"No. But I'm also not going to pretend the past three months didn't happen. We need to rebuild, Lucy. Slowly. Carefully. No rushing into things, no pretending we're exactly where we left off."
"Okay. How do we do that?"
"We start over. Not completely—we can't erase our history. But we start fresh. Date again. Learn each other again. Build trust."
"I can do that. Jake, I'll do whatever it takes."
Jake pulled her close, and Lucy let herself sink into him. This was home. This was right. This was what she'd been missing for seven months.
"I have one condition," Jake said into her hair.
"What?"
"Wednesday morning pork buns. 8:17 AM. Our tradition. We keep it."
Lucy laughed through her tears. "Deal. Though technically The Bread Basket isn't mine anymore."
"I don't care. We'll buy them from Sarah. The tradition matters more than who's making them."
They sat on the tailgate of Jake's truck until the stars came out, holding each other, talking about everything and nothing. About Jake's coaching, about Lucy's restaurant plans, about how to navigate their second chance.
"Can I take you to dinner this week?" Jake asked. "A real date. Not Giuseppe's because he'll make a scene. Maybe we drive to Burlington? Do something outside Timber Falls where everyone isn't watching?"
"I'd like that. But Jake—I'm not ashamed of trying again. I don't need to hide from the town."
"I'm not hiding. I just want one date where Mrs. Henderson doesn't interrupt to tell us about her grandson who's also single."
Lucy laughed. "Fair. Burlington it is."
Jake drove Lucy back to Uncle Walter's. At the door, he kissed her softly—tentative, testing, like they were teenagers again.
"Goodnight, Lucy."
"Goodnight, Jake."
"Wednesday morning?"
"8:17. I'll be there."
Lucy watched Jake drive away, then floated into Uncle Walter's house.
Uncle Walter was waiting in the living room, pretending to read but obviously waiting up.
"So?"
"We're trying again. Slowly. Carefully. But we're trying."
Uncle Walter pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy, Lulu. You did the right thing."
"I hope so. I really hope so."
That night, Lucy lay in bed and thought about second chances.
She'd come back to Timber Falls hoping for one. And Jake had given it to her. Not easily, not without conditions, but genuinely.
Now she just had to prove she deserved it.
Tuesday morning, Jake woke up feeling lighter than he had in months.
