At the top of the mountain, Alpha howled, the sound ricocheting down the mountain. Pappy pulled the Blackberry out of his pocket, read the message once, then once again. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life, and arrived at the cable pad at the same time Alpha did. He unlocked it, turned it on, and climbed inside, Alpha half-on his lap and half-off. The wolf-dog howled all the way to the bottom.

He looked at her.

She looked at him.

Unable to wait, Alpha leaped out of the car and slammed his powerful body against Sam. He lavished kisses all over her. She hugged and squeezed him until he yelped. “I told you I was coming back.”

And then she was in Pappy’s arms. His lips never left hers as he backed her into the cable car and turned it on blindly. They were still in a lip lock when the cable car stopped and Kyros greeted them both, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in hand. There was no way he was cooking that day. This time he knew better. When it was apparent neither his son nor his about-to-be daughter-in-law were interested in his food, he tossed the sandwiches off the mountain.

Sam hugged him, too, tears streaming down her face. “Are you visiting, or are you here to stay?” he whispered.

“What do you think, Kyros? I’m here to stay. Forever and ever.” The old man beamed.

Pappy and Sam were glued together as they moved about the compound. They talked about their year apart, their hopes and dreams, and about the right day to get married. “The sooner the better,” Pappy said.

“We have to wait for my old team. Slick is going to be my maid of honor. Kayla and Olivia my bridesmaids. I think Hawkins would be honored to be your best man. Zoe won’t be able to make it. She’s leaving the organization and going to Greece. She said a year and a half was enough. She said Mykonos can use a plumber like her because the plumbing there is appalling. Plus, she met some guy while the girls were there last year on R&R. She’s going to look him up again,” Sam babbled happily.

Pappy’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Mykonos?”

“Is it a nice place, Pappy? You being Greek and all, you must know the area well.”

“It’s wonderful,” Pappy managed to say, his mind racing. Surely it wasn’t possible. A coincidence. Never in a million years could…

Tuned to his mood, Sam asked, “What’s wrong? Are you upset that Zoe won’t be here?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Of course I would like Zoe to be here for you. Did she tell you the name of the man she was interested in? Maybe I know him.”