“What?”
I looked down at my hands, the words I needed to say lodged somewhere between my heart and my mouth. “This is something I want to design before I leave. A legacy to leave behind when I go back to California.”
The air between us grew heavy.
“Before you leave,” he repeated slowly. “To chase the next dream.”
His words were a quiet act of courage, and the honesty in his voice demanded the same from me. “I need to be honest about that, Braden. The next dream… it might already have a name. I was invited to apply for the Great Barrier Reef fellowship. I submitted the application this morning.”
He didn't flinch, but his eyes shuttered, a quiet confirmation of his deepest fear. He was silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was carefully neutral. “The Great Barrier Reef. Of course you applied. It's everything you've ever worked for. A huge opportunity.”
“It's just an application,” I said, maybe too quickly. “A long shot. I probably won't even hear back until my project here is almost over.”
“They’d be idiots not to appoint you. What are the steps for the conservation center?”
I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I can lay the groundwork, secure initial funding, and establish partnerships. But the center will need a permanent director, someone embedded in the community. I can’t be that person.”
In other words, a decision was coming, and an ending was inevitable.
He absorbed that, then seemed to make a choice, his expression settling into a kind of pained resolve. “Then we’ll make sure the foundation you build here is strong enough to stand on its own, no matter what happens next.”
Thewein that sentence made my throat tighten. “You’re really okay with helping me build something I won’t stay to see through?”
He was quiet for a long moment, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the sun was now just a sliver of gold against the darkening water. “Yeah. I like the idea of supporting something that helps Dove Key and that you’re passionate about. Something lasting.”
I reached out and took his hand, lacing our fingers together. His palm was warm and calloused. “Thank you.”
He squeezed my hand once, then released it, standing and offering me a hand up. “Come on. I’ll pour you a beer, and we can start making a plan. If we’re going to design amarine conservation center in ten weeks, we’ll need a hell of a strategy.”
I let him pull me to my feet, and we walked back down the pier together. Stars began to emerge, bright pinpricks against the gathering dark.
This morning, I’d applied for a future halfway across the world, then sketched out a legacy I’d have to leave behind. And tonight, I was planning something beautiful with a man I’d never truly left behind in my heart, only to walk away from it all.
The contradictions were staggering.
I wasn’t just passing through Dove Key anymore. I wasn’t just completing a research assignment and moving on. I was building something real and permanent.
Even if I wouldn’t be here to see it grow.
Chapter Eleven
BRADEN
The conservation centerwas living rent-free in my head. A week had passed since Tessa outlined her vision on the pier, and the idea had taken root. I’d lie awake, staring at the ceiling, picturing a gleaming new research facility. In the middle of brewing a new batch, I’d imagine educational tours for local kids. But more than the center, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Tessa looked when she described it.
Her eyes were bright with passion, her hands sketching her vision in the air. She’d been so alive, so completely herself—not the careful scientist managing her parents’ expectations, but the woman who fell in love with the ocean as a kid and never stopped fighting for it.
She was a builder. Just like me.
The realization hit me around 2:00 a.m. the other night and refused to let go. We were the same in the ways that mattered. Still. We both understood pouringeverything into creating something that would outlast us. We both knew the terror and exhilaration of betting on a vision that existed only in our heads.
The difference was, I’d built my vision here, sinking roots into Dove Key’s bedrock. Tessa was planning to build hers as a legacy to leave behind. The thought was both beautiful and devastating.
I needed to talk to someone who would understand the tangled mess of past, present, and the inevitable future rushing toward me. There was only one person for that job.
And that thought brought me out of my house on a Tuesday morning and onto Main Street. The bell over the door of Bookshop in Paradise chimed, announcing my arrival. My sister Brenna looked up from where she was arranging a display of paperbacks near the counter, a soft smile on her face that faltered slightly when she saw my expression.
“As I live and breathe.” She set down a book. “Brother Braden appears at my door. And from the look on your face, this isn’t just a visit to support my small business.”
