“Gage?” Aurora said again, still shocked to see him standing there. Was she dreaming this? She looked around. Everything looked real. Felt real.
“Has it been that long?” he replied with a grin. “Long enough that you aren’t even sure it’s me?”
Her hand flew to her pounding heart. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
He nodded. “I’m here.”
“But I’m supposed to be there.”
“There?” he repeated.
“At your family’s retreat,” she told him. “I have a ticket booked for Juneau tomorrow morning.”
“Your magazine is sending you back for more pictures?”
She laughed. “Not this trip. My going back to Conley Island has nothing to do with my job and everything to do with you.”
He stepped forward, drawing her into his strong arms. “Apparently, great minds really do think alike, because my beinghere has everything to do with you.” He searched her eyes. “I’ve missed you like crazy, Aurora.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” she said, heart pounding.
“I look at those pictures you sent me, the ones you took when you were staying at the retreat, every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to bed. I remember with so much clarity each and every one of those moments we shared together.”
“I do too.”
His gaze lifted to the picture displayed on the wall behind her. “Your parents were right about the magic of the Northern Lights. That night out on the dock, I knew I wasn’t just falling. I knew I was totally and completely in love with you.”
“Same,” she breathed.
“I never should have let you go without telling you how deeply I feel for you. Even if I couldn’t make any real commitment at that time.” His attention returned to her, love and adoration so clear in his eyes. “Thank you for what you did for me and my family.”
“You know about the article?”
He nodded. “I do. Guests staying at the retreat this past week mentioned they had read about Living the Good Life Fishing Retreat in an online article through your magazine. They were intrigued enough by your write-up and the accompanying photos to book a stay. Despite it being the off-season for most things, we still have guests coming in. Reed showed me the article he found online.”
“I wanted to repay your family’s kindness,” she told him.
“I’d say you went above and beyond,” he told her with an appreciative smile. “And my whole family is indebted to you for it.”
“When you care about someone, you want the best for them. If there was any chance I could help, I had to try.”
“You helped us more than you’ll ever know, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. But I’m not here because of my gratitude; I’m here for you,” he said, smiling tenderly down at her.
Tears filled Aurora’s eyes, blurring Gage’s handsome, hopeful face.
“When you left Alaska, I thought I might lose you to Ben, but he never came up in our conversations, so I didn’t know where the two of you stood. I was too afraid to ask.”
“Ben?” she repeated in surprise and then shook her head. “I never had any intention of getting back with him. In fact, he’s going to be proposing to Charlene—that’s his girlfriend—over Christmas. He wanted me to meet her, which was why he’d called when I was in Juneau. But our schedules didn’t line up until recently for him to tell me his good news. I met her, Gage, and I really like her. I’m so happy Ben found her.”
“That day our phone call was cutting out ... I thought ... oh, geez,” he groaned. “I’ve been going out of my mind at the thought of you reconsidering your decision not to marry Ben. And then, while you were at your family’s Early Thanksgiving, I discovered the article you’d done for your magazine. The one about having left your heart with a mountain goat of a man on Conley Island.” He smiled. “I also knew I had to put my heart out there before it was too late, and you married for something other than true love. So here I am.”
Before Aurora could respond, Gage knelt before her, pulling a small, navy-blue satin ring box from his coat pocket.
She gasped.
Opening it, he held it up for Aurora to see. The ring nestled snugly inside the satin lining wasn’t the traditional diamond-focused setting. Instead, there were two thin gold bands woven around each other to form one single band. Mounted at the top, surrounded by small, sparkling diamonds was a beautiful oval-shaped opal. One that held all the colors of the Northern Lights.
“Gage,” she said, her gaze lifted to meet his.
