Page 110 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

He kissed her, right next to Linda’s blueberry scones and Fred’s barbeque sauce.

“We could start on that right away,” he said.

“Does that mean you’re staying?” she asked.

He nodded. “I mean, if Kyle has a scholarship to college.”

She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he lifted her off the ground.

“You’re making me happy,” she said, as he held her up, kissing him.

Quinn slowly brought her feet back to the ground, resting his eyes on her. “You’re making me really happy too.”

After the fireworks, they all walked home, the kids hurrying ahead to the cottage to eat the leftover blueberry cake.

Everyone sat out on the back deck with blueberry cake and vanilla ice cream.

Meredith sat next to Quinn as her children all told him and his family stories of growing up in Andover down the road from their grandparents. Stories of Meredith acting like the over-the-top involved mother. They told stories of Gordon’s mishaps and they all laughed, even Meredith.

Remy and Joe sat together, snuggling up against each other on the couch next to Cora, while Ryan and Kyle sat with Quinn at the table, planning out their fishing excursion the next morning. As Quinn explained the different areas of Blueberry Bay, he kept stealing glances at Meredith as she talked with Gordon and Ginny, who had hit it off right away.

Meredith thought things couldn’t get any more perfect at that point in her life. As she looked around the room, grateful for the people that sat among her, she couldn’t feel happier.

When everyone started getting tired and left the porch, heading for bed, Quinn said goodbye and whispered into her ear, “I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”

“You better,” she said, as excitement swept over her.

When Gordon headed upstairs, he told Remy and Meredith he was proud of them.

“You girls did a very good job today,” he said, before heading to bed.

Remy and Meredith kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks, Dad,” Meredith said, as she hugged him goodnight. “I’m so glad you’re here with us.”

“Me, too, sugarplum,” he said, then gave her a wink. “Me, too.”

Meredith stayed up as everyone headed to bed and sat on the porch, sitting under a blanket. She looked up at the sky and out at the water, listening to the waves crash into the shore.

“Thank you, Jacob,” she said. She had never been so grateful for having Jacob as her father than she was at that moment. “Thank you for everything.”

That was when she heard his footsteps coming up the path.

“Hey,” she said as he came up to the back porch.

“Hey,” Quinn said, flashlight in hand. “You ready?”

She looked out at the beach, and she could see a bonfire already lit by the water’s edge. “Are you finally going to tell me the myth of the Blueberry Bay mermaid?”

“Only those who live here can know the legends,” he said, holding open the door for her.

She stopped as she passed him, kissing him, and said, “Then I guess you’ll have to tell me,” before walking toward the sandy path through beach roses and blueberry bushes.

“What do you call this beach?” she asked Quinn.

“Whatever you want to call it,” he said. “It’s yours.”

She laughed at that. It was hers, but really, it was all of theirs. “What about The Queens’ Beach.”

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