Page 110 of Truly, Madly, Deeply

“Grace says I think Booker’s keeping score. Like if he sees me being happy, then I’m not paying penance.”

“Grace is a smart woman. Listen to me. You get to have this life. It’s yours for the taking. The question is—do you have the balls to grab it? To spend every day for the rest of your life earning it?”

Jaime sat with the questions for a few minutes. Really let them sink in. “Fuck, yeah.” And suddenly, he knew what he had to do. For all of them. “Hey, can Kinny have a sleepover with you guys tonight?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Then again, he didn’t want to do this in his cabin or even the Dream House. He wanted to go somewhere special. “If Grace can take off the time, you think Kinny can spend two nights? I want to get out of town.”

“No problem. Go for it.”

“The only hitch is that Kinny’s got her figure skating class the day after tomorrow.”

“We can get her there. No problem. I’ll bring the girls in case Paisley wants to join.”

“Perfect time for her to watch. They’ve got an exhibition that day.”

“Cool. You got any idea where you want to take her?”

“Not yet.”

All he knew was he had to make it good. This was the kind of question a man only asks once.

Ass perched on a stool, Jaime tipped back his bottle of water and enjoyed the show. Gracie was making the clerk describe every pastry in the case.

“And what’s this one?” With her knees bent, she tapped the glass.

“So, that’s a shortbread crust, dulce de leche cream inside, and a chocolate raspberry mousse.”

“Oh, that sounds good. Let’s try that one. You don’t happen to know what kind of shortening the pastry chef uses, do you?”

Jaime chuckled. He might as well settle in.She’ll be at this for a while. He checked his phone again. Reception had been spotty for this half of the trip as they crossed the mountain range back into Wyoming. Last he’d heard, Korzak’s ankle wasn’t going to be good enough to play, so the GM had made the call to keep him out of exhibition games.

Now, they had to decide which goalie to bring up from the minors. A big part of him wanted to be there for that—he had Cole and Ross to think about. Their second goalie not only had to be damn good, but he had to start working with the team right away.

That was what he’d hired Darren for.Let the man do his job.

Besides, the festival ended in four days, and he needed to make sure Grace knew he was fully invested in them, that she wasn’t giving up her family and job for an unknown future.

That he loved her so completely, he couldn’t stand to think of a life without her.

“Yes, that’s it.” Her voice broke through his thoughts. “Just those. Thank you.”

Good. She’d made her decision. He stood, shoving his phone in his pocket.

“You want to eat these here or take them to go?” the clerk asked.

“To go, please.”

While the woman boxed up the treats, Gracie sashayed over to him with a huge smile. “This is so fun.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you arranged all this.”

“It wasn’t that hard.” He’d researched bakeries in a hundred-and-fifty-mile radius. Calling it the Pastry Loop, he’d mapped out a trip from Calamity to Idaho Falls down to Montpelier and back up to Calamity. So far, they’d visited twelve shops and had tasted a wide variety of desserts.

“It’s not about the level of difficulty.” She went back to pay, and then, hand in hand, they left the store. “It’s the fact that you did this for me.” Digging into her bag, she pulled out her sunglasses. They covered her eyes…but not before he saw them glistening.

“Hold on.” He pulled her to a stop. “Are you crying?”

“No. Of course not.”

---