Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,1

It’s Damon. And me and Damon are…well, we’re me and Damon.” She shrugged and took a bite of garlic bread as if to signal the end of the conversation.

Logan opened his mouth to say something else, but Faith stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Just leave it,” she said. “Let’s just get through dinner, okay?”

Her big brother looked as though he were going to explode, and Katie wouldn’t have been surprised. Logan’s relationship with Faith was contentious with a distinct undercurrent of sexual tension, but to her surprise, he nodded and turned his attention back to his dinner.

For a few moments, everyone focused on eating and the only sound to be heard was the scraping of cutlery against the plates. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hope started talking again about their upcoming trip and some of the activities they had planned. Soon enough, the tension had almost completely lifted and Katie could almost forget that she’d just dropped a bomb on her entire family.

Almost.

Because when she finally dared to look at her mother, Debbie Langdon was staring directly at Katie, a look of concern and question in her eyes. As much as Katie would like to believe that the hard part was over when it came to this whole thing, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe her own bullshit. It was only just beginning.

At least she’d have Damon at her side to help field some of these questions. She shook her head and stuffed another bite of food in her mouth.

She really should have waited until he arrived to say anything at all. He’d been her best friend for almost twenty years and apparently nothing much had changed—he was still getting her into hot water.

Only this time, it seemed a little more serious than getting called to the principal’s office.

Despite the stress and worry flooding through her, Katie worked hard to keep the smile on her face as she got through the rest of dinner. After all, she was a blushing bride-to-be.

Wasn’t she?

Damon Banks couldn’t remember exactly how long it had been since he’d been to his hometown of Glacier Falls.

Three years? Four?

No. It had been three.

They’d buried his mom four years ago. But he’d come back for a quick trip for Katie’s twenty-first birthday the year after. And that had been three years ago already.

It was hard to believe it had been so long. Especially considering not much had changed in the small mountain town. Of course, nothing ever seemed to change in Glacier Falls. That’s why he liked it so much.

He drove his newly purchased pickup truck down the highway that led to Main Street. There were one or two new houses and acreages set back in the trees, but so far, it all looked mostly the same.

Damon took the turn that led him off the main road right before heading into town onto Forester’s Road. It wound its way up and away from the townsite below to a magnificent hilltop estate that looked over the windy river that wound its way through the valley and held a spectacular view of Jumbo Glacier tucked into the mountains in the distance. It also happened to be the site of his childhood home and the entire reason he was back in Glacier Falls.

Well, half the reason he was back.

There was Katie, too.

His fiancée.

It still felt strange to think that of his oldest and best friend that way, but he was going to have to get used to it. And quickly.

He pulled his truck off the road beside the main gates and killed the engine, but he didn’t get out of the truck right away. Instead, he took a deep breath and ran his hands through his thick hair, almost as if to steel himself for what was outside. Which was ridiculous. There was nothing out there but pine trees, fresh air, and…beyond those gates somewhere, his father.

Damon was being childish and he knew it. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, for God’s sake. With a shake of his head, he opened the door and stretched his legs as he stepped onto the road. It was heavily treed, and from where he stood, there wasn’t much of a view into the valley below. But he knew very well that just beyond the gates, down the lane, was an amazing view. His favorite view, really. It didn’t matter where he went in the world, or what exotic locations his travels took him; nothing compared to the view from ElkView