Page 148 of Falling Overboard

“You’re not asking. I’m offering,” he said. “The ownership will go into a trust, and when I pass, the bakery will be a hundred percent yours. This isn’t a loan you have to pay back. I’m investing in you.”

“That’s too much.”

He frowned slightly. “It’s my money. I get to decide what to do with it. I don’t have any children, and this is the kind of legacy I want to leave behind. Helping people achieve their dreams.”

My mouth hung open, unable to believe that this was happening. “I don’t want this to be because of Hunter.” I didn’t want to owe Hunter—I wanted whatever happened between us in the future to be because we chose it. Not because I felt indebted to him.

“It’s not for him. It’s for you. Because you’re the kind of person who would stay up all night with an old man letting him talk about the love of his life. I’ve seen how hard you work, how diligent you are, how dedicated, how caring, how detail oriented, how talented. I would be a fool to pass up an opportunity to go into business with someone like you.”

Now I felt presumptuous and a little bit embarrassed. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“I hope you’ll say yes. Although I should warn you, I do have two conditions.”

Unless they involved selling my soul to the devil, which I might seriously consider, given what Rodney was offering, I was going to say yes. “What conditions?”

“The first is that you have to sell those chocolate chip cookies you made me on the yacht because those were incredible. The second is that I want you to name it Lucia’s. That was my wife’s name.”

A shiver passed through me, making my skin break out in goose bumps. “That’s my name. And my nonna’s name.”

It was a common enough name in several countries, so I probably shouldn’t have had this kind of reaction, but it was like my grandmother was personally sanctioning the deal, urging me to take it.

“Then it sounds like a perfect name for the bakery,” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m in.”

“Excellent. I’ll have my team start drawing up paperwork.”

Rodney had a team of people. An actual team, and he had come to East Haven to help me open my bakery.

“You came all the way here just for this?”

“I have some business in New York and made a quick stop to see you. Speaking of, I have to be going to make my meeting on time.” He threw me a key and I caught it. “The building has already been purchased, so this key belongs to you.”

I held it in my hand, turning it, letting the light hit it. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

“‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem big enough to tell you how much this means to me.”

He smiled. “Live your life and be happy. That’s all I can ask in return.” Then he stood there, as if he wanted to add something else and was wrestling with whether or not he should say it. “Things happen in life. People die. Relationships end. Heartache seems inevitable. But grief is the price we pay for love, and Lucky? It is a price worth paying. I would take an entire lifetime of grief over missing one moment of love with Lucia. You should really think about what’s important. What matters.”

Then Rodney left, leaving his nuclear truth bombs behind. My heart was beating so quickly.

I needed to face my fears. I had to believe in Hunter, and more importantly? I had to believe in myself.

Which felt a bit easier to do now that I was standing in my nonna’s bakery.

No,mybakery.

The person I wanted to call and tell was Hunter.

Regardless of what Rodney had said, I knew that Hunter had played a huge part here.

How else would Rodney have known that I was back in the States? I had told him I’d be in touch when I had a more permanent residence again. But he had reached out to me first and asked for my address.

Hunter must have told him.

Which meant that Hunter had found a way to help make my dreams come true.

My instinct was to reach out to Hunter immediately. But after the chaos of both my life and my time on theMio Tesoro, I needed true clarity. To let myself come to a decision where I wasn’t acting impulsively or glossing over things. I had to take the time to do that, even if I didn’t want to.

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