CHAPTER 25: HORIZONS WE BUILD
The familiar valley spread out below us as we crested the final ridge, bathed in soft amber light as the sun dipped low behind the pine‑cloaked slopes. Thin plumes of woodsmoke curled gently from cabin chimneys, the compound gates stood wide and unlatched exactly as Kael’s mother had promised, and the faint, rhythmic sound of a hammer carried up from the workshop grounds, mixing with the murmur of voices. We rolled down the winding slope slow, engines purring steady, and pulled through the gates just as the evening bell rang out across the yard.
Friends and family stepped out to meet us — Jax hefting a frosted crate of beer from the back of a truck, Kael’s mother holding a platter heaped high with warm honey bread, Rian leaning against a fence post with a lo
