Chapter 20 - A New Dawn Outside the City of Wind
Three years later,
the morning sun rose over our sprawling horse ranch nestled in the rolling green hills outside Charlottesville,
Virginia.
There were no high iron gates,
no armed guards standing watch at the perimeter,
and no black SUVs idling in the long gravel driveway.
Just endless fields of wildflowers,
white wooden fences,
and the sound of children laughing happily in the distance.
Little Leo,
now four years old with a shock of dark hair and his father’s intense gray eyes,
ran across the grass chasing a golden retriever.
Inside the sunlit kitchen of the farmhouse,
the smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon pastries filled the air with warmth.
I stood at the wooden counter,
sketching a restoration blueprint for a historic 18th-century painting I was scheduled to work on next week.
Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind,
and a familiar pair of lips pressed gently against the side of my neck.
“You’ve got paint on your nose again,
Mrs.
Voss,
” Declan murmured,
a rare,
genuine smile touching his lips as he nuzzled my hair.
I turned around in his arms,
holding my paintbrush in one hand and resting my other hand against his broad chest.
“Some things never change,
Mr.
Voss,
” I laughed softly,
looking up into his eyes.
“Some things shouldn’t change,
” Declan whispered,
leaning down to kiss me deeply under the morning light.
Outside the kitchen window,
the morning mist lifted over the Blue Ridge Mountains,
revealing a world painted entirely in brilliant morning gold.
Three years later,
the morning sun rose over our sprawling horse ranch nestled in the rolling green hills outside Charlottesville,
Virginia.
There were no high iron gates,
no armed guards standing watch at the perimeter,
and no black SUVs idling in the long gravel driveway.
Just endless fields of wildflowers,
white wooden fences,
and the sound of children laughing happily in the distance.
Little Leo,
now four years old with a shock of dark hair and his father’s intense gray eyes,
ran across the grass chasing a golden retriever.
Inside the sunlit kitchen of the farmhouse,
the smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon pastries filled the air with warmth.
I stood at the wooden counter,
sketching a restoration blueprint for a historic 18th-century painting I was scheduled to work on next week.
Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind,
and a familiar pair of lips pressed gently against the side of my neck.
“You’ve got paint on your nose again,
Mrs.
Voss,
” Declan murmured,
a rare,
genuine smile touching his lips as he nuzzled my hair.
I turned around in his arms,
holding my paintbrush in one hand and resting my other hand against his broad chest.
“Some things never change,
Mr.
Voss,
” I laughed softly,
looking up into his eyes.
“Some things shouldn’t change,
” Declan whispered,
leaning down to kiss me deeply under the morning light.
Outside the kitchen window,
May you like
the morning mist lifted over the Blue Ridge Mountains,
revealing a world painted entirely in brilliant morning gold.
