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Isabelle turned back to Sage one last time. Soft, almost shyly, she said, “Tell me everything when I’m on the plane, okay? Everything.”
“Iz—”
“Voice memos. Long ones.”
“Okay, sis.”
Then she walked into the black escalade, closed the door, and rolled up the windows. When the car started and music blared loudly, no one said anything about the sobbing they could almost hear beneath it. The snow began to fall harder, veiling the mountains as the taillights disappeared down the long drive, leaving the porch quiet except for the soft hush of flakes landing on warm cedar.
CAL
The driveway emptied and everything was suddenly very quiet.
Sage leaned into Cal’s solid warmth as Brutus parked himself at the bottom of the wide porch steps, his enormous grizzly head turning slowly to track the last rumble of engines until it faded into the pines. The air was knife-sharp and crystalline, carrying the clean scent of snow and distant woodsmoke. The earlier flurries had paused, leaving the valley below a vast, unbroken sea of gleaming white beneath the pearl-gray sky. The snow-heavy peaks stood sentinel in the distance, their jagged silhouettes softened by low clouds.
“I’m going to miss them,” Sage said softly, her voice sad.
Cal didn’t ask. He simply scooped her up as she giggled, and carried her like she weighed nothing, one thick arm under her knees, the other cradling her back, and walked her to the oversized Adirondack chair where he’d held her through that nightmare weeks ago.
No nightmare today. Just his woman in his arms, soft and warm against his chest as they settled in. The heated porch planks radiated gentle warmth beneath them while the cold Montana air kissed any exposed skin, making every point of contact between them feel electric. They watched the snow fall together.
“Cal?” Sage murmured, snuggling deeper, her cheek pressed to the steady thump of his heart.
Cal grunted.
Sage froze, then stifled a giggle as she tried to copy him. It came out sounding like a disgruntled kitten.
Cal’s deep laugh rumbled through her. “Did you just—”
“Seriously, Daddy, do they teach you the grunt in the military? Or is that, like, a mountain man university thing? Because I need to learn that.”
Cal was already losing it, shoulders shaking.
“Look at me! I'm a mountain man!” Sage declared in a ridiculous barbarian voice, sliding off his lap to strut across the porch. Her curvy hips swayed with every step, the cold making her nipples tighten visibly beneath her sweater. “Someone ask a question? Grunting time! Don’t know the answer? Grunt!”
She demonstrated with a ridiculous noise—half cat, half offended pig.
Cal gasped between helpless bursts of laughter, the kind that crinkled the corners of his eyes and made his whole massive frame shake. “Princess! Stop—seriously!”
Sage kept wandering, grunting dramatically, snowflakes catching in her dark hair like tiny diamonds. The porch creaked softly under her steps, cedar beams overhead dusted white, while the cabin’s tall windows glowed golden behind them, promising heat and home.
Finally, between breaths, Cal managed, “I don’t sound like that!”
Sage stopped, smiling that wicked little smile, and sauntered back. Her hips rolled with deliberate, knowing grace—the sway she knew made his hands itch.
How is she so fucking beautiful?
“I know, Daddy. I love the way you sound.” She climbed back into his lap, straddling him, and leaned in close, lips brushing his ear. Her hand trailed slowly down his chest, fingertips tracing the hard ridges of muscle through his Henley before dipping lower, toward the growing bulge in his jeans. “But I’ve been imagining what that grunt might sound like when you stuff your fat—”
“Oooookay!” Cal sat up fast, laughter still thick in his voice as he tossed her over his broad shoulder like a sack of feathers. Sage squealed with delight, the cold air rushing against her face.
“What? I’m just saying—I think in certain circumstances your grunt would be even sexier.”
Cal’s big hand came down in a firm, playful smack on her ass, the sound crisp in the quiet mountain air. The sting bloomed warm through her leggings, making her squirm against his shoulder.
“Behave, princess.”
Sage paused, pretending to think, then grinned. “Naaaah.”
