I think that we’re all good,” Kip says.

“Alright, I’ll be around if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll see you guys in the New Year,” I tell my friends and new bosses, Kip and Huxley.

“Sounds good, man. If you want to hang out in the meantime, give us a call,” Huxley tells me with a smile.

“Will do,” I assure them, and I wave at both of them before I head out to my truck.

I just got back to Wolf Valley, and there are really only two things that I want. To finish getting unpacked, and to get my girl.

Kip and Huxley were by the cabin this weekend, helping me move in. I’m grateful to them for the help, not that I had much to haul inside. I was used to living out of a duffle bag. I went from high school into the Marines, and now I’m moving into my very first house. I’ll have to work to fill this place up… or Noelle can do that.

I smile as I think about my girl. I’ve been in love with Noelle for as long as I can remember. We met in elementary school, the fourth grade. I was angry then that we had to move to this dumb little town, but then I walked into school, and Noelle smiled at me, and suddenly, I was grateful that we moved.

Noelle has been the center of my world ever since. For all of these years, I’ve been her best friend, her protector, and her stalker. Though, she only knows about the first two of those things.

I’ve been trying to find a way all these years to be worthy of my Noelle, but so far, I haven’t had much luck in that department. I spent my teenage years working at the market here in town. I was making minimum wage and had no idea what I was going to do with my future. I couldn’t afford to go to college, and I didn’t see a way to stay in town and make a life for myself. That was why I joined the Marines. I wanted to prove to Noelle that I could make something of myself and that I could protect and provide for her.

I can’t say that I regret joining the military. At first, it was just a quick way to get out of Wolf Valley, make some money, and learn some skills to help me in the future. Along the way, though, I met some great guys who are still my friends to this day. I was never stationed with Kip or Huxley, but we did two deployments together and became fast friends.

I had heard about Kip being hurt overseas. It was right after I had gone back to the States, and I had called and checked in on him while he was recovering. We stayed in touch, and when I checked in with them a few months ago, I was surprised to hear that they had moved to Wolf Valley. When they told me about their helicopter tourist business, I was interested, so they asked me to join them when I moved back to town. It seems like it’s going to be a perfect fit, and it will allow me to stay in town with Noelle while still doing something that I love.

I pull up outside of my cabin and take it in. It’s nothing too fancy, just a log cabin on the outskirts of Wolf Valley. Noelle and I used to come out here when we were teenagers. There’s a field nearby, and she would draw or read while I watched her. When I saw that the house was for sale, I knew that I had to buy it.

The cabin is exactly the type of house that Noelle always dreamed of living in. It’s two stories, with a big front porch and a lot of rustic charm. It’s nestled in the woods, surrounded by pine trees, and it looks like a Christmas card, Noelle’s favorite holiday.

I head inside and smile as I see the stack of letters on the kitchen counter. I had unpacked a bit, and I found all of the letters that Noelle had sent to me while I was gone. The stack is huge, with at least two hundred letters from over the years.

They’re all worn. I think that I’ve read them all at least a dozen times. Whenever I was missing her, which was always, I would take out her letters and start to read. I always wondered if she did the same with my letters to her.

Has she kept them? Did they mean the world to her as her letters did to me?

I hide the letters in a kitchen drawer and make sure that the rest of the place is presentable. I’ve spent the last two days cleaning out the cobwebs and making sure that it’s perfect for my girl. She’s supposed to be at my cabin soon, and it feels like a hundred butterflies are flying in my stomach as I think about my plan. I’ve invited Noelle to spend the next few days with me at my cabin. She thinks that she’s here to help me settle into the place, but really, I’m going to show her that we were meant to be so much more than just friends.

If I have my way, then soon, this cabin won’t just be mine.

It will be ours.