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I spent every day trying to make her happy.

The contrast was stark and painful. While Stanley had devoted himself to loving Rose with all his heart—leaning together during hard times, like losing their son—Wes had spent years running from the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Was it too late to make things right?

This time in Shelter Springs had shown him something he had never allowed himself to accept.

He didn’t have to carry every burden alone.

Yes, after his parents were robbed and shot, his grief and his anger had been heavy and hard. But Hannah had been more than willing to share his sadness. To comfort him and offer peace.

He hadn’t wanted peace back then. He had chosen the anger, the darkness.

Yet watching his grandfather’s quiet strength, seeing how Stanley carried both grief and gratitude for the love he had shared with Rose, Wes knew he had made the wrong choice.

These weeks back home had cracked open something inside him that had been frozen for far too long.

The thought of returning to Portland, of walking away from Hannah again, left him as cold as the waters of Lake Haven in January.

He had hurt her deeply and he couldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to give him another chance.

But didn’t he owe it to both of them to try?

For the first time since returning to Shelter Springs, Wes felt something shift inside him, a quiet acceptance replacing the restless uncertainty that had plagued him for weeks.

Some chances were worth taking, even if they terrified you.

Maybe especially then.

Chapter 34

Hannah glanced at her watch and felt her pulse quicken. One hour until showtime, but a hundred details still needed her attention.

She adjusted the microphone stands one more time and was double-checking the program order when footsteps echoed across the old sanctuary’s polished wooden floors.

She looked up to find Wes in the doorway. At the sight of him, everything inside her seemed to ease like discordant notes finally settling into harmony.

“Oh. You’re early. I thought I told you six thirty.”

“You did.” He shrugged, that easy smile that never failed to make her heart flutter playing at the corners of his mouth. “I figured if I showed up early, you would probably be able to put me to work. Is there something else I can do?”

The simple offer sent a warm glow spreading through her despite the December chill seeping through the drafty old church.

“Can you set up some extra folding chairs in the overflow area?” she managed, touched by his thoughtfulness. “They’re in the storage room.”

“Sure thing.”

Without hesitation, he headed in that direction. Hannah watched him go, wondering just how he managed to settle her nerves simply by his presence.

At some point as people began filling the chapel a short time later, she caught sight of a familiar figure slipping quietly into the back pew. Ed Walker sat alone, his weathered hands clasped in his lap, eyes fixed on the simple wooden crèche in the front of the chapel.

Her chest tightened with a mixture of sympathy and worry. How would Morgan react to seeing her father here?

Would she even make it herself?

Last Hannah had heard, the weather forecast for small aircraft flying out of Salt Lake City was iffy. Ryan Caldwell and his father, Doug, had both flown to Utah but apparently there was some talk about grounding flights in the midst of an approaching winter storm with gale-force winds.

They were hoping to take advantage of a break in the storm to take off, but she hadn’t found time to check her phone to see the outcome.