All Erin cared about was being spiritually and legally bound to this wonderful man for the rest of her life. She kissed him to seal their bargain, and they never made it to the tent. They made love on the lush meadow grass by the fire. Afterward, when Erin lay pressed against him and listened to the haunting cry of an osprey as it circled over the lake, she knew that she’d looked in all the wrong places to find where she truly belonged. For her, home was right where she was, in Wyatt Fitzgerald’s arms.

Epilogue

On the day of their wedding, Erin and Wyatt stood arm in arm as the campout guests from Mystic Creek arrived. Dozens of people had ridden up on horseback. The entire Sterling family had come, even Jonas, the only bachelor remaining in the Sterling brood of four boys and two girls. His brothers showed up with their wives and kids: Jeb with Mandy; their daughter, Chloe; and their son, Jeremiah. Ben was there with his wife, Sissy, and their two little ones. Barney showed up with his adopted daughter, Sara, and his wife, Taffy, six months pregnant with a baby boy. Ma Thomas absolutely couldn’t miss what she called “the triple wedding.” She viewed Four Toes’s introduction to Ginger as a bear version of marriage and refused to think of it as anything less. Jake, who owned the Jake ’n’ Bake, came bearing two large tubs of baked goods, one of them filled with day-old stuff that he explained were for the newlywed bears. Tony Chavez, owner of Dizzy’s Roundtable, also made an appearance, although he said he could stay only one night. Tanner Richards and his wife, Crystal, came up with their two kids.

The only people who walked up the mountain were Blackie and Julie, because Blackie wouldn’t allow the newly pregnant mother of his child to get on a horse. They had hiked most of the previous day, rested overnight at another camp, and then come the rest of the way that morning so they wouldn’t be exhausted for the ceremony. Erin’s breath caught when she first saw Julie with honey-blond hair. The blue streak had finally vanished, and Erin knew that meant her friend had found love, happiness, and peace in her heart. The preacher, with whom Blackie and Julie had made the ceremony arrangements, arrived on horseback a little later than they did, but that was fine, because the ceremony wouldn’t take place until evening after the two bears had been introduced.

When Kennedy showed up, Erin got nervous butterflies in her stomach. Wyatt’s parents had ridden up with their younger son, each of them on a separate mount while Kennedy rode double with Jen, who sat behind him and hugged his waist. Apparently she wasn’t yet healed enough to ride by herself. Erin was just thankful that Jen looked healthy and happy.

Wyatt led Erin out to meet his folks. Erin wasn’t sure what to expect, except that the couple probably still clung to some pretty old-fashioned ideas. She’d deduced that because of Wyatt’s prediction that his mother would have a heart attack if he ever lived with a woman out of wedlock.