Page 190 of Knot Baked Out For This
Papers. Blueprints. Property documents.
"What is this?"
"The adjoining lot," Rowan says, and his voice has that professional quality, the captain voice that means business. "We bought it."
"You what?"
"Well, technically, you bought it," Luca corrects, pointing to documents that have my signature on them. "We just... handled the paperwork while you were sleeping."
"That's fraud!"
"That's romance!" Levi protests.
"Pretty sure it's still fraud!"
"Your lawyer approved everything," Rowan assures me, and he's trying not to smile. "Reverie too. They're both terrible at keeping secrets, for the record."
I stare at the blueprints, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. It's a house. A beautiful, sprawling house with an open floor plan and huge windows, and a kitchen that looks like something from a magazine.
"You're building a house?"
"We're building a house," Luca emphasizes. "All of us. Together."
"But I can't afford?—"
"Already handled," Rowan says. "Pack finances. Don't worry about it."
"I have to worry about it! That's—that's too much!"
"Nothing's too much for you," Levi says simply. "We already talked to Mila about her dinner concept after Halloween. She's in. Wants to call it 'The Knotted Spoon' which is?—"
"Amazing," I finish weakly.
"Right? And Rosemarie's been designing a whole café expansion for the second floor of the bakery. Full coffee bar, pastry case, those little tables by the windows. She's calling it 'Rosemarie's Rise.'"
My brain is trying to process everything, catching up in slow motion.
"You want to expand the bakery?"
"We want you to stop starting over," Rowan says quietly, and the way he looks at me makes my knees weak. "Every time something goes wrong, you start from scratch. New town, new life, new everything. But you don't have to do that anymore."
"We'll build from where you stand," Luca adds. "The bakery's successful. You're successful. We're just... growing with you."
Growing with me.
Not demanding I change, not requiring I fit into their lives, but growing with me. Building on what I've already created instead of tearing it down and starting over.
The tears come before I can stop them, hot and stupid and probably ruining the makeup Reverie swore was waterproof.
"Hazel?" Levi sounds panicked. "Are these good tears or bad tears? Because I can't tell and you're scaring me?—"
I kiss him. Hard. Right on his surprised mouth that tastes like anxiety, hope, and that honey butter scent that means safety.
When I pull back, he's grinning like an idiot.
"Good tears," he confirms to the others. "Definitely good tears."
"The nest," I manage, wiping my face with the back of my hand like a child. "You built me a nest."
