“And you’re super-hot.” Well, that was just silly. Even if it were true, how would that make her formidable? She shook her head as if to shake all the pieces of Will’s argument into place.

“Hey.” She met Will’s eyes, confused. “I mean it. You add up your intelligence, your good heart, and your looks, and you could intimidate the hell out of someone, especially if they’re insecure.” Lucy believed Will meant what he was saying, and she swapped out her frown for a shy smile. “I mean, you gotta know that it took some serious courage on my part to kiss you, even though it was obvious that you wanted me to.”

She tutted and swatted him gently on the chest. “You are so full of yourself, Will Reinhardt.”

He grinned. “Yup,” he replied, laughing. His laughter trailed off as his eyes dropped to her mouth. “Hey, come ’ere,” he said softly before kissing her again.

There was an, “Ahem,” from the doorway and they leapt apart. Steph looked at them apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but Joe and I are heading out.”

“Oh, right.” Lucy jumped up so quickly that the top of her head caught Will under his chin, the collision causing both to emit a loud “ow”.

“Oh, my god, are you two okay?” Steph rushed into the room, looking from one to the other in concern.

Lucy started to giggle as she rubbed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Will. Are you all right?” He touched a finger to the end of his tongue, which was bleeding. Lucy stopped laughing. “Oh, I’m so clumsy,” she chastised herself.

“It’s all good.” He stood, towering over both Steph and Lucy. “I’ll help Joe load up the car,” he said before jogging out of the room. Lucy could hear his footfalls on the staircase.

“You’re okay?” asked Steph.

“Just embarrassed.” Steph waved her comment away. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Lucy said, even though she was still cross with herself. Why was she always so ungainly? “I’ve been working on my email to Angela, like you said. I showed Will, and he thinks I’m close to a draft worth sending.”

“Oh, that’s great, honey.”

“I wanted to thank you. For, well, everything, really. You’ve been wonderful and I’ve had the best time.”

Steph took both Lucy’s hands in hers. “We’ve so loved having you here. I’m kind of sad we’re leaving so soon. I wish we’d had more time together, just you and me, but Joe’s back at work tomorrow. You’ll have to come see us again, and soon.”

“I absolutely will,” said Lucy, the words popping out of her mouth before she could unpack the magnitude of what they might mean.

“Enjoy the rest of the rest your stay,” said Steph. She pulled Lucy into a tight hug and when Steph released her, she could only smile, not trusting her voice.

“Hey, babe?” Joe’s voice called from downstairs.

“Come on. Come wave us off. Coming, hon!”

Minutes later, it was just Will and Lucy alone in the giant cabin, Nate having driven into Breckenridge to go to the hardware shop.