“I’m fine, I promise. I was just a little shocked, that’s all.”
While he didn’t look completely convinced, he still honored her request and pulled up the plans.
And then took a giant step back.
Now that she knew what to expect, she was able to view everything with a clear and calm head. There were a few questions she had to ask and he answered them all without elaborating on them and as she sat back and closed her eyes, she realized she could still envision it all just as she had before. Even with the modifications. With a sad sigh, she looked at him. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“If I had just talked to you that night instead of hurling accusations, I would have saved us both a lot of grief.”
“I disagree.”
Okay, that was not the response she was expecting. “Excuse me?”
Nodding, he moved in close. “Peyton, it’s okay for us to argue and disagree. You had every right to be angry with me. We had an agreement and I broke it by not coming to you immediately with the changes that needed to be made.”
“Maybe…”
“Plus, I think that bit of a reality check really helped me put things in perspective. You see, I was so laser-focused on The Ashford and why I wanted it here that I didn’t pay attention to all the reasons why it shouldn’t be here.”
“Shouldn’t?”
With another nod, he explained. “Peyton, you were right when you accused me of coming in here and wanting to change the town. In my mind I thought it needed to be changed–improved–but I realize now that was just arrogance on my part. This town is perfect.”
“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it perfect…”
“It’s perfect because it brought me to you. These projects we’re hopefully going to do will only enhance the town and if this new resort doesn’t work out, then…I don’t know…we’ll sit down with the entire population of Magnolia and ask everyone what it is that they want.”
Unable to help it, she laughed. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“Not at all. Your great-grandfather created something wonderful here, Peyton. I’m just sorry that I never got to meet him and that I tried to discredit all that he accomplished. It’s time for me to stop thinking only about what I want and start listening to where there’s a need.”
“You’ve already done that. What you did for Garrett with the veterinary clinic was exactly that.”
“Yeah, well…Emma had more to do with that than I did, so…”
“So you’re a slow learner,” she teased. “But the important thing is that you’re learning.” Leaning in, she kissed him. “What time do we have to head to the airport?”
“We need to leave here in about forty minutes.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Why? What did you have in mind?”
With a sexy smile of her own, Peyton took him by the hand and led him back to the bedroom. “I’m embracing being a little irresponsible,” she told him. “Let’s see if we can push the limits on getting to the plane on time.”
His grin was downright lethal. “I really do love the way you think, Duchess. Our lives are never going to be boring, that’s for sure.”
And she couldn’t agree more.
Epilogue
One Month Later…
“Is this really necessary?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Peyton frowned, not quite sure she believed him. “It seems a bit excessive.”
“We are all about safety, Duchess. Can’t have you getting hurt on the jobsite.”
Well, she supposed that was true. “Did it have to be a hot pink hardhat, though? I stick out like a sore thumb.”
With a swift kiss, Ryder took his place beside her. “That’s the point. I want everyone to know who you are when you stop by to check on the progress of all of this.”
The “this” he was referring to was her restaurant.
Hers.
It was an extremely exciting day, and she knew they were just breaking ground, but it still felt huge to her. The entire Bishop family was there to celebrate with her–including Parker–as well as the whole extended Coleman family.
And Ryder’s parents.
They had to close off the street to accommodate all of them, and it was wonderful.
Ryder insisted on making a big deal out of it with a ribbon cutting and everything before the bulldozers went to work. Afterwards, they were all going back to Peyton’s brother’s place to celebrate.
And she wasn’t catering it either.
“Can I please have everyone’s attention?” Ryder called out, interrupting her thoughts. He handed Peyton a megaphone and led her over to a makeshift stage he had put out for her. She held his hand as she stepped up on it and looked out at so many familiar faces. When he smiled up at her, she felt like her heart was beyond full. “You got this, Peyton.”
She was trembling and her voice was a little shaky when she began to speak, but when she glanced at Ryder and she saw the confidence and pride in his smile, she knew she could do this.
“I want to thank everyone for coming out today,” she began timidly, but Parker gave her a thumbs up and she knew she could be louder.
She could finally be who she was truly meant to be.
“As many of you know, I’ve wanted to own my own restaurant since I was a little girl. Pops understood that and gave me my first opportunity when he left the café to me. I’ve loved that place and it will always be special to me because of the connection to him, but…I don’t feel like it’s truly mine.” Pausing, she shifted the hardhat on her head. “If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be breaking ground on a place all my own, I wouldn’t have believed it. I had no idea the way those plans would change and how that change would be for the better. Thanks to my wonderful fiancé, I can not only build the restaurant of my dreams, but I can do it with the very best man by my side.”
There was a round of applause as she smiled down at Ryder.
“So I am very pleased to announce the official groundbreaking of Peyton’s,” she said with a smile. “For years I played around with what I was going to name this place. Back when Ryder and I first met, he had plans for a resort here in town that he was going to name after himself, well…his family name. At the time, I called it egotistical, but the truth is, I understood it because…this place, this restaurant, was always going to be called Peyton’s because it’s finally the place that I always dreamed of–always planned for–and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. Thank you so much for coming out to support me today. I love you all!”
Then, right on cue, the machines started and dug the first patch of ground up.
Ryder stepped up onto the stage and spun her around before kissing her. It was far too loud with the bulldozers doing their thing behind them to really say anything to each other, but the kiss he gave her said everything.
With another round of applause, they stepped off the stage and walked over to their little crowd of supporters. Peyton was immediately embraced by her sister, then her parents, and then her brother. After that, it was a bit of a blur. When the heavy machinery shut down a few minutes later–thanks to Ryder–she was finally able to hear what everyone was saying to her.