I’d left her in our bedroom with instructions to dress for a walk in the forest, and she’d done as I asked, wearing a tank top and shorts that displayed her gorgeous legs to full advantage. Her hair was tied back, almost entirely brown now. She’d let Bailey cut it shorter, getting rid of the remnants of blonde dye. Summer’s friend, who considered herself a budding social media influencer and lifestyle blogger, had been over the moon and had plastered photos all over her accounts. Once, that might have bothered me, but neither Kennedy nor I had minded.

After Tyler was arrested, Kennedy’s name and picture were flashed throughout the media. We’d agreed they probably wouldn’t leave us alone until we gave them the whole story, so we’d given an exclusive interview to a reporter Gray had recommended, Aria Simons. She’d been friendly, professional, and made sure the story came out the way we wanted. I’d wondered if Kennedy’s fans might be angry she’d decided to give up acting in part because of me, but her adoring public seemed to love our unlikely reunion. Now, the excitement had more or less died down. People were no longer visiting Destiny Falls in droves for a peek of movie star Kennedy Cox, although the stream of tourists attracted by the town’s romantic reputation remained steady.

“No, I’m not telling you,” I said, slinging the backpack over one shoulder. “You’ll figure it out soon, but I want it to be a surprise for as long as possible.”

She huffed. “You’re no fun.”

“You’re impatient.”

She grinned but didn’t deny it. She kissed my cheek and leaned against me for a moment, sighing happily. Another perk of the past month was that we’d gotten to know more about each other again and had grown more familiar with the people we were now. At our core, we were still that young couple who’d fallen madly in love, but we’d developed and matured, and things were different in subtle and intriguing ways.

“Let’s go.” She bounced toward the door. She’d been eager to go hiking for a couple of weeks now, but I didn’t want to encourage her until we were sure it wouldn’t cause any issues with her injury.

Once outside, we got into her Subaru Outback. I’d decided to finally say goodbye to my beloved Ute. The damage caused by the crash—and Tyler tampering with the brakes—would have cost more than it was worth to fix. I’d get another vehicle soon—I had my eye on one in Queenstown—but in the meantime, Kennedy’s Subaru could get us anywhere further than we wanted to walk.

She handed me the keys, and I drove us to the parking area at the base of the trails that went to Destiny Falls and Destiny Tarn.