“I had my eye on a big development down in Charleston. Safer play, bigger profit. But I walked away. Because it didn’t feel like a legacy. It didn’t feel like love.”
I let out a breath.
“This isn’t just a campground or a business venture. It’s my way of saying I’m done running. And maybe Hazel isn’t just someone from my past. Maybe it’s time to stop building houses—and start building a home.”
I step back from the mic, heart thudding. For once, I’m not sure what happens next.
Hazel steps up onto the stage, moving straight toward me. She grabs the front of my shirt and kisses me like she means it—like maybe she’s done running too.
Time seems to freeze.
My heart kicks against my ribs, and I forget how to breathe. Her mouth is soft, urgent, familiar in the most electric way. She tastes like sunshine and lemonade, and for a split second, I swear I forget every mistake I’ve ever made. Every wall I’ve built. Every doubt I’ve carried.
She’s kissing me. Here. In front of the whole town.
And I don’t care. I want it branded into memory. I want the whole world to know I’m hers if she’ll have me.
Relief floods my chest, stealing the weight off my shoulders. She didn’t storm off or shut me out. She came to me.
When she finallypulls back, her eyes are glassy and warm, her cheeks flushed.
“You really are a pirate,” she whispers.
I grin, dizzy and shipwrecked.
“Told you I’d make you believe in pirates again.”
And just like that, Twin Waves feels like home.
I came here to fix up a few old houses. I didn’t expect to find the pieces of myself I’d left scattered across the years. Turns out, love just needed a little foundation work.
Maybe I finally fixed what I broke.
Hazel wraps her arms around me.
“You didn’t have to do all of this.”
“I know,” I murmur. “But I wanted to. I needed to. I wasn’t just fixing up houses out here. I was trying to fix up my life.”
Amber reaches the stage and gives me a high five before wrapping an arm around Hazel.
“You two better not make me cry again. I just finished redoing my makeup.”
I laugh and find one of Hazel’s hands between us, lacing my fingers through hers. For the first time in years, I’m right where I want to be. With the woman I love, the little girl who calls me Pirate Jack, and a whole town cheering us on.
Now that’s a foundation worth building on.
CHAPTER 15
Hazel
When I arrive home from the boutique with Ellen after picking her up from daycare, there’s a haze in the air that smells like fresh paint and sawdust. My coffee table is missing, replaced by a ladder. A crew of painters cluster around a fan of swatches, arguing over various shades of beige.
Aubrey Wheaton stands in the middle of it all like a redheaded general about to win a war.
“Have you seen Jack?” I ask.
Ellen wiggles from my grasp and darts away toward the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”