trailed off. What was she saying? Maybe she’d see him in Chicago? That one day she’d be walking down the street and their eyes would meet and…no.
He seemed to know what she was about to say because he said, “Actually, I’m staying on the island. This inn isn’t just something I’m investing for my company. This is a personal investment. I’m going to take over the inn and stay here.”
She blinked and took a step back, looking around her in wonder. “I hadn’t realized that.”
He gave a little laugh. “I hadn’t either. But I’m happy here. And I think this is where I belong.”
She bit her lip, holding back tears. “I was happy here too.”
“You’re an amazing woman, Hope,” John said, and the kindness in his eyes had returned with the sincerity in his smile.
“Thank you,” she said, but not for the compliment. For all of it. For lifting her spirits when she needed it the most. For being a source of support when she felt so alone in this world. And for making her believe that her marriage could work, if she really wanted it to.
And she did.
“I hope you find everything that you’re looking for, John,” she said, swallowing back the lump in her throat. “Because you deserve it.”
He nodded. “You too, Hope. But I think you’re going to be okay. You’ve got a lot of good things going on in your life.”
She gave a sad smile, thinking of Rose and Victoria, and Evan, who was back at the cottage right now. Waiting for her. And her sisters, who hadn’t all been together on this island in over twelve years, but who now had promised to meet back at Sunset Cottage every summer.
“I do,” she said. She pulled in a breath as he reached out and patted her hand and she looked down at her fingers, at the diamond ring sparkling in the morning sunlight, and she knew that she had said all there was to say, and that their time together had come to an end.
“Life has a weird way of bringing people into our lives when we need them the most,” she said, pushing back her chair.
He rose to stand beside her. His gaze was intense, but for the first time since she’d met him, it hurt to look into his eyes, to see the warmth there, the comfort.
“Some people are meant to be together for a lifetime. Some people are only together for a short time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be forgotten.” He grinned. “I’ll miss you, Hope.”
“And I’ll miss you,” she whispered.
She turned, before the tears could fall, but they were hot and thick, filling her eyes as she walked down the stairs to the lawn because she couldn’t bear to go back into the lobby around all those people. They slipped down her face, one after the other, and she didn’t brush them away, because she couldn’t.
She cried for the man who had first approached her on the boat, when she was so flustered and scared and confused. And she cried for the man who was gentle and kind and had listened to her talk through her problems. And she cried for the man who had offered her the world and asked for nothing in return.
Maybe because he knew, in his heart of hearts, that there was nothing she could offer him.
***
The house was quiet when she stepped inside and she called out the names of the children, Evan, her sisters, but no one was there. Had they gone for a walk?
She went back out to the porch and looked across the road at the beachfront, but it was empty, aside from the seagulls creeping near the water’s edge.
She walked back into the house, and that was when she saw them, gathered on the hammock in the yard. Her sisters, laughing and smiling, as if they hadn’t spent a fair bit of time arguing these past weeks, or even this past year.
And her husband, tending to Gran’s vegetable garden with Leo at his side.
And her children, making mud pies.
And all she could do was smile.
Epilogue
Hope
The line for the ferry was short. Almost too short. And as Hope watched the boat dock and the tourists and summer people here for a new season depart, she felt a sharp sting in her chest.
“Is it terrible to say that I’m a little envious of all these people just arriving?” she asked Ellie, but it was Evan who replied.
“Why don’t we come back? In August? When the weather is warmer?”
She blinked up at him. She hadn’t been expecting that. Not when he’d just come, given up his time from work, when a seven-hour drive home was still ahead of them. She’d assumed at best that she’d come alone next summer, for a week with the girls, or that they would talk about returning and get too sidetracked with all the things that filled that calendar on her pantry door.
She thought about that for a moment. She was just as guilty of being too busy as she accused Evan of being half the time.
“You really mean it?” she asked, smiling up at him.
“I meant everything I said, Hope,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.
Ellie rolled her eyes and said, “Please! Do I really need to be subjected to your eternal bliss? It’s bad enough that the four of you look like you’re ready for a catalogue shoot, but do you have to remind me that I am the only one here with no prospect of romance in my future?”
“Says the girl who is leaving for Europe on Sunday,” Gemma pointed out as she maneuvered her luggage farther down the pier.
Ellie gave a small smile. “True. And there are men in Europe.”
“Hot ones,” Gemma said.
“Thanks again for giving up your ticket to me, Gemma,” Ellie said, setting a hand on her sister’s arm.
“You’ll put it to far better use than I would have. Taking a honeymoon alone is hardly every little girl’s dream,” Gemma replied with a snort. But she was smiling, just as she’d been smiling a little more every day since she’d arrived on the island.
“How long do you think it will take you to pack up the apartment?” Hope asked her. She grabbed two handles of the suitcases while Evan pushed the double stroller.
Gemma shrugged. “Not long. I’ll try to get a subletter through the end of my lease. It’s such a beautiful view and location that I shouldn’t have a problem.”
She looked so wistful that for a moment, Hope wondered if she was going to change her mind, but then Gemma hoisted her bags onto the luggage cart and said, “That apartment has nothing but bad memories. But this place, the island, it’s full of happy ones. And that makes all the difference, doesn’t it?”
Hope felt a pull in her chest as she stepped onto the ferry, feeling the unsteady floor beneath her, knowing that she was taking the last official step away from everything that had happened here this past month, but not completely.
This place was full of happy memories; Gemma was right about that. And she knew that she was making the choice she could live with, not the one she would come to question or regret.
This time around, she was following her heart. Not doing what she should, but what she really, truly wanted to do. She took a seat next to Evan and the girls. Where she was meant to be.
The boat hitched and ever so slowly pulled away from the dock. The island grew distant, and smaller, until they could see the entire mass of it, sitting long and proud in the water, and everything on that island, everything that had happened, and everyone who was still there, left behind, felt like a strange sort of memory that grew smaller and smaller, until she couldn’t see the rooflines of the houses anymore, or even the outline of the Lakeside Inn.
“I know I couldn’t wait to leave,” Ellie suddenly said, “but now I can’t wait to come back.”
“You can come back whenever you want,” Gemma said. “After all, I may be the one living there, but the house belongs to all of us. It’s our home.”
Hope slipped her hand into Evan’s and their eyes met, full of new understanding, and new appreciation.
Her home was on Willow Lane, with Evan and the girls. But a part of her heart would always be at Sunset Cottage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Olivia Miles is a USA Today bestselling author of feel-good women’s fiction with a romantic twist. She has frequently been ranked as an Amazon Top 100 author, and her books have appeared on several bestseller lists, including Amazon charts, BookScan, and USA Today. Treasured by readers across the globe, Olivia’s heartwarming stories have been translated into German, French, and Hungarian, with editions in Australia in the United Kingdom.
Olivia lives just outside Chicago with her husband, daughter, and two ridiculously pampered pups.
Visit www.OliviaMilesBooks.com for more.