Before the Sunset (Cottonwood Cove, #4)

by Laura Pavlov

Gracie Reynolds was my spirit animal. Equal parts bougie princess and small-town cowgirl.

Siblings were one thing. Parents would be another. They would never understand what we were doing. Hell, I didn’t understand it. But I knew one thing—I couldn’t wait to do it again.

But seeing him dote on little Gracie—well, that was hitting me with all the feels. Hell, my ovaries were getting in on the celebration. Finn would make a great dad if he had any desire to actually be in a real relationship. But he’d always said he was content being an uncle.

Reese Murphy was… everything.

Reese Murphy had always owned my heart in a way I’d never realized. And now she owned my body, too. Because I would never get enough of this girl.

The man I’d thought I’d marry was finally single, and he wanted to get back together with me. He’d rubbed my arm today, and I’d cringed at his touch. I didn’t want Carl that way anymore.

My voice was all tease, but I swear I was holding my breath and waiting for an answer. A sign that maybe he was feeling confused, just like me.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered, and I moved even closer. Needing his warmth. “Me, too.”

I’d never felt a connection to anyone the way I did to Finn. But in this moment, it was somehow stronger. The kind of connection you would never get over. The kind that brought you to your knees and made you weep if it was gone.

I sucked in a breath because he was saying all the right things. No man had ever made me feel so wanted. But I didn’t know what it meant. I knew that I didn’t want to be with the man I’d been hell-bent on marrying. I didn’t want anyone other than Finn.

“It was the way you looked at one another, even way back in the day. Like, as long as you were together, nothing else really mattered. Never saw you look at Dr. Barley that way, Reese.”

I’d never felt more loved by anyone in my life than by Finn Reynolds. But he’d tire of the distance. He would be traveling the world for his career. He’d go back to being with different women and remembering how exciting it all was.

Girl youre irritating me

I loved him enough to let him go figure it out. If he came back to me, I’d be here waiting. Because now that I’d had him, no one else would compare.

No. My fear was that I couldn’t have this fairy tale that we were currently living. That it wouldn’t last.

The thought of ever being an obligation to this man would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me.

See she was really annoying me before but i understand how she feels. Its ridiculous even when just looking at his actions from her perspective he’s always put her first and would never hurt her

“I don’t know, Reese. I guess it depends if you wanted to get pregnant.” Pregnant? Pregnant.

I KNEW IT

it’s the kind of lonely where I crave only one person. Only you can make me whole. I don’t want anyone but you.

“How about we don’t tell anyone why they’re coming over? We order food from Reynolds’ and just invite the family to a Sunday dinner here. And we have Father Davis waiting for us down here by the water. We can tell them we’re getting married and having a baby all at the same time.”

I didn’t fucking care that he brought a pig to my house, which technically meant that he’d brought a pig to my wedding.

But the minute the opportunity came—fake dating didn’t make much sense, did it, Miney?” She shook her head, and her bottom lip wobbled. “Nope.”

citrine yellow stone set

He talked about how her ring should be personalized and special AND HE GOT IT IN HER SPECIFIC FAVORITE COLOR AND SHADE

“It’s a sunset that I can have with me at all times.” Her voice shook. “There is no one who knows me the way that you do, Finn Reynolds.”

A SUNSET RING

To a lifetime of sunsets with you.

I dipped her back and kissed her again. Just before the sunset.