“Oh. I have something for you.” She gave him a mock accusing look. “Sometimes you make me forget to breathe.”
The beginnings of a smug smile formed on his lips. “Anytime you want.”
She held him off. “Later. This is important. I wanted to thank you for the necklace. I never expected that, Levi, all those hours we were searching for it.”
He waved her off. “I want you to have it. It belongs to you.”
“Where’d you find it? I thought we’d looked everywhere.”
He chuckled. “It was behind a stone in the fireplace—the one in your suite.”
Mia huffed. “Are you kidding me? We turned that room upside down.”
“I guess sometimes you don’t find what you’re looking for until you stop searching for it. The stone was wedged in there pretty good—I accidently dislodged it. But the important thing is, it’s now with its rightful owner. I hope...” He paused, his eyes shifting in a way that set butterflies loose in her stomach. “I hope it gives you comfort. Gives you a little of those roots you’ve always longed for.”
“I have roots I didn’t even know about, Levi. But I’ll save that for later. First there’s this...” She pulled the thin white envelope from her purse and handed it to him.
He looked at her questioningly. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
He drew away from her enough to slip his finger under the flap, giving her another searching look as he did so. When he pulled out the piece of paper, his eyes widened. His lips parted.
Right before they slammed together again.
“I want you to have it,” she said. “For the inn.”
“Mia.” He gave her a pained look. “What did you do?”
“I sold the necklace. The check is from the auctioneer who purchased it. I want you to use the money for the inn. To preserve your parents’ legacy.”
“But I wanted you to have it.”
“I don’t need a necklace, Levi. I don’t even need roots anymore. I don’t think that’s what I’ve ever needed. I just needed to know I’m loved, and I know that now. It makes my heart happy to do this for you and your family. Please, take it.”
He wavered, obviously torn, his eyes steady on hers.
“I know you don’t really need the money. You’re good at what you do, and I have every faith you’ll make this place an amazing success with or without it.”
She placed her hand on his neck where his pulse thrummed. “But the necklace rightfully belongs to you and your sisters. And the fact that you’d give it up for me... You don’t know what that meant to me, Levi.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t even have to think twice.”
Her eyes roved over his features, a smile curling her lips. He had a beautiful face, no doubt about it. But his heart was even more beautiful.
She lowered her hand until her palm rested over it. “And that’s just one of the many reasons I love you, Levi Bennett.”
Epilogue
A smile tugged Mia’s lips as the floatplane swooped to the left, granting her first aerial view of Bluebell Lake, nestled in the mountains. She leaned closer to the window. The lake was clear of traffic on this September weekday, the bright sunlight glinting off the water like a million diamonds.
Skeeter’s voice sounded in her headphones. “Now there’s a pretty sight if I ever saw one.”
“It’s beautiful.” Her eyes swept the familiar bays and peninsulas, following the shoreline to the edge of town in the distance where the Bluebell Inn hunkered on a rise. Her heart tugged at the sight.
Skeeter aligned himself from the opposite side of the lake, losing altitude as he approached. The inn vanished from her line of vision.
She could hardly believe she was about to see Levi. She’d missed him so much the past two months. They’d weathered their time apart well, Skyping, texting, and talking on the phone. He’d kept her up on the goings-on at the inn. With the proceeds from the necklace they’d been able to pay off his credit cards and had enough left over to implement an extensive marketing plan.
