My mind tried to piece together the legalese in the documents in front of me. With shaking hands, I went through it line by line. Bread & Butter. Title. Avery Davis.

“You bought the bakery?” Happiness blanketed the confusion, so bright and shiny my heart leapt.

“Well, technically, Colm did.” Emmett put the ring box back into his pocket. I was dying to peek, but I could wait. When it was the right time, I’d never take it off, but there was still so much for us to deal with.

“What? Colm bought the bakery?”

“Let’s just say I’m going to be a lot better about not splurging on you for the foreseeable future.”

“You’re not making sense. What the hell are you talking about?” Confusion was back in full force. I barely stopped myself from pressing my hand to Emmett’s forehead.

“You’re looking at the newest in a long line of destitute athletes.” He held out his arms like a showcase model. “They cut me off.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and rage boiled my blood. Those assholes.

“You can say that again.” His lips turned up into a small smile. I hadn’t realized I’d said that out loud.

“But your NHL salary…”

“It has been locked up tight, divided among over a dozen organizations who can put it to much better use than I can.” He shrugged and popped open the button on his jacket.

“I’m sure you could find a way to get it back.”

“There’s no doubt I could, but I don’t want to. I don’t need to. I’ve never looked into endorsement deals. Can’t you see me modeling some killer razors?” He pinched his chin between his fingers and turned his head, doing his best model pose. Those things would be flying off the shelves if he were in the ads.

I glanced back down at the papers in my hand and held them up. “How is this possible then?”

“I’ve got some really good friends who were really looking forward to the chance to repay me for all the gifts I’ve gone overboard with buying over the years. It’s yours, free and clear.”

“The guys did this? For me?” I stared through the glass door behind him to the ridiculously attractive bunch of guys laughing together on the other side of the breakfast bar.

“You’re one of us.” He wrapped his arms around me. I’d thought those four simple words would be impossible to hear after everything we’d been through.

Curling into him, I couldn’t hold back my tears. The relief, possibilities, and love radiating from that small bundle of papers nearly brought me to my knees.

“What does this mean for us? What about you and LA?”

He brushed his hand through my hair, whispering words of comfort and belief in what I’d be able to do.

I wiped my face on his shirt. An Avery-sized smudge marred the pristine sky blue fabric.

“I’ll go back to LA once the summer is over. We can find a place here—a small one—and every break I have, I’ll be here. It’s not ideal, I know it’s not, and this isn’t how I wanted things to go.”

I couldn’t hold back my smile. Pressing my finger to his lips, I soaked in the beginning of our future. “That sounds perfect.”

“Selling the house in LA shouldn’t take more than a couple of months. Once that happens, I’ll make it known to the coaches that a transfer back here wouldn’t be out of the question. I know long distance isn’t—”

I pressed my fingers against his mouth again. “We can handle it. If we’ve handled the past four years, we can do this.”

His grin was infectious and my cheeks hurt from smiling. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up onto the railing.

The certainty, even in uncertain times, was that we could weather whatever life threw at us. If we could survive everything we’d been through and find our way back to each other more than once, there wasn’t anything about our future that scared me.

“We can totally do this.” He captured my chin between his fingers and laid a searing kiss on me. His hands pressed into the small of my back, pulling me flush against him. The buttons of his shirt pressed into my skin.

Lifting me off my perch, he spun me around and slid me against the side of the house.

My hands were under his jacket, pushing it off his broad shoulders. Our bodies fell right back into that rhythm. Even a few days of separation had been too long. Hockey season would be torture, but we’d make it.

A sharp, high-pitched whistle broke us apart. Panting and staring into each other’s eyes, we grinned.

“Don’t stop now!” someone shouted from the street below.

I threw my hand over my mouth, laughing so hard tears came back in my eyes.

“Maybe we should head inside.” He ran his hand down my arm and threaded his fingers through mine. We walked in through the kitchen, past caterers with trays of food, and out into the living room.

“Congratulations! I can’t believe you two are getting married,” Liv squealed.

My head whipped around. How did everyone know already?

But she rushed across the room and tackle-hugged Declan and Mak instead. Their hands were clasped together, held up at shoulder height. The glinting shine from the ring on her finger couldn’t compare to the glow coming off the two of them.

“It looks like we weren’t the only two to have the same idea this weekend.” I bumped my shoulder into Emmett’s.

“Maybe not, but I bought your ring way before he bought hers.” His grumpy tone didn’t hide the happiness he felt at seeing those two together.

“How long have you had it?”

He plucked a glass from a passing waiter and swallowed down all the champagne in one gulp then put it onto another empty tray.

“Can I have this dance?” He held out his hands to me, avoiding my question.

“Seriously, Em—how long have you had the ring?”

“Since senior year.” He dodged my gaze.

“You bought me a ring as a senior in high school?!”

“I told you I always meant it.” We glided across the makeshift dance floor, the world around us fading away. I’d never known it could feel like this. There were no secrets between us. He knew every ugly, raw thing I’d endured, and he hadn’t sprinted in the opposite direction. It had only taken almost losing him again to see that I’d rather he saw all the imperfections than be without him.

We danced past Declan and Mak, who kept glancing down at the ring on her finger. I could only imagine how that must feel, and I knew when the time was right, I would know firsthand. “Congratulations you two.”

“Thank you. We could say the same about you.”

A bang and crackle from outside drew everyone’s attention. “Fireworks are starting!” a voice called out from the front of the house.

We stood on the sand gazing up at the sky as bursts of color rained down around us. Emmett looped his arms around my waist and I leaned back against his chest, soaking up the moment.

The people dotting the beach oohed and aahed at the second surprise fireworks display. My hands tightened around his as I closed my eyes. It was the start of something I’d scarcely been able to imagine the day before. It was as if time had reversed and given me a gift, but this was even better. This was without any of the worries of my past haunting me.

A white patch of hair glowed in the twinkling fireworks as a familiar face joined our group. I threw my arms around Colm.

“Thank you so much for your help with the bakery.”

He squeezed me back. “You might not be thanking me once you find out this loan comes with the stipulation that I get a lifetime supply of baked goods from B&B. You’re lucky I don’t live down here. I guess maybe I’m the lucky one—I’d easily be five hundred pounds.”

I hugged the rest of the guys and expressed my profuse gratitude.

Later, lying in bed beside Emmett, I ran my fingers up and down his chest, trailing them along his skin.

“Once I get the money from the house in LA, we can start on improvements at B&B, make the place your own.”

“Em…” I glanced up at him.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t take this personally, but I think you need to save your money. You’re not used to working with a budget, so how about we go through a year at B&B without any changes—no surprise flash freezers, no Viking ovens showing up with a bow on it. I have everything I need. I have you.”

“How did I ever get so lucky?” He traced his finger along the side of my face.

“No idea. You must have been really good in a past life.”

His response was the fingers of death, tickling my sides. I finally tapped out and we fell into a blissful sleep. Donuts and dimples danced through my dreams. The trials of my past didn’t weigh me down. They’d made us strong enough to find our way back to each other.