Brady takes my hand and presses his lips to my knuckles. “How many boxes did you get today?”
“So far only a bag of soccer balls and basketballs.” I’ve got no idea what I’m going to do with all the donations. Every day people bring us boxes of their spare kitchen items, toiletries,sheets, towels, and girls' clothes. The people of Whispering Pines are taking care of us.
“No baseballs or bats?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t made it through the bag.”
“Let me know what you find. I’ve got six months to recover before T-ball starts.”
T-ball reminds me of Jake and Daphne and the fire. A shadow comes over Brady’s features. I think it reminds him, too. “Has Jake been in contact?” I ask.
“He texts every day, still apologizing. What can I say?” Brady shrugs. “He’s not the one who set the fires. He seems to have been as clueless as anyone about what Daphne was doing.”
I shake my head in disbelief. Jake never gave me any indication he thought of me as more than an old friend. He never texted me or called me. He never flirted with me any of the times I saw him. His obsession with me was all in Daphne’s head.
I brush the hair from Brady’s eyes. “Mom heard Jake and the kids are moving to St. Louis. His father’s family is from there.”
“Good move.” Brady shifts his hips.
“How’s the leg doing today?”
“All better now that you're here.” He strokes my hair. “How’s Lara doing?”
“She wants to come see you. I told her to wait until you get back home.”
He presses his face against the top of my head. “She can come if she wants. I’ve still got a few more days ahead of me.”
“She’d love that.”
“She’s a brave girl. I can’t imagine coming home to find all of my things had been lost in a fire.”
I grimace. The donations from the neighbors have been a good distraction from her thinking about her stuffies and art projects. She holds it together for Mom and Dad while I’m in De Clair with Brady, but when I come back home, she’s ready for a breakdown.
I look down at Brady’s bandaged leg. “She's not the only one who's lost so much in the fire.” He’ll never fight fires again. He might never walk without a limp.
He squeezes me to him. “The only thing that matters is that we've got each other. And we’ve got a digital detox retreat to think about.”
I tilt my head at the “we.”
“If you’ve got the guts to stay in Whispering Pines after all you’ve been through, then I can take risks instead of sitting back and waiting for what I want to fall into my lap.” He looks at me expectantly. “I want to invest in the retreat, if you’re interested in a new investor.”
I imagine Brady and I working side-by-side designing a retreat for burned-out urbanites and former professional baseball players. “Are you interested in blueprints and hiring staff?”
“I know building design thanks to the places I built in Bearclaw Foothills and the fires I’ve put out all over this county. Bad building design is as close to evil as you can get. As for hiring, I’m willing to learn.”
Elation blooms inside me. “I’d love for you to invest in the retreat.”
He surveys my face. “We make a good team. I love you, Sammy. You’ve got my heart and soul. It’s yours to do with as you please.”
Brady is batting outside his comfort zone. Being with me isn’t a safe or easy choice. Lara is my life. I have to give my ex-husband a say in how her life proceeds, which gives him a say in how my life proceeds.
I’ve invested my livelihood in a retreat idea that might not have legs.
But Brady is willing to weather the storms alongside me. “I’ve never felt more loved or safer or happier than I am with you. I love you, Brady. We make a really good team. Unbeatable.”
He pulls me into a deep kiss that roots me in the place I’ve spent my life seeking.
Epilogue
