“All she needs to do is add some dragons, and it perfectly fits her genre.”

I laughed. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

She gave a half-happy, half-exasperated sigh. “I wish my job would let me find the man of my dreams.”

“Maybe you’ll meet a hot guy in Alaska. You're going to the family reunion next month, right? There’s gotta be someone there that isn’t related to you.”

She nodded. “I think I’m more likely to fall in love with a moose there, though.”

I snorted at that. “I’m going to channel Poppy and say you’re next. The stars are going to align for you and the moose.”

She rolled her eyes, but her mouth was still smiling. “Can I come visit you in Prince Edward Island? Get the full grand Anne tour from you and maybe find my own guy there?”

“It’s a great spot for that, and you totally should come. Finn’s grandparents are planning to sell the B&B sometime soon, so maybe we can get everyone together before that—plan a big trip.”

She leaned her chin into the palm of her hand, looking out at all our cousins. Except Chloe. She’d disappeared somewhere. I twisted around in my chair but couldn’t see where she and Holt had gone off to.

“A cousin trip would be amazing—before you and Chloe go and get married and have babies.”

I held my hands up. “Maybe slow down with the marriage and babies talk… but I wouldn’t actually hate that future. Isn’t that crazy? I can’t believe I started the month wanting a promotion and now I want a husband.” The sunglinted off my lemonade cup as I picked it up and took a sip.

“It's not crazy at all! Eventually, I want a family of my own, so I get it. I'm just so happy you and Chloe found your happily ever afters. And before you come at me saying it's too soon for you and Finn to discuss marriage, I'm calling BS on that. You are the biggest romance lover I know. If Finn's managed to win you, he's a keeper.”

Impulsively, I leaned across and hugged her. She stiffened for a second—I’d never been known to be too physically affectionate—then hugged me back.

It was just a hug from someone I'd been friends with since birth, but it was more than that. It was like a physical representation of everything I wanted to change. One more little brick I'd built up to keep my emotions safe was torn down with that hug. It was one more reminder that these moments of real connection were what I wanted and needed in life. And it also made me miss Finn even more. My flight couldn't come soon enough.

Chapter 32

I Might be Hallucinating

Finn

Everythinghurt,eventhroughthe pain meds—probably because it was a lower dose today.

“When do I get my phone back?” I asked Gram, leaning on my pillows to look at the white ceiling of the hospital room.

“When I’m sure you’re not going to embarrass yourself with it. It’s for your own good.” She was gathering up her things to walk down the hall to Pops’ room. How lucky for her that she got to visit both her invalids in a mere sixty seconds.

“What did I even say that was so bad?” It had been three days since the surgery, and evidently, I’d lost phone privileges in the early hours of day one.

She gave me one of heryou don’t want to knowlooks, but I threw it right back. I really did want to know. She sighed. “You told Lucy you’d be stuck in the hospital for a year and that you couldn’t fly a plane.”

“That’s not so bad—”

“And that you really wanted to kiss her, that you would have scars—would she like them? And that you were in love with her.”

I blinked at her.

“Yes. Based on her reaction, I assumed those were not words that had been shared yet. So, I took your phone.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Well, that wasn’t the most romantic way to relay that information.”

Gram chuckled.

“Do I want to know her reaction?” I couldn’t help but ask it, though I also couldn’t meet her eyes.

“She didn’t have much time to answer. You kept talking. She was… pretty quiet though.”