“I think these can be put away for a while.” Alec pulls two oversized snow shovels from the back of his pickup. The ground has stayed dry, and it’s been warmer than normal. I wish winter would come, but fixing up an old house in the warmer weather is easier than fixing it up with snow on the ground.

“Oh, these are perfect.” I hop into the bed of his truck and see a few oversized planters. One of the projects I’m tackling today is repotting all of mom’s plants. I want to try to save as much as I can, get her sunroom back to where it used to be.

Alec hops into the back of the truck and starts moving one of the planters with his knees.

“Help me with this,” he says. I hop down and help pull it to the edge, cradling it as Alec eases himself down next to me. Together we move it over to the edge of the steps.

“There’s new soil in there, too,” Alec says, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “All the shit you’ve got is dried up. You’re gonna have to replace all of it.”

“I hope the roots aren’t too damaged.”

I glance up at the sunroom. The screening is torn at the edges and the parts that are intact are covered with dirt. The glass is streaky and foggy.

Hearing a sound behind me, I turn around and see Daisy coming out of her house and walking over to me. She’s wearing a simple white and her sneakers. She is a fucking knockout. Her long brown hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail and she smiles and waves over at Alec as she walks across the lawn to my house.

“You can’t help if you’re wearing that,” I tease. “You wouldn’t want that dress to get all dirty.”

She smirks up at me and I lean down to give her a quick peck.

“I’m here bearing good news,” she says, putting her hands together. Alec glances over at us and starts over, putting down the bag of potting soil he was hauling off the truck.

“Good news?” Alec asks, his eyebrow arches.

“Yes,” she says. “Dad wanted me to tell you as soon as he found out. The charges against you have been dropped. A witness was able to identify the guy who robbed that liquor store.”

“That’s great,” I say. My heart is flying around in my chest, and I feel like a burden’s been taken off my shoulders. A weight has been lifted. Even though we both knew I hadn’t done it, with her father and Colin working the case, I knew I wouldn’t be clear until there was incontrovertible proof someone else had done it.

“It is great,” she says, throwing her arms around my shoulders. This is where I belong. It feels so right.

“There’s something else, though,” I say, taking her hands in mine. “I need to ask you something.”

Her mouth pulls up at the corners, her lips curling up into a pretty, expectant smile.

“Daisy,” I say, pulling the box with the ring out of my pocket, “wear this ring again. I know I already proposed to you once, and you already said yes once, but I need you to say yes again.”

Her fingers fly to her lips, and her smile spreads, brightening up her whole face.

“Of course, Travis,” she sighs. “I should never have stopped wearing it. I never stopped loving you.”

She jumps into my arms, throwing her arms around my shoulders, and I lift her into the air, our mouths coming together passionately.

“There’s something else,” I say. “Move in with me. I don’t want to live next door anymore. I want you to move in.”

I see her chest rise and fall as she inhales and exhales deeply.

She nods, and she blinks away the beginning of a tear.

I’ve felt loss in my life, but I can’t lose her. That would break me.

Instead, she helped me put the pieces back together.

“Yes,” she says, embracing me. “I already feel like I’m home when I’m with you. I love you.”

Alec, standing somewhere behind me, lets out a wolf whistle. Daisy laughs and waves her hand at him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

“I love you too, Daisy,” I say. I take her in for another kiss.

My house won’t be empty anymore. And maybe it wasn’t my fault it was empty to begin with - though, maybe it was. Maybe I’ve been okay. I do know I’ve tried my best.

The path to this moment could have been better, but it couldn’t have been any different. The choices we’ve made have shaped everything leading up to this moment.

Daisy pulls away from me gently and goes over to Alec’s truck, hopping into the back. There isn’t much back there that she’ll be able to handle on her own, but she finds a black plastic tray of bright pink flowers and starts to carry them over to the front porch.

We’ll fix up the house together, make it ours. I worked hard to save it. And I’ll keep working hard to keep Daisy.

Now I’m ready for anything. I won’t let her go again.

* * *

Don’t want to stop there? I’ve also included two bonus full-length romance novels for your continued reading pleasure.