Ty Wagner had felt like a failure most of his life. Even quitting the thing he’d failed at had made him feel like a failure.
But a few months back home in Wild Rose Point had changed everything for him.
He guided Lara up the driveway. She was wearing her sleep mask so she couldn’t see—not that she hadn’t put up a fight about that. But he’d wanted to surprise her. The fact he’d gotten this far without her catching on was a feat.
Once he had her standing where he wanted her, he pulled the mask off. “Okay, open your eyes.”
Dutifully, Lara did as he said and opened her eyes. She looked around, then back at him. “The old Lawson cottage?”
“The new Wagner cottage,” he corrected, holding out his keys.
She blinked once, then looked back at the cottage. “You bought it?” She didn’t sound anything but surprised. Which meant he’d certainly succeeded.
He nodded. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to the door. Maybe he was a little nervous, but that was okay. He unlocked the door and led her into the front room. Thelayout was a lot like her grandmother’s place, which he liked. The familiarity. The Wild Rose Point of it all.
There was no furniture in this room yet, but above the fireplace mantle he’d hung her painting of the beach, with one of her ghosts standing on the rock. The one even he saw sometimes.
It made him smile every time he looked at it.
He could tell he’d shocked her, which had been the whole point. It was hard to keep a secret in a place like Wild Rose Point, but he’d done it.
“Ty…” She took a few steps toward the painting. “I can’t believe you’re the one who bought Jack.”
“Hey, I have some ghost interference to thank for everything, right?” He came up behind her, rested his arms over her shoulders, both of them looking up at the painting. “And look…” He led her over to the sliding glass door that led out to their own deck. It wasn’t direct beach access, but if he moved her to just the right spot on the deck, she could see the rock she’d painted that night.
He had looked out at a few times over the course of trying to buy this place. And he’d never once seen the figure out there.
But today he did. With Laura, he did.
She smiled and leaned into him. For a few moments, they were quiet like that. A moment of basking in just…being happy, feeling the cool breeze and listening for the faint sounds of the ocean waves. Life wouldn’t always be this good, so they were trying to be in the moment while it was.
“It’s mine, and whenever you’re ready to move in, it’ll be ours,” he told her softly. “And if somewhere down the line we want to sell it and pick out something together, we’ll do that.”
She looked up at him, nothing but understanding in her eyes. “But you needed to do something for you.”
“Yeah, I did.” He was glad she could understand that. That they could understand each other. And work through things when they didn’t understand at all. Life hadn’tchangedso much as opened up.
She turned to him, wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love it. And I love you.” Then she pressed her mouth to his. Because this was who they were. Friends, always, and two people in love.
Always.
He pulled back a little, arms around her waist. Bowled over that he’d finally ended up here, right where he’d always belonged. “You know, the one piece of furniture Idohave is a bed.”
She grinned at him. “Well, you should probably show me that.”
He swept her up into his arms, and she laughed. The sound of joy. And love.
What they’d both chosen. And would keep choosing.
Forever.
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