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She covered her mouth, eyes wide, her vision blurry from tears. “Is that⁠—?”

“I’ve been hunting it down online for weeks,” he revealed. “I reached out to every pawn shop in Reno near a bus station until I found the one that you went to, then traced it to an owner in Big Sur. There was a man who wanted to propose with it, but I emailed him and offered double the value so he could buy something bigger for his wife-to-be. It arrived three days ago.”

“Leo.”

“I’m not proposing.” He tilted his head back and forth. “Unless you want me to. Right now it’s simply a gift.”

“I don’t deserve it,” she breathed. “Not after what I did.”

Leo cupped her cheek and pulled her closer. “Why do you think that? Alana, you deserve everything. You deserve the world.”

“Why? All I do is hurt people. I disappoint the people I love. I can’t keep hurting them.”

“Alana.” He rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “You’re the only one who thinks you’re disappointing them. You have this big heart that wants to love people deeply and take care of them, but you’re afraid to let them take care of you. Sometimes the best way to love others is to give them the space to love in return. To trust them to take care of you when you need it.”

She whimpered as he knocked their foreheads together.

“I want the space to love you, Alana. You’ve given me glimpses of it this summer, and I feel honored to have that trust. But I want that trust every day. I want to love you every single day, with every breath I have, for the rest of this life.”

She reached for his face, threading her hands around his neck. “I love you too. I have for some time.”

“I have loved you since the day I saw you dig your hands in the dirt.”

She chuckled. “I do that every day.”

“Exactly.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t go. Stay at home. With me.”

“Freya doesn’t want me there,” she whispered.

“She does. Trust me.”

Alana sighed. “I do trust you. With so much. Please know that.”

“Then trust me when I say everything is going to be okay. Even on the days that you don’t feel your best, simply being home is enough. They all need you, and I—” His voice hitched. “I-I really need you.”

She pressed back and stared into his piercing blue eyes. She then reached for the box in his free hand and plucked the ring out. She examined it for a long moment, staring into the antique swirling design, and the oval-shaped stone in a diamond setting. It felt regal to even look at.

“My family should have this,” she admitted.

He shook his head. “No. Your mother gave it to you. It is yours, and you don’t need to do anything to prove that.”

She slipped the finger onto her ring finger. Then she removed it and placed it on her pointer. “I do want to marry you, but maybe not quite yet.”

He grinned. “Good thing we have tomorrow.”

She beamed back at him. “And every day after.”

She shifted forward and climbed onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then she pressed her lips to his. He sighed in relief at her touch, at her coming home, at her decision to be with him.

Leo wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up. He grabbed her duffel with the other and walked them back to his truck. Then he drove them home, keeping his hand on hers, and refusing to let go.

She pondered on Leo’s words as he drove. He was right, of course. When she ran the first time, she wanted to escape the grief and the hardship. Yet she also wanted to escape whatever was to come. She was the oldest. How could she possibly look after her family, after her father, when it felt like her world had been flipped upside down? She could barely handle taking care of herself. How could she expect to help out everyone else? Leaving was drastic, but at least she didn’t have to face the disappointment.

This time though, she wasn’t alone. She had the courage to face what was to come, all of the mistakes and the hardships, all of the moments she would inevitably fail. Her courage came from the people beside her. Tess, Leo…they were there for her. She would take care of the people she loved, and after this summer, she was starting to learn what it took to let the people she loved take care of her in return.

Freya sat on the front porch steps, head in her hands. When they pulled into the gravel driveway, she popped up.

Leo jogged around the truck and helped her out of the car, her duffel slung over his shoulder.