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“I don’t want to sell my half,” she whispered. “I’m barely holding it together, thinking about the legacy she’s left me. I’ll keep protecting and nurturing it.” A tear slid down her cheek, and he wiped it away.

“If ever there were a moment not to hold it together, now is probably it.” He kissed her nose and let her cry the tears that had been waiting to fall. “For the record, I don’t want to sell either. Especially after seeing how much the mall isn’t just a mall but a home. I want to be part of it more, not less. We have all the time in the world to worry about that. For now, I just need the answer to one question.”

Leaning back, he grabbed a tissue from the box by the couch, wiped away her tears, and handed her another tissue so she could wipe her nose. “What’s the question?”

“Is this our third-act breakup? Did I make the wrong choice?”

With tears still rolling down her cheeks, she smiled. “Have I mentioned how much I hate a third-act breakup?” she asked, cradling his face in her hands.

Kian sighed from the depths of his soul. She hadn’t kicked him out yet, so that was a good sign.

“I’m far too old for that kind of relationship, Kian. I’d rather talk things out when conflict arises and reach a compromise we can both live with. Could you have told me? Yes. But had you, I don’t know, I might not have believed you and demanded answers, thereby ruining the entire thing. You paid a heavy price keeping the secret as long as you did. For me, that tells me more than had you waltzed in here and blabbed the news.”

“What does it tell you?” he asked, kissing her palm as he waited for her answer. Her eyes were still wet with fresh tears, but they were bright. The concussed look remained, yet her happiness fought to break free.

“That you loved your mother. You trusted her process. You understood it was a gift to me and that breaking her rules might cost me everything if I didn’t believe you.”

“And let’s face it, you may not have.”

“If I hadn’t had time to see how much you’ve changed, that’s true. I also know you didn’t tell me because you were afraid of losing your half of the mall. You don’t need half of this mall to be a billionaire multiple times over. You did it for me.”

“That’s accurate,” he agreed. “On my first day here, I sat on the bench and watched you walk through the mall, rubbing at smudges, talking to owners and employees, and loving the mall the way a mother would love her child. I knew I couldn’t ruin this for you. The thing is, my mother knew the moment I saw how you cared for things here that this was exactly what would happen.”

“How could she know that, though?”

Kian struggled to put it into words in a way Joy would understand. “Do you know how many days I spent at the other malls working with the GM?”

“I couldn’t even guess. Okay, three weeks?”

“Three days,” Kian said, holding up three fingers. “That’s all I needed to see how they ran the place. There weren’t any special events, early-morning or late-night walks through the mall, or, hell, some GMs rarely left their offices. I expected the same at Snowcap Ridge, but you weren’t the same, and that was obvious from the first day I sat out there and watched you work.”

“You’re saying Lorelei knew that sending you to Snowcap Ridge last would help you understand why she was doing it this way?”

Happy that she understood, he smiled and nodded. “As you said, she was a businesswoman first.”

“We own an outlet mall together, Kian. How is this my life?” Joy asked, her voice filled with shock and awe.

“What would they call this trope in a romance novel?” he teased, kissing her now that he knew she didn’t blame him for not telling her. “The third-act stay-together?”

Her snort of laughter lifted his lips into a smile. “It has officially become a workplace romance.”

Kian cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips to hers. “Now I can get behind that.”

Then the talking ended, and he showed her how much he was looking forward to that workplace romance. As she moaned softly, parting her lips for him to dive in and taste her, he knew he wanted it to last forever.

41

#Sometimescouragelookslikeacoat

“Joy!” Marci said as she ran through the hospital rotunda’s automatic doors. “I made it!”

Joy stood, grabbed her crutches, and walked to her friend, who was resting her package on a couch by the door. “You made good time. Sorry to do this to you.”

“Are you kidding?” Marci asked, taking off her gloves. “I was so happy when you texted me that I broke the speed limit multiple times, but it was worth it. Where’s Kian?”

“He’s changing into his Santa suit.”

“Is he still going to be Santa? I figured he wouldn’t be,” Marci said, confused.