Tessa considered the question. "I don't know yet. It hasn't fully hit me." She touched the scarf at her throat. "But I think I'm going to be okay. Eventually."
"You will be. You've got us." Bree squeezed her hand. "All of us."
After breakfast, they sat on the back deck, watching the water. Hank and Colby were discussing something about the shop. Sabrina was showing Bree pictures on her phone. Brian sat beside Tessa, his hand covering hers on the armrest.
"I need to call Chicago," Tessa said. "Tell them I'm not coming back."
"You sure?"
"I've been sure for weeks. I just wasn't ready to actually make the call." She turned to look at him. "This is home now. You're home."
"The cottage is pretty small. Might need to expand that addition."
"Are you asking me to move in?"
"You already live there."
"Technically, I'm a guest."
"Then I'm asking you to stop being a guest." He lifted her hand, pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Stay. For real. Forever, if you want."
"Forever's a long time."
"I know." His eyes held hers. "I'm counting on it."
She didn't answer right away. Not because she was uncertain, but because she wanted to remember this moment. The sun on the water. The sound of their friends laughing. Brian's hand in hers, solid and warm.
"Yes," she said. "Forever sounds perfect."
He kissed her, soft and slow, right there on the deck with everyone watching. Colby wolf-whistled. Bree made a sound that was suspiciously close to a sob. Hank just smiled and shook his head.
Tessa pulled back, laughing. "We have an audience."
"Let them watch." Brian's smile was bright enough to light the whole bay. "I don't care who knows."
Later, walking home along the water, Tessa thought about everything that had brought her here. The burnout. The stalker. The double-booked rental that had thrown her into Brian's life. Every terrible thing that had happened had led her to this moment, this place, this man.
She didn't believe in fate. But she believed in this. In them. In the life they were building together.
The cottage came into view, plywood door and all. It looked a little battered. A little broken. But it was home.
"What are you thinking?" Brian asked.
"That I'm happy." She slipped her hand into his. "Really, genuinely happy. I'm not sure I remember the last time I felt like this."
"Get used to it." He pulled her close. "I plan on making you feel like this for a very long time."
She leaned into him as they walked up the path to their battered, beautiful home.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Tessa Callahan wasn't running from anything.
She was exactly where she wanted to be.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Brian's first shift with county EMS started at six in the morning.
He'd been awake since four, too wired to sleep. Tessa had finally kicked him out of bed at five-thirty, told him to go drink some coffee, and stop fidgeting. He'd kissed her goodbye and driven to the station in the dark, watching the sky lighten over the bay.
