Page 119 of When Morning Comes Around

“He is, the only thing that’s holding him back is that he hasn’t figured out what he’s going to do with himself afterward.”

“Does he need to do anything?”

“He doesn’t need to – he wants to. Well, I guess you could say that he needs something to keep him going. You know, an interest.”

“You could build a greenhouse.”

“Come again?”

Damon laughed. “Don’t mind me, I’m trying to get you to hurry up and build and come be my neighbor. From what I know of Harvey, he enjoys growing things more than he enjoys dealing with the business and customers. Maybe if he had his own greenhouse…”

Dom grinned at him. “You might be onto something there. I like that idea. It’s funny, when I told him that he can have the guest house where we are now, he was kind of interested – he loves the place – but he kept talking about what he’d be able to do. He loves the view from there, but he wouldn’t want to sit on his ass all day looking at it.”

“You can’t blame him for that.”

“No. But maybe we could set him up with a greenhouse there in the meantime.”

“Sounds like it’d be worth investigating.”

“It does.”

“So, you’re happy?” Dom asked.

“I am.”

His brother stared pointedly at his left hand. “You never put it back on, did you?”

Dominic reached automatically for his wedding finger. “No.” He surprised himself when he was able to smile as he explained. “You noticed that I wasn’t wearing it after I first met Sadie. I didn’t deliberately take it off – I’d just forgotten to put it back on that day.” He shook his head. “For nine years after Polly, I put it back on after my shower every day. Within a couple of days of meeting Sadie, I forgot to do it. I told myself then that if the day came when I felt like I needed to put it back on, I would.” He shrugged. “That day never came, and now I know it won’t.”

Damon held his gaze. “And you’re okay?”

He smiled. “I’m more than okay. Thanks for checking, but I’m good.”

“I’m glad. I wish I’d known Polly; I know you guys were happy together. All I can tell you is that I do know Sadie and I can see how happy she makes you.”

“It’s all good. We’ve talked about it. Sadie understands. And the thing is, it’s like Harvey says, I still have some living left to do. I want to spend the rest of my life with Sadie.”

Damon grinned. “Are you going to ask her to marry you?”

He shook his head. “No, neither of us wants that. We don’t need it, either.”

“I can see that. It doesn’t have to be about marriage, does it?”

“No.” He chuckled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d get it – Taryn does.”

Damon laughed. “Oh, she’ll love it. I know she feels like she’s the only one around here who isn’t interested in getting married again.”

“Well, she’s not on her own anymore.”

“And neither are you,” said Damon. “And I love that for you. What do you want to do till two o’clock?”

“We can hang out if you’re not busy, but don’t feel like you need to entertain me. I have some phone calls to make.”

Damon cocked an eyebrow at him. “What are you up to?”

“I’m glad you asked; I was going to ask for your advice.”

“About?”

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