His thumb slid along the side of her hand, tracing the lines of her palm."Good.Because I already pictured myself on that porch, drinking bad coffee and watching the sun come up.I'd hate to have to start that daydream over somewhere else."
Emotion bubbled up in her chest, fierce and bright."What if this gets worse?What if they push harder, do something more than cut string?What if being with me makes you a target too?"
He shook his head, the motion slow and certain."I was here long before Seaside or whoever decided Copper Moon looked like easy money.I moved my entire life to this town because it felt right in a way that nowhere else ever had.I chose this place on purpose.I chose you on purpose.If someone wants to pick a fight with that, they'll find out exactly how stubborn Norman House's former innkeeper and her biker guy can be."
The phrase biker guy tugged a smile out of her despite everything."You're ridiculous."
"You like it," he said.
She did.More than she had words for.
She squeezed his hand one more time, then let go and reached for the plans.
"Okay," she said.
"Okay, what?"he asked.
"We talk to Kara," she said, her voice steadying as the plan took shape."We make sure she knows exactly what Diaz found, so the town has information to push back with if the council starts entertaining this resort proposal.We keep building.We don't let them stall us with fear."
He nodded."That's a start."
She smoothed the paper with her palm, running her fingers over the lines Jason had drawn.The pencil slash through the corner stake still cut across it like a scar, but it no longer looked like defeat.It looked like a reminder of what she'd almost lost.What she refused to lose again.
"They wanted this to feel random," she said."Like the universe was out to get me specifically.Like I was cursed.But it isn't random at all.Some very specific people made very specific choices."
"Greedy choices," he said.
"And I refuse to be the casualty they write off in their year-end report," she said."I refuse to be a line item that got resolved."
"There she is," he murmured again, and the pride in his voice made her chest ache.
She rolled the plan up carefully and set it aside."Let's go out to the land this afternoon.With Jason, if he's free.I want to stand in that skeleton again and picture tile and paint and people who chose us over whatever glossy resort brochure lands in their mailbox."
He rose and came around the table, sliding his hands to her shoulders, then down her arms until he was holding her loosely."We'll make sure they have a real choice.Something authentic instead of manufactured.People who give a damn about this place.Seaside can buy up buildings.They can file papers and hire lawyers and throw money at problems.But they can't fake community.Not the way Copper Moon does it."
She thought of Lila’s laugh in the café, warm and infectious.Hank and Brian at the shop, ready to help at a moment's notice.Kara's fierce defense of zoning codes and property rights.Diaz showing up at this kitchen table on her day off with corporate filings highlighted and eyes that said she had no intention of letting anyone get away with anything in her town.
Copper Moon wasn't perfect.It had its gossip, petty feuds, and its people who talked too much about everyone else's business.
It also had this.People who showed up.
"You make a good point," she said.
"Sometimes I manage that," he said."Don't tell anyone; it'll ruin my reputation as the guy who's only good with his hands."
She rose up on her toes and kissed him.There was nothing tentative in it this time, no apology or hesitation.Just a clear, steady answer to a question he had been asking in a dozen different ways since the night he'd pulled her out of the smoke.
He kissed her back with the same quiet conviction he brought to everything.No rushing.No pushing.Just a solid, unwavering presence that promised he had no plans to be anywhere else.
When she finally pulled back, her forehead rested against his for a long moment.
"They wanted me scared," she said."And I am.I probably will be for a while.But they don't get to have me small.They don't get to shrink me down to fit their narrative."
"Good," he said against her lips."Because small never fit you anyway."
She stepped back and grabbed her mug, taking one last swallow of lukewarm coffee."Come on, biker guy.We've got cabins to build and developers to annoy."
He laughed, low and warm, and the sound settled into her bones like a promise."Yes, ma'am."
