If the last forty-eight hours had taught Sadie anything, it was what mattered the most: Ethan, Lincoln, the new baby.

As for Ethan’s frequent trips to Boston, the early mornings and late nights shut away in the home office, their arguments, his lukewarm response to the pie shop idea. Hell, even the fact that Ethan had hidden the fact that he’d been laid off.

All of those things could be figured out, worked through.

Her husband had driven directly into the eye of a category one hurricane in an attempt to reach her and Lincoln in time, and the thought left her a little breathless.

She opened the door and ran down the sidewalk. A warm June wind blew and the sun was just beginning to set in the sky.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Sadie was at the passenger-side door. “Ethan!” she breathed. There he was.

She embraced him as gingerly as possible when all she wanted to do was crush him with love. “You’re here. You’re here!” she sighed with her head buried in his chest.

There were stitches across his forehead, and he had a bad scrape on his left cheek. He was wearing a button-up shirt and slacks, probably an outfit he’d packed for work, so Sadie couldn’t be sure how his arms looked. His foot was in a cast though, and Tyler was pulling a pair of crutches from the trunk.

“You look great,” she told him.

“You don’t mean that.” He squeezed her hands. She squeezed back, acutely aware of all the cuts and bruising.

“I do.” Sadie nestled her nose in his tousled hair, relieved the scent of her husband was still so present despite the clinical hospital smells. “I thought you were going to look a whole lot scarier.”

Ethan kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth. “I love you so much. It is so damn good to see your pretty face.”

“I love you, too,” she murmured into his ear.

Sadie helped Ethan get out of the car and Tyler handed him his crutches. And with Sadie standing beside Ethan and Tyler behind him, they got him up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

“I think I can take it from here,” Sadie said, thinking how awkward this all suddenly was. She was grateful for Tyler’s help, of course, but it was also pretty darn weird to have the town cop help get your husband situated in your master bedroom. “Thanks for everything, Tyler. We really appreciate it.”

Ethan held out his hand. “Thanks, man. We’d love to have you over for dinner soon.”

“But only if we’re getting takeout. I don’t know if one of my home cooked meals is considered a gift,” Sadie said with a smirk, making them all laugh.

“Happy to help,” said Tyler, “and it also happens to be my job.”

Sadie walked him downstairs.