Wishes at Willow Lake by Mary Manners Page B

snuggled in her arms. She paused long enough to plant a kiss soundly on Ryder’s lips before she climbed the stairs to the nursery to put Rory down for the night.
    “You’re happy, aren’t you?” Mason asked when she’d left.
    “More than.” The look in Ryder’s eyes spoke volumes. “God has blessed me beyond my wildest imagination. Ali is amazing. And Rory…”
    “I’m thrilled for you. I always pictured the two of you together. Strange how things turn out, isn’t it?”
    “All in God’s time.” Ryder’s gaze drifted to Josie. “Funny how the two of you have found your way back to each other, too.”
    “I wouldn’t put it that way…not exactly.” The few remaining guests had disbursed, retiring to their rooms for the night. In the stacked stone fireplace, flames had flickered to glowing embers. “She’s a little…skittish.”
    “How are you holding up?”
    “Good as can be expected, considering I came close to breaking one of the sacred commandments today.” Mason lowered Josie into his lap and stroked the hair back from her forehead as she gasped softly through a faraway dream. “I wanted to strangle Simms. When I saw him grab Josie…when I realized what might have happened if I hadn’t seen him headed toward the book store. If I had been a few minutes later…”
    “I know what you mean. I went through something similar with Ali when that creep, John Larder, came sniffing around. I thought we’d seen the worst with that bully of a family, but I guess I was wrong.” He rubbed his hands together and leaned toward the smoking embers. “Maybe this will put an end to it.”
    “It better.”
    “It’s good to have you back…and Hunter, too. He and Maci plan to marry next month. The wedding’s going to be here.”
    “So I heard.” Mason shook his head. “First you and Ali with a baby, now Hunter and Maci. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”
    “Crazy and wonderful, all rolled together.”
    Mason lowered his voice. “Does Ali ever talk about Josh…about what happened that day?”
    “Of course she does.” Ryder lifted a framed photo from the side table and brushed his fingers across the glass. “She misses him. We all do. But the memories, for the most part, are good.”
    “It still tears me up to think about it. I’m covered in guilt about what happened, like I might have done more.”
    “You shouldn’t be. You couldn’t have. It was an accident and nothing can change that. Don’t look back, just move forward.”
    “That’s what Josie said, too.”
    “Smart woman.” Ryder set the photo back on the table. “How long are you planning to stay?”
    “I promised Josie I’d help her remodel Posts and Pages. After that, I don’t know.”
    “Well, the sooner you figure it out, the better for both of you.” Ryder stood. “Trust me. I learned that the hard way. Now, you’d both better get some sleep.”
    When he left, Mason gathered Josie in his arms, blanket and all, and carried her toward the stairs. Careful not to jostle her, he made his way to the inn’s second level where the guest rooms were located. Three doors down on the right he found his room just as he’d left it that morning. He pushed open the door to see moonlight filter through a break in the clouds, casting a milky glow across tangled bed sheets.
    Josie, wrapped like a burrito in his arms, yawned and stretched. “Mason…where are we?” Her eyes fluttered open, and then quickly slipped closed once again.
    “Go back to sleep.”
    “I have to go home.”
    “In the morning.”
    “I can’t spend the night in here.” Her eyes slipped open once again. She wiggled, pressing a palm to his chest. “Let me down so I can go back to the couch.”
    “No way. You’re sleeping here.” He carefully set her in the middle of the bed. “And I’m grabbing Z’s on the couch.”
    “Oh, right…” She rolled over and tugged his pillow to her chin as he covered her, clothes and all, with a thick, down comforter. She