Riley stared into her tea, watching the steam curl up into the air.
What did she want?
The answer had been there all along, buried under years of ambition and fear and the desperate need to prove herself. She'd spent so long running from Pine Valley, convinced that staying meant giving up, settling, admitting defeat.
But she'd been wrong.
She wanted mornings drinking coffee on a porch that overlooked rolling fields. She wanted to help Hannah with the kids and have dinner with her parents and run into people she'd known her whole life at the grocery store. She wanted to know her neighbors, to be part of something bigger than herself, to matter in ways that felt real and tangible.
She wanted to build something that mattered—help local businesses tell their stories, connect with her community, make a difference in ways she could see and touch and feel. Not faceless corporations and soulless campaigns, but real people with real dreams.
She wanted Christmas mornings and summer bonfires and winters that meant something. She wanted seasons that mattered, holidays with family, traditions she could count on.
She wanted Grant.
God, she wanted Grant. His quiet strength and steady presence and the way he looked at her like she was the only person in the world who mattered. She wanted to build a life with him, wake up beside him, grow old in the town they both loved.
She wanted the life she'd been too scared to admit she'd wanted all along.
"I want to stay," Riley said. "I want to move back to Pine Valley. I want to start my own marketing business here—help small businesses, work with people I care about. I want to be close to you and Dad. I want to actually be present for the people I love." She looked up at her mom. "I want Grant. I want to build a life with him. I want all of it."
Carol smiled, soft and knowing. "Then that's what you do."
"Even if he won't talk to me?"
"Especially if he won't talk to you. You show up. You stay. You prove that you mean it this time." Carol stood and pulled Riley into a hug. "But not tonight. Tonight you're exhausted and heartbroken and you need to sleep. Tomorrow you can start figuring out how to fix this."
Riley clung to her mom, breathing in the familiar scent of her perfume, and felt something settle in her chest.
She'd made her choice. She'd quit her job. She'd burned her bridges with the city.
Now she just had to convince Grant that she meant it. That she wasn't going anywhere. That she'd finally chosen right.
Even if it meant fighting for it.
Even if it meant being patient.
Even if it scared her.
Riley pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "What if it doesn't work? What if I stay and he doesn't forgive me?"
"Then you'll still be home. You'll still have built the life you want. And that will have to be enough." Carol brushed Riley's hair back from her face. "But I don't think that's what's going to happen. I think Grant Lawson has been waiting for you to come home for ten years. He's not going to let you go that easily."
Riley wanted to believe her. God, she wanted to believe her.
But the look on Grant's face tonight—the pain and disappointment and weariness—kept replaying in her mind.
It was all fake anyway.
"Come on," Carol said gently. "Let's get you to bed. Things will look better in the morning."
Riley followed her mom upstairs, moving on autopilot. Her childhood room felt smaller than she remembered, the walls covered with memories of who she used to be.
She changed into pajamas and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.
Her phone sat on the nightstand, dark and silent. No messages from Grant. No missed calls.
Riley rolled over and stared at the wall, tears sliding silently down her cheeks.
