Chapter 30 - The Final Sunset
Ten years later.
The sun dipped below the horizon of the vast Georgia hills, painting the sky over Cedar Hollow in brilliant strokes of crimson, gold, and deep violet.
The sprawling horse farm was alive with the sound of youthful laughter. Seventeen-year-old Willa was out in the paddocks grooming her favorite thoroughbred, while ten-year-old Samuel practiced his soccer dribbling across the emerald lawn.
On the wide stone patio behind the main house, Vincent and Sloan sat side-by-side on the teak wooden bench, watching the horizon hand-in-hand.
Vincent’s hair was touched with silver at the temples, and laughter lines crinkled deeply around his dark Hale eyes—lines earned not from corporate stress, but from decades of genuine, unreserved joy.
Sloan leaned her head against his shoulder, her fingers intertwined securely with his, the vintage emerald-and-diamond ring catching the dying light of the sunset.
“You know,” Sloan murmured lazily, closing her eyes against the warm evening breeze. “You never did tell me what you were thinking that very first night you found me in your bed.”
Vincent chuckled softly, a deep, rich sound that echoed across the peaceful patio.
“I was thinking,” Vincent whispered, pressing a warm kiss to the top of her head, “that the most dangerous thing a lonely man can do is leave his front door unlocked.”
May you like
He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her as the first evening stars began to pierce the twilight sky above Cedar Hollow.
“And I was thinking,” he added with a quiet smile, “that it was the best decision I ever made.”
