“God, I love you.” He kissed me, soft and slow, and when our lips parted, he swept in deep. My fingers curled in his flight suit, and I returned his kiss with all the love I felt for him. “Marry me, Morgan Bartley.”

Two years later

Two years later

The peach cobbler looked perfect. Everything about this weekend was pretty perfect, actually. The weather was gorgeous, I’d scored six uninterrupted hours of sleep last night, and Jackson even managed to have all of Labor Day weekend off.

“Whoa, that smells good. Need any help?” Sam asked as she walked into the kitchen, tying her curls into a ponytail.

“Thanks! I could definitely use a hand. I think that’s the last of it.” I pointed to the gallon of ice cream I’d just pulled out of the freezer.

“Got it!” She grabbed the gallon by the handle and nodded toward the door. “Let’s get out there.”

I stacked the peach cobbler pans so they didn’t get smooshed, then followed her out of the beach house. She shut the door behind us, and we started down the steps. It was still in the low eighties, but the late-afternoon breeze kept it tolerable.

“Boathouse looks good,” she said as we reached the bottom. “Last time I was here, it still had a giant hole in the side.”

I scoffed. “That was almost two years ago, which tells you how long it’s been.” I eyed the spot my Mini Cooper had gone through. We’d long since rebuilt, but I still missed that little car…and the truck. It had been found a few days after the hurricane, thank goodness, and though we’d had to salvage it, I’d gotten back the only two things I’d cared about. Both Will’s wings and his dog tags now resided in the bottom drawer of my jewelry chest.

Jackson had offered to frame them for me, but it felt right to tuck them away, safe and sound.

“It’s been too long,” Sam agreed. It really had.

“You’d think you were still stationed in Colorado instead of Fort Bragg,” I teased, hip bumping her as we turned and walked toward the dune steps.

She laughed. “We’ve been there a month. Cut us some slack. I’m sure we’ll harass you guys plenty in the next six months.”

Six months from now, we’d be at our new duty station in Cape Cod.

“We’re keeping the house, so just let me know whenever you guys want to come and use it,” I told her as we climbed.

“You guys thinking you’ll retire here?”

“That’s the idea. We both love it, and Vivian and Brie are both here.” The breeze whipped the strands of my hair that had come loose from my braid as we crested the dune.