“I know, but I didn’t want to at the time. I saw that as a weakness, but I’m realizing pretty fast that’s not the case. After last night, I was reminded family is pretty much the only thing you can count on to be tried and true in this world. Family is what I need.” I twist my hands together. “And that was evident last night because come to find out, Ford needs some help with social media and the store. He offered me a job.”
Both their eyes widen in surprise.
“Really?” Mom asks.
I nod, unable to hold back the smile. “He hired both me and Cooper. Ford said he can’t run the business without us, but he wants me to say here, on Marina Island, and really focus on using the original store to market the brand.”
“Very smart,” Dad says, a large smile on his face. Pride beams from his eyes, and I can tell he could not be happier with his decision to lay down the law last night. It worked, and it worked well.
“Which leads me to this.” I close my eyes, take another deep breath, and then look at my parents. “I don’t want you to sell the house.”
“Sweetie, we can’t stay here,” Mom says.
“I know.” I grab both their hands. “But this house means so much to me and the boys. There’s history here, there’s safety, and there’s room for future generations to grow. It might take me some time, but if you can trust me—which I know might be hard, given my record—I want to buy it from you.”
“You want to live here?” Dad asks.
I nod. “I do. You see, there’s this boy I like. I can see myself starting a life with him, and I think I can make it work if I stay here, on the island. And what better place to start a relationship than in the very place my parents fell in love?”
Mom’s eyes fill up with tears as Dad leans forward and grabs my hand. “Is this a boy who keeps changing your cast for you?”
I laugh and nod. “Yes. Dr. Beau—I seem to be infatuated with him.”
“I called it.” Mom waves her hand in front of her face. “I just knew you two would end up together. I didn’t think it would take this long, but I knew it. You always had a thing for him.”
“I did. And I’d love to see if we have a future together, which I think we do, and if all goes as planned, I’d love to start a family, right here in this house, where you raised us all so well. Where you blessed us all with a roof over our heads and love in our hearts.”
“We’d be honored to pass the house over to you,” Dad says.
“It would be an actual dream,” Mom says before they both pull me into a hug. “You’re not just doing this so you don’t have to clean out your room, are you?”
I laugh into her embrace. “I love you,” I tell them as tears fill my eyes. “I love you so much.”
CHAPTER SIXTY
DR. BEAU
“Where’s Palmer?” Larkin asks, walking up to me, Ford in tow. He has his arm around her, and she’s snuggled into his embrace. I smile to myself. We really can’t resist the Chance siblings, can we?
“No idea.” I glance around the tent. Nora and Cooper are in the lake, fully clothed, making out. I guess that’s part of the “fun” Cooper boasted about as well. “Looks like you two were able to get it together.”
Larkin smiles up at Ford. “We were.”
Looking Ford in the eyes, I say, “I don’t think I need to give you the brother speech, right?”
Ford shakes his head. “Don’t worry—there’s no way in hell I’m letting this girl get away, nor do I plan on breaking her heart.”
“Good answer.”
“Hey,” Palmer says, coming up to us. Her eyes are watery, but she has a giant smile on her face. “Can I talk to you, Beau?”
My stomach lurches. Guess it’s my turn.
I nod and follow her around the house to a giant oak tree that’s far enough from the party to give us some privacy.
“How’s your cast?” I ask, breaking the ice. “I don’t need to change it, do I?”
She shakes her head and lifts it up. “All dry.”
“See, you’re getting the hang of it now.”
“Only took three casts.”
I chuckle. “I’ve seen other patients take longer to get the hang of it.”
“I bet you a five-year-old is better at it than me.”
“I wasn’t going to mention it . . . but . . .”
She laughs and leans against the tree. “Beau?”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“I like you.”
My heart hammers in my chest.
“I like you too.”
“I want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you too,” I say back.
“I’m going to live here, permanently.”
I scratch the back of my head, trying to play it cool. “Yeah?”
“Yup. Got a job doing social media for Watchful Wanderers. Ford thinks I can grow the brand, and I think he’s right, especially if I post some thirst-trap pics of the local hunky doctor going on a hike.”
A laugh pops out of me. “Nah, I think those pics are going to be saved for my girl only.”
She pulls me in by the belt loop. “And who would that girl be?”
I tug on a strand of her hair. “I think you know who it is.”
Her eyes search mine, and in them I see the girl I first fell for so many years ago. “I’m sorry for everything.”
I shake my head. “No need to apologize. I’m grateful you took a second to figure it all out, because I really do want to be with you, Palmer. I want to see where this takes us.”
“Me too.”
“Because I have a feeling about you. A good one.”
She smiles. “I was just telling my parents the same thing about you.”
“So does that mean, after all these years, I can finally say Palmer Chance is my girlfriend?”
“I think you can, Dr. Beau.” She lifts up onto her toes and pulls me down to her mouth.
Without hesitation, I press my lips to hers and loop my arm around her waist. The feeling of being weightless takes over as her mouth molds with mine.
This is what I want—her, in my arms, with nothing between us.
When she pulls away, she says, “I’m going to move into my parents’ house. They’re signing it over to me, but until they move out, we’ll be staying at your place. I don’t need the doctor examining me with my parents two rooms down.”
I chuckle. “I can’t disagree with that.” I bend down and press another kiss to her lips before I take her hand in mine and walk back to the party, where we join Larkin, Ford, and her parents on the dance floor. “Unchained Melody” plays in the background, and as the sun finally sets, I can see it.
The wife.
The family.
The life.
Right here, with Palmer at my side the entire time.
EPILOGUE
FORD
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Dad says. “You may kiss the bride.”
Cooper cups Nora’s face, and their mouths lock as the intimate ceremony erupts in cheers.
The sun sets behind their kiss, the lake stretching out behind them acting as a backdrop.