is that I like it here. I’m able to be myself. Now I can even think about practicing law and running my own stable, something I couldn’t balance before. And I’ve found someone who likes me just as I am.”
She nodded, because it was true, every word he’d said. “Just as you are.”
“Look, I’m not good at speeches. And I’m not good about talking about my feelings either. And I’m sure you could have said all this a lot better than I have.”
She shook her head. “You’re not a character in one of my books.”
But he had been the inspiration.
“Besides, what I write is fiction. This is real life. And it’s messy. And it’s complicated. And it’s far from roses and sunshine. But right now, it’s pretty damn close.” She met his smile, feeling her heart fill with joy.
“What do I have to do to convince you not to sell the house?” he asked.
She looked at him in surprise. “We’ve decided to keep it.”
There was a pause as he digested this. “You did?”
She nodded. “Some things are worth holding on to, even when times get tough.”
“They are.” He looked around the porch, from the chipped paint on the posts to the worn whitewashed floorboards. He seemed to want to say something, but took a step backward instead. “Well. Tell Ellie to give me a call when she gets back to town then. I’ll see what I can do about some of these repairs on my free time.”
Now Gemma grinned. “Oh, it’s not Ellie who will be staying on the island.”
He looked at her, his brown eyes deep and steady, as if he knew what she was about to say. Maybe even hoped for it.
“I’m staying,” she said. She’d reached the decision easily, so easily that perhaps the idea had been in her head all along. “There’s nothing for me in Chicago anymore.”
He nodded, his grin starting to quirk. “And here?” he asked.
“Here I at least have hope,” she said, stepping toward him. “And that’s a pretty good feeling. And…I have you.”
He smiled broadly, all the way up to his eyes. “You sure about this?”
Maybe she was foolish, or maybe, this time, she was right to listen to her heart, because it had never felt more full, or more sure, and if she couldn’t trust herself, how could she ever trust anyone else?
“So I was thinking that maybe we could strike an arrangement,” she said, struggling to hide her grin.
“Are you speaking to my professional side or my personal side?” His eyes twinkled with amusement.
“I was thinking that maybe you could help fix up the house, and in exchange, I could help you get your stable up and running.”
He looked at her in disbelief, and then burst out laughing. “You? I saw you on that horse, if you’ve forgotten.”
“I’m not saying I’d be a riding instructor.” She pursed her lips. “But I used to work in advertising. I know how to market a place like this. I know how to get the word out, and I definitely know the people of this island, because I’m one of them.”
His eyes were steady, as unwavering as his words.
“Why are you doing all this for me?”
She shrugged. “Because we’re friends, and that’s what friends do.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, taking her hand and stepping toward her. “We’re not friends, Gemma.”
He was close, so close now that she could see the freckles on his nose and cheeks from too many days in the sun. See the golden highlights that streaked his brown hair. The little scar under his right eye that told a story that she didn’t yet know, but wanted to. Badly.
“We’re not?” she whispered, swallowing hard.
He shook his head and reached up to push a loose strand of hair from her cheek. “We’re a hell of a lot more than friends.”
She grinned as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her close and kissed her in a way that she had never been kissed and had been waiting to be kissed…even if she hadn’t known it until now.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hope
Hope stood at the gate of the Lakeside Inn, knowing the chances were high that John was inside at this very moment, if not in his room, then maybe in the lobby, or in the dining room enjoying breakfast—it was early. This conversation couldn’t wait any longer. She’d waited a week to tell him what she’d known in her heart she would tell him all along.
She let out a shaky breath, asked