Page 340 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

She smiles. "I'm really happy for you."

Emotion catches unexpectedly in my throat. "Thank you for coming."

"There isn't anywhere else I wanted to be."

I wait until her car disappears around the bend before walking slowly back inside. The porch creaks beneath my feet as I climb the steps to my room.

I rest one hand lightly against the window frame. Home.

Not the inn. Not even Briar Cove.

Home is wherever the people you love are waiting.

I smile to myself.

Funny...

After years of always wondering what came next...for the first time in my life...I don't feel the need to know.

Chapter thirty-eight

Jamie

Forever Begins Here

I wake up before my alarm.

For a few seconds I lie still, listening to the familiar sounds of the cabin settling around me. Wind stirs gently through the pines outside my bedroom window, and somewhere down by the lake, a loon calls into the quiet morning.

Normally, I'd reach for my phone to check the day's schedule. Practice. Meetings. Community appearances. The endless list that always seems to accompany life as captain.

This morning, none of those things are the first thought in my head. Instead, I find myself smiling at the ceiling.

Today. The word settles warmly in my chest. Today, I'm buying an engagement ring. It still feels almost unbelievable. Not because I have any doubts.

Those disappeared somewhere between a hospital room, months of rehabilitation, and a stubborn intern who somehow managed to teach me that healing isn't just about bones and muscles. It’s about learning to let someone love every part of me.

For one reckless second, I'm tempted to tell Annette that tomorrow will be special but not tell her why. Just to hear her laugh before the day begins. Instead, I smile to myself. Tomorrow she'll understand why I couldn't stop smiling today.

I roll out of bed, shower, dress, and make coffee, moving through the cabin with the practiced ease that comes from years of calling this place home.

The mug is still warm in my hands when I step onto the porch. Morning sunlight dances across the lake, turning the water to silver. Everything looks exactly as it did yesterday.

The cabin. The dock. The winding trail that disappears into the trees.

Only one thing has changed. Yesterday I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Annette. Today I'm doing something about it.

I finish my coffee, set the empty mug in the sink, and quietly grab my truck keys. Before leaving, I pause beside the kitchen island long enough to text her a note.

Running into town. See you soon. Don't start any physical therapy programs without me.

I grin. She'll appreciate that…or roll her eyes. Possibly both.

***

The jewelry store doesn't open until ten, but I pull into the parking space at quarter to.

Old habits die hard.