Until Autumn Falls Read online

  “Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Three more weeks.” She snuggled into his side. “You wanna go down to the beach later, after lunch?”

  He growled, wanting to pull over right now and kiss her. “I’m always up to visit the beach.” His hand moved up her thigh, but she pushed it down.

  “I said later.” She laughed and pointed. “Dress shop, remember?”

  Tripp braked hard and pulled over only a few feet down from the dress shop. “I guess I can’t come in. Can’t see the wedding dress before the wedding and all that.”

  “She said it would be fast.”

  “Sure.” Tripp flipped the truck into park. “Take your time.”

  “I swear I’ll be fast.” She pecked him on the cheek and slid across the seat and dropped to the sidewalk. Tripp watched her enter the shop where she’d been kidnapped. Her step didn’t seem to falter; she didn’t seem to harbor any negative energy about the space.

  He was thankful for the smallest of miracles when it came to Hilary. She’d stopped nightmaring after the note from her father had come. She kissed him with real passion again. She’d taken all her scarves and donated them to the women’s shelter in Arcata, and now she walked around town without anything covering her scars.

  Tripp watched her carefully though. He wanted to be there if he sensed the slightest crack in her. But he’d found none so far. And seeing Dr. Terry had been helping a lot. Getting back out on Betsy Ross and getting back to their fishing routine seemed to clear both of their minds. She’d even suggested they get married on the boat, and with the size of their families, it was feasible. Their friends from town could line the wharf and watch from there.

  Hilary had been selling their catch to her regular vendors, but she’d stopped paying him, at his insistence. “It’s one business now, baby,” he’d told her. “We catch the fish, and we sell the fish.”

  She’d been resistant at first, but she saw the logic of it after only a few days. “So we’re partners,” she’d stated.

  “Partners,” he’d confirmed. “Through everything.”

  Her “quick” took thirty minutes, but Tripp honestly didn’t mind. They ate lunch, and made love on the beach, and cuddled on the couch with the TV on. Tripp woke to the alarm on his phone, still wrapped around Hilary on the couch.

  She didn’t stir and as he realized the warmth of her next to him, an overwhelming sense of joy filled him. This reality he lived every day, this life with Hilary and fishing, made him happy, something only a year ago he thought he’d never be.

  THE END