Page 66 of Hearty

“Always so cocky,” she teases me.

“You’re going to run an inn.” I sway us back and forth to music that isn’t playing.

Now she beams, but I see the tinge of an insecure blush. “It’s going to be such a big job, but I can’t wait.”

“What will you call it?” I wonder aloud.

“I kind of thought, well … I guess I’ll need your family’s permission, but the Ashton Inn sounds pretty fitting, right?”

My jaw drops a little. “What? You want to name it for my family?”

She shrugs. “Warren might be buying it, and Alana now has his last name, but he’s an Ashton through and through. I feel like I’m an honorary member of this family, too. Your family has helped so many of us over the years and has been an institution in this town for decades. It should bear your name. It feels right.”

August should bear our last name, too, but I’m not going to freak her out with that just yet. Although, it’s all I can think about now that she’s given me the green light to fantasize about our life here together.

“Fuck, but I love you.” I can’t stop myself from dipping her a little and planting a kiss on her.

When her tongue slides against mine, I forget where I am or that there are people still in the kitchen. The need to be inside her, to be bare with her, is so great that it nearly chokes me.

“You weren’t that keen on dinner, right?” I break away from her lips. “I think we should go home instead. Right to bed for you.”

August giggles. “I guess I’d be okay with that. So long as you make me some of that homemade pasta after.”

Scooping her up so that I can carry her to the back door, I make haste. “You got it. Dessert first, pasta after.”

The laugh of the woman I love and who loves me is the soundtrack as we drive through our hometown. The one we’ll be staying in forever.

32

AUGUST

“Ithought we weren’t supposed to have Italian on Sundays,” Gabby quips as she gets the kids settled with crayons, toys, and snacks at a smaller table next to the long one Liam is currently setting.

“I mean, technically, Evan didn’t say Italian, he just told us he wanted to host it here instead of at the house.” Patrick shrugs.

“Has he let anything slip to you?” Alana asks me.

I shake my head. “Not a peep. I have no idea what he’s been up to, but he’s been in that kitchen all hours of the last two days.”

“Maybe he’s had a breakdown and can’t cook anymore.” Liam grins like a devil.

Leona taps him gently on the back of the head. “Don’t even joke about that. Your brother is a genius with a gift.”

“How come she never calls us geniuses with gifts?” Patrick wiggles his eyebrows at his brother.

“You two, pipe down. August was telling me about the inn.” Thomas rolls his eyes at his sons and then winks at me.

In the last week, I’ve signed on to be the manager of the inn, my mother’s house was listed, and Alana proposed that Evan should buy her house, the one we’ve been living in. All of that combined should be overwhelming, but it feels like such a long time coming that I’m coping quite well.

After I told Evan I was staying, and he took me home to thoroughly celebrate that … naked, we let the rest of the family know in a mass group text. There were so many questions and congratulations flying around that I still need to read through them, but that’s all to say that they’re thrilled. Sitting in this dining room with all of them feels so extraordinarily right, and for the thousandth time, I’m reaffirmed that I made the right decision.

“We are meeting with contractors next week and, of course, need to file all kinds of permits now that the sale went through. It’s going to be a long process, but the Ashton Inn will be up and running at some point.”

“If she has her way, we’re aiming for next year. August cracks the whip like no one I know,” Warren says proudly.

“I just know exactly what I want and what will work for guests,” I respond sheepishly because, truth be told, I can be a little anal about timelines.

“That’s a good characteristic to have in business. It will take you far.” Thomas winks at me again. “I for one, will be the first guest there.”

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