When he pulls back, his voice is rough. "Come to bed with me."
I don't hesitate. "Yes."
We move upstairs together, and when we make love this time, it's not desperate or frantic. It's tender and slow and filled with the kind of intimacy that comes from knowing this is not the last time. That we have all the time in the world to learn from each other. To love each other.
Afterwards, we lie tangled together, and I trace patterns on his chest while he runs his fingers through my hair.
"I love you," he says quietly.
"I love you too."
"I'm going to marry you someday," he adds. "Just so you know."
My breath catches. "Is that a proposal?"
"Not yet," he says. "But it's a promise. When the time is right. When Maddie is ready. When we both are. I'm going to ask you properly, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret saying yes."
Tears sting my eyes. "I'll not regret it."
"Good," he says. "Because I'm not letting you go."
I curl into his side and close my eyes, feeling safer and more loved than I ever have in my entire life.
And as I drift off to sleep, I realize that this is what I've been searching for all along.
Not a place.
Not a job.
Not a plan.
But this.
This man.
This family.
This life.
And I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Chapter 11
Dylan
The morningof the Heart-to-Heart Festival dawns clear and bright, with the kind of perfect spring weather that feels like a gift after everything the town has been through. I wake early, unable to sleep, and slip out of bed without waking Piper.
She looks peaceful in the morning light, her hair spread across my pillow, one hand tucked under her cheek. I stand there for a moment, just watching her breathe, still half convinced that if I blink too hard, she might disappear.
But she doesn't disappear.
She stays.
And that simple fact settles something in my chest that has been unsettled for three years.
I head downstairs and make coffee, then spend the next hour going over my mental checklist for the day. The festival committee is sending a truck to pick up the phoenix cake at nine. The setup in the town square starts at ten. The official ceremony is at noon, followed by the street fair, live music, and the charity auction in the evening.
Everything is planned down to the minute.
