Jake looked relieved. "My mom will be thrilled. She was convinced I'd burn it."
They ate and talked, and Lucy realized something: yesterday had been wonderful, but tonight was different. Yesterday was vulnerability and confessions. Tonight was just... them. Learning each other. Building something real.
"Can I tell you something?" Lucy said as they were finishing dinner.
"Always."
"I emailed Shayna Barrett today. The woman who wants to buy the bakery. I told her I'd be open to a conversation."
Jake set down his fork. "How do you feel about that?"
"Terrified. Also excited. Also guilty. The full range of emotions." Lucy took a sip of wine. "Uncle Walter told me that my grandmother made him promise to remind me that the bakery was supposed to be a gift, not a burden. That she wanted me to have choices."
"And?"
"And I think maybe I'm ready to choose. Not necessarily to sell—I don't know yet. But to at least explore what's possible instead of just assuming I have to keep everything exactly as it is forever."
"That's huge, Lucy."
"So is turning down the NHL to coach in Timber Falls."
"I called Steve this morning. Made it official."
"How does it feel?"
"Right. Scary but right." Jake reached across the table and took her hand. "I keep waiting to regret it. To wake up and realizeI made a huge mistake. But all I feel is relieved. Like I've been holding my breath for six years and I can finally exhale."
"I feel like that too. Like I've been frozen in place since my grandmother died and I'm finally starting to thaw."
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, hands linked across the table.
"So," Jake said finally. "This is our first official date."
"It is."
"How am I doing?"
"Pretty well. The food was good, the company is better, and you haven't made any terrible jokes yet."
"The night is young."
Lucy laughed. "Do you have any terrible jokes prepared?"
"I have several hockey puns but I'm saving them for when you're too invested to run away."
"I'm already too invested to run away."
Jake's smile was soft and genuine. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
They cleaned up together—Lucy washing while Jake dried, both of them moving around the small kitchen with surprising ease. When everything was put away, Jake pulled out his laptop.
"I have a proposition."
"Should I be worried?"
"I want to show you something." Jake opened his laptop and pulled up a streaming service. "You said yesterday that you'venever really gotten into classic westerns. I think that's a crime against cinema."
