NOT AN HOUR later, Cam got a notice he was being deployed. Unusual, he told her, so close to having just gotten back, but not unheard of. And this time he’d be gone a month, unless his unit was released early.

During the weeks he was gone, Piper kept herself busy, working on keeping Winnie sane and the baby she was growing safe, and watching Gavin come into his own right in front of her eyes. And when they opened the Manning B&B three weeks after Cam had left, their guests raved about their stay.

Another week went by, and though it was now nearly April and officially spring, they got a hell of a winter storm. Again, there was flooding and the town was a mess. So was the lake.

She and Gavin and some hired help were up to their knees in mud working with Emmitt at the marina. She was wearing one of Cam’s T-shirts, pathetically hugging the neckline up over her nose every few minutes to catch his lingering scent.

“I swear, nothing smells better than the person you love,” she said.

“Have you ever walked by a Cinnabon?” Winnie asked.

Piper sighed, but suddenly she felt a change in her force field. Whirling from where she was, facing the lake, she stared up at the hill as a single figure worked his way down, in jeans and a sweatshirt, a duffel bag on his shoulder, moving easily and efficiently through the mud like nothing could stop him.

She stilled, but her heart didn’t. He wore the usual dark sunglasses, but she could still see the fatigue all over him. Tousled hair, longer than she was used to seeing on him. At least a week’s worth of beard on his jaw. His expression fierce and intense, like he was still on a mission.

“Cam,” she whispered. She tried to look half as graceful as he while moving toward him, but instead she probably looked like an elephant fighting its way through a lake made of peanut butter.

He closed the distance between them faster than she took a few steps. Dropping the shovel she’d been holding, she launched herself at him. His arms caught her and lifted her off her feet. She was already wrapping herself around him when he murmured her name in a reverent rumble.

“You’re home,” she murmured, pressing her jaw to his unshaved, rough one.

“Yeah.” He buried his face in her hair, tightening his grip on her. “Missed you, Piper. Missed you so fucking much.” Angling his head, he sought her mouth with his.

There was a whole lot in that kiss. Love, affection, relief, hunger—and she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life. Pulling back, she looked him over for obvious injuries and thankfully didn’t see any. “I made you all dirty.”