She caught his hand, holding it in place. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” he replied. “You did only what you had to do. And no one else needs to hear about it.”

She struggled to swallow the lump that rose in her throat. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said. “We’re going to recover from this just like we’ve recovered from everything else. I promise.”

She sniffed and wiped her cheeks. “I know.”

EPILOGUE

Hilltop, AK—Saturday, three weeks later, 10:30 p.m. AKDT

Amarok sat at the bar, the tie loosened on his tux as he nursed one final cold one. His wedding, which he’d believed might never happen, was over. Many of his and Evelyn’s guests were drifting off, making it less crowded and more relaxed—like the Moosehead normally was. That they’d been able to go ahead and have the ceremony without a delay, after all they’d been through, was almost a miracle. But Evelyn had insisted she didn’t want to wait. Amarok had been hesitant to put it off, too, what with the baby coming in a few weeks. Soon he’d be a father as well as a husband—just what he’d hoped for ever since he first fell in love with Evelyn.

This was a good day. He wasn’t sure he’d ever had a better one.

“You going to have trouble getting used to that thing?” Shorty joked, coming up on the other side of the bar and angling his head toward Amarok’s left hand.

Amarok turned the simple gold band on his third finger. “Not at all. I like the feel of it.”

“You like the meaning behind it.”

He glanced over to see Evelyn talking to Molly in the corner, by where they’d served the cake. Fortunately, the swelling and bruising on her face were gone. “That too.”

Shorty popped the top on another beer, this one for himself. “You’re a lucky man. I guess I can tell you now that I didn’t think you’d get her back alive.”

Amarok shook his head as he remembered those dark days, knowing he’d never forget them. “I guess I can tell you now that I didn’t, either.”

Clinking his bottle against Amarok’s, Shorty took a long pull before changing the subject. “I expected some of Evelyn’s family to fly out for this. Kinda surprised that Brianne, at least, didn’t make it.”

“She’s got to help look out for Evelyn’s mother.”

“Evelyn told me Lara … struggles. That hasn’t improved?”

“It has. She’s doing better these days, but Brianne’s baby is only a month old. Didn’t make sense to put him on a plane when we’ll be going there in the fall for a second reception.”

“Guess not,” Shorty agreed. “I was just hoping to see her again, that’s all. She doing okay?”

Amarok nodded. It had been a touchy situation to have Brianne as a guest in his home last fall, right after she’d learned she was pregnant and before Jasper was caught. “Better than she was when she was here before—I can tell you that,” he said wryly.