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At last, she stepped up to him. “I’m sorry you missed knowing Sandra and your grandparents.”
“I’m hoping I can get to know my family through you and the other residents.”
She smiled and nodded. “I’d be happy to tell you everything I know. It might take a while.”
“If it takes a lifetime that would be good with me because I love you. And I want to spend as much time with you as possible.”
Her heart pitter-pattered. “I love you too.”
He dipped his head and claimed her lips with his own. His kiss was gentle, and it held the promise of many more kisses. But as the whistles and cheers filled the air, they pulled apart.
Heat rushed to her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to make all this public, but it wasn’t like she minded people knowing exactly how she felt about Lane. She loved him with all her heart.
“So what else are you putting in the time capsule?” she asked.
Lane reached into the box and pulled out a laminated paper. He handed it to her. She looked down and found a copy of her chocolate chip cookie recipe—the one she’d used in the contest.
Her gaze rose to his. “How did you get this?”
“Your mother helped me out.”
“I suppose you had my whole family involved in this.”
“Not the whole family, but Kent and your parents volunteered. They’re right over there.” He pointed off to the side.
Her parents waved to her while her brother crossed his arms as he stared back as though trying to make up his mind about her and Lane.
“I can’t believe you did all of this,” she said.
“I wanted to show you how much I believe in the future of the inn, and in our future together. Will you walk this journey with me?”
“Yes, I will.” She lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
It was just the beginning, and she knew there would be lots of twists and turns for them to navigate, but if they leaned on each other, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t face. Love was the glue that would hold them together. Now. And always.
Epilogue
Two months later…
Lanewasback.
Josie missed him every time he flew off to San Diego. Thankfully, there were video chats, texts, and phone calls to help fill in the gaps, but there was nothing that would replace having his arms wrapped around her.
He’d flown in that July afternoon and stopped by the inn with a bouquet of red roses for her and a tender kiss that had her feet floating above the ground. She’d never known a love like she had with him.
He’d told her that he had some work to do that afternoon and asked her to join him for dinner that evening. It was the longest afternoon of her life. The inn was booked full, and some of the guests needed a lot of attention. Normally, Josie didn’t mind. She loved spending time with the guests, but today was different. She wanted some quiet time so she could slip away and visit Lane.
When she finally had a free moment, Sara came to her with a problem with the computer system. It took Josie a little bit to straighten out a typo that had messed up the reservation system. It was a known problem with the software, but so far there hadn’t been a software fix.
“Josie, can I ask you a question?” Sara wore a worried expression on her face. “It has to do with your brother.”
Oh-no.This didn’t sound good. “Which brother? I have five of them.”
“Kent.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“How serious was he about my sister?”
